Share This Episode
Leading the Way Michael Youssef Logo

Spiritual Reset

Leading the Way / Michael Youssef
The Truth Network Radio
January 1, 2025 12:00 am

Spiritual Reset

Leading the Way / Michael Youssef

On-Demand Podcasts NEW!

This broadcaster has 630 podcast archives available on-demand.

Broadcaster's Links

Keep up-to-date with this broadcaster on social media and their website.


January 1, 2025 12:00 am

If past failures, mistakes, and disappointments have left you feeling spiritually stuck, it’s time to put away the past and move forward. In this timely message from Philippians 3, Dr. Michael Youssef shares about the power that comes when we receive Christ’s forgiveness, feed on the promises of God, and dwell on His grace and mercy.

COVERED TOPICS / TAGS (Click to Search)
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Blessed new year! I pray that this new year be the year of blessing and the year of fruitfulness for the Lord in your life and in your family's life. May He continue to bless you in a new way this new year. Thank you for responding to the appeal last month. Thank you for helping us to make it to the finish line. Because of what you have done, God is now opening new doors for us and I pray that God will use us both, you and me, together in unity to serve Him throughout this coming year. Welcome to Leading the Way with local Atlanta pastor and international author of more than 50 books, Dr. Michael Youssef. If you're not familiar with Leading the Way or with Dr. Michael Youssef, you may want to visit ltw.org.

That's where you can check out the about or the global work links. You'll be so glad you did. Now coming up next, Dr. Youssef offers a challenge as you begin 2025. A challenge to experience a spiritual reset for the new year. So listen with me to Dr. Michael Youssef's perspective changing words. Turn with me to Philippians chapter 3 and I want to look at verses 13 and 14. I'm going to translate it like a home spun translation.

I always tell you it's a use of translation so I promise you it is accurate. Here's what the Apostle Paul is saying and I'm going to put it in context in a minute. Brethren, I count not myself to have made it. I haven't made it yet.

I haven't reached it yet. But one thing that I do is obviously the one thing that occupies his mind. The one thing that constantly impacting every aspect of his life. The one thing I do is I forget those things that are in my past and I strain forward. I strain strenuously, hard. I strain forward to the future. I press hard toward the goal or the finishing line, the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. Listen carefully.

Here's what he's saying. Rather than dwelling in the past, whether it is failure or success, makes no difference. By all means learn from the past and don't live in it. By all means let the past propel you forward, not pull you back. By all means glean lessons from the past but don't bask in it. In fact the Apostle Paul's lesson to all of us and your pastor is included. Forgetting or letting go of the past and striving forward with every energy, with every ounce of energy that I have toward the future should not be one of many things that we do but should be the one thing that impacts everything that we do. An old time preacher used to say, the Apostle Paul said, one thing I do. The average Christian today says, there are 20 things I dabble in.

I couldn't agree more. Why is that the one thing for the Apostle Paul that he focuses on? That he allows it to be the driving force for all his decisions, for all his lifestyle.

Why is that the one thing that he pushes for? Now think with me, okay, I'm going to explain to you why. Because I know you agree that the Apostle Paul single-handedly accomplished more for the work of God, for the gospel of Jesus Christ than anybody else, including the 12 disciples who walked and lived with Jesus for three years.

Right? He did. Keep thinking with me, okay?

I'm getting somewhere. If Paul was like many of us who tends to live in the past, if he allowed his past sins to haunt him, if he allowed his past blaspheming of the name of Jesus to weigh him down, if he constantly lived with the past guilt of persecuting Christians to be heavy on his heart, if he continuously allowed that vision in his mind which was very visual to him of standing there holding the clothes of Stephen, the very first Christian martyr. And he was there literally participating. He was there watching his last stone that came and hit him and then ended his life.

Just think about this. If he allowed that vision to continue in his life, he would be living in nightmares day in and day out. He would have been totally paralyzed from doing anything that's worthwhile.

He would have been prevented from doing what he did in the power of God and that has impacted the whole world with the gospel of Jesus Christ, not only in his day but even to this day. But he also knew that the forgetfulness of the past or letting go of the past or moving forward from the past or letting the sin of the past go by or being cleansed from the horrors of the past, whatever they may be. He knew that this only can take place because of God's forgiveness.

Beloved, please listen to me. When sin or sins are confessed, when sin or sins are repented of, when sins are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, it must be forgotten. You say, how can I erase it from my memory? I'm going to show you.

I want to show you how it works. Every time you are reminded of your past sins of which you confessed and repented of, you immediately remind yourself that you are forgiven, that those sins are forgotten by God. By the way, it is not enough to just let go of the past because that could be a very dangerous place. But your mind, your heart, your memory, your spirit must be refilled in those empty places that have been forgotten and forgiven.

How? By continuously filling your mouth with praise and the promises of God, by continuously feeding your mind on the promises of God of forgiveness and renewal, by continuously allowing your thoughts to dwell on the love of God, by continuously allowing your thoughts to dwell on the grace of God and the mercy of God. Let me repeat. It is not enough to just try to forget the past, but you strain forward. And you see that in the formula he says, that's what he was doing. He said, not only I let go of the past, but I strain forward. With every ounce of energy, I strain forward toward the future. And I believe the image here that the Apostle Paul gives us is the image of a marathon runner.

He lived in all the Greek culture and they were everywhere, in Corinth and Athens, everywhere he went. Marathon running was a big deal and I think that's the image that he has in his mind here. Because a serious marathon runner cannot afford one second delay because a one second delay can mean the difference between winning and losing.

And so the runner does not waste one second of time looking to the right or looking to the left. He may glance as you see how far he is from his opponent. He cannot afford a second of delay looking at the sky, admiring the blue sky.

He can't afford that. He has to keep his eye where on the finishing line. He keeps his thoughts on that coming trophy.

He keeps his attention squarely on that finishing line. Now, I believe the Apostle Paul has a very clear objective here, at least to all of us, including your pastor. How to face an uncertain future.

I believe that was all. That's the intention of that verse here. And I think most people in their honest moment, when they really kind of come clean with God, most people are apprehensive about the future.

Different things plague different people. In fact, that is why they look back and they stay back. Because they are apprehensive about the future.

The truth is this, listen carefully. Most people are anxious about something in the future, whether it be about their children and children's future, whether it be about the economy of how it's going to fare next year, or the jobs, whether they still have a job, health, financial security, and the list goes on and on and on. And I want you to hear me right, because uncertainty about the future plagues a lot of people.

It really does. But listen to me, for the child of God who has placed his or her complete trust in Jesus Christ need not be afraid of the future. And one of the reasons and one of the keys to do that is to let go of the past. There is nothing that will happen to you which is not already foreseen by your Heavenly Father. God sees the future as a present reality. And God said, I knew you before you were formed in the womb. He knows you when you were a little baby.

He knows you when he knows what happens before it happens. So question, how do you face uncertain future? By trusting that the same God, the same Heavenly Father, who protected you in the past with all of its grief and pain and joy, the one who took care of you of the past, he is going to take care of the present and the future.

Amen? And that is why Paul said, I press forward. I strain mightily forward. I strenuously. I'm putting every energy in this.

Doing what? Keeping his eyes on the end of the race. If you train yourself to keep your thoughts on the finishing line, those of you here may be long enough to know is what I call the audience of one. Every one of us gonna have that audience of one. Keep your eyes on the finishing line. Keep your eyes on the audience of one. And when you keep your eye on this finishing line, when you keep your eye on the prize, you're not gonna waste your time as you're running on the trash that you see along the road. But think, Paul said, all of the great honors that he accomplished and achieved, he calls them trash.

Actually worse than that, but he's not gonna focus on the trash, no matter how valuable in the eyes of the world it might be. You are not going to stop to entertain the spectators. So I talk to them. How are you?

Hey, how am I doing? Yeah. And give praise from the crowd. No, no, no, no. Let them go. You're not gonna look up and become a stargazer.

No. When you are pressing strenuously toward the goal, you're not gonna waste your time on trivia. You're not gonna waste your time on things that are passing. You're not gonna waste your time on losses of things.

They're things. You're not gonna waste your time on your critics. They will always be there. You're not gonna waste your time on your detractors.

They will always be there. Or those who hate you for whatever their reason might be. Paul said, no, I refuse to do this, but the one thing I do, I keep pressing to the finishing line. I keep pressing to the finishing line. Someone said, if you aim at nothing, you will most surely hit it. I couldn't agree more.

Beloved, your finish line, my finish line, is that audience of one I'm telling you about on that final day. Therefore, don't look at the past. It's already been forgiven. It's under the blood of Jesus. It's like Corey Tim Boom used to say, Jesus has thrown your sins into the deepest sea and you better not go fishing for them. Don't look to the sideline. Put blinders on. Refuse to look back because if you do, you're gonna stumble.

Most certainly you're gonna stumble and you're gonna fall. In Luke chapter 9 verse 61, the Lord Jesus tells something that is really very similar to what Paul is saying here. And you say, well, where did Paul get his idea? He got it from Jesus. Remember he spent years trying to learn what did Jesus say? He probably debriefed the writers of the Gospels before they wrote the stuff down. He was anxious to know everything that Jesus said or did. And he was listening to James. He was listening to the other apostles, disciples. Paul learned this stuff from Jesus. And so Luke said that Jesus told three men to follow him.

I'm not gonna focus on all of them, just one. Follow me. But this man said, oh yeah, I will follow you, but let me go first home and say goodbye to my family. Reasonable request, don't you think? You agree?

Yeah, it's a reasonable request. But Jesus who knew all things, Jesus who knew all hearts, Jesus who knew all motives said to him, no. No one who puts his hand on the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God, is fit for the service of God. Oh, isn't that a bit harsh?

Yeah, our politically correct society says Jesus is very harsh. Really? No. See, the plow is pulled by a strong and wild ox. If you are not holding that thing with every ounce of your attention and energy, you know, you're gonna really be dead meat.

You take your eye off that ox and it could literally crush you. Controlling and managing of that ox that is pulling the plow should be a total forward looking and complete concentration. Listen to me, please. Our Lord knew that this particular man is prone to look back and stay back. Our Lord knew that this particular man, if he had not moved swiftly, he will never succeed. Beloved, listen, I know and you know that many of us want to go back to the past, whatever the past may be. And Jesus is saying what Paul is teaching us today, namely, please, please, please, whatever you do, strain forward.

Can I get an amen? Please, whatever you do, don't look back. Don't go back. Don't waste your time on the past. Whatever, it's a regard to failed past failures or past successes or past wrong judgments or past wrong decisions that you have made or past wrong choices or past wrong action. Strain forward.

Strive forward. And the Bible gives us many examples of those who have looked back and stayed back. Demas was a companion of the Apostle Paul, but he went back. And Paul said he loved the present age. John Mark, though later on accomplished great things, but in the early days of his ministry, he went with Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey, but he got cold feet, he got homesick and he said, I want to go home.

And Paul said, you go home, you're not going to be with me again. I wonder how many of us today, and it's between you and God, had you caught in what I call the retrospective glance. Only you know.

Only you know. When the great Apostle Paul said, forgetting what lays behind, it means forgetting everything. Everything in past that is evil, everything that is questionable, everything that is improper, everything that is sinful, everything that is hurtful, everything that is ever done in this hall of life that is displeasing to the Lord. Everything.

But not only that, he also talks about every achievements in the past. Are you with me? Say amen. Amen. Because some people said, ah, look what I did back then. And they stay there.

They stay there. And don't strain forward. Sometimes my beloved friends, past successes can hamper us just as much as past failures. Please, I want you to hear me rather in this one.

Whatever your past, you must deliberately and definitively bring it and throw it in the deepest sea, for that's exactly what God did with them. But there's more. There's more. In fact, there's a whole lot more I want to say on the subject, but I've got a limited time. You need to be willing to burn past bridges, these bridges that constantly beckoning you to come back to the old territories that you have walked away from long time ago, or maybe just short time ago.

Burn the bridges. Say it with me. One of the most encouraging stories that ministers to me from the scripture is what the prophet Elisha did. Elisha is different from Elijah, and a lot of people confuse the two. Elisha, can you say that with me?

Elisha. Elisha was called by his predecessor, the prophet Elijah. He called of God to come and succeed him in a prophetic call. Elijah was a farmer. He was farming a small piece of land when the prophet Elijah called him to follow him, and then Elijah, if you remember, he was propelled into heaven. He did not die.

1919, first kings. When Elijah, he did the call of God in his life. He did something amazing. Something amazing. In order to burn all of his bridges to the past, in order to avoid being pulled back to the old life, he held a big barbecue. Big party. Big barbecue. Invited his neighbors and his friends, and anybody would come at this barbecue, and he barbecued the ox that he was using in his farm. And he said, where did the fire come from?

The fire came from the wooden implements that hung on the ox and pulled the plow. He put that in the fire and got a barbecue going. Everything that held him to the past, gone. Burned. Consumed.

The bridges, all bridges of the past were gone. I believe with all my heart, this is what the Lord Jesus had in mind here when he said to this man, no one who puts his hand on the plow and looks back is fit for the service of God. I want to ask you some questions, and I want you to answer me aloud. Do you want to do great things for the Lord in the coming year? Do you want to be used of God mightily in a mighty way somehow in the coming year? Do you want to live in victory? Do you want to be set free from whatever the past may be? Begin by burning your past bridges. All the bridges that keep taking you back to the old territories that are unpleasing to the Lord.

Burn them today, literally. Elijah not only was willing to accept the call of God, but he burned the bridges that connected him to the past life. And you know what?

God performed almost twice as many miracles through Elijah that he did through Elijah. And beloved, if it is gold that is keeping you from straining forward toward God's goal for your life, cut the golden chain. If it's a sense of reputation that is holding you back, become a nobody for Christ's sake. If it is pride of your own wisdom, you must be willing to become a fool for Jesus. If it is a devotion to pleasure, then you must be willing to sacrifice it and keep on sacrificing it to Christ. If it is an unwholesome relationship that does not belong in your life, then you must firmly, decisively walk away from that relationship. Whatever bridges that are holding you back and constantly beckoning you to come back, burn them today.

Will you remove the chains holding you? Thank you for taking time to listen to Dr. Michael Youssef and Leading the Way Audio. Please do remember that there are lots of ways to listen to Dr. Youssef. And if you miss the radio program, you can catch up at ltw.org. Download the app or subscribe to the Leading the Way podcast.

It's available wherever you get your audio content. Do you read the Bible as if your life depends on it? Well, you should. In Dr. Michael Youssef's book, How to Read the Bible, he reveals how the Bible guides you through life with faith and power. You'll understand that from the first pages of Genesis all the way through the last words of Revelation, God is pointing you toward the Lord who saves completely and eternally. In a day when so many preachers are saying that we need to ditch the Old Testament, we need to give up the Old Testament, I'm going to show you in this book how to read the Bible, that the two Old and New Testaments are interrelated. You cannot have one without the other.

One does not make sense without the other. And so I hope you're going to read that book and you're going to apply it to your life. It will strengthen your faith and your trust in the Word of God. Learn how to get your copy of Dr. Youssef's book, How to Read the Bible, today when you visit ltw.org.

Dr. Youssef's book, How to Read the Bible, is a perfect way to begin this new year as you'll learn practical ways to dig deeper into your spiritual journey. Get the ordering details when you visit ltw.org. ltw.org. And of course, you can call us too at 866-626-4356. This program is brought to you by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. Connect further with audio and video content at ltw.org.
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-01-02 08:28:31 / 2025-01-02 08:37:00 / 8

Get The Truth Mobile App and Listen to your Favorite Station Anytime