April 22, 2024
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
The word restoration in Hebrew is Shuv and it means to return, to turn back or to make better. It is also the act of returning an object to its original owner. Restoration is a common theme that runs through the bible, salvation and creation are both restoration stories.
Restoration is primarily unto God and focuses on God getting truly what belongs to Him. The greatest restoration is to bring back the being that God created in His image and likeness. True restoration is to bring us back to God. Restoration could be a person or a church that has been brought back to God. We understand that restoration is God’s will and if it is His will, then it is His bill.
We are building churches and not kingdoms, the bible states in Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”. God is bringing about the restoration of the kingdom. We as believers, must be about building the kingdom of God and not just merely interested in erecting church buildings.
True restoration is to bring us back to God.
When Jesus reigns and rules over a city, such city has 3 manifestations which include righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. If these spirits are missing in the local church, this local church is going nowhere. The kingdom of God must be established in the power and authority of God as seen in Acts 1:8. The kingdom of God is established in the hearts of men, and this is done via restoration.
We are created to dominate. The work of God in the New Testament is the restoration of mankind to God. We must endeavour to leave the season where all we know about God is what He does for us and who He is.
God wants to make us the solution to the issues of life, and we must be prepared to be used by God. An important question we need to ask ourselves is would we still serve God if He took everything we had. We should not serve God because of what He gives us but because of who He is - Job 42:12.
We do not serve a God of losses but a God of lessons. When we walk with God, we count our lessons and not losses as God is a God of restoration.
Our walk with God should be reflective of God’s passion to restore all of mankind back to Him. We must make up our minds to constantly work with God to bring about the restoration which He so dearly yearns for.
Song of Worship
You’ve got times and seasons in Your hands, you called forth light our of darkness
you don’t need no man to be the God You are but you have chosen to call me your own.
Prayer - Dear Lord, give us the grace and wisdom to work with you in restoring mankind back to you in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Bible in 1 year: 2 Samuel 19-20; Luke 18