Restoration is a unique topic. It takes something that is old or broken and brings it back to its original state. It also brings possession again of something given away, taken, lost, or stolen. It is a very important word for a Christian. Restoration!

For those of us who chose to give up our lives to follow Jesus Christ, the word restoration is very important. A lot of scripture refers to having things restored to us. We choose to give up our dreams and to walk in His. We choose to love others even when we get crushed in it. We choose to help others even if we lose our reputation or money. We choose to trust so that maybe someone has a new chance at life again only to get stabbed in the back. These things don’t happen all of the time, but they do happen. With all of this going on, why would we ever choose to do this, simply because there is a better way and it has a lot to do with restoration.

In the beginning of time, man gave up his inheritance to partake of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil and in so doing lost everything the Lord had planned for him. He could have lived in eternity forever, with the Lord, and never had to sweat and work and toil, but through deception he believed a lie. It is really not much different today. We still have the choice to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or to live in innocence and eat from the Word of God, Life. There are two ways to live on this earth and each one of us still has a  choice to make. The only thing that has changed is that we are looking through eyes that are living in the curse of time, rather than through the eyes of Adam and Eve before the curse. They fell from grace and we have the opportunity to go back to grace.

Here is one of my favorite passages in Isaiah 51:17 – 52:3 Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes men stagger. Of all the sons she bore there was none to guide her; of all the sons she reared there was none to take her by the hand. These double calamities have come upon you— who can comfort you?—ruin and destruction, famine and sword—who can console you? Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street, like antelope caught in a net. They are filled with the wrath of the LORD and the rebuke of your God. Therefore hear this, you afflicted one, made drunk, but not with wine. This is what your Sovereign LORD says, your God, who defends his people: “See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup, the goblet of my wrath, you will never drink again. I will put it into the hands of your tormentors, who said to you, ‘Fall prostrate that we may walk over you.’ And you made your back like the ground, like a street to be walked over.”

Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again. Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion. For this is what the LORD says: “You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed.”

Sin was allowed into the camp and there was a price to pay, but there is a day of redemption and restoration. Through our ancestral generations curses and blessings can pass on to us and our children. We can make a difference in our bloodline. We can sever the line of curses and cause blessings to flow. The Lord will bring restoration to us. There is a cost and there is a price, but it is definitely worth it.

My ancestors didn’t follow the Lord closely and by the Lord’s grace He brought me to Himself. There were things I had to walk out and not everything went well, but there was a time I could take the sword of the Word in my bloodline and cut off the curses from behind. From here on the blessings will flow. Sometimes it takes a while for the tide to turn, but it will come. The enemy will take what he can get away with. He will steal, kill and destroy, but there will be a time when he has to stop, receive his reward and repay what he has stolen.

Do you want to make a difference in your life and in the lives of your children? You can. It is all there for the taking. Make the choice today to change your life and ask the Lord for His help. Ask Him to lead and guide you into the truth. Trust Him as He tells you what to do. Listen to His still small voice and follow His peace in your heart. Your whole life is ahead of you and eternity beyond that. Dare to make a difference. Dare to help change someone’s life. We don’t have to be like the majority who go after riches, but we can receive true wealth. May the Lord bless you abundantly and lead you down the path He has for you. Here’s to your destiny.

Joseph James