Have you every been embarrassed, even ashamed because your personality or your behavior doesn’t measure up to your faith as a Christian? Be encouraged, the God who saved you will restore you. That process is in this video.
The Bible says “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:37. You are born again. You really do love God. And you know He loves you. But you may struggle with anger that erupts before you can control it. Or lust that runs wild in your mind. You might struggle with insecurity, anxiety and fears, despair or depression or something else. After you’ve experienced failure in your weaknesses again and again you begin to feel helpless to change them.
You don’t want to be this way. You wonder, “Why am I so broken?” “Why can’t I be who the Bible says I am? You feel empty, inadequate. You may blame yourself. You may start having doubts about God.
The God who saved you WILL restore you. Redemption includes salvation of your spirit and restoration of your soul (your mind, will, and emotions.) God regenerated your spirit and he will restore your soul. But it is a process and you need to get involved.
God’s plan is to restore us to the high destiny and purpose Adam and Eve had before the fall. To do that, he needs
1st to restore our relationship with Him as our Lord, our Father, and friend.
2nd God needs to restore our ability to rule the earth. This begins with the ability to rule ourselves.
Adam and Eve were given dominion (rulership) over the whole earth. The earth belongs to God. But they were to steward the earth for God. God wants the church – the believers in Jesus, to restore dominion over the earth. He wants us to establish His kingdom on earth.
1st Restoring Relationship. When we were born again, our spirits were regenerated. We became new creatures.
Our spirits were sanctified by God. Sanctified means “to make holy” and “set apart for God’s special purposes.” Holy Spirit now lives in us. We experience relationship with God. We talk to Him and listen for His voice. We feel his presence and his love. Salvation restored our relationship.
2nd Restoring rulership.
Before we can effectively co-labor with God to establish His Kingdom here on earth, we need to rule ourselves.
The soul (the mind, will, and emotions) is the command center of man. Unless our souls are restored by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, our behavior will driven by what we think, feel, or want. We will live soulish lives, driven by our basest desires. We do whatever we want. See Galatians 5:17
We sometimes don’t do the right thing, the thing we want to do. We give in to our desires and emotions.
Unless we are healed and restored, the wounds and pain of our past will cause us to limp through life, born again but broken and causing ourselves and others great pain.
Only God Can Restore Our Souls.
Our restoration begins when we surrender our lives to God and ask Holy Spirit to heal us and restore our souls.
David wrote: “The Lord is my shepherd… he restores my soul.” Psalm 23:1,3
Who restores our souls? The Lord does. Only He can.
Restoration is Called Sanctification in the Bible
1 Thessalonians 5:23 Paul writes:
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is the one who sanctifies every part of us. Like God, we were made to have 3 parts. We are a spirit, who has a soul, and we live in a body.
Sanctification is God’s process to restore us to be whole and complete – who God initially created us to be.
Each part of us is sanctified in a different way at a different time.
Our spirits are made holy and set apart for God’s special purposes when we are born again. Our spirits are regenerated. They are sanctified by God.
Our souls (our thoughts, beliefs, desires, impulses, drives, and feelings) are NOT sanctified when we are born again. They are sanctified over time, as we submit to Holy Spirit and renew our minds with the Word of God
Our bodies are not sanctified on this earth. But we can discipline them and develop good habits. We will receive new, sanctified bodies in heaven.
Activation: Do this and be changed. See the video. (Not included because of space limitations)
As you do this process above, Holy Spirit will rebuild that part of your personality, healing old wounds and restoring you to become the person God created you to be – a new creation who thinks, looks, and acts like Jesus because you have the heart of Christ.
You will live life with joy and peace, purpose and power. Others will look at you and want what you have. That is God’s plan for your life.
Your Life Will Never Be the Same
“What the Holy Spirit is up to is bringing the whole life of Jesus Christ into the whole of our personalities so that the whole love of God can be relayed to the whole world.”
Jack Hayford, Rebuilding The Real You
#davemilford #godrestores