When Jesus became Lord of our lives, we became a new creation! We received a new source of life — God Himself! He immediately began to initiate changes
in our lives. Changes that were not imposed from the outside; instead they were inspired from the inside. These changes begin the restoration processes
in our lives.
Religion is often thought of in terms of rules that are imposed on people. Religious-minded people can size up anyone by simply comparing them with their
imposed rules. But true change in a person comes from deep within. God begins to inspire them to change, and with the inspiration He empowers them.
It is from our souls that the choices of life are made. If we yield to the Holy Spirit,
our choices will be influenced by His wisdom; and we will remain in the realm of His direct influence. But if we turn our own ways and thoughts away
from God’s perfect will we cut ourselves off from the flow of His spiritual life and power.
Notice in Proverbs 23:7, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” The word for heart is from the word for soul. The way we think plants seeds into our
lives that will eventually grow into action. If we continually ponder and tolerate negative, destructive thoughts it will manifest through gossip and
criticism. But if we flood our minds with godly, edifying, power-filled thoughts, it will manifest as we encourage and lift people with our words and
actions.
When God created man, He breathed spiritual life into his soul. As long as man continued to walk with God, he experienced an uninterrupted flow of spiritual
life and fellowship. But when man turned from following God and willfully followed another, he cut off his spiritual connection with God.
When Adam yielded to Satan’s outward pressure he experienced an inward collapse — an implosion. The soul of man was lost. Satan approached Jesus
in the same manner. Through outward pressure he hammered away at Jesus to bend His will to the point that He would not fulfill God’s plan. When Jesus
prayed in the garden He faced this challenge for all of mankind. He did not yield to the pressure, but through prayer and communion with His Father
He drew the strength to say, “…not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).
Through His obedience, Jesus set the stage for the flow of God’s life to once again dwell within humanity. Through His sacrifice He released an explosion from within the spirit of mankind that would release God’s power throughout his soul and body.
To restore means “to bring back to a former or original condition; to put back in a former place of position; to reinstate; to bring back to health
or vigor; to give back something lost.”
The psalmist said, “He restores my soul…” (Psalm 23:3). As we yield our minds, wills, and emotions to the power of the Holy Spirit, God will restore
to us what He originally planned for us. Receive His restoring power today.
