Monday, November 12, 2012

The God of Restoration

Early this morning I woke up and was laying in bed, pondering and praying for some dear people who are struggling in relationships with loved ones…
 
Praying for healing…
 
     Praying for forgiveness…
 
           Praying for humility…
 
                  Praying for reconciliation…
 
                        Praying for restoration…
 
The girls and I have been reading this series:
 
We are reading the first in the series: Tales of the Kingdom.  There is phrase that the people of Enchanted City call out…
 
 
 
“To the King,
To the Restoration…”

The people in the Enchanted City are all in need of the Kings touch to restore them…

 
 
I have been pondering this restoration...
 that the Lord wants to bring…
          
         to strained relationships…
 
               to hurting relationships…
 
                    to broken relationships…
 
I have seen in my own life… when restoration needed to take place… these requirements, the Lord’s requirements were needed:
 
He has shown you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.    ~Micah 6:8



I have seen that  Restoration in Relationships requires these 3 things:
 
1. Repentance
 
David prayed…
"Restore to me the joy of my salvation." ~ Psalms 51:12
 
David knew the damage that sin had done in his life. He knew that he needed restoration from the Lord. Sin had robbed him of his joy. Only the Lord could restore this joy to him.
 
David knew he needed to repent in order to be restored in his relationship with the Lord and ultimately to act justly moving forward…
 
Sometimes this sin is on our part and we need to repent…
 
2. Receive and Reach out in Forgiveness
Once we have repented, we need to receive the forgiveness of the Lord…

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins
and purify us from all unrighteousness.  ~ 1 John 1:9
sometimes this sin is on the other parties part and we need to forgive…
 
David experience the need to forgive, while he was being chased by Saul, who wanted to kill him… David had an opportunity to retaliate against Saul… but chose to love mercy…
 
“Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense.
Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you.”
- Colossians 3:13 (The Message)
 
3. Rest
 
David also understood that relationships can be draining..
 
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. ~ Psalms 23
 
David’s knew that his shepherd, the Lord, was the one who made him lie down in green pastures, and led him to quiet waters.  David did not restore himself, God did. God made David take time out to rest because he needed it.

Our soul (mind, emotions, and will) takes a beating in this thing we call relationships...

Restoration is a PROMISE. One of God’s many magnificent and precious promises is which reads…
"For I will restore you to health, and I will heal you of your wounds declares the Lord."  ~Jeremiah 30:17
We have to believe that God promises to restore our soul and our relationships…
 
But restoration is also a PROCESS.  God heals instantaneously. He can touch us and restore us in a second, but renewing a weary soul and restoring a wounded heart takes time.  We need to rest in this promise and patiently in humility wait upon the Lord as we walk with Him…
 
If you have a relationship that requires restoration…
The Lord is waiting for you to come and be renewed.
 
 
The King of Restoration said it best...
 
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My load is light." ~Matthew 11:28-30
 
Portions taken from: http://www.tonycooke.org/free_resources/articles_others/about_restoration.html

Things I am thankful for this week:

His perfect restoration
awesome youth
spending time serving
spending time with youth this weekend
opportunity to minister in the community
Charlie and Jasper
prayers of the homeless
gifts of ministries in my children
seeing my children discover more about their gifts
watching hubby play wii
hubby that loves to play
prayers of the saints
hugs from fellow mama’s of the heart
prayer for renewal
balancing school with down time
those who serve our country

~ to the King, to the Restoration…

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