Month: February 2021

“Restored!”

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When my computer shuts down unexpectedly while I’m online, when I sign back on, in the corner of my screen there appears a button that says “restore.”  This button is designed to take you back to the tabs and sites you were visiting or working on before the crash or shut down occurred.  It is there to bring you back to the place where you once were.

Have you ever experienced a shutdown moment in life?  A time when it seems that the walls came crashing in and you lost sight of where you were?  Has there ever been a time when you just need a refreshing?  You needed to step back, evaluate everything presently before you, and start again?  I’m pretty sure we can all raise our hand to attest to being in similar situations at one time or another.  A time when you just felt depleted and needed to be restored.

Restoration is right up God’s alley.  Everything in the Bible points mankind to His holy desire to see people restored.  God cares about us.  Not only the spiritual us, but He cares about all of us.  Every tidbit in life, He is well aware of.  Many people only look to God in the big and dramatic areas of life, but God is concerned about your well-being in the whole of your life.

John once wrote, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth,” (3 John 2).  I believe that John wanted us to walk out the restored life in our daily living.  Not just claiming it for our salvation (which, needless to say, is very important), but to have it as an active mindset that goes before us and prospers us in every part of our daily living.

Slumps are all around us, but we are not called to be slump dwellers.  We have a choice of how to handle the strains and afflictions we face in this life.  Peter gives us this advice:

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” (1 Peter 5:6-10)

In these few verses, Peter doesn’t hide the adversities one faces, but he highlights what to do with them.  First, he states to humble yourself before God and let Him exalt you (vs. 6).  When God is the one exalting you, you are restored!  Next, in verse 7, he tells his readers what to do with all those cares that are weighing you down, all those things that are making you feel like you are in a shutdown mode.  He says to get rid of them.  And, we are not to dispose of them any kind of way.  We are to give these burdens to God because He is the One who truly cares for you.  Once again, if God is caring for you and helping you to deal with your burdens, you are in a restored position.

There are things that can try to hinder and rob you of the restored life.  Following the above two verses, we see some of the afflictions and dealing with the enemy that people face and how we are to be on guard against the advances of it and be steadfast in our faith through it all. We have a responsibility to protect our restored status while pushing forth in the faith.

And lastly, in verse 10, Peter lets us know that though there may be suffering at times, it will never compare to the glory that we inherit by our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is He that will see us through.  It is He that will make us perfect.  It is He that will “stablish, strengthen, settle you.”  It is through Him you can be restored!

In our everyday life, as well as in the time to come after we pass from here, in Christ, we live a restored life.  Once in a while, we may feel that we have been knocked off our rocker, but remember who you are and whose you are.  In Him, we don’t have to stay in that “knocked off” state.  Follow Peter’s advice and give what you are dealing with to God and ask Him to hit the restore button in your life.

God wants you to be blessed in Him.  He wants you, more than anyone else, to live a successful Christian life.  Let Him in your world, your circumstances, and your situations, and lean on Him for complete restoration and healing.  He will pick you up, polish you off, and make you like new again.

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“Jesus Didn’t Let Discouragement Win!”

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“Jesus never fails,” is something I have heard quoted many times over in church.  There is no greater truth for the Christian to hold on to for in it we find consolation for our souls.  Coming across this passage in my Bible, this particular verse wouldn’t let me go.  It held on and refused me the opportunity to pass it by, demanding that more attention be paid to it.  It says, “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth,” (Isaiah 42:4).

Knowing the power of our Lord, of course I know He never fails.  As a matter of fact, it is something you and I count on daily.  The part that really jumped out at me was that He does not get “discouraged.”  That is something that this flesh of mine CANNOT boast about.

We are easily swayed this way and that with the moving of our circumstances and our emotions and just plain old life itself.  But, Jesus never let anything sway Him.  He never let anything drag Him off course from where God wanted Him to be.  As a matter of fact, He repeatedly let us know “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me,” (John 6:38).  Discouragement didn’t stand a chance against the will of God planted so deeply in Him.

Let’s really think about this because if anybody had a reason to be discouraged, Jesus did.  Think of His walking up and down the shores of Galilee, some followed Him just for miracles and some for ridicule, purposed to find fault in Him.  Think about the many times He performed a miracle for others and yet when it came the time that He would need people the most, “they all forsook him, and fled,” (Mt. 14:50).  If it were me I would have felt so used but Jesus’ response was “but the scriptures must be fulfilled,” (Matt. 14:49).  God’s will was still prominent over His emotions.  Yes, He got upset sometimes.  Remember when He overthrew the tables, (Mt. 21:12)?  But, He never let discouragement win!  He never let discouragement take Him off course!  He never let discouragement gain the upper hand.  Wow!

Jesus had every right to be discouraged with the way things were but He did not give it the opportunity. Discouragement is a pit.  The more you swim in it the deeper it takes you under.  The fact is we do what Jesus didn’t do, we give it the opportunity.  Jesus let nothing frustrate Him from doing what He had to do.  What about us?  How often have we or do we swim in that pit of discouragement only to wonder why we can’t get anything done around here?

There are going to be upsetting times in everyone’s life and I will never downplay those.  Even Ecclesiastes tells us, “To everything there is a season,” (Ecc. 3:1).  But, if we find ourselves dipping too often in the pool of despair then we have to wonder why do we keep giving it the opportunity to control our lives?  Why do we keep giving it a place of position instead of responding like Jesus did?

Sometimes it does get hard but I believe we have to make a conscious decision to respond the way Jesus did and to not let it frustrate us from everything that God has for us and wants us to do.

Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic).  See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details.