Tag: restoration

The Merciful Hand of the Lord Never Leaves Us

Daniel 4:14-15
He proclaimed aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field.

King Nebuchadnezzar was at ease in his house and prospering greatly. In his own words, the Most High God had blessed him in every way. But because of Nebuchadnezzar’s unrighteousness and iniquities, it was all taken away from him. The Most High God, who had provided it all for Nebuchadnezzar, allowed it all to be taken away. Ultimately, when Nebuchadnezzar turned his eyes back to the the Lord, all was returned to the King.

In the prophetic words of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar is the tree. God commands that the tree be stripped of all branches, leaves and fruit. But as the God of all mercy stripped everything away from the tree, he left a stump from which the tree could rise again.

Almighty God is not only the God of all provision, He also the God of all loss. In some unusual cases, He may order our losses to occur. In most cases, He is simply allowing a loss to occur as a result of our iniquities or as a result of the attacks of the enemy. Be certain that no loss can occur in our lives without God allowing it. Be even more certain that our merciful Lord, who is filled with lovingkindness, is also the God of restoration. So no matter what we are going through, or have gone through, God has commanded that some good remnant be left in us from which He can raise us up according to His perfect plans for our lives.

Let us gird ourselves with the promises that God has made to us when we are going through the greatest of trials. Let us rejoice in knowing that He is not only prepared to restore us, it is His desire that we be restored. Let us find comfort in knowing that the loving and merciful hand of the Lord never leaves us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for every provision in our lives. We give You all the glory and the praise for Your grace and lovingkindness. Teach us, Lord, how to give you all the glory and praise when we are experiencing loss in our lives. Build up our faith so that we may endure while You raise us up from “what is left” in our lives to the good and perfect place that You have planned for us. We ask all these things in the name of our all-sufficient Lord, Jesus Christ.

Foundational Elements in Natural and Supernatural Relationships

Revelation 3:2
Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

The message to the church of Sardis in the book of Revelation was, “You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” The people of Sardis were urged to wakeup and strengthen what remained of their relationship with God or they would see their relationship with God disappear.

Today we are often guilty of sitting back and watching as the enemy tries to destroy not only our relationship with God, but our relationships in our marriages, our homes and our extended families. We need to wake up and strengthen these relationships through Jesus Christ. These relationships were placed in our lives by Almighty God. Just as Jesus Christ should be the foundation for our spiritual lives, these family relationships should be foundational elements in our natural lives.

The enemy knows how important these relationships are to us. He knows that if he can destroy these relationships that he can weaken our relationships with Our Father in heaven. The enemy knows this well and does everything possible to “divide and conquer”.

Divide and conquer can be very subtle…at least at first. Divide and conquer appears as meals eaten alone because the family is so busy. Divide and conquer is going to bed angry with a spouse over a relatively unimportant issue. Divide and conquer is skipping the family reunion because of some prior squabble with one family member.

We cannot be passive. We must wake up and be constantly on guard to protect our relationships. Our marriages, our homes and our extended families are treasures. When conflicts occur, we need to move swiftly to repair the damages and rebuild what the enemy is trying to destroy. We must be proactive in nurturing activities that keep the relationships alive. We must build walls of protection that withstand the assaults of the enemy.

Let us seek first to develop an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. With Him as our sure foundation, let us be resolute in our efforts to build and protect all the personal relationships that God has given us as treasures on this earth.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the treasures in life that You have provided through our marriages, our homes and our extended families. We pray that You will provide us with the armor that we need to fight against the enemy that seeks to take away our treasures. We pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us to make Jesus Christ the foundation of our lives so that we can build indestructible walls of protection around our treasures. We ask all these things in the name of Our Sure Foundation, Jesus Christ.

Our God of Restoration

Daniel 4:14-15
He proclaimed aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field.

King Nebuchadnezzar was at ease in his house and prospering greatly. In his own words, the Most High God had blessed him in every way. But because of Nebuchadnezzar’s unrighteousness and iniquities, it was all taken away from him. The Most High God, who had provided it all to Nebuchadnezzar, allowed it all to be taken away. Ultimately, when Nebuchadnezzar turned his eyes back to the the Lord, all was returned to the King.

In the prophetic words of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar is the tree. God commands that the tree be stripped of all branches, leaves and fruit. But as the God of all mercy stripped everything away from the tree, he left a stump from which the tree could rise again.

Almighty God is not only the God of all provision, He also the God of all loss. In some unusual cases, He may order our losses to occur. In most cases, He is simply allowing a loss to occur as a result of our iniquities or as a result of the attacks of the enemy. Be certain that no loss can occur in our lives without God allowing it. Be even more certain that our merciful Lord, who is filled with lovingkindness, is also the God of restoration. So no matter what we are going through, or have gone through, God has commanded that some good remnant be left in us from which He can raise us up according to His perfect plans for our lives.

Let us gird ourselves with the promises that God has made to us when we are going through the greatest of trials. Let us rejoice in knowing that He is not only prepared to restore us, it is His desire that we be restored. Let us find comfort in knowing that the loving and merciful hand of the Lord never leaves us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for every provision in our lives. We give You all the glory and the praise for Your grace and lovingkindness. Teach us, Lord, how to give you all the glory and praise when we are experiencing loss in our lives. Build up our faith so that we may endure while You raise us up from “what is left” in our lives to the good and perfect place that You have planned for us. We ask all these things in the name of our all-sufficient Lord, Jesus Christ.

Our Merciful Lord

Daniel 4:14-15
He proclaimed aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field.

King Nebuchadnezzar was at ease in his house and prospering greatly. In his own words, the Most High God had blessed him in every way. But because of Nebuchadnezzar’s unrighteousness and iniquities, it was all taken away from him. The Most High God, who had provided it all to Nebuchadnezzar, allowed it all to be taken away. Ultimately, when Nebuchadnezzar turned his eyes back to the the Lord, all was returned to the King.

In the prophetic words of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar is the tree. God commands that the tree be stripped of all branches, leaves and fruit. But as the God of all mercy stripped everything away from the tree, he left a stump from which the tree could rise again.

Almighty God is not only the God of all provision, He also the God of all loss. In some unusual cases, He may order our losses to occur. In most cases, He is simply allowing a loss to occur as a result of our iniquities or as a result of the attacks of the enemy. Be certain that no loss can occur in our lives without God allowing it. Be even more certain that our merciful Lord, who is filled with lovingkindness, is also the God of restoration. So no matter what we are going through, or have gone through, God has commanded that some good remnant be left in us from which He can raise us up according to His perfect plans for our lives.

Let us gird ourselves with the promises that God has made to us when we are going through the greatest of trials. Let us rejoice in knowing that He is not only prepared to restore us, it is His desire that we be restored. Let us find comfort in knowing that the loving and merciful hand of the Lord never leaves us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for every provision in our lives. We give You all the glory and the praise for Your grace and lovingkindness. Teach us, Lord, how to give you all the glory and praise when we are experiencing loss in our lives. Build up our faith so that we may endure while You raise us up from “what is left” in our lives to the good and perfect place that You have planned for us. We ask all these things in the name of our all-sufficient Lord, Jesus Christ.