RESET!

“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press …” (Philippians 3:13)

Each new season is an opportunity to reflect, recalibrate, refocus, reposition, and restart (similar to a typical race; “On your marks, get set, ready, go!”). This means that every new year offers a chance for anyone to reset, affording a fresh start, novel opportunities, innovative ideas, new propensities, unconventional thinking, revolutionary approaches and so much more. Most commonly used in the in the tech space, a reset is inevitable and strategically indispensable for optimal functioning and output.

According to an online dictionary, a reset in the human space implies or involves any of the following:

• To move something back to its original place or position
• To position something again
• To change the reading of something, often back to zero
• To set, adjust, or fix something in a new or different way
• To start something over again or adjust it
• To turn off and then on again and return to its original settings
• To clear any pending errors or events and bring a system to normal condition or an initial state
• To change a machine, an instrument or a control so that it gives a different time or number or is ready to use again
• To establish a plant in fresh soil again

In my mind, a reset is simply a fresh start; commencing (a new year, season, venture, etc.) on a blank page, a clean slate, a new chapter …

The Greatest Story Ever Told

“You formed every bone in my body when You created me in the secret place; carefully, skillfully, You shaped me from nothing to something. You saw who You created me to be before I became me! Before I’d ever seen the light of day, the days You planned for me were already recorded in Your book.“ (Psalm 139:15-16)

Bestselling author, speaker and pastor John Maxwell tells of a time in his early years when he received a book titled “The Greatest Story Every Told” from someone he greatly respected and admired. A 1965 biopic of the same title depicting Jesus’ life from birth to ascension chronicles Divinity’s humanity over its thirty-three year span. I can only imagine that John felt he would encounter something just as epic when he delved into this new publication. Opening the book with great anticipation, he was shocked to discover its thick pages were completely blank – save for the one his benefactor had inscribed with the following words, “John, your life is before you. Fill these pages with kind acts, good thoughts, and matters of your heart. Write a great story with your life.” Needless to say, the encounter was as close as it could get to the original on the epic scale. That pithy gift marked his life forever.

The object of this encounter is not lost to the astute reader. Our Creator has gifted each of us with a carefully customized and specially designed bestselling manuscript, the completed work of which existed in the invisible (yet just as real but infinitely more permanent) realm long before we were born. On this side of heaven, the pages remain blank until we fill them with the doings of our lives; how we invest, spend or waste our budgetary time allotment on earth. In the context of our current discussion, those blank pages represent the unlived portion (remainder) of our lives that frantically beckon at us every new day and in each new season, clamoring for our attention, imploring for a life reset so we can fill them with a unprecedented, riveting and uniquely inspirational story of immense greatness.

Get Up And Go

“However, none of these things move me, neither do I consider my life worth anything; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me …“ (Acts 20:24)

Paul the Apostle is a favorite among lovers of Jesus because of his radical, 360 degree conversion, revolutionary gospel approach, unique Scriptural insights and teachings, spiritual stalwartness and renown, penmanship of over two-thirds of the New Testament, and several other distinguishing characteristics. My favorite is his unwavering “get-up-and-go” attitude, reflected in everything he did and manifesting everywhere he went. Imprisoned and persecuted many times over, he remained dauntless and unstoppable. Indeed, he coined the statement, “…but the Word of God cannot be imprisoned,” which in my lifetime seemed most glaring and globally evident during the recent covid 19 pandemic.

Paul wrote two-thirds of the New Testament from various prison cells, usually after being severely beaten and subjected to other severe hardships. Despite this, his indefatigable attitude persistently impelled him onwards and forward. A few examples of such instances are:

~ After surviving a devastating hurricane (Euroclydon) and its resultant shipwreck on the remote island of Malta, he endured a bite by a poisonous viper that he nonchalantly shook off as though such was the most natural occurrence in the world. Afterward, he went about his business without a care, while onlookers observed initially in petrification and later in utter amazement!

~ Stoned (literally, not by illicit drug or alcohol use as modern lingo may suggest) and left for dead outside the city of Lystra, he got up, dusted off his clothes and on the next day, moved on with his friends to the next city on his missions itinerary!

~ While incarcerated, he addressed many doctrinal, administrative and operational concerns and penned many of the classic teachings and foundational truths of the body of Christ. Only a few of many are found in the examples demonstrated in Philippians 1:13; 21-25; 3:10-14; 3:7-14; 4:4-8; 4:13; and Galatians 2:20.

~ As mentioned previously, he constantly encountered significant hardships. After severe beatings to a pulp, grave manhandling, or some other catastrophic event, he would pull himself together and jaunt along to his next assignment without skipping a beat.

~ He was preaching late into the night in Troas when a young man named Eutychus dozed off to his death (he fell out of a third floor window while trying to stay awake through Paul’s long sermon). Paul interrupted his sermon long enough to head downstairs, comfort his distraught listeners, and resurrect the dead man, then went back upstairs to break bread and continue talking till daybreak. Who does that??

The Party Pushers: Pity & Patty

“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, … The righteous chooses his friends carefully … Make no friendship with a man given to anger …, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare … Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
a stranger, and not your own lips.” (Proverbs 12:25-26; 22:24-25; 27:2)

Many people are prone to perpetually groaning and bemoaning their circumstances. The economy, political arena, life’s ills, losses and failures, organizational imperfections, family drama, work challenges, and past successes and failures are some favorite perching points that many camp around and build monuments to. The resulting gathering may be eerily similar to a pity or patty party. A pity party, as its name suggests, is the indulgence in a dirge-like reminiscence of the woes and ills of the past or present, while the latter is less easily recognized but just as destructive. A patty party is celebratory in nature and often done in the privacy of a person’s psyche to honor their past or present accolades and accomplishments, relishing and reveling in them with complacent self-adulation (i.e., the proverbial pat on the back, albeit self-generated in this instance …).

While the events leading to both scenarios are valid, undeniably worthy of acknowledgement and not to be trivialized in any way, staying in those frames of mind can be destructive, paralyzing, and downright lethal to a person’s progress and destiny. Both of these party types leave people too stuck in their past to advance into their {glorious} future. Having been an expert pusher of the pity party type prior to experiencing Jesus’ saving love, I can sympathize and identify with this propensity. That said, the freedom and deliverance I experienced when I came to know Him inculcated a strong aversion to anything that vaguely resembles such, i.e., whining, griping or wallowing in the mire of past pleasantries or putrid pain. I avoid both types of party practices and practitioners like the plague, and when unavoidable, emotionally disengage and uncompromisingly refuse to participate in either type of tirade. This stance is usually sufficient to douse any rising embers of what I have respectively nicknamed the “Whine and Cheese” or “Tea” party invitations. The former is an inclination to focus on the negatives, the latter, on past positives. Neither party scene is ideal, healthy or desirable. Vehemently declining both invitations protects against the infection of one’s attitude in a way that is pivotal to maintaining the clear thinking and health of mind, spirit and atmosphere that are required to optimize every new season and destiny progression in general.

Reset 101

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. The wild animals in the fields will thank me, the jackals and owls, too, for giving them water in the desert. Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland so my chosen people can be refreshed.” (Isaiah 43:19-20)

How then do we set ourselves up for unhindered success by resetting to a blank page or slate this new year? The following are scripturally-backed, tried and true methodologies that produce desired results. Please study the associated verses and recommended resources to fully grasp each.

1. Review >> Proverbs 4:26-27; Joshua 1:7
2. Regroup >> Heb 12:12; Joshua 1:8-9
3. Retreat (See podcast references below; refer to the “Know Retreats, Know Surrender” series on this site) >> Mark 6:31-32; Luke 4:1-2; 5:16; 6:12-13; 22:39-44
4. Repent (from any known sin, wrong-doing, mistakes, missteps, things done to principal people/gifts God placed in your life that you dishonored along the way) >> Jeremiah 10:23; 1 John 1:8-9; James 5:16
5. Recharge >> Isaiah 40:30-31, Lamentations 3:25-26; Psalms 27:13-14; Isaiah 35:3
6. Realign/Reposition (for success) >> Hebrews 12:13; Isaiah 40:3-4; Proverbs 4:26-27
7. Rejoice (Approach the year from a vantage point of joy, which engenders strength and consequent victory!) >> Philippians 4:4; Nehemiah 8:10; Isaiah 12:3
8. Run! (The “Go!” aspect of each reset, and in my view, the most exhilarating!) >> Joshua 1:2-3;11; Isaiah 60:1-2; Mark 16:15-16

Run To Win!

“Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!” (1 Corinthians 9:24)

Dear friend, your personalized 2024 race has begun, and your Heavenly Father has many new, specially prepared, pre-scripted pages, parts and packages waiting for you to fill, open and apprehend! Have you taken the time and steps necessary to reset for success, or will you “wing it” in hopes of stumbling into your desired outcomes? Remember the preparatory instructions for every race (On your marks, [re]set, ready, go!)? You cannot be ready if you have not reset for the new race before you. You only have one chance to fill each page of the year with your own “Greatest Story Ever Told.” Do what it takes to reset and guarantee your race-readiness and road-worthiness this year; … RUN TO WIN!

For Your Listening & Resetting Pleasure & Edification