Reset Series: Reset

Reset Series

Reset - Part 2

January 7, 2018

Here we are 7 days into the new year, 2018. So how are you doing with those new years resolutions? If you're struggling or already blown it I want to encourage not to give up or quit. Maybe the following facts from the 1500’s can help us here. Did you know that during that time..
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. (I always thought it was the florists association that came up with the idea!)
Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, next to all the other sons and men, next to the women and finally the children; last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it; hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater".
So I want to tell you don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater if you have already lost sight of the goals for the year. Don’t give up, give in or quit but instead do a reset.
A hard reset or factory reboot is often the key to getting phones, computers to operate the way that they are supposed to or the way that they were designed to. When the reboot is done they return to the original code program.
There is no better operating system or coding for successful living that God’s Word. It IS the original code – program for our lives. Take a look at our text this morning….
2 Tim 3:16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. NIV
Play video from Sermoncentral “The Bible”
A Spiritual reset requires that I …

1. Reset my Commitment to Scripture because V.16 All Scripture is God-breathed

1. God’s Word to me

Did you notice that the text reveals that scripture is God-breathed?
This is the only use in the Bible of the Greek word theopneustos, which means “God-breathed, inspired by God, due to the inspiration of God,” but other scriptural passages support the basic premise of Scripture being inspired by God.

• The Bible says God breathed “the breath of life” into Adam (Genesis 2:7)
• The New Testament Records, Jesus “breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (John 20:22).
• And Peter tells us we that “prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God” this means Scriptures coming directly from God, not from the will of the writers He used to record them.

Matt 4:4
Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word, that comes from the mouth of God.' NIV
But not only is it God’s word to me, it is….

1. God’s Plan for me …. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for…

• As it says in the message paraphrase of this verse ‘living God’s way!”
• What would our lives look like if you and I lived the next rest of 2018 living God’s way?
• The following video might give us insight into how it would look.

Play video from Sermoncentral – “Here on a Mission”
Hope you caught the intent of the video to show us that so often we think to live God’s way we have to pack our suitcase and move away. – when it just might be right next door!
The second step in doing a reset requires that I …

1. Reset my thoughts & actions to Scripture 16 is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness

1. I must be correctable

• Sin blinds us to corrective criticism
  • Now I want to remind those of us who love to give corrective criticism that timing is everything! As the story of the woman who shot her

Husband on the clean floor shows….
A police officer jumps into his squad car and calls the station.
“I have an interesting case here,” he says. “A woman shot her husband for stepping on the floor she just mopped.”
“Have you arrested her?” asks the sergeant.
“No, not yet. The floor’s still wet.” by Rose Mattix, Decatur, Illinois
Our text says that we must be open to God’s correction… do you remember

• The Story of Cain and Able offerings – Able offered from the firstborn of His herds and Cain from the fruits of the field. The Bible tells us that Able’s offering was acceptable but Cain’s wasn’t.
  • Although I can’t prove it I believe that God must have already given them instructions. How did they know to even bring an offering to God if this wasn’t the case?
  • Either way, God spoke a word of correction to Cain – instead of being open to it – correctable – He ignored it and Cain’s sin (pride) consumed him and he murdered Able

1. I must be teachable

• When I first started ‘running’ for exercise and stress relief I wasn’t very teachable. I errored in thinking – “What is there to learn or be taught about running? You just tie your shoes and head out the door!”

• The first thing I painfully discovered was there are shoes and then there are shoes. I don’t know how many weeks I had been running went one day when one day when I rolled out of bed I almost collapsed on the floor as pain shoot through my legs. I have been running in deck shoes and given myself a serve case of shin splints! After six weeks of healing and recovery, I learned all about the proper running shoes. Now I knew everything I would ever need to know about running!!! – Because I wasn’t teachable more pain was to come my way. Pain that was so avoidable had I taken the time to learn and be teachable.

• The second I discovered is that there are shorts and shirts and then there are shorts, and shirts specifically made for running. I found out on a 12 mile run the cotton moving repeatedly in the same place on skin literally acts like sandpaper on the body!!!

• Before we leave this second point – I want to point out the obvious. A reset to God’s Word where we are correctable and teaching – trained and instructed by God’s word will guide to right living. This right way to live will help us to avoid some pitfalls as well as the dangerous and painful events of life!

The final step in doing a reset requires that I …

• Reset my Purpose according to Scripture v. 16 & 17 - ….training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. NIV

1. To be a godly person

• This takes training – please note to be godly does not mean to be perfect
• A godly person is one who seeks to live a life that pleases God – sometimes they get it right and sometimes they miss the mark!
  • That is where the being correctable and teachable comes into play
  • I want to live each moment in life as a teachable moment
  • I want to understand that every event/circumstance in life is an opportunity for training in right living/righteousness

• A person seeks to reflect God in and through their existence
• Our purpose is simply this to bring Glory to God and reveal him in everything – everything – everything we say and doing our purpose our existence is all about HIM!

1. To do good works

• We aren’t saved by them, but the Bible clearly tells us that we reflect God through them.

Matt 5:14-16
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. NIV
Conclusion:
In closing, I want to remind you that “The Bible describes God’s truth as milk, water, bread, and meat. “
I think that it uses these metaphors because they are sustaining – you & I can’t live without them! If you want to experience a fulfilling in 2018 and beyond reset the operating code of your life to follow the Word of God.

• Give him control – starts with confession of our sin – correctable
• Many of us have done this – its time to set up and further our training in righteousness
• Call to Prayer and Fasting for 2018