The Hard Reset – In God I Trust
A typical computer can process billions of bits of data per second, with the exact amount depending on the processor's clock speed and architecture, but a modern high-end CPU can handle processing billions of instructions per second.
A modern cell phone is significantly more powerful than the computers used to put a man on the moon, with a vastly superior processing power, memory capacity, and overall functionality, making the Apollo Guidance Computer on the lunar missions seem extremely basic by today's standards; a typical smartphone has hundreds of thousands of times more processing power than the computers used in the Apollo missions.
Our brains are like computers.
Information scientists have found that the average person living today processes as much as 74 gigabytes (GB) of information a day through TV, computers, cell phones, tablets, billboards, and many other gadgets. That’s the equivalent of watching 16 movies, reading over 200,000 words, or scrolling on TikTok for nearly 200 hours.
And every year, our brains take in 5 percent more information than the previous year. To further put this into context, consider this: only 500 years ago, 74 GB of information would be what a highly educated person consumed in a lifetime, through books and stories. Furthermore, in 2011 alone, we took in five times as much information every day as people did in 1986 – the equivalent of 174 newspapers.
What we sometimes forget, however, is that our brain is a living, active organ. Unlike a machine or computer that passively responds to inputs and processes data, the neurons in our brain are living cells with a metabolism. They need oxygen and glucose to survive – and when they’re processing an onslaught of information nonstop, they can easily get tired.
I want to continue tonight with the same theme that Pastor Joseph has been preaching on Sunday mornings. Arise- Get up. Isa 60:1 "Arise! Let your light shine for all to see. For the glory of the LORD rises to shine on you.
Here is the problem that we face sometimes. In order to Arise - get up, we have to realize that we are down. And sometimes we don’t realize it until we are completely shut down, and we find ourselves not able to function the way we are intended to.
As I look around the room tonight I see quite a variety of ages and backgrounds. Some of you came to know the Lord at such a young age you probably can’t remember not having Jesus in your hearts. Others may have come to the Lord just recently or in the last few years. A large part of us are somewhere in between that. And there are many religious backgrounds that we could all talk about. But there is one thing that I am sure that we all have in common. I would guess that everyone of us has come or will come to a point in our lives where we have served so long, studied so much, prayed so often that everything becomes just a matter of fact – it’s what we do! I know I have questioned if I am making a difference, if my understanding of scripture is accurate, or if God even hears when I pray. Like my brain as well as my spirit man has been overloaded and I’m freezing up. Nothing is happening.
It’s kind of like what happens with your computer when you get too much data in the system and the process gets slow or sometimes even freezes. Sometimes turning it off and back on helps, but sometimes it takes a hard reset to get moving in the right direction.
According to Google, a "hard reset" is a process on an electronic device that restores it to its original factory settings, essentially deleting all user data, applications, and settings stored on the device, similar to formatting a hard drive on a computer; it's often used to fix software.
Key points about a hard reset:
1. Performing a hard reset will erase all data on the device, so it's crucial to back up important information before doing so.
2. A hard reset can sometimes resolve software issues that can't be fixed through other methods.
3. After a hard reset, the device will be returned to its original state as it came from the manufacturer.
Of course, tonight’s lesson isn’t about computers. It’s about what happens when you get to that place in your spiritual life, where it seems like, no matter what you do, what you are doing has become so routine, that no matter how much you study, or pray, or work, there’s just blank space.
You’re not alone. David, the man after God’s own heart wrote this.
Psalm 13:1 How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?
We know that David was God’s anointed king, a man after God’s own heart. And yet, David had his problems didn’t he? After his affair with Bathsheba and the subsequent murder of her husband, when he realized the disconnect that there now was between him and the Lord, he wrote, Psalm 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which You have broken may rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Turn it off and back on. Correct your direction and get back in step with the Holy Spirit.
But sometimes it goes deeper than that.
Sometimes, we need to do a hard reset to get back to our “factory settings”.
A hard reset, would be necessary when a device is experiencing significant software issues like frequent crashes, unresponsiveness, inability to boot up properly, corrupted settings, or when you need to completely erase all data and start fresh; essentially, when a simple restart isn't enough to fix the problem.
Specific situations that might require a hard reset:
1. Frozen Device: Stuck and Going Nowhere…
If your device is completely frozen and won't respond to any input, a hard reset might be the only way to regain control. Honestly, I am in the process of coming out of a personal time like this. I’ve worked – done “ministry” stuff. School of Ministry, Children’s church, serving on staff…I haven’t neglected my Scripture reading, I still pray but many times - NOTHING. I was going through the motions and just couldn’t figure out how I could make things right. I have a book at home that is titled “Surrender”. One of the lines that keeps coming back to me is one that I often overlook in my process of doing. It says, “Before you do the work of the Lord, remember the Lord of the work.” The apostle Paul entered the city of Corinth after a series of devastating events in his ministry; beaten and imprisoned in Philippi, run out of town by the “religious” Jews in Thessalonica, who then followed him to Berea and did the same thing. Then into Athens where he encountered a city full of philosophers and pagan shrines on every corner, with limited ministry success. When he got to Corinth we see from 1Co 2:3 , I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. Somewhere along the way Paul did a hard reset. He went back to the beginning. 1 Co 2:2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power,
Whenever we are going through those dry spiritual seasons what do we do? How do we get back to where we need to be? Stop dwelling in the past. You can’t change what already happened. But you can decide to move forward.
Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Church, that’s a hard reset. After a hard reset, the device will be returned to its original state as it came from the manufacturer.
2. Major software glitches: Missing Important Information
When your device is experiencing severe software errors that can't be fixed with updates or troubleshooting steps. The Word of God just doesn’t seem to be working. John 8:31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Those software glitches we experience might include a real disconnect from hearing the voice of God. How do we respond to that? The answer is persistence.
Go back to the word… Psalm 119:89, Your word, LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
The whole time we are trying to get back to the truth of God’s word, we have an enemy that is constantly telling us, Is that What God really meant? Surely He didn’t say that… Oh, God doesn’t do those things any more. Those days are in the past…
About three weeks ago I had the chest congestion , coughing and fever that’s going around… I didn’t feel bad. I was just kind of out of it! I spent a lot of time just hoping I would get better. On a Friday night, as I was reading my evening devotions and journaling, the Lord spoke to me. “You’re forgetting something.”
“What?”
You are forgetting what My Word says about healing.”
You see, at this point I had been sick long enough I just wasn’t thinking clearly. I was focused on my sickness rather than the Healer. I had forgotten a major component of my spiritual make-up. I believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God. In my weakness, I had forgotten to stand on God’s word. 2Peter 1:20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
God’s word is true. He doesn’t say things for no reason. So that night I prayed according to the Word. Lord I know You don’t want me to have this sickness. In Jesus’ name I stand against the enemy who brings sickness and I command this sickness to leave. I went to bed praying in the Spirit. At about 2:00 in the morning I woke up drenched in sweat. The fever had broken. The congestion was gone.
John 15:7, If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Get back to the basics… Believe God’s Word!
3. Password Issues: Forgetting What Prayer Does…
If you've forgotten your password and can't access your device, a hard reset might be necessary to regain access. The password I’m talking about is prayer. You can never get so far from God that you are more than just a prayer away.
Romans 8:31-34, What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
I want you to look at the word “intercession”. Intercede in the Greek is the word Paga and it means “to meet”. So Jesus as our intercessor not only sits at the right hand of God to defend us. He is the one who creates meetings between us and God. He is the one who opened up the Holy of Holies in the temple so we could enter boldly into the throne room of God. He is the One who, when we pray, makes a clear and unobstructed pathway to the Father so we can present our needs before Him, or to just be in His presence. He is the one who uses us here on earth, to make intercession for the lost until the veil of unbelief is lifted.
So Pray. It unlocks the kingdom promises here on earth.
Jas 5:13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.
Jas 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
Jas 5:15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.
Jas 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.)
Jamess 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Jas 4:9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
So let’s close with this.
Do you need a hard reset?
1. Frozen Device: Stuck and Going Nowhere… Go back to the beginning. Remember the cross. Just spend time there and reflect on what happened there. Then forget what is behind and move forward toward the prize.
2. Major software glitches: Missing Important Information. Get back into the word and act on it in faith. Be like Mary, “According to your word Word, be it unto me.” Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
3. Password Issues: Forgetting What Prayer Does… Get back into the habit of praying prayers of faith. Approach the Lord with fear and trembling, but with full assurance that He hears and answers prayer.
Proverbs 3:5-6,
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
Psalm 13:5, But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
