Word for the day "The Lord promises to restore you"
Joel 2:25 (KJV) I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
The Lord promises to restore our lives from past regrets, hurts, and sins.
Do you have chapters in your life that you wish you could rewrite? Do you have regrets or sorrows or wounds from past sins? I know I do and it’s why I am writing today’s message.
The wonderful promise of God is that the Lord does not only forgive the repentant sinner, but God also heals the repentant sinner.
Although it is true that we may suffer life-long trials because of sinful choices in the past, the Lord is able to restore the years that you may feel have been eaten up by guilt, sinfulness, or immaturity.
God says, “I will restore to you the years” How can this be? Will God reverse our life’s clock, will God turn back our calendar?
Not necessarily, but God can pack so much living, so much vitality, so much blessing into the years that you have remaining that you will be enabled to live a lifetime of joys and victories and pleasures in the remaining years you have left.
The Lord promises to remember you when others purpose to forget.
When the Bible says that God “remembered” something, it is not implying forgetfulness. God always remembers it is part of the Lord’s nature.
The statement that “God remembered” places an emphasis on His faithfulness and everlasting care.
This also implies to the often unfaithfulness of humankind and that it is superseded and made right by God’s faithfulness.
Remember the thief on the cross (Luke 23:42-43)? Here was a man who had squandered all his life on murder, thievery, and selfishness.
And, yet, God arrested him in the waning moments of his life, brought him to repentance and faith in Christ.
And then used the fleeting few minutes he had left to leave behind him an everlasting testimony of God’s grace to save, to pardon, to instruct, and even to resurrect.
That is the point at which this story communicates hope to all reading at this moment If you think yourself to be abandoned by God.
The hope we have is not in our reasoning, but in that God is aware of all things and is therefore aware of you.
The hope is in knowing that God will act again on your behalf.
And in the meantime, our job is to go on in faithful obedience to what the Lord has already shown you, trusting in a loving God to restore and remember you.
No matter how the chapters of your life have been written thus far, know this: when you repent and turn to Jesus Christ for salvation, God is able to multiply to you the remaining years of your life and use you mightily for His kingdom.
Point to ponder
The Lord is willing to receive the repentant, and God is able to restore the ruined.
Are you ready to be restored?Do you trust God to forgive you?What does today’s message mean to your life now?What does the Lord remembering you convey to your life?Where are you in your life with the Lord?
Special thanks!
Pastor James Baker, Jr. and our leadership team is especially thankful for those of you who provided financial donations and support in the month of March 2020, by partnering with us in efforts to advance the kingdom of God in this 21st century season: Special thanks to Mrs. Angela Harrison, Ms. Annette Straker, Mr. David Straker, Mr. Kenneth Washington, Ms. Darlene Simmons, Ms. Mable Bazemore, Ms. Evelyn Rosado, Ms. Itholear Abbott, Mrs. Barbara Mason, Ms. Theresa Lewis, Ms. Ashley Baker, and Ms. Gertrude Scott.
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