Welcome to Wednesday’s Word! Happy New Year! Happy New You! Join me as I share with you a weekly Word from the Lord on FaceBook live at noon PST and then posted on my website in written form. The Lord has great things for us in 2020 and this new decade.
Thank you to those who have been following my weekly blog this past year about Living the Abundant Life Jesus came to give us. You can see my blogs on my website at Https://alexiscarucci.com. You can also find a free eBook to download entitled “Are You Living the Abundant Life? Keys to Living the Abundant Life Jesus Came to Give Us” compiled from some of my previous blogs.
This week’s word is Restoration. God is a restorer of all things. He wants to restore His relationship with you and to give you peace, joy, health, provision, etc. God restores all things! As we look at who God is in this new year and the beginning of this new decade, remember, God restores all things. He is restoring the “awe” of who He is and what He will do i.e., miracles, signs and wonders (Mark 16:20; Acts 2:22; 43; Hebrews 2:4). He doesn’t just make things new and bring them back to their original condition. He makes things better, whole, stronger (Job 42:10 – 17). There are abundance and increase in His kingdom.
Restoration begins with a relationship with Him, and everything else we receive from Him flows from that position. Mankind lost relationship with God after Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden. God, the Father, initiated His plan of salvation to redeem humanity back to Himself through His Son Jesus Christ and restore us to our rightful place as His sons and daughters.
God created man in His image, according to His likeness, placed him in the garden to have dominion over the earth, then blessed him (Genesis 1:26 – 28; Psalm 115:16). Adam and Eve lost dominion of the earth to Satan, but Jesus Christ took it back through His sacrificial death on the cross by the shedding of His blood and His resurrection from the dead (Galatians 3:13; Matthew 28:18). God made way for everyone who receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to be reconciled and restored to a right relationship with God and to be at peace with God.
For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. Colossians 1:19, 20 (NKJV)
Becoming a son or daughter of God, the Father is the beginning of restoration! If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you can receive Him into your heart right now. The Bible says:
That if you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:9 – 10, 13 (NKJV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13, 14 (NKJV)
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the circumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. Colossians 2:13 – 15 (NKJV)
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Matthew 28:18 (NKJV)
“Behold, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Luke 10:19 (NKJV)
Heaven has received Jesus until the time God restores everything when Jesus delivers the kingdom to the Father (Acts 3:21; Revelation 21:1 – 5). Until that time, we as followers and disciples of Jesus Christ advance His Kingdom here on the earth in our lives and our families, cities, and nations. God is bringing restoration of things that happened in the early church that we see in the book of Acts, to the church today. There is a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit and waves of glory! God wants to use you in this time. You are here on earth at this time and place to advance His kingdom.
It is Satan, the enemy of God, and us who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Jesus came to give life and that more abundantly (John 10:10). Let’s look at some verses where God declares our restoration because we are His sons and daughters.
When found, the thief must restore double (Exodus 22:4) and sevenfold (Proverbs 6:31).
‘For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds, says the LORD’… Jeremiah 30:17a (NKJV)
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Psalm 23:1 – 3 (NKJV)
“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you.” Joel 2:25 (NKJV)
“As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope, even today, I declare that I will restore double to you.” Zechariah 9:11, 12 (NKJV)
The devil takes advantage of us, e.g., what we eat, betrayal by a friend, someone you love has died, trouble at work, sickness, our attitudes, self-reliance, etc. But there is hope to get out of the pit we may have found ourselves in!
What do these verses mean? Olen Griffing explains it this way in his sermon at Gateway Church. God is saying that because we have a blood covenant with Him through Jesus Christ, He will set us free from whatever pit we find ourselves in, whether it’s been from our own making or from things that are outside of our control. It doesn’t matter!
There is a provision for returning to the stronghold. The stronghold in this verse is not referring to an enemy stronghold as in dealing with spiritual warfare but is referring to God as our stronghold. We can’t get out of the pit on our own. Communion with God is what keeps hope alive. If you have lost hope, return to God, who is your stronghold. The Holy Spirit will restore hope to those who need it and ask Him. When we run to the Lord as our refuge and strength (Psalm 18:1 – 3), He will tell us what to do.
When God speaks of us as being prisoners of hope in Zechariah 9:12, it is a good thing. Bible hope is the expectation of good, of a promise fulfilled; therefore, we can be a prisoner of hope. God speaks hope into our lives through His promises found in His Word! He wants us to be free. Stand on His promises in faith, and your life will change!
Faith is the confident expectation that what we hope for is going to come to pass and without it it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 (NKJV)
There is also a promise of restoration. God says I will restore double to you (Exodus 22:4; Zechariah 9:12). Now we know the devil comes to steal (John 10:10), but Jesus has already defeated him, so he has no right to steal from you as a believer in Jesus Christ. If you receive by faith the promise from the Lord that He will restore double to you, it will come to pass in its season. Don’t lose hope!
So whatever you need to have restored this year, your marriage and family relationships, health, financial stability, or provision, etc., come to the Lord and receive it. Decree and declare His Word and victory over your life! Prophesy over your life (Revelation 19:10).
I am a new creation in Christ, old things are passed away, and all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).
God’s favor surrounds my family and me as with a shield. (Psalm 5:12).
The Lord restores double to my family and me what the enemy has stolen (Joel 2:25; Zechariah 9:12).
All my needs are met according to God’s riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).
I am healed and my health is restored (Psalm 107:20; Jeremiah 30:17).
The Lord restores my soul (Psalm 23:3).
The Lord will satisfy my family and me with long life and show us His salvation (Psalm 91:16).
As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD (Joshua 24:15).
The Lord will restore to my family and me the joy of His salvation and will uphold us by His generous Spirit (Psalm 51:12).
References
Griffing, Olen. (2016). Prisoner of Hope Sermon at Gateway Church. Fort Worth, Texas
Living the Abundant Life 