2013: Restoration

I seem to be hearing a common theme throughout the Body of Christ that I find interesting... 2013 is the year of restoration. The year that God will restore to us everything the enemy has stolen.  While I do believe that God will restore the "things" the devil has taken from us over the years, I also believe we must concentrate on the most important restoration...the restoration of relationship between God and man. 

God gave me the following process of restoration after I went through a divorce as a young mother of two children and in my early twenties.  I would like to begin a series on restoration in this blog and I want to share the process God showed me so many years ago.  I believe if we look to the Word of God and follow step by step and believe what He says, we can and will be restored to right relationship with Him.

As Christians, once we acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, King of Kings, and we give our hearts and lives to Him, we must represent the Kingdom in which we have chosen to live.  Our actions with our bodies and our words must represent the Living God.

1 Corinthians 3:16 – Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

How do we represent the Kingdom of God and provide the Holy Spirit a dwelling place worthy of a King? 

Restoration of the heart and soul is much like restoring an old home. When restoring an old house there are a few things that a contractor will evaluate.

1. The foundation
2. The roof
3. The interior walls and use of space
4. The floors
5. Painting and decorating

There are five restoration principles. Each is based on a stage of restoring an old house.  We are going to start with the foundation.

The first question we have to ask is:

1.  What is the condition of the foundation? 

Every foundation must be strong enough to withstand weather, storms, time.   Every foundation must be taken care of and constantly examined for fractures that could cause weaknesses or falling away.

1. Is it cracked and broken?    I Corinthians 3:11 – For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
2. Is the foundation uneven?   John 14:6 – Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."  There is no way to restoration unless we first pass into Jesus. We must know Him.  We must acknowledge He is first and foremost our Bridegroom. We also cannot know the Father without knowing the Son.    Matthew 11:27 – “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father.  Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”  Proverbs 10:25 – As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foun Is the foundation strong enough to support the structure?
3. Is the foundation strong enough to support the structure? Luke 6:48 – “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.  And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded[1] on the rock.”
4. Is the foundation built on solid ground – on the rock? Isaiah 28:16 – Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily.”     Ephesians 2:19 – Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 – having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 – in whom the whole building, being fitted together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. 
5. What happens when we do not build our foundation on the rock? Luke 6:49 – “But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell[2].  And the ruin of the house was great.”

We can do nothing, be nothing without a solid foundation built on the rock. Without Jesus Christ as the Cornerstone of our faith, beliefs, lives, hearts, then whatever we try to build will not stand.  He holds all things together.

Tomorrow, we will continue with "We know the Chief Cornerstone is Jesus Christ, but who is He?"  We need a clear understanding of who He is to move forward with our solid foundation. I pray this information is helpful and I encourage you to read and study on your own and see where God would lead you on the subject of restoration in your own life.

I am compiling all of this information into an e-Book and will post when it is ready for download.  Included in the book is the different stages in which God led me through each stage of the information I am sharing with you.  Please feel free to contact me with questions, prayer requests or comments.  Interaction is always welcome!

 

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[1]Well built [2]collapsed