“Therefore repent and convert so that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” Act 3:19 KJV
Restoration is to return all things to their previous, pure state or bring back to the original state of perfection. It is not only to return things to its pure state but sometimes to make it better than what it was. Just like the restoration of Job in which his latter end was greater and better than what it was before. Restoration has to do with renewal, reinstating, rebirthing or reestablishing that which has been lost, hijacked, taken away or that which we ought to have that we never had.
“And Benhadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore…” 1 Kings 20:34
Some of the things that God will restore in this season are land, prosperity, good health, life [John 10:10], blessings, favor [Ps. 102:13, power [Acts 1:8] and joy [Phil. 4:4]. Even our youthful look, energy and strength God renews or restores like an eagle [Psalm 103:5]. There is the personal spiritual restoration where inner strength is regained and resolve in our pursuit of God is established; the ailing or backsliding believers are also restored [Gal. 6:1], restoring physical things we ought to have or have lost [wheat, wine and oil – Joel 2:24], and the eschatological restoring the new heaven and the new earth. Lastly our minds are renewed [that is mental alertness and turning to live according to God’s truth – Titus 3:5] so that we can be transformed to become like the image of Jesus through the word of God [Romans 12:2, 2 Cor. 3:16-18, Eph. 4:23].
We must not fail to mention the fact that God has promised to restore the Spirit and Power of Elijah in this dispensation for the works of the ministry [Mark 9:11-13, Malachi 4:5, Luke 1:17]. The first restoration though is our perturbed relationship with God as Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross and as many as believed in Him shall be restored as children of God. Our original condition or relationship like Adam had before eating the forbidden fruit is restored here and we are remade in the divine image of God [Gen. 1:26].
“Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed” Joel 2:25-27 KJV
The first thing mentioned by God here is that we should “be glad”. Having a glad countenance means that you are positively affected by pleasure and you are filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory. You may not have seen it but you have an assurance from the throne room of God that good things are coming your way.
The second thing is that an overflow or cup of blessing that runs over is coming your way because both the former rain (things that eluded you in the past) and the latter rain (things you supposed to have now), will jam themselves at your door step and you shall have plenty leading to the fact that your reproach is taken away and you shall never again be ashamed because God has given you double blessings, taken away the pains and agonies and you are now a delightsome land called “Buelah”. You are no more desolate or forsaken but Hephzibah [Isaiah 62:4]
In the same token you have an assurance of “satisfaction guaranteed” because the Lord your God has done wondrously, wonderfully, amazingly, blessedly and gloriously on to you. God as “Emmanuel” has come to tabernacle inside you as the treasure in earthen vessel and the anointing of the Holy Spirit that comes with it has destroyed every yoke and lift off every burden [Isaiah 10:27]
Despite popular believe God can send leanness into our soul as part of His judgment or when we are being proved but thank God for this affirmative statement or prophetic injunction that He is set to give back to us that which He originally intended to be ours.
“He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him. The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance” Psalm 105:17-21 KJV
Joseph though born into a wealthy family was sold into slavery and went to prison suffering the penalty of what he never did but the time came for his vision to speak and heaven and earth moved on his behalf such that Pharaoh the king had a dream and in interpreting it, Joseph was reinstated and the intent of God was established in his life. This season you are unstoppable! Heaven and earth are moving on your behalf, angels are going back and forth, your file has just appeared on the table of the CEO of heaven and the SET TIME to favor you has come! God has decreed it and it must be established. Like Joseph you may have been abandoned, forgotten and falsely accused but your time of recognition and favor has come. Whether they like it or not, they must reckon with you because you are no more a push aside.
“He restores my soul…” Psalm 23:3
There has been agitation of soul (mind, emotions and intellect) as our emotions run wild in turbulent or stormy season, and our mind is disturbed when all things are not equal but God has promised to restore our soul to quietness and serenity.
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions” Joel 2:28
Restoration cannot be accomplished without the ministry of the Holy Spirit who is outpoured unto us so that our status [Gen. 40:13, Job 8:6]; fortunes [Deut. 30:3, Ezek. 16:53] and spiritual authority [2 Sam. 8:3] can be restored.
“Now therefore, restore his wife to the man. For he is a prophet, and he shall pray for you, and you shall live. And if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you, and all that are yours…And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and men-servants and women-servants, and gave them to Abraham. And he restored him Sarah his wife. And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before you. Live where it pleases you” Genesis 20:7, 14-15
In this season just like in Gen. 20:14, kings of the earth must restore all that belongs to us that they have hijacked with interest [land, sheep, oxen and menservants and women servants].
“And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, and fell on his face and bowed to him. And David said, Mephibosheth! And he answered, Behold your servant! And David said to him, Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore you all the land of Saul your father. And you shall eat bread at my table forever” 2 Sam. 9:7 KJV
“For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after” Jer. 30:17 KJV
Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan and the grandson of Saul the king. David the king was magnanimous enough to restore to him all that was taken away from his lineage and much more he was restored as the king son to sit and dine at the table of David the king forever.
“And Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life…And the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, Please tell me all the great things which Elisha has done. And it happened as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, behold, the woman whose son he had RESTORED to life cried to the king for the house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O, king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha RESTORED to life. And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed to her a certain eunuch saying, RESTORE all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day when she left the land, even until now” 2 Kings 8:1, 4-6 KJV
The woman in the story above has all that belong to her taken away in the time of war but the King restored all that she had lost to her just as the King of kings is restoring all that we have lost back to us now.
“And Jehovah turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends. Also Jehovah added to Job all that had been his, to double” Job 42:10 KJV
We must make sure that there is no un-forgiveness in our hearts against those who hurt us while we were passing through the valley of the shadow of death so that our RESTORATION can be complete and whole. God will not forgive and restore when we still hold grudge against those who hurt us.
LAZARUS WAS BOUND
“And he who had died came out, bound hand and foot with sheets, and his face was bound with a cloth. Jesus said to them, Untie him and let him go!” John 11:44 AMP
- Work of hand bound
- Movement and progress bound, stagnated
- Face or vision bound
SIGHT, SPEECH AND HEARING RESTORED
“Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert” Isaiah 35:4-6 KJV
On a man’s head is the instrument of sight, hearing and speaking. When the Lord comes into His temple, then we will see because the eyes of our understanding shall be illuminated, we shall hear what the Spirit is saying to the church and we will be able to speak in line with the word of God and see manifestation according to the word of God declared.
HAND RESTORED TO WORK AND PROSPER
“Then He said to the man, Stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out, and it was restored whole like the other” Mat 12:13
SPIRITUAL SIGHT RESTORED
“And after that He put His hands again on his eyes and made him look up. And he was restored and saw all clearly” Mark 8:25 KJV
The ultimate restoration is when God put us back into the Garden of Eden so that we can have the dominion mandate restored and come into a season whereby God has prepared a table before us in the presence of our enemies.
GARDEN OF EDEN RESTORED – DOMINION HABITATION
“Listen to me, pursuers of righteousness; seekers of Jehovah: Look to the rock from which you were cut, and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him. For Jehovah shall comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah. Joy and gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody” Isaiah 51:1-3 KJV
We must be ready to use scriptures to interpret scriptures. The below stated Scripture declared that this land that was desolate shall become like the Garden of Eden. It is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes
“Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it” Ezek. 36:33-36 KJV
God is set to build the ruined or disintegrated places and He will plant the desolate or deserted places. We shall no more be forgotten but remembered for good.
“After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world” Act 15:16-18 [see Amos 9:11].
The restoration of the tabernacle of David represents the indwelling of the Ark of the Covenant inside the New Testament tabernacle who we actually are [1 Cor. 3:16, 2 Cor. 6:14-16], no other tabernacle was rebuilt but spiritually speaking the Holy Ghost with its power and anointing comes to reside in us as the treasure in earthen vessel and releases the power of the age to come in us.
“And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?” John 20:14-15 KJV
David saw the blessings of God in the house of Obed–Edom and desired and seeks such aura, glory and blessings to the point that he erected the tabernacle and moved the Ark there [2 Sam. 6:17]; David sought the Presence of God with all agility without any legalism and his faith was honored and he became blessed. The time has come like Mary [John 20:14-15] that we must seek the Lord with all our body, soul and spirit so that we might have in-depth revelation of Christ like Peter because it is upon such revelation that Christ will build His Church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it, until when we do not have the key of the Kingdom of heaven [Mat. 16:18-19].
“Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them. Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise” Neh. 5:11-12
I decree total restoration in the name of the Lord Jesus. Everything that the enemies has stopped, hindered from coming, buried, stolen or caged that belongs to you including houses, land, money, corn, wine and vineyard be restored now in Jesus name because they must do ACCORDING TO THE PROMISE OF GOD!