Saturday, July 30, 2016

the Restorer

(Restoration of an Antique Watch)
The word Restore, Restoration, Restorer, or any other form of the word Restore is found in the Bible at least 83 times, but what does this all me? However, before we can determine the meaning of this, we must know the meaning of the word restoration. According to the very intelligent individuals at Dictionary.com the word restoration simply means the act of restoring; renewal, revival, or reestablishment. The state or fact of being restored, and finally a return of something to a former, original, normal, or unimpaired condition... Now, wouldn't we all like a little piece of restoration in our lives... Now, let's see what the Bible has to say about restoration...


Proverbs 6:31 states that we are to be restored sevenfold...
Psalms 23:3 David tells us that God restoreth his soul...
Mark 8:25 Jesus restored sight to the blind man...
Luke 6:10 Jesus restored the hand of the cripple man...

The accounts of God’s ability to restore what has been lost are too numerous to count; however, we cannot discuss restoration without mentioning God’s promise in the Old Testament Book of Joel...

Joel 2:21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things...
Joel 2:24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil...
Joel 2:25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you...

(the enemy)
So, what does this all mean anyway? Great question, and here's the answer, God wants to return to you, everything that the evil one, aka. the devil, has stolen from you, your family, your loved ones and even their families. As we all know, Christ Jesus has all the power of the heavens above, the pits below, and the right here, and right now... The Lord can restore to you, all that has been lost or stolen, so there is no reason to fear. Our bad or past relationships, any old sin, or any number of mistakes will not stop us from reaching the promises of God, which he has given to each and everyone of us... Well, except you, me, and ourselves... Whatever the enemy has stolen from us, is still available to us, but you've got to go get  it, claim it for yourself... But in order to reclaim it, you have to call upon the Name of the Lord, for He is our Strength, our Song, and our Redeemer... So, what's the first step? first, you must believe...

As we know, according to the Word, Belief always comes before reward, John 3:16 For God so Loved the world that He gave us Jesus Christ, and whosoever Believes, shall receive life everlasting, and if we skip over to Hebrews, we will find that if we fail to have Faith, Belief, it is impossible to please God, for we must believe that God is, and that He is a rewarder to those who seek after Him... Repentance comes next, as Peter stated with much energy and excitement, Repent and be Baptized, everyone of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of our sins... After this, we shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost... But, there is one step missing here, it is forgiveness. Now, you may be under the assumption that I am going to now mention the forgiveness of others, and yes, this is a very important step; however, here, it is the forgiveness of self that is the question...


In this day and hour, it is sometimes very easy to see the need to forgive others of their mishaps; yet, we seldom see the need to forgive ourselves, and even when we do, it is very difficult to forgive ourselves, instead we simply move forward,selfishly holding on to our “misgivings” as if God is not big enough to both forgive our sins, and cast them as far as the east is from the west, permanently removing the mistake forever from our memory. 

(Jesus Writing in the Sand)
In John chapter 8, the Lord Jesus Christ has been confronted by a group of  Scribes and Pharisees, condemning a woman for the act of adultery, when the group asked Christ what should be done, He began to write in the dirt  while speaking, “He that is without sin, cast the first stone;” slowly, they all walked away, leaving Jesus alone with the young lady. Shortly thereafter, Jesus arose slowly and asked the young lady, “where are your accusers has no one condemned you?” Answering Jesus‘ question, she stated, “No man my Lord,” and here is where it gets good, “neither do I condemn you: go, and sin no more.” So, what does this all mean? well, simply put do not condemn yourselves for the things that you have already been forgiven for... forgive yourself, let it go, and move on... Once we learn to forget about what God has already forgiven us for, then, and only then are we ready to regain, what was taken from us in the first place; why? because we have taken the ammunition out of the hands of lucifer; thereby regaining control of our lives, and allowing the Restorer, to begin to work in our lives... Restoration...

I Samuel 12:16 
Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes...