The restoration of God’s restoration

The mindset that many people have adopted these days is that things can’t get better and that a lot that has been broken can’t be fixed. There is a strong feeling that we can’t get out of the hole that this pandemic has dug in our lives. Hope has left the building and doubt is a permanent resident in many homes. All we can think about is how bad the situation is getting and there seems to be no end to the chaos. “How will this get fixed?” many are wondering. What will it take to get back to a normal life? Is there a way to go back to normal or are we heading toward a new normal that is dismal and discouraging? There is a way. There is hope. There is a truth that will make things right. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. He is the One who can and who will fix this. He knows the way to do it, He holds the truth that will set people free and He has the life that changes everything. What we all need is to restore our faith and our hope in God’s power of restoration. God is still the same. He is the God of miracles and the God of restoration. He will give us what we need and He will fix everything that is broken. Not just some things but everything when we believe. Today I want to encourage you to go back to where your faith once was or to reach the place where your faith sees restoration and reparation.

The word “reparation” usually refers to the making of amends for a wrong one has done by paying money or by helping someone to whom a wrong was done. God is in the business of reparations. When Jesus died and rose again, the biggest reparation was paid to the world. He made amends for the wrong the enemy did to the world and for the wrong sin did to humanity. He made things right with God and He helped every human being that will ever believe in Him. He fixed the biggest problem the world would ever face and His reparation is still true today. Whatever you are facing today can be fixed. It was fixed on the cross and now your faith can make it come to pass. Go back to the cross today. Go back to what Jesus did for you. Spend time in the Word, study it and meditate on it. Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God. Like many people nowadays what you hear is gloom and doom and your faith has been damaged by the terrible reports. Scary things are happening in the world but they don’t change the good news of the Gospel of Jesus. He came to set the captives free. He came to set you free. This is not the end. Jesus will put an end to this. Build your faith back up. Go up the hill of hope. Get out of the valley of desolation. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever!

God will restore what was taken from you and give you beauty for ashes, hope for every doubt that has been sown in your heart and peace for every storm of worry that is thundering in your mind. “Restoration” is a powerful process. God will restore your life to where it was before and more. You see, with the Lord there is always an increase. You go from glory to glory. This means that His restoration is better than the world’s restoration. When something is restored in the world, it goes back to the way it was before. With the Lord, the restoration goes to a higher level. Life is restored according to His standards and not according to the world’s standards. I remember that after I spent a time in the wilderness even though I had been saved, God’s encounter or re-encounter took me to another level. He gave me peace that I had never known before. He opened my heart to worshiping Him more than ever and He put a zeal in me that I didn’t know existed. God is going to bless you in ways you never knew were possible. Stay in faith. Get into the habit of declaring that God is restoring your life. Keep on praying and keep on praising. Your Sunday morning is coming. It won’t be Friday night forever. Stay encouraged. God’s restoration is about to impact your life. Praise Him!

Suggested reading: Amos 9:14; Isaiah 61:7; 1 Peter 5:10

Do you know your place of worship?

Many religions have a place of worship. It’s a building or a consecrated space where people gather to perform acts of devotion, adoration or study of their religion. You have probably heard that we Christians are the Church. Our Church is not necessarily a building, it’s the people. It’s up to us to decide what kind of Church we are going to be. Are we going to be a people who gets together to honor God? Are we going to be a God-fearing Church? Are we going to be a Church that puts love of God and of people first? Are we going to be a whining Church? Are we going to be a Church of faith or a Church of fear? We define the Church because we are the Church. As a Church, one of our most important practices should be to worship the Lord. We should be a place of worship or we should have a place of worship in us. How often do you visit your place of worship?

 

Being the Church, do you let worship be a big part of who you are? I am inviting you today to visit your place of worship on a regular basis. Be that place of worship that people like to go to knowing that in you they can find the voice of adoration, the voice of peace, and the voice of joy that the world is longing for. You are the Church and you are the song that glorifies Jesus over the enemy. You are the song that doesn’t give up and that keeps on singing of the mercy of God even when things are going wrong. You are that song that chooses faith over fear and that keeps on going even when the going is tough. Be that place of worship that knows that God will always make a way. Be that place of worship that studies the Word and that meditates on it. Be that place of worship that promotes love over hate and that talks about God’s goodness all the time.

A place of worship is a safe haven where God is the number one focus. Why do I call it safe? It is often known for being a space where God is. God’s presence is in the place of worship. God is in the Church. He is in us. The Holy Spirit came to dwell in us. He has a place in our hearts and He plays a major role in how we connect with the Lord. As the Church, we need to be cognizant of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Being a place of worship implies being a place that hosts the Holy Spirit. As hosts of His presence, we ought to quickly transition to becoming guests of His presence. As guests, we let Him have His way. We let Him be in control. He is a gentleman with a heart of gold bigger than the universe so He will certainly take care of us and be the most amazing host there is. When God’s Spirit is the head of your place of worship, miracles take place. Transformation takes place. We die to self and we allow Him to come alive inside of us. His fruit starts to grow and our fears and doubts start to go. The Holy Spirit will show you how to pray, how to praise and worship and how to love. We can’t be the Church with a house of worship that doesn’t know what love is. Love is not our own definition of who deserves to be loved. Love is Jesus and He loves unconditionally.

A place of worship is also a safe haven because it is a structure where you can feel welcomed and loved. As we worship the Lord, we embrace all that He is. We embrace His character, His grace, His mercy, His death, His resurrection and His sovereignty. God is the ruler of our hearts and when He dominates us, His love becomes our natural reflex. We react with love, we act with love, we speak with love and we think through love. We are the Church and we are the representatives of the Lord of love. Let’s visit that part of our place of worship every day. Let’s dwell in that place so the world sees that there is peace and comfort in the Church. God’s love in us should be a magnet for the lost, a refuge for the broken-hearted, a hospital for the sick and a space for everyone to congregate. As the Church, our words should echo God’s kindness and reflect His majesty. How often do we sing sad songs of complaints and discouragement? When we do, we misrepresent the Lord. We go from being a place of worship to becoming a place of worry. Worry should have no room in the Church. Let’s decide to ban it from entering our doors. Let’s not allow fear to sit on the pews of our lives. Let’s put a “No entry” sign in front of our place of worship so that doubt gets the message every time it tries to come in. You and I are the Church. We can remain in worship mode if we choose to. Let’s choose to be the Church of the One who gives life. Let’s live in the place of worship of Jesus. Let’s be united under one roof; the roof of the Spirit of God wherever we go. We are God’s Church!

Suggested reading: Matthew 16:18; Hebrews 10:24-25; Colossians 3:16

Tribulations will come but the Lord will never leave you

As I was praying the other day. I was reminded of one of the verses that has been an anchor in my faith walk for years. It gave me a better perspective about what has been happening. Jesus Himself said that in this life we would have tribulations. What is a tribulation? It’s a trial, it’s trouble, it’s problems, it’s difficulties. A hard time is a tribulation. A tough season is a tribulation. Now, we all have problems and they are al different. Some are bigger than others. Some are easier to deal with than others. Some seem impossible to overcome. Some are a piece of cake. Some keep us up at night. All these things fall under the category of tribulations. Think of the smallest problems you have ever had and the biggest ones you have had to face. This pandemic is definitely a tribulation. What does Jesus have to say about it? In John 16:33, He declared that those tribulations were part of life. There is nothing we can do about that. As long as we are here, difficulties and challenges will come. It sounds alarming but He is warning us and encouraging us. He ends His declaration by adding that He had conquered the world. His conquest covers everything that will ever take place in this world. This includes this virus and the havoc it’s been wreaking. Saying that it is a bad situation is an understatement but saying that God can’t get us out of this mess is a wrong statement. Today I want to set the record straight and quote the Lord; in this life we will have tribulations but let’s not lose hope because Jesus conquered the world. Spend time meditating on this truth every day. I suggest you do it in the morning. Get yourself spiritually charged up in the morning so you can deal with what the day brings. Your spiritual strength will spill into your emotional sphere. Attack your emotions early with the positive message from that verse. Things are bad for now but let’s be of good cheer. The Lord conquered these tribulations and we will see a change in due time.

 

The whole verse* is “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” What an encouraging statement! I love it! I pray that it speaks to your heart and that you keep it in your heart. Those words are like honey soothing the throat of a sick person who has not been able to say anything because of the pain that life has caused him. Have you ever been at the point where you couldn’t speak because things were just too intense in your life? I know that many people feel that way and that beautiful truth spoken by the Lord can bring some major relief. He tells us that in Him we can find peace. The media and the news will not give us peace. They have to present what’s going. Their tone can be very destabilizing and frightening. We have to be aware of what is going on but we can’t let that sink in and drop into our spirits because it will mess us up. It will chip away at our faith and it will weaken our spiritual core and send our emotional equilibrium into unbalanced disaster. Peace is key these days and it can be found in Jesus. Like I said earlier, it is crucial to start the day with the Lord. It is important to let His message get inside of us first thing in the morning before the news comes and tries to uproot our serenity. I like to thank the Lord first thing in the morning. I thank Him for everything. I center myself in His goodness and I let His love be all I see and all I acknowledge. It is as if I let myself drown in His presence. Get filled up with Jesus in the morning and you will have peace to face the day.

 

We can’t ignore our tribulations. Closing our eyes and pretending that everything was fine is not a solution. The Lord never said we should do that. He wants us to stay in faith and to stay strong. He sees us as conquerors because we are the children of the One who conquered this world. See yourself as the conqueror that you are. You are conquering fear. You are conquering anxiety. You are conquering this virus and you are doing it all in the name of Jesus. He is the One who is making all the winning possible. Lean on Him. Rely on Him. Do not lean on your own understanding but depend on God’s understanding and His understanding dictates that you are going to make it and that you are going to be in His peace as you remain in Him. Tribulations will come but the Lord will never leave you!

Suggested reading: John 14:27; *John 16:33; 2 Thessalonians 3:16

 

 

10 nuggets of wisdom for your Saturday (Part 114)

Give people some encouragement every day and it will go a long way. Give people some peace every day and it will change their day. Give people some love every day and it will bless their day. Give people Jesus every day and He will pave the way!

The Lord can take all this negativity and darkness and turn it into “ground” for bigger miracles. Things that no one has seen before. The enemy will amplify the darkness but Jesus is going to overthrow it as we stay in faith and pray.

Stand up for those who can’t stand. Stand up for those who keep bending. Stand up for those who keep folding. Stand up for those who keep falling. Stand up in the name of Jesus and help those in need of strength by keeping the stand of faith.

When you are all over the place, go to the one place where your heart can be comforted, your mind can be fed and your soul can be healed. Go to the Word of God. It is a place of healing, love and peace.

Let God take care of everything. He will show you what you can do and He will help you with what you can’t do. God can do it all and He will help you through it all.

The end of your misery starts with the end of your disconnection from God. Get that connection going again and the sorrow will go away again.

If we stopped worshiping the Lord, rocks would start singing. Let’s sing and let’s make sure that our songs are strong like the rocks that adore the Rock of your salvation.

When life tells you you have a hundred problems, tell life that you have Jesus. You have one Savior, one God, one Lord. He can deal with your hundred problems in one powerful way; His way!

God keeps on preparing new mercies to put on the table before. Expect new blessings and new beginnings every day. What’s coming to you is bigger than what happened to you yesterday.

Speak from the bottom of your heart. Speak from the heart of God. Speak from the platform of love. Speak encouragement and speak blessings into people’s lives. Speak the language of God. Speak the language of love!

Suggested reading: Lamentations 3:22-23; Psalm 30:1-2; 2 Corinthians 8:8-9

Put it all in God’s hands

A new month has just begun and with it comes the hope of a better season for the world. People are wishing for the best for April. There is a glimmer of hope and many of us are praying for a new page to be turned. Who knows what this month is going to bring? Only God knows. What should we do then? The best thing to do is to put it all in God’s hands. We can’t predict the future but we can let God take care of it. We can trust Him with the month of April. We can refuse to worry about it and not to let fear dictate our thoughts by casting our cares upon the Lord. I have decided that I am going to put every day in God’s hands. I have been doing that for a while but I find it critical for me to do it more aggressively now if you will. I am going to spend time in prayer putting the day in God’s hands. When I pray in the morning, I will not only give up on controlling the day with worry and empty expectations but I will also thank God for what He is going to do during the day. Empty expectations are expectations that are based on feelings, emotions, rumors, what the world says and not based on God’s expectations for us. God has some expectations for all of us. He expects to give us the best that life has to offer. He expects to give us the abundant life that Jesus bought for us. A life full of the riches of His Spirit. It is a life led by the Spirit and a life that embraces the Holy Spirit. What could be more abundant than that? People will say that Jesus came to give us an abundant life filled with material goods. God is Spirit and He is more concerned with our spirits and our hearts than our physical possessions. It doesn’t mean that He won’t provide for us. He does and He will. When you put your trust in the Lord, your cup overflows. There is not only abundance of peace and joy but there is also abundance of all goods things according to His will. Today I am inviting you to put everything in God’s hands. Expect His blessings and expect His love. Expect to get to know the Spirit of Jesus better. Expect this new month to be a month where knowing Jesus like you never have before is going to be a goal and a way of life.

 

When I take my worries and fear and I put them in a bundle that I give to Jesus, peace has room to come in. I am convinced that the Lord’s peace is always around waiting for an access point. It is there in the Spirit of God who is in us but it can’t always surface or get in when there are blocks caused by anxiety and fear. When we react to life with fear, we suppress peace. When we react to life with worry, peace has a red light and it can’t proceed. You will say that it is easy to proclaim, ‘Do not fear” and the reality of it can be complicated. It is not easy when we try to do it all alone and when we don’t believe that it is what we are supposed to be doing. God would not ask us not to fear if it were impossible for us. One thing that has worked for me is to say it out loud. I say “I do not have a spirit of fear. I am not going to fear. The Lord tells me not to fear so He is going to help me and bless me. Fear doesn’t belong here.” Reject fear. Kick it out. Give it the boot. Be harsh with it. Get it out of your mind and of your heart. Stir yourself up. Give it all to God. See yourself handing the bundle of fear to the Lord. Meditate on what it looks like for you in your life. Visit all the areas where fear is prevalent and ditch the daily passport that takes you to those places. Fear has no place in you and you don’t have to visit it all the time. Put it all in God’s hands.

 

When a new day starts, God smiles and tells you that He has new beginnings for you and new riches. You might not hear Him because you might be paying more attention to the news. The good news you should be more interested in is the good news of the Gospel of Jesus. Jesus came to set the captives free and to bring a new day where hope abounds, joy rules and peace is permanent. Nothing that will happen this month can change that and you will see that it is true when you stay committed to your faith and you keep putting everything in God’s hands. His hands are huge. Wouldn’t you agree? They can hold anything and everything. Big things could take place this month. Things that are not positive but the God with giant hands can handle all of them. Put your hands together, pray, thank the Lord, release the issues and the worries and see what God does for you and what He does in you. Put everything in God’s hands this month and every month after that. God will bring you to a place of peace and victory!

Suggested reading: Psalm 73:23; Isaiah 41:13; Luke 4:18

Turning darkness into light (Raising Heaven there the enemy is raising hell)

I was in prayer yesterday taking communion and worshiping the Lord. Taking communion is a powerful act of faith that shows we accept what the Lord did for us. It highlights the power of the cross and the power of the blood of Jesus. It focuses on the body of Christ and on what Jesus did for our sins, transgressions, iniquities but also for our sicknesses. Sicknesses being physical, emotional or spiritual. As I was pushing through in prayer and interceding, I received a revelation that gave me a lot of hope. The Spirit of the Lord spoke to my heart and said that all this negativity and darkness in the world is a soil. It is a ground. God can use that soil and that ground and turn it into something positive. He can step on the soil of the enemy and removes the weeds and unearth the trees and put His solid ground on top of it. It requires prayer, unity in the Church, people who will stand in the gap, people who will continue to praise and worship and whose faith is not deterred by what’s happening. There is no doubt that the enemy is trying to intimidate the body of Christ and to weaken faith around the world. He has created a movement through this pandemic and he has taken over in places such as our hearts and our minds. The Lord is encouraging us all to give our hearts and minds back to Him. To let Him enter again and do His wonderful work in us. We can’t succumb to this worldwide movement of darkness. It can be frightening and what we hear is unsettling but we ought to let God settle the matter. Let Him be the judge of how we should be reacting to all this. His plan is always to turn darkness into light, to turn our mourning into dancing and give us beauty for ashes.

Today I want to echo the Lord’s message of hope, victory and deliverance that is in His Word. This darkness will not prevail and God’s love will shine where the darkness is blinding people’s hearts and covering people’s minds with doubt and fear. There is nothing, absolutely nothing that the Lord can’t do when we stand in faith. We need to stand together and give people the crutches they need to walk in faith and not walk by sight. The images projected by this negativity are strong but no one is stronger than the Lord. God is the real deal. He is the real thing. He has conquered death and He has conquered the cross. This pandemic is among the things He conquered in His resurrection. It wasn’t omitted. It was not exempted. God knew this would come and He knows of other movements of darkness that will shake the earth but He is still in control and He will stomp over this darkness as we pray and exalt Him. Let’s exalt Him above this global blanket of fear and sickness. It is people like you and me that can walk over this disaster with our feet of hope anchored in the Lord. Our faith is activating the hand of the Lord. He is not deaf to our prayers. Let’s continue and persist. God has the final victory.

Darkness can turn into light by just a flip of a switch. It takes no time. What is necessary at times is a lot of light when the darkness is deep. We won’t make this go away overnight but it will be dissipated as we don’t give up and we raise heaven wherever the enemy is raising hell. We can unite in spirit and agree that God will make a way and that His way is always the best way. This darkness will die and the light of the Lord will shine and live all over the earth. We have a job to do and our job is to guard our faith, keep the praises going, stay on our knees and distribute God’s love, peace and joy around us. Healing will come. Deliverance will come. Our faith for the nations will take us there. Join me in prayer. Join me in faith. God is going to turn this darkness into light and the world is going to see better days no matter how dark it gets in the weeks to come. God will still prevail. Let’s flip on the switch one prayer at a time, one praise at a time with one heart for Jesus and for the world!

Suggested reading: Isaiah 61; 1 Corinthians 15: 55-57; 1 John 4:4

 

10 nuggets of wisdom for your Saturday (Part 113)

Your song to God sounds like noise to some people. It sounds good to other people but to Jesus it sounds heavenly.

The world is sick and getting sicker every day. Pray for a global blood transfusion. Pray for the blood of Jesus to be the blood transfusion that circulates throughout all nations. Pray for the world to receive Jesus in those times of pain and suffering.

Put worry on mute with the Word of God. Let God’s voice be louder than your fears.

When you have blind faith, you can see everything that God can see and even though you see what the world sees, your eyes stay on Jesus!

The prayers of the believers are being heard and the Lord is moving through the nations pouring peace into His people and raising an army of messengers of hope. Keep praying for the world!

It is all handled and you are still in the palm of the Lord’s hand so you have nothing to worry about. God will continue to handle the matters of your life. Keep trusting Him!

The Holy Spirit has been singing about Jesus through the voices of many people who are devoted to the Lord and who let Him to speak through their adoration!

Don’t let the hands of fear stifle your praise. Let your praise silence all fears!

Hope is still around. It is still feeding the faith of those who are relentlessly trusting the Lord. Adhere to hope. Be strong and find courage. Hope is never in vain.

Carry the Word of God in your heart. Carry the light of the Lord in your heart. Carry the power of peace in your mind. Carry the love that never fails. Carry Jesus wherever you go!

Suggested reading: Psalm 75:1; Daniel 2:20; Ephesians 1:6