DAY 14: There’s Power in the Name of Jesus: Restoration

Seasons of chaos and storms are inventible in life. These seasons can make one feel as if all is hopeless (lost) and helpless (abandoned), because the debris of what is left from the storms in life can feel frightening, overwhelming and beyond repair. The beauty of Christ is that He not only is the Lord of restoration, but He is the God of making all things new in His time and work. “To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations” Isaiah 61:3–4 (NKJV).

Restoration is a beautiful thing, so whether it be a house or a heart. If you take the word “restoration” and break it down, you have re which means “again,” and store which means to put back into alignment with its original purpose. To restore is to bring back a soul, a person, an environment, or a community to its originally intended plan of peace and wholeness with the Creator God. “‘So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame” Joel 2:25–26 (NKJV). The word “restorer” means the action of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition. To pray in the name of Jesus then is to pray for restoration.

Restoration of a heart, a mind, a relationship, and health are all ways that we pray for restoration. To restore means to bring back to a former or original condition. “And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before” Job 42:10 (NKJV). Restoration is all about who we’re restored to. Jesus didn’t come just to create a beautiful word or idea called restoration. He came to restore us back to God. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit” 1 Peter 3:18 (NKJV).

The dictionary says the word restore means to “bring back into existence or … into a former or original state”. Many of the biblical prophets promised that in the last days God would restore the gospel one last time before the Savior’s Second Coming. We must keep in mind that restoration affects our everyday lives. This is why God set into motion a “restoration plan” that we may never expected. For some of us, the word “restoration” brings to mind the process of repairing a crumbling, ruined building to its former glory. Restoration in a spiritual sense is similar, only on a much broader scale. Satan does his best to damage and destroy us by robbing us of things that are valuable to us. But he doesn’t have the last word, and when we give our hurts and pains to God, he restores everything that’s been stolen from us. It doesn’t matter how long we’ve been afflicted. Jesus can turn around whatever happened in our past that caused us pain and suffering and restore everything better than the way it was.

He does this through his grace toward us, and we open ourselves up to that supernatural restoration when we trust him to do so. “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” Acts 3:19–21 (NKJV).

Seasons of chaos and storms are not inventible in life (are not produced by humans rather than by natural forces). These seasons can make you feel as if all is lost and abandoned, because the wreckage of what is left from the storm can feel daunting and beyond repair. The beauty of Christ is that He not only is the Lord of restoration, but He is the God of making all things new in His time and work. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” Romans 8:28–30 (NKJV).

Gospel restoration or restoring power is contagious, because when you have been loved, rescued, healed, restored, and satisfied in the deepest places of your soul, it compels us to invite others into the Kingdom of God. Whatever the enemy has tried to take away from you, God wants to restore it. God wants to make it better than before. Every day we have choices put before us, therefore, we can be tempted to get hurt, wounded, or depressed. We can complain and remain in the same awful condition. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” Romans 12:2 (NKJV).

On the cross, Jesus did not just die to bring us to heaven, but to also bring heaven to us, by healing our broken hearts. Christ offers real healing from even our deepest cuts. Because God is perfect in love and power, He does not partially rescue and restore His redeemed people. He restores us completely, from the inside out. He takes both the spiritual and emotional aspects of our hurt and does a complete overhaul to restore even the pieces we thought were unredeemable. “He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness; For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” Psalm 23:3–4 (NKJV).

When we walk in this restoration, in which is not perfect, we are walking in the Kingdom of God’s perfect will. The Kingdom of God is here; Heaven is here now through God’s restoring power in the name of Jesus. And believers have the right and privilege to enter the Restoring power through the one–and–only door, which is the Crucified and Resurrected Jesus, the Restorer. Jesus said “I have come to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God”.

It is God’s heart for His chosen people to not only restore, but to compassionately restore something even better than before. We ultimately want to see broken, sinful humans, like myself, restored to a right relationship with God by turning from sin and trusting in Jesus Christ alone for free and full forgiveness. From that outflow, we believe we will see the gospel transform the community in such a way that multitudes of lives are rescued from God’s wrath and welcomed into God’s peace and love. However, the devil aims to place sickness, lack, and financial insecurity in our lives, but he has no power to do so when we remember who we are in Christ. It’s God’s will to restore everything good that was stolen, and believing this in our hearts allows us to rest in his promises. When we feel under attack spiritually, faith in God’s unmerited favor revives us. He’s on our side, and he wants the best for us in every area.

Restoration in the Bible is synonymous with healing, repairing, returning to a previous state of being. “Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit” Psalm 51:11–12 (NKJV). Although we may stray from steadfast faith and obedience, there are numerous Bible verses about restoration we can look to for inspiration for renewal in our lives.

Restoration is a recurring theme in scripture as those who strayed from the teachings and love of God sought to restore their divine relationship with Him. Further occurrences of repairing what had decayed included personal relationships, fortunes, and health. Closely related to the concept of restoration, healing is a common theme in Scripture. If you look at the Hebrew word “shalom” meaning “peace and wholeness”, the restorative, holistic beauty of the gospel. The lasting wholeness and healing this world longs for, only comes through Jesus Christ. “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” 1 Peter 2:24 (NKJV).