Soul Restoration

 “He refreshes my soul…” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭23‬:‭3a‬ ‭

The word restoration is an attractive word but comes with a process. If you’ve ever had any kind of home renovation, you know the first step is the removal of the old pieces and parts and any necessary repairs before the new materials can be installed. Similarly, there are inferior things in our souls that need to be removed because they aren’t aligned with God’s Kingdom. 

Living on earth unfortunately means an assault on the soul. We experience loss, wounds, betrayal and effects of sin. When I first started walking with God, I had old mindsets that needed correcting, brokenness needing healing, and sin and shame that had to be eradicated. Thankfully, God tells each of us, “Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I rebuke and discipline [showing them their faults and instructing them]; so be enthusiastic and repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God’s will]” (Rev.‬ ‭3‬:‭19‬ ‭AMP‬).‬  God shows us what needs to be stripped away - what isn’t meant to be there. Though we can feel raw in the process, God gives us courage and grace to keep following Him on this path to restoration.  We can hold onto the promise that, “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace [who imparts His blessing and favor], who called you to His own eternal glory in Christ, will Himself complete, confirm, strengthen, and establish you [making you what you ought to be]” (1 Pet.‬ ‭5‬:‭10‬ ‭AMP).‬‬ 

God reveals His perfect plans and His perfect love for His children over and over in His Word. The woman caught in adultery was brought before Jesus with condemnation and a death sentence, yet Jesus freed her from condemnation and offered an invitation to leave her life of sin (John 8:10-11).  Encountering His love - a love that is so compelling, so real, and so safe - has a way of bringing humility to our wayward hearts so that God can begin the repairs of our soul. God sent Jesus and launched His plan to restore our identity as sons and daughters, connected to His heart and ways. 

It’s almost as if our soul sometimes has to catch up with the Good News. The Gospel is the invitation into the restoration process that acknowledges that “you were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News…” (‭‭Col. ‭1‬:‭21‬-‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬).  Jesus did all the work and made a way for us to walk in fellowship with the Trinity, but we have to accept the gift and apply it to our lives. He wants to hand us treasure but we have to let go of the junk we hold onto. 

God never designed us to live apart from Him, riddled with guilt and shame. The Good Shepherd shepherds us through the entire process of restoration. Our part is to allow God to love us and teach us His ways, believing and remembering the Good News of the Gospel and the victory Christ secured for us. It is finished and He is seated in heaven, awaiting the appointed time for full restoration of all things (Acts 3:21). That day is coming friends so let’s take God at His word. Follow Him through the restoration process and take heart - He’s with us all the way.

Thirsty for Living Water

 ”That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes.“ (‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17‬:‭6‬a)

I grew up watching my mother plant a garden every year for our family. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and beans, bordered by colorful snapdragons and zinnias produced a bountiful harvest. Gardens don’t flourish without tending. For starters, new plantings need to be watered until they have a well-established root system.  

I’m not the best at growing a big garden, but I do love having pots brimming with flowers, herbs and greenery on my porches. My pots have little holes to drain excess water to prevent root rot, so the soil dries out quite quickly in the warmer months. This means the plants quickly wither without consistent watering. 

Spiritually speaking, we need the living water Christ offers in order to flourish. When we try to live in our little self-made pots apart from Him, we dry out pretty quickly. We can become like the bush in the wasteland in Jeremiah 17:6. Have you ever been in a spiritual drought where you felt dry and barren? I think most of us probably have at one time or another. Sometimes we stay too long in the wasteland because we are afraid to admit we are dry and ask for help. 

We hear Christ say in John 7:37b-39a, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.” This is profound. Not only can we receive this living water through our faith in Jesus, but we can become channels He flows through to reach others. This means that when we see others withering in the wasteland, we can move toward them and offer them the Living Water from Christ. 

Even believers need to be refreshed with Living Water and hope after periods of grief, suffering or loss…to be carried into God’s healing, refreshing presence. We all need hope. The world needs hope. Christ is the source of hope, and He gave believers the Holy Spirit, who’s described as a Counselor, Comforter, Helper, Teacher and Guide. He reminds us of the truth that will keep us rooted in both the truth of Christ and in the power of the Gospel. With the combination of truth and power, we can then bear witness to others that are waiting to hear this marvelously Good News.

We will never have what we need apart from Christ. There’s one thing we all have in common (that also keeps us humble) - we all need The Lord. And the most beautiful thing I think I’ve ever learned is that this life-giving, almighty, gracious, loving God invites all of us because He wants to do life with us - forever. 

Let’s be people filled to the brim with Living Water. John 4:14 says, “those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” Drink deep…then turn and offer a drink to those standing near you who are parched from living too long in desert places. Then we shall all surely thrive!