Dr. Myles Munroe: How To Face The Future With Fearless Confidence Pt. 1

thank you for joining us for another power-packed message provided by monroe global incorporated and monroe global comm we transform followers into leaders and leaders into agents of change we hope that this message is a blessing to you as you advance your life and discover your purpose now let’s go into the message succeed I don’t care who you are you want to succeed even the criminal want to succeed in his crime and everybody have the desire to succeed and success must be different redefined I want to talk about success for a minute because success has been misunderstood first of all the greatest enemy of success is the fear of failure some people are afraid to pursue their success because they believe they might fail and so they don’t try to do something new secondly success is the potential destiny of all created things every seed has a tree in it and the potential success of that tree is in that seed and that’s the way you are whatever you were born to do and be is in you now and the success of your life depends on you becoming all that is trapped inside of you the third thing about success is important is to define it what is success here’s a definition I thought worked for me for the last 20 years or so and that is success is the completion and the fulfillment of the original intent or purpose for your existence or why you were created success is the completion and the successful fulfillment of the purpose for your existence a wire thing was made in other words success is not making a lot of money success is not having a big house with a car by a lake success is not having a lot of friends and a lot of accolades and a lot of plaques on the wall success is really very very simple it’s you discovering your purpose and then completing it before you die in other words success must be measured by why you were created success is therefore purpose fulfilled success for the next year is going to be you making another step toward fulfilling your purpose in life while you were born making another step and I believe that’s why God gave us years so we could live our lives a year at a time success is not measured by what you’ve done compared to what others have done and this is very important that sometimes we compete with other people and because we do better than them we think we are successful success is not admitting or outclassing other people you can always find somebody less than you so you think you are successful therefore success should not be measured by what you’ve done compared to what others have done then how do you measure success here’s how you measure it success is measured by what you’ve done compared to which you should and good have that let me say it again success is measured by what you’ve done compared to what you should and could have done in other words the only person who knows how successful you are is you and God I remember one day when I came home from school as a junior high student I got I came first in my exam like I got the highest grade and when I got home I showed my grace to my mother and my mother looked at the grade and she says you came first in the class you beat everybody I said I sure did I’d beat everybody else I said aren’t you happy I came first and she looked at my grades and she said I’m disappointed in you I said why she said you came first with 69 you ain’t smart the others just dumber in other words I was measuring my success against other people she says she says you could do better than this in other words she would teaching me a lesson that success not measured by how you compare with other people but how you compared what you are capable of doing yourself and that’s what 2004 must be about it does not be about you trying to beat other people to the punch as a matter of fact when you read the Bible the Bible says the race in God’s plan is not to the Swift you don’t come first because you are ahead the race is those who are in deal to end they finish what they started that’s success purpose therefore is the key to success finding your purpose and fulfilling it now I want you to write some of these things down about purpose and this is very important here’s a statement I found and encouraged me for many years and that is what lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us when you look back at the failures of this year you know some things didn’t go right you know some things you didn’t accomplish some of you failed in doing some things you really wanted to do your goals were not fulfilled and some of my goals personally have not been fulfilled and you can look back and be depressed but looking behind you doesn’t help you for the future and looking ahead of you can really make you afraid because you look at the uncertainty of whether you will succeed but I come to tell you that what’s important tonight is what’s within you now and God has placed in you everything you need to become all you were born to be and you are carrying it right now and therefore the Word of God said it so well it says unto Him who was able to do exceedingly abundantly above beyond all you can ever acts or think according to the power that’s working not in heaven but he’s placed the power inside of you and that means that whatever you were born to do and become is on the inside of you very important to understand that can I make it a statement of our purpose therefore purpose is so powerful and if you understand it becomes personal number one you were created with a purpose and for a purpose nobody here is a mistake not one person this planet came here as an experiment you were not born just to make a living and keep a job and pay bills and then die you were not going on just to to to retire and get some pension and then fade away and we put you in the plot somewhere you were born because there’s something God wanted done that required you you exist because God wanted something to happen on earth that he gave you to do it’s matter-of-fact job 36 says this and I love this verse verse 5 it says God is mighty but does not despise men he is mighty and firm in his purpose that word despise means to ignore God does not ignore 6 point 1 billion people on earth right now each one of them God has a specific purpose for them and he will not despise or ignore them you were born to do something very critical here’s my favorite verse in the Bible promise one promise 19 verse 21 it says many other plans in your heart but the Lord’s purpose for you will prevail say Amen God said you got many plans for 2004 but before you make plans consult me for my purpose he says because I got a purpose for your life in 2004 there’s some things God want done in you in 2004 and that’s why you shouldn’t just go about making plans without spending time with God that’s why you have to stop and begin the year in his presence like this because you ain’t smart enough to figure out your future and God knows your future long before he was created and therefore he wants you to know his purpose so your plans could be in keeping with his purpose what a tragedy to be successful in the wrong thing it’s frightening to be perfectly successful in something God never told you to do therefore the future of your life should be always tapping into God what did he created me to be and therefore God says his purpose will prevail what is purpose purpose is defined as the original reason for the existence of a thing in other words purpose is why a thing was made secondly purpose is the reason why something was created in other words whatever you were born to do is why God created you you were not born just to and live a life and just die you were born to accomplish something specifically matter of fact success is making it to the end of your perp that is success it’s like it’s like a bird trapped in an egg if that bird never flies that bird is a failure it never made it to flight and that is what success is success is not just existing success is making it to the end of why you were born every banana tree every mango tree every apple tree is the end of the seed and the seed is not successful until it makes it to the tree and as fruit on it and that’s what success is about it’s about fulfilling and completing your purpose in life I want to talk about purpose in time for a minute write this down very important this did blew my mind some years ago and that is time was created by God he put you in it but he doesn’t live in it what is time be talking about one year time is defined as an interruption in eternity in other words God who lives and forever took a little piece of forever and called it time and then he put us in it another way time has the beginning and an end and is trapped in forever in other words God lives in eternity eternity has no measure it has no no time in it it is timeless as a matter of fact eternity is time without measure so God lives an eternity but he created time put us in it and then he gave us trying to be lived in days and weeks and months and years and we’re about to change another year which is 52 weeks which we have to account for in our lives tonight we’re about to enter another 52 weeks of our life and we want to make sure that those four two weeks are used for what God gave us birth for everything it is time I don’t measure in eternity now watch this we were placed in time to fulfill purpose there’s a tremendous understanding of this in the Bible purpose gives meaning to life in time if you don’t know your purpose in life your life in time would have no meaning you’ll simply be frustrated and wondering why am I here what am I gonna do why do I hate this job why am I going to the same place all the time and you began to be frustrated and your frustration is taking on another people because you’re not any meaning for your life whenever somebody commits suicide they usually leave a note for someone note normally says no reason for living that is the saddest thing in the world but there are some people who don’t commit suicide instantly they’re committing suicide slowly like taking drugs every day like freaking alcohol it’s what I call slow suicide they they can’t see something more important than smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol or taking cocaine or something in other words they haven’t found something more important in the drug they’re committing suicide the reason why I don’t drink alcohol and and don’t smoke is because I found something more important if for my life that these things will interrupt with and so I have to stop whatever stops me from fulfilling my dream and therefore when you have a premise for your life it disciplines your behavior and chooses your habits purpose gives life meaning here’s not a statement I thought was interesting in the book of Ecclesiastes 3 verse 1 one of my favorite verses says to everything there is a season and to every purpose there’s a time under heaven in other words if you are in heaven it’s eternal there’s no time but when you come below heaven you now have a purpose that hasn’t fulfilled in time that means you were born to do something but you ain’t got forever to do it and therefore you are on a race between you and your grave I would tell people my greatest motivator is death when I think about my death it makes me work hard and death has been placed in my life as a timing it’s matter of fact the next verse of that chapter says there’s a time to be born and a time to die in other words you got to know that there’s a time you’re supposed to die are you supposed to complete your assignment before you die and if you die before you complete your assignment you were killed this is why God says he gave you time to fulfill your purpose look at verse 10 it says I have seen the burden God has placed upon all men and that burden is he has made everything beautiful in this time the word beautiful that means matured he gives you time to fulfill and mature everything that you were created to do in other words whatever you were born to do you were given the right amount of time to do it in now there are some people living on overtime right now because you haven’t found your purpose and God has given you grace you remember that there was a man who actually lived his fulfillment of his purpose and God told him his time to die the name was Hezekiah and Hezekiah God men in person Gaza to Hezekiah you’ve done which is people to do it’s time to die it’s Akaya argued with God he must have been from the Bahamas he said god I don’t want to die now I don’t want to die now I want to live alone God says no you must die now he said no I don’t want to die now give me some more years and he begged God and God gave him 15 extra years in those 15 extra years he gave birth to some of the worst kings of Israel tell your neighbor die when you’re supposed to when you pass your time you begin to do foolishness that’s why it’s important you define your purpose and maximize the use of your time for the glory of God now here’s something I thought was interesting too he also says this statement it says and the Lord also has said eternity in their hearts of every man yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end this is a very important statement explain what it mean it says God took you out of eternity and put you in time in other words your spirit is an eternal spirit that kandra’s earth with an eternal purpose but God trapped it in a body in time that means you are literally an eternal spirit in a timed body that’s a problem now look at this verse again it also says he has done something you cannot fathom and what is it what he has done from the beginning to end in other words God took the beginning of your life and the end of your life and put them both in a body and put it in time so you came to earth with your beginning and your end inside of you now this is very important that means your future is not ahead of you we keep thinking we going to our future and that’s why we keep depending on people depending on relationships depending on connections but your future is not ahead of you in other people’s favor your future is trapped inside of you and you are carrying your own raw material and that is why your future does not depend on your external environment sometimes you are with people who don’t like you that’s okay because as long as you like you what’s inside of you will bring you through book write this down please the purpose for time very important the value of life is not in its duration but it’s donation you are not important because of how long you live you are important because of how effective you live and most people are so concerned about growing old rather than being effective the people who have impacted the world didn’t live long Martin Luther King John F Kennedy I mean these people who impact the world were not old people but they lived so effectively that we cannot erase them from history the oldest man in the Bible is Methuselah he lived to be six nine hundred sixty-six hundred nine hundred sixty-nine years what a guy and the only thing the Bible said with him as he died I would love to borrow some of his years what would I do it is years some people just want to live long no it’s how effective you live my challenge to you tonight is to make 2004 look like five years decide to do so much in this year with so much focus and concentration that people going to think that you lived five years in one year and that can happen if you decide to follow God’s purpose for your life don’t waste any time in 2004 choose friends that would help you get to your goal read books that would take you to your destiny and eat things I will keep your body and shape to get there say Amen anyhow there are some friends you have to drop at 12 midnight tonight if you’re going to make it to your dream and there are some new friends you got to associate with to get to your destination because your future is not ahead of you it’s inside of you write this down time is divided into days weeks and years so that we can live life in doses God is so good God gave you the joy of living life a day at a time the Bible says this is the day that the Lord has made let us rejoice in that day and be glad in it now we are 365 days already gone and we can thank God that we did something but hopefully you can live a better use of your days in 2004 God gave us years so we can end and begin in life that’s why he gave us here so we can end life and begin again time was given to us to provide closure to failure and success please write that down this is very important to understand some of you have done poorly in 2003 you’ve really messed up in 2003 you you did some dumb things well this moment gives you an opportunity to bring closure to that some of you lost your sanity and lost your virginity some of you lost your business and lost your sense but now you can bring closure to it tonight and say that was last year say Amen I was a fool last year but now this year I’m gonna be a wise person in other words years bring privilege of closure also you notice I said it brings closure for success also because even if you succeeded in this past year you should not live on those successes why the greatest enemy of progress is your last you can be so impressed by what you’ve done in 2003 that you don’t do anything in 2004 and you just as much of a failure if you don’t do what you couldn’t do because of what you did don’t let your success in 2003 prevent your new successes in 2004 tell your neighbor you ain’t seen nothing yet come on shake yourself say you ain’t seen me yet take neighbor 2004 I’m gonna reveal more in other words you want to see more of you before you die give God a hand we will see it would be we’re gonna see it what’s the future of purpose that purpose has a future in it already write this down the future of all creation is hidden in creation flight is trapped in birds and swim is flapped trapped in fish trees are trapped in seeds a cow is trapped in a calf everything that God created he put in it what it’s supposed to become in other words the future of a seed not outside the seed it’s in the seed and so it is with you whatever you were born to do is already trapped in you the future existed before the present this is very important now why am I so confident as a man why am I so confident as a human being what makes me so confident is that one statement right there if you want to face the future with confidence you got to be it convicted in your heart that your future is actually God’s past Oh help me explain this in other words no manufacturer makes a product without finishing it first before Ford Motor Company creates a car it finishes at first it designs it completes it all the engineering drawings everything is set and when it’s finished then they started in other words they present the future first then they go back and create the present now listen carefully now whatever you were born to do God finished first when God decided what he wanted you to become then he decided let me start you so your future existed before your present your present is carrying the future every day and that’s why you shouldn’t worry about 2004 at all 2004 is just another strip of time to reveal what’s already in you that’s already God’s past which you call your future you’ll get it some other time in other words the future is unmanifested purpose the future is a product of a product is the manufacturer’s past God is not wondering about your success in 2004 he already lived your year for you there’s a first subscription in the Bible that’s been incredible he turned to it please Psalm 139 when I was 15 years old it’s be changed my life in high school Psalm 139 verse 14 says when I was hidden in the depths of the dirt of the earth your eyes saw my unformed body the next verse says and all the days of my life now then the word for that says I am fearfully and wonderfully made marvelous of the works of your hands O Lord for my soul knows this the next verse says and all the days of my life were written in your book before any of them came to be did you hear what I just said Psalm 139 14 15 it says I have written your entire life in a book before they begin the next verse says and if I was to count your thoughts about me O Lord it would be so amazing it will be as if I’m the temp to count the sands on the seashore in other words God has some things planned for you that if he told you all of them it’ll blow your mind your future is far better than what you’re doing right now God’s book for your life is already finished you in Chapter 1 some of you in chapter 3 2004 is simply a chapter in the book what you’ve got to do is to contact the author to find out what’s supposed to happen in this chapter can I hear an amen you are not just here to live another 365 days you are here to accomplish some specific things this year that God already planned for your life that’s already finished what’s good about this is that the future is unreleased destiny your futures your destiny trapped inside the future is your predestination the future is God’s path for your life let me whole description I thought was interesting that may help you with this because the future is the end trapped in the beginning let me prove that from the Bible it says in the Book of Isaiah chapter 46 interesting statement please turn that chapter and I want to make these comments about the future your future is not ahead of you but it is trapped within you you possess your future now not tomorrow thirdly God is committed to the future he placed in your present how can you be confident about making it through 2004 no no problem because God is committed to his own investment some of you are wondering how you gonna make it to the end of 2004 with all your bills paid all your needs met and everything that you need provide it I am here to tell you good news the God who gave you that future already is committed to it when God told Moses to go to the turn of Israel and Egypt and tell him he’s gonna let them come out of there he didn’t tell them how he’s gonna pay for it and finance that they told most we’re gonna bring him out and Moses went and told Pharaoh God says that must come and get the people and God says well Moses you go tell Pharaoh let him go and God didn’t tell Moses how he was gonna get the money to finance over a million people in that desert but do you know that before they came out God wait until the last night and in one night God the Bible says cause the Egyptians to be favorable toward the Israelites and they gave them all the gold and silver and trinkets and glass and diamonds and all the wealth and all the food and all the donkeys in other words in one night God financed the whole trip God’s gonna do that for you in 2004 some you tryin to figure out how is it gonna happen God is going to finance your investment that he put in your life because he is committed to his future you put inside your life don’t worry about tuition payment don’t worry about paying off your house bills don’t worry about buying a piece of property why you will get it why because if it’s God’s vision for your life the provisions is already into the for tell your neighbor my sauce is God and my resource is waiting for me let me tell you 2004 has so much wealth for you it’s waiting for you to get there I’m gonna say it again 2004 has so much wealth for you it is waiting for you to get into 2004 matter of fact by January or May or April or September some even have a history of a testimony that you couldn’t believe is gonna happen in 2004 some of the best things are gonna happen to you in 2004 there are some things that you’ve been praying for all this year that God says no why because that gift is for 2004 you’re gonna get some answers you’ve been waiting on in 2003 in 2004 and that’s why God had you wait sometimes because which is supposed to have is not supposed to be in that certain year you’re asking for it there’s a time for every purpose under heaven I heard a word tonight and that is a big open door in 2004 I further named in my spirit on that there’s some big doors about to open for you in this coming year very important write this down please your future is more important than your past thank God because our past many times don’t look too good the reason why it’s good to see you in this place tonight some of you haven’t been in this place for many many days and months but I’m glad you here why because here it’s not a chance for you to start again you can start again under racist not to the Swift so don’t try and compete with nobody here get back in the race God gave you to run can I hear amen run your own race your racist against your own death finding out your purpose or fulfilling it in God write this down please your future is more valuable than your past some of us are so committed to our past failures we got no time to move into the future what a tragedy I am convinced that your future is more powerful than your past why because your future is unlived you can do more with your future than you can with your past can do nothing but you pass so the power in your life is really in your future and 2004 is more powerful in 2003 because 2003 is fixed it’s frozen you can’t touch it all the stuff you’ve done that you’re not pleased to it it’s already history thank God for a new year can I hear an amen very important Jesus died to forgive your past but he also died to salvage your future Jesus did not die for you to relive your past he died for you to start living your future he died because of the investment is still inside of you sound 57 verse 2 I love it it says I cried to God Most High to God who fulfills this purpose his purpose for me I love that he sends forth from heaven and saves me rebuking those who heartily pursue me what a verse David says I cried to the God of heaven who fulfills his purpose for me he will fulfill his purpose that he has for my life he will fulfill means that you ain’t got a comfort no ingenuity to try to figure it out half of the things you think you got to work so hard for God’s gonna give you as a gift and how many things you think I’d be a gift card to make it work for it he has a way to get his purpose to you now what’s good about this verse is you ain’t gotta worry about failure because you cannot fail if God is working out his own purpose for your life can I hear an amen your future in 2004 is not dependent on President Bush decision not dependent on Iran or Iraq or the oil cartel is not dependent on the economy or tourism is dependent on the God who’s working out his purpose for you and God owns the whole planet he can shift things move people and rearrange things for you just to bring past his purpose for your life and I believe he’s gonna do it in Jesus name I say believe God’s about to shift some things rearrange some things and no one can stop for God’s about to do for you that means even if they say it is supposed to happen it’s gonna happen because God is working out things just for you it’s gonna happen you can face the future with confidence without fear knowing that God does not lie Jeremiah 15 11 says the Lord said this surely I will deliver you for a good purpose Wow I love it surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress in other words when folks come against you in 2004 God already got you covered and he gonna make them become your friends even though they don’t like you he gonna cause your enemies to support you and finance your future you might as well get ready for a good time in 2004 I see a open door in 2004 am I talking to somebody here today wherever you are there is a future for your life and it’s already God’s history God’s not wondering about your future listen to me friends and write this down the past is a portion of your future lived that’s all it is it’s not your life stop considering your past your life it’s not your life it’s only a piece of your future you lived already the big part of it is still on lived and therefore 2004 is another opportunity for you to live a real chunk of your true future with no foolishness in it everybody said minimize foolishness maximize wisdom this is the year for you to make as many right decisions as possible sometimes we want to get married in 2003 and God stopped you so you pray for a spouse to 2003 in Gaza hmm if I bring them now you are a mess let me protect them from you sometimes you pursue somebody and God would allow them to like you you know why he protecting them from you but if this year is your year 2004 for you to be blessed with a spouse believe me friends you are gonna walk up the aisle in God’s name why evil fulfilling purpose for you you bet the chair and thank God somebody some of you are nervous to believe that stuff the past is dead except for the life you give it write that down please your past is dead the only way your past can affect you is if you give it life and you give it life by thinking about it and by reliving it I’m talking about it all the time I like what the Bible says forgetting the things that are behind press toward the mark you cannot go to your future if you live in the past the worst way to drive has a lid looking in the rearview mirror a multiple live that way they live staring in this rearview mirror as we bring this year to a close this is the greatest moment that you have you cannot change the past but you could create a new future you cannot change the past you create a new future 2004 gives us hope it gives us hope I don’t know what you’ve done in 2003 that makes you very very sad some goals you had that didn’t come to pass even some good ones just didn’t happen cross your Bibles I want you to take that pass right now young people you maybe didn’t go to school or maybe you dropped out of school or maybe you have to sit out of school this semester and you’re wondering if God is still with you maybe the house you want to build you didn’t quite get it built maybe that business he wanted to stop it didn’t quite happen I don’t know what it is but don’t let the pass keep you back from 2004 maybe your relationship was not the best and you want to try again you want to start again I the Holy Spirit is here right now the Holy Spirit is an eternal spirit lives in time he lives with us he knows how we feel let’s bow our heads together thank you once again for listening to this message as we hope that it has been a blessing to you our goal is to show you new paths and opportunities so that you can discover your purpose it is your love support and partnership that makes Munroe Global possible please visit us online at munroeglobal.com [Music]