REVIVAL, REFORMATION, RESTORATION -- PART 3

How Should We View Restoration?

Restoration Is A Gift From YHVH:

[Restore our fortunes, Adonai, as streams renew the desert.] -- Psalm 126:4. YHVH’s capacity for restoring life is beyond our understanding. Forests burn down and are able to grow back. Broken bones heal. Even grief is not a permanent condition. Our tears can be seeds that will grow into a harvest of joy, because YHVH is able to bring good out of tragedy. When burdened by sorrow, know that your times of grief will end and that you will again find joy. We must be patient as we wait. YHVH’s great harvest of joy is coming!

Restoration Is A Part Of The Healing Process:

[Yeshua touched him. ‘I want to,’ he said. ‘Be healed!’ And instantly the leprosy disappeared. Then Yeshua said to him, ‘Go right over to the priest and let him examine you. Don’t talk to anyone along the way. Take along the offering required in the Law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy, so everyone will have proof of your healing.’] -- Matthew 8:3-4. Leprosy, like cancer, aids and other long-term illness today, was a terrifying disease because there was no known cure. In Yeshua’s day, the Greek word for leprosy was used for a variety of similar diseases and some forms were contagious. If a person contracted the contagious type, a priest declared him a leper and banished him from his home and city. The leper was sent to live in a community with other lepers until he either got better or died. Yet when the leper begged Yeshua to heal him, Yeshua reached out and touched him, even though his skin was covered with the dread disease.

Restoration Is The Work Of The Body Of Moshiach:

[We will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Moshiach, who is the head of His Body, the Church. Under His direction, the whole Body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole Body is healthy and growing and full of love.] -- Ephesians 4:15-16. Some believers fear that any mistake will destroy their witness for Adonai. They see their own weaknesses and they know that many non-believers seem to have stronger character than they do. How can we grow up into Moshiach? The answer is that Moshiach forms us into a body; into a group of individuals who are united in their purpose and in their love for one another and for Adonai. If an individual stumbles, the rest of the group is there to pick that person up and help him or her walk with YHVH again. If an individual sins, restoration can be found through the church -- Galatians 6:1, even as the rest of the body continues to witness to YHVH’s truth. As part of Moshiach’s Body, do you reflect part of Moshiach’s character and carry out your special role in His work?