Resetting Your Life
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3UiieDq1Jk
There’s an old saying, “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
With the pandemic and its high mortality rate coupled with a worldwide financial crisis and social upheaval, there seems to be an understanding amongst world leaders that the world needs a reset. They are calling it “The Great Reset.” And what they’re calling for is a complete deconstruction of all the existing national agendas, and in essence, pushing the “reset” button for a new global agenda.
John Kerry, past U.S. Senator, Secretary of State, and committed environmentalist, speaking about a recent World Economic Forum said, “This is a big moment. The World Economic Forum is really going to play a front and center role in refining the Great Reset to deal with climate change and inequity – all of which is being laid bare as a consequence of COVID-19.”
Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, said, “Canada believes that a strong, coordinated response across the world and across sectors is essential. This pandemic has provided an opportunity for a reset.”
Executive Chairman, Klaus Schwab, of the World Economic Forum said, “The COVID-19 crisis has shown us that our old systems are not fit any more for the 21st century. In short, we need a great reset."
In his report, “COVID-19: The Great Reset,” Klaus talked about how the coronavirus has “brought economic disruption on a monumental scale contributing to a dangerous and volatile global upheaval – politically, socially and geopolitically – while raising deep concerns about the environment and the extending reach of technology into our lives.” And how nothing will ever return back to pre-COVID normal.
Actually, he used the terms “before coronavirus” (BC) and “after coronavirus” (AC).
But what he writes about, is how this whole idea of a reset shouldn’t take us by surprise. He said, “If such profound social, political and economic changes could be provoked by the plague in the medieval world, could the COVID-19 pandemic mark the onset of a similar turning point with long-lasting and dramatic consequences for our world today?”
Now, while his report deals with many areas, the two areas that stood out to me, and that which is readily recognized is that of economics and social unrest. And what we’re presented with are everyone’s ideas, or what I call “Think Tank Politics.”
In the heart of the pandemic in 2020 the think tankers, from this report found it hard to imagine how inflation could pick up anytime soon, and that in a post pandemic era, strong consumer demand is unlikely. Well, those two predictions have fallen flat on their face, and it only took a couple of months.
Now, this is not a message about the state of the economy or world, but I really need us to understand what I am referring to when I talk about our need to “reset” our lives.
To reset means to make an adjustment, to set something to a new setting, or to set it back to its initial state. And so, while the reset they have imagined deals with the world around us, the reset that God desires is about what lies within us.
Humanity, as far back as Adam and Eve has fallen short of God’s glory, that is, we’ve fallen short of His holy and righteous standard for life. But rather than keeping us in this condition, God, through Jesus’s death and resurrection, hit the reset button so that we don’t perish in our sin.
Today, I think it’s safe to say that things have not been all that great, and what we see and hear, is that it’s only getting worse. Life, as some say, bites, and the world has a hold of us and is conforming us to its way of thinking and is getting deeply ingrained in our souls.
And because of this we need to hit the reset button in our lives that will reset us back to God’s original design, that is, to our initial state and then into a whole new plan, purpose, and future. We need to reset ourselves to get where God wants us to be, and not where we want to be, or where the world wants us to be.
For those of us who know Jesus as our Savior and Lord, remember what it was like in the beginning, where we would spend time with Jesus and being generally overjoyed with this new life. This is the reset that God is calling for. It’s where we get back to that child-like faith because this is what will make a difference in the world, literally.
And to do so we cannot forget the time when we first fell in love with Jesus as we were delivered from sin and death and made alive in Him.
In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus has now made those who were dead in their trespasses and sins, alive in Him, and He has raised us up, reset our lives, with heaven as our eternal home.
But we, like the church in Ephesus, have forgotten God’s great love for us, and have put behind us this love relationship for Jesus for the cares of this world. It’s the one thing Jesus said that He had against the church.
Jesus said about this church, and therefore about us, “I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place--unless you repent.” (Revelation 2:4-5 NKJV)
In other words, reset.
We need to hit the “reset” button, which is more about living as a new creation in Christ, and less about trying to muddle through life on our own. No one needs to remain in the same old place, entangled in the same old sins. Those things have passed away. We can choose to start over!
If you are sensing from the Holy Spirit that you need a real and lasting change in heart and mind, I encourage you to spend some unhurried time in that secret, quiet place, where you can meet with God.
Let’s keep in mind that each day when we rise, God’s mercies are renewed toward us. And so, as the message title indicates, let me give you some steps to reset your life. But, let me make this disclaimer, and that is, this is not just those who need to reset their lives to Jesus, but also to those who need a reset in their relationship with Jesus, in other words, getting back to that first love relationship.
So, let’s take a look these steps that I see the Bible talking about.
Look to The Future
In other words, where do we want to be once it’s all said and done?
This was something that many of those greats of the faith did as we see in God’s Hall of Faith, or Hebrews chapter 11.
• ïOf Noah it says, “Being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household.” (Hebrews 11:7 NKJV)
• ïIt says that by faith Abraham dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country because, “He waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (Hebrews 11:10 NKJV)
• ïOf Moses, it says, “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:27 NKJV)
All of these kept their eyes on the goal because they had God’s vision. We need to see our lives and this world through the eyes of the Lord.
So, what is the vision that God wants us to look towards, what is the finish line once this life is over. It is heaven, and we reach heaven only through faith in Jesus Christ and what He did upon the cross.
Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 NKJV)
Jesus also said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6 NKJV)
And so, let me end this first point with what the writer of Hebrews says for us to have this kind of faith and vision.
He said, “Keep looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2 NKJV)
Determine Core Values
Core values are those values that form the foundation upon which we conduct ourselves. And for those who are Christians, these values that have stood the test of time because they come directly out of the Bible. These have not varied and have guided humanity successfully for millenniums. When humanity has gotten off track is when they fail to follow the Bible or changed its meaning.
Now, there is an awful lot that is there within its pages, so what are the main core values that we need to that will help us reset back to God our creator.
One of these core values was asked of Jesus by one of the religious leaders of that day. He asked Jesus, “What is the greatest commandment of them all?”
And Jesus replied, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39 NKJV)
Next core value is our belief in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord and living our lives for Him.
This was a big core value of the Apostle Paul, and one he lived his life by. He said, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21 NKJV)
Now, often it is the second part of this verse that is looked upon as we contemplate our ending as believers, and that is, heaven, or as Paul said, “to die is gain.” But, in the meantime we are here upon the earth, therefore we need to live for Christ while we are here. This means that Jesus is the example by which we live, and for this to take place we are to pursue our knowledge of Him, which comes from the Bible. And it also means that Jesus needs to be our focus, goal, and ultimate desire.
Move Beyond The Past
If we don’t know how to deal with our past, it can really mess us up. The problem that most people have with their past is that it controls both their present and their future.
When it comes to the past, there exist this overall conflict in our need to both remember it, and yet forget it at the same time. What do I mean?
Yes, we need to remember our past so that we don’t make the same mistakes a second or third time. There is a popular quote that says, “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” And this has been proven true throughout history.
But the Bible also gives us another reason as to why we are to remember the past, and that is to remember what God did for us so that we can by faith move into our futures.
This is what Joshua reminded the people to do as they were to move into their inheritances in the Promised Land.
“You have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the Lord your God is He who has fought for you.” (Joshua 23:3 NKJV)
But we also can’t allow the past to hold us from moving forward as well. This is what the Apostle Paul tells us.
“I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me … forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14 NKJV)
So how then can we keep our past from stopping the great future God has for us, it is through confession and repentance. That is, to ask God to forgive us, and then turn away from it and turn then towards God and His ways.
Surround Ourselves With Believers
“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25 NLT)
The writer of Hebrews is talking to fellow believers in Jesus Christ, and in accordance with the law which calls the Sabbath a holy convocation, that is, a specific time set apart by God for His people to gather. Not only was it to be a day given wholly over to the Lord, but it was also a time to worship, along with the reading and teaching God’s word. (Leviticus 23:3; Luke 4:16; Acts 15:21, Mark 6:2; Acts 17:2)
This is then equivalent to our attending church today.
It is in these times that we find those who are then likeminded, that is, other believers with whom we can share life together and encourage one another especially seeing that the Day of the Lord is getting closer.
Paul tells Timothy this very thing, that is, to gather together with other believers to help him escape the clutches of the temptations of this world.
“Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22 NKJV)
Maintaining The Reset
We have often heard and have experienced that when it comes to computers how they have been infected with outside malware and viruses, and therefore they need to be reset back to their original factory settings.
And this has been what we’ve been looking at in our time together in how we need to reset our lives back to our original setting in our relationship with God, one in which we had in the very beginning and one that Jesus came to restore through his death and resurrection.
But how can we keep ourselves as close to that setting as possible so that another crash doesn’t come that prevents that relationship from continuing.
In the computer world, this is done through purchasing various anti-virus protection programs. These when installed they keep the dangerous viruses from becoming implanted in our computer’s operating system.
For our lives, there are several of these that we need to apply. It starts with becoming filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7 NKJV)
Jesus will send to us the Holy Spirit to become implanted in our lives, and when that happens He will lead and guide us into all truth (John 16:13).
But we also need to keep ourselves in God’s word, the Bible, as we are told “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV)
And this needs to be couple with prayer, which the Apostle Paul tells us, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV)
These three steps will help restore and repurpose our lives and help keep them in line with God. But as in everything, we cannot keep ourselves 100% pure, and so God has given us one more step to help in our reset, and that is confession.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 NKJV)
Conclusion
In the series, “The Chosen,” Jesus and Matthew were together as Matthew was writing what Jesus was going to say in His Sermon on the Mount. Matthew pointed out how much of what Jesus was saying was negative, and there wasn’t enough that was positive.
Jesus said, “I’m not to be here to be sentimental and soothing. I’m here to start a revolution. I’m talking about a radical shift. Did you think I was just going to come here and say, ‘Hey everyone, just keep doing what you’ve been doing for the last 1,000 years, it’s been going so great.’”
And while this is a drama of the historical account, what I see from Jesus and His coming was that He wasn’t coming to say, “keep on keeping on,” but rather, He was coming for a great reset, the greatest reset in all humanity, resetting us back from the course that we have been on from the time of Adam and Eve, and resetting us in order to get back on track with God. In other words, the reset button needed to be pushed in people’s lives.
