What do you see?

In Philippians chapter three we read an autobiography of sorts of the apostle Paul’s life. He tells us about his past in verses 1-11 and his present situation in verses 12-16 and then his future in verses 17 through verse 1 of chapter 4. This morning we want to look at how the apostle Paul was able to not to live with a victims mentality or to live only for today and missing out on the blessings of what lies ahead for them that believe. It was C.S. Lewis who said, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.” This philosophy of life is what governed the apostle Paul’s life. Paul had no problem with his past, he simply wasn’t bound by it but realized God was using it to shape his present circumstances in life and preparing him for his future. I mean how else does Paul write a book like Philippians from a roman prison cell laced with the words joy and rejoice some 16 times? Like that famous quote from Dale Carnage that says, “Two men looked out from their prison cell, one saw bars the other saw stars.” The apostle Paul saw stars. Let me ask you a very important question this morning as we study this text.