Arise! Be RESTORED and OVERCOME!
Chuck Pierce – January 1, 2015
DEAR OVERCOMERS:
Happy New Year!
***Stop and remember your favorite moment of the last year. Then remember the moment that you thought, ‘I just can’t deal with this situation’! Then praise and thank God for both!!!! Ask Him to heal and restore you over any wounds! Receive and release forgiveness. As He inhabits the praise that you are releasing, rise up with new strength and vision!
NOW LET’S BE RESTORED FOR THE FUTURE!
After Death, Arise and Finish Strong!
“Your feet will walk in a different direction this year. For even though you felt shaking ground last season, now you will walk on ground that is being solidified. There will be many on your path that will flee from the anointing that is now rising up in you, from your feet. I will shod your feet with peace, in a new way. Then the enemies that have tried to get on your highway will move out of the way. For many enemies have stepped onto the highway that you’re walking, but because you stood in the shaking, now the wind of My Spirit will clear your path ahead (Isaiah 35).”
“I do have a fresh wind of My Spirit that is blowing, for I am coming with My breath in a new way. As in the beginning when I breathed breath into that first man, and he was able to rise up as a living soul, I am coming with a fresh breath for you. Even as it was in the Valley of Dry Bones, when I breathed breath into those dry bones, and I caused them to rise up in a new way and become a mighty army, I am breathing My breath into a corporate man in the earth, in this hour. No longer will it just be one person with the Breath of God, but a mighty army. A corporate man in the earth is arising with fresh breath.
“Even in this hour I am coming with a breath of God into lungs that have not been able to breathe. I am coming into My people in a new way. The healing breath of the Lord is rising up, and to those that the doctors have said, ‘There’s no cure for you,’ I say My breath is stronger than the report of the doctors. I am coming with fresh breath. So rise up in the strength of the Lord and let the breath of God come into you, and see what I am going to do.
“This breath is going to give voice to My people, in this hour. Where the enemy has come to stop the voice of My people, I am going to cause a voice to be released that will stop the power of the enemy. So let the breath of God come! Let the breath of God heal! Let the breath of God restore! For My breath is flowing in a new way, in this season.”
“My wind will be like a vacuum, and I will suck out of you those things that you thought you could have never have been delivered from. The wind of My Spirit will both suck and remove, and then refill how you need to be filled, to create the identity that I have for you in the future. This is My day where M’Kaddesh, the Sanctifier, will come. This is My day where Tsidkenu, the Righteous One, will rise within you. Know that there will be a moment when you feel like your breath has been sucked away, but it’s because I have pulled out things that you thought could never be removed. Then you will feel a breath come in that will fill you in a way that you will become buoyant with faith, in days ahead.”
This also reminded me of a prophetic word given on March 30, 2014:
“This is not the same as you’ve seen in the past. This is not the same as what you’ve asked for in other seasons. This is a different glory, a glory change that I’m bringing into the land! You will shudder at the changes that are on the way in your land, and in other lands and with other people! For this is a time that the blood that runs deep will now be sanctified. This is a time that My Spirit will go deeper than I have gone in the past. For this is a time of birthing what is new, but yet bringing forth that which is old, and treasures will erupt! Treasures will erupt! Treasures will erupt! I will bring forth what has not been seen, and I will cause your gifts to come alive in ways they’ve never come alive. You will feel the shuddering birthing pains within you, and from that you will bring to birth the change that is necessary for you to enter into this season.
“So know this: dragons are on the move, and even the “great dragon” is now mounting up. Nations that will align are now aligning. So watch carefully and look deep into the circumstances around you. For these are days of great change. Watch the signs on your road, for your road is now changing. New opportunities are coming. Watch now, for I will realign your path!”
Saturday, January 10, 2015 (update)
Dear Restoration-Minded Friends:
A Time for Restoration – Devotions for Days 6-10!
I know that many of you have been following the series of devotions on restoration. I had set aside 10 days to help us develop a new place of identity for the next season. May you be led into a new place of restoration!
10 Day Devotional: Restoration
RESTORATION DAY 1!
WE NEED THE POWER OF RESTORATION IN OUR LIFE!
God truly is a God of restoration, and He has a plan for the restoration of the human race. Through His Son, we are now able to return to intimate fellowship with God, renewed innocence and the promise of eternal life. Restoration is the very nature of God. Acts 3:19-21 says, “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.” The moment Adam sinned, God set the process of restoration in motion. Throughout the ages He spoke to His prophets about this holy reversal. Some of these prophecies have been fulfilled. Others, including the second coming of Christ, will be fulfilled in the future. We are in the midst of seeing the greatest plan of restoration the world will ever know unfold right before us!
The simple truth is that God is more interested in restoration than in judgment! Even in His judgment, God has a plan to restore. We see time and time again how God judged the nation of Israel for its wickedness and disobedience. Yet each time, God restored Israel to Himself. God’s nature and purpose in an individual’s life is no different. Though we may experience judgment for what we or those in generations before us have done, be assured that somewhere in all our suffering, God has a plan to bring restoration and to get us back on course so that we might receive our inheritance and fulfill our intended destinies.
To restore means to revive and return to life, or to bring back to a former or original condition. This definition, however, falls short of all that restoration in God means. God intends to do more than bring us back to a former or original condition. He intends to multiply and increase us beyond that point. He longs for our latter days to be greater than our former days. God’s plan for you is restoration!
Restoration Day 2–The Holy Spirit: Our Agent of Restoration
Stop and ask the Father, through His Son to reveal to you His third Person in the Earth, the Holy Spirit. He is the only restrainer in the Earth of evil. He fills you and causes you to rise to a place of triumph in your life. The Holy Spirit is the person of the Godhead who is serving as the restorative agent here on earth. God the Father is the author of our restoration plan. He manifested Himself on earth through His son, Jesus. Jesus carried within Him that plan and, consequently, our future. He took the sin that would stop our personal future and let it be crucified on the Cross with Him. This act insured our restoration and future success. Jesus then said to His disciples, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. . . . All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:7,15). Only when we allow the Holy Spirit to work within us do we have the power to live a victorious Christian life. And it is He, the Holy Spirit, who does the work of restoring the fragmented, scattered pieces of our lives to something that is far greater than its former state. When we receive the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives, and yield to His direction, we have access to all that the Father desires for us. The restoration process can begin.
In the Earth realm, the Holy Spirit has the essential role in the life of every believer. He is available to fill your spirit man and cause you to rise above your enemies. He has a vast job description. Some Christians only associate the filling of the Holy Spirit with those things that are considered “charismatic,” such as tongues, and therefore prefer to ignore His function and life within them. They limit themselves to a very narrow view of the One whom Jesus called our Helper. The word “helper” in Greek is parakletos, meaning intercessor, counselor, advocate or comforter. What a beautiful promise of a constant help. Stop now and ask the Holy Spirit to Help YOU! Here are some of the descriptions of the Holy Spirit. He can HELP YOU in any or all of the areas below:
- Breath of Life (Rev. 11:11)
- A Dove (Mark 1:10)
- The Finger of God (Luke 11:20)
- The Guarantee of Our Inheritance (Eph. 1:14; cf. 2 Cor. 5:5)
- The Oil of Gladness (Ps. 45:7; Heb. 1:9)
- The Rivers of Living Water (John 7:38)
- The Spirit of . . . Promise (Eph. 1:13)
- The Spirit of Adoption (Rom. 8:15)
- Counselor (Isa. 11:2)
- The Fear of the Lord (Isa. 11:2)
- Glory (1 Pet. 4:14)
- Grace (Zech. 12:10; Heb. 10:29)
- Holiness (Rom. 1:4)
- Judgment (Isa. 4:4)
- Knowledge (Isa. 11:2)
- Life (Rom. 8:2)
- Love (2 Tim. 1:7)
- Might (Isa. 11:2)
- Power (2 Tim. 1:7)
- The Spirit of Prophecy (Rev. 19:10)
- Revelation (Eph. 1:17)
- Sound Mind (2 Tim. 1:7)
- Supplication (Zech. 12:10)
- Truth (John 14:17)
- Understanding (Isa. 11:2)
- Wisdom (Exod. 28:3; Deut. 34:9)
Restoration Day 3: The Process of Removal will make you Become New!
In the restorative process, God takes what is there, no matter how damaged, and makes something new. He wants to remake your vessel and pour within you a new wine filled with joy, strength, glory and faith. To make your present wineskin new, He wants to soaks you in the water of the Word and rub you with the anointing. Rubbing in the oil is the part of the process that makes you flexible for the future. Those hard things we go through are the oil that He rubs into us. And that oil also contains a new anointing. As we allow the Holy Spirit to take us through the process of rubbing, we not only become more flexible so that we can handle all God desires to pour into us, but we also become able to pour out in a greater measure. There is a process of removal before restoration occurs.
One of the things the LORD removes is legalism. Most Christians would be greatly surprised to learn how many legalistic structures they have embraced. Simply put, legalism is narrowing all of our mind processes down to the point that we can’t receive the mind of God. Rather than having a mindset that is saturated in His grace and love, legalism is a mindset that is steeped in man’s judgment and control. Legalism always leads to pride and unbelief. In Galatians, legalism is even equated with witchcraft. Paul reminds the Galatians that they were doing great. They were having a good time, growing in the Lord and walking in faith. Then he asks who has bewitched them? In other words, who narrowed their minds down to such a degree that they were no longer able to receive the grace of God? Who brought legalism into their midst?
Our restoration cannot be released while God is tightly locked in a box. We must allow the Lord to remove our legalistic, religiously rigid mindsets. For example, is there a situation in your life, in your family or in your city that seems completely unchangeable? Are behavioral patterns so deeply entrenched that nothing could shake them loose? If the answer is yes, then you are dealing with a legalistic mindset. We say nothing is impossible with God, but do we really believe nothing is impossible with God? In every area where we do not have this heartfelt assurance, we have a legalistic, bewitching structure that narrows God. Ask the Lord to reveal hidden places of legalism in your mind, and then be willing to let those old structures fall to the ground. Allow new faith to rise up within you. This is a key to becoming flexible wineskins.
The LORD also removes condemnation. Satan is a liar and a thief. He lies to us about our position with God in order to steal the restoration God has for us. One of his favorite tactics is to bombard believers with reminders of personal failures or failures in their generations to the point where they wear around a sticky garment of condemnation and guilt. They say things such as, “God can’t restore me because I . . . am divorced, had an abortion, had an affair, lied about a friend, took what was not mine, (fill in the blank).” These are lies! You don’t have to wear that old garment. The cycle of the past can end. Getting right with God and then forgiving yourself will break the schemes the devil intended to use to keep you draped in a shroud of guilt, no matter what you’ve done. Jack Hayford writes, “And once your relationship with God is restored, your guilt has served its purpose and no longer has any place in your life. Let it go. And refuse its argument to regain any place in tormenting your mind or your feelings.” Let the Holy Spirit soak you in His cleansing waters of forgiveness and renewal. This is another key to renewing the wineskin that will hold the wine of restoration.
The LORD removes judgmentalism. Just as we must put away our own condemnation, so must we put away condemning others through judgmentalism. Because of the law of sowing and reaping, we really can’t fully do one without the other. If we condemn others, we will be condemned. And what’s worse, the Bible says that we too become dangerously susceptible to falling into the same sin we accuse others of. Don’t be fooled. We are not to sit in judgment. Judgmentalism has serious spiritual ramifications and has the power to keep us from entering into restoration. Isaiah 58 says that if you will pray and fast, and let God determine the fast for you (don’t do it religiously), and if you’ll put away the pointing of that finger and looking outward, He will begin to break forth your light and your healing will spring up. Allow that process of God to bring you into the fullness He has for you. This, too, is part of making the wineskin clean and ready for the new wine.
Restoration Day 4: Let Him Draw You Near!
Submit yourself to God, resist the devil, and he will flee. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:7,8). We hate the word submission. However, the word is not a bad word. The meaning is “to stand under”. You can never stand against your enemy until you submit. God has absolute authorities and delegated authorities. We must learn submission. No greater faith have I see in all of Israel than the one who understood authority (Matthew 8). In the process of our restoration and renewal, certain things must be restored to us in order to make the process complete. Here are three key factors that move us toward restoration:
1. He restores intimate contact with Himself and others. Relationship is difficult for many Christians simply because our society breeds fear of intimacy. We protect ourselves. We don’t want to get hurt. We don’t want to allow our emotions to be seen. And to complicate matters, those who have experienced broken relationships in the past don’t want to chance future intimacy. But the simple fact is that we need one another. We need God. Without one or the other, we will never enter into the fullness of restoration. We must begin to allow God to make us intimate communicators with Himself and then each other.
We need to begin by embracing an intimate relationship with God. The classic analogy is Mary and Martha (see Luke 10:38-42). We get so caught up in what we are to do that we forget what we are about. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus until she knew her destiny. Once she knew the purpose of her life, then she could go do the dishes with Martha, or anything else that needed to be done. She did not neglect the task. Through intimacy, Mary simply gained what she needed for her life and then tended to the business of the house. God is calling us into a new intimate place. From this intimate place, we gain our new strategies for moving ahead. But the intimacy is not for ourselves alone. Just as God wants to restore us as individuals, He is equally interested in restoring us as the Bride of Christ. For that reason, we must allow Him to bring us into intimate relationships with one another that will thrust us forward into our biblical destiny.
2. He begins to restore our Father/child relationship. When we do not know God as Abba Father and have not yet come into the spirit of adoption that God has for us, we really do not have the relationship needed to grasp our restoration and the inheritance that comes with it. This is important to understand. Many times God starts by dealing with our earthly father and authority issues in order to restore the Father/child relationship that we have with Him. In cases where our fathers have abused their authority, or did not take their proper role in the family, God must restructure our thinking, but we must let Him. He is neither an abusive Father nor an absent Father. He is a loving Father who cares deeply for us—so much so that He has a plan of restoration for our lives. We need to allow Him to bring us to that understanding. Once those issues are in order, the word of the Lord over our lives can begin to spring forth.
3. God restores our childlike faith. God sees all the war and wilderness places that we have been in. Through those times, He begins to increase our measure of faith. As this childlike faith begins to arise, the glory of God rests upon us. I have always considered myself a man of faith. I lead meetings all around the world filled with great faith and expectation of what God will do. Ask the Lord to create a scenario for you to ask Him for something simple. Ask, believe and watch Him restore your faith.
Restoration Day 5: The Grief Enemy!
When the Holy Spirit begins a process of restoration, He has placed us in a new season with new revelation and new life: a new wine. Most of us are familiar with the passage in Matthew 9:17 that says, “Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” Last month, we discussed grief. However, one of the biggest enemies of restoration is grief resulting from past loss. There are two instances in which grief can keep us from moving toward restoration.
1. When the cycle of grief is not complete. Deep hurts require deep healing. And the healing process is usually longer and more strenuous than we ever expect. In fact, counselors will often refer to a person in the midst of recovering from loss as doing “grief work.” This is a term used to describe a conscious decision to experience the emotions of grief as they come—no matter how uncomfortable they may be—and to see those emotions through to the end. The theory behind grief work is that as we allow ourselves to grieve through the ebb and flow of natural emotion, healing can begin to penetrate the pain. If we do not allow ourselves to heal and instead deny our emotions, the grief will fester and often manifest later in various harmful ways such as addictions, chronic depression, fits of anger or even physical illness.
We must also remember that we have an enemy who seizes our times of loss as opportunities to prey upon us. Unless we allow the Lord to take us through our seasons of grief and see them to the end, Satan can use our denial to create a stronghold of grief within our lives. It is often this kind of deeply embedded grief that keeps us from coming into restoration.
2. When the cycle of grief goes on too long. As necessary as grief may be, and as important as it is to see the process through, we can choose to grieve too long. Like the widow we just described, many people caught in the throws of pain can’t see that there is a time to cast off mourning. Even the great prophet-priest Samuel fell into this comfortable grief trap as we see in 1 Samuel 16:1: “Now the Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you mourn for Saul?’ ” God’s appointed season of grieving for Samuel over Saul’s removal from power had reached its limit. It was time for Samuel to either move on, or to miss the next move of God through David.
Ecclesiastes 3:4 reminds us, “There is . . . a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” Just as Satan can use denial to afflict us, he is equally adept at prolonging our seasons of grief far beyond what God intends. By keeping us feeling as though we are in a state of perpetual mourning, Satan knows that we cannot move into the abundant life God has for us beyond our loss. Grief robs us of strength—often the very strength we need to move into a season of life that is far greater than we had before the loss. During an appropriate season of grief, God’s grace covers our lack of natural strength. But when the Lord is ready to move us on, that grace lifts. If we do not move with God, we can be left in a vulnerable and weak place, unable to cross over into our inheritance. God asked Samuel concerning the loss of Saul’s kingship, “How long are you going to grieve over Saul. Fill your horn with oil and go!” (1 Sam 16)
Joshua was a great leader in Israel. He was the one who actually led the children of Israel across the Jordan into Canaan and spearheaded the military campaigns that allowed the Israelites to possess the land God had promised. But what if Joshua had allowed his grief over the death of Moses to extend beyond the appointed season? Deuteronomy 34:8 says, “And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended.” But what if the days of weeping and mourning had not ended? Very simply, Joshua would not have crossed over into God’s inheritance for His people. His grief would have consumed the strength he needed for that vital hour in history. Instead, Joshua mourned appropriately, regained his strength, and moved on when the strategic time came.
End your days of grief and enter into a new level of restoration!
Restoration Day 6: Our Freedom!
We have established that God is longing to restore abundant zoe life to us—not just to a former state, but to a greater measure than we have ever known. For our devotions for days 6 – 10, let’s deal with specific areas that, as God works His restoration, will give us that vital, blessed, rich life worth living (many of these points will be covered in greater detail in later chapters). The first is Our Freedom!
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1, NIV). God longs for His people to be free from whatever chains have held them in bondage. In both the Old and New Testaments, God has proven this pattern to be so. The people of Israel, for example, cried out in agony when they were enslaved in Egypt. God heard their groanings and remembered the promises He had given to their forefathers. The rest of the book of Exodus shows the extraordinary lengths to which God will go to set His people free and to keep His promises.
Later, we see how the prophet Jeremiah was freed from captivity and given several options. “And now look, I free you this day from the chains that were on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you. But if it seems wrong for you to come with me to Babylon, remain here. See, all the land is before you; wherever it seems good and convenient for you to go, go there” (Jer. 40:4). The word “free” in this passage is the Hebrew word pathach, meaning to open wide, loosen, set free, release, untie, unshackle or liberate. Through that freedom, that “pathach-ing,” Jeremiah was not only freed from the captivity he had been in, but he was then also able to make some choices and begin a whole new process in his life; shackles had been released and a new door had opened wide.
Of course the most beautiful example of freedom that directly affects each of us today was prophesied by Isaiah of the Lord Jesus, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound” (Isa. 61:1).
Jesus releases and liberates us from the dominion of sin and restores us to a right relationship with the Father. When that happens, the hindrances of restoration are broken. Sin resists freedom, but Christ delivers us into a freedom that reverses our death sentence and starts life in motion!
We must, however, recognize that we are indeed free. I once heard the story of a dog that had been tied to a post for some years. The dog would stretch to the end of its rope and walk in circles around the post. As the years passed, the dog trod out an entrenched circular groove in the earth. Though he could see much farther, his world could only reach as far as his restraints would let him.
One day, the dog’s master decided to free him from the post. The man untied the rope and watched, expecting to see the dog race off into the surrounding area and explore that which he had only been allowed to view from his restrained position. Strangely, the dog did not run or play or explore. Though his master tried to entice him away, the dog merely began to walk in the entrenched circle he had created throughout such a long period of time.
We, like the dog, are often unaware that our restraints have been removed. Even when the Lord would try to move us out into our new freedom, we may have a tendency to remain in the safety of the entrenchments we have created for ourselves. Declare that you will embrace the freedom that the Lord has provided for you – even if that means going beyond the boundaries that have seemed acceptable or comfortable in the last season.
RESTORATION DAY 7: OUR PLACE AND POSITION
“‘They shall be carried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day that I visit them,’ says the Lord. ‘Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place’” (Jer. 27:22). This Scripture from Jeremiah refers to the captivity of the children of Israel in Babylon. God had made a covenant to bring them out of that captivity. So when the time came for their captivity to end, God determined to put them back on their road to success and establish them in a new place. God will do the same for us. He earnestly desires to establish us in a physical place as a part of our inheritance.
Faith works in time and space. Without you being in your position spiritually, as well as physically, you cannot accomplish the full destiny of your life. Acts 17:24-28 (NKJV) says: “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’”
Your spiritual position is to be seated next to Christ in heavenly places. This is where you should live. You walk in this world and must contend with the god of this world. Satan’s biggest goal is to pull you out of your abiding place to create unrest in your spirit man so you can’t hear God. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of the Lord!
Also, your vision can be linked with the place you are assigned. Israel prospered for a season in Egypt and Babylon. However, their promise was linked to the boundaries established by God when He made covenant with Abraham. Declare now that the place for your promise will manifest. If you have been displaced, get back in place!
Restoration Day 8: Child-Like Faith!
God has to restore our child-like faith. One morning I asked the Lord to increase my measure of faith concerning all I was involved in. That same day I was on my way down to South Texas to lead a revival meeting. While I was preparing to leave, my son Daniel came to me and said, “Daddy, when you’re in South Texas, I believe God wants you to bring me back a parrot.”
Chuckling at him, I replied, “Daniel, parrots cost $1,500. Why don’t you go ask the Lord if He really wants you to have a parrot? If He does, He’ll get one for you.” Accepting my statement, Daniel darted out of the room. About 10 minutes later, he returned and flatly declared, “Daddy, I asked the Lord about my parrot, and He said He wants me to have one.” I could not believe it. What could I say? I left, shaking my head and wondering if I had somehow taught him to manipulate what he was hearing from God.
When I arrived in South Texas, I told the couple I was staying with about my conversation with Daniel. The man and I just laughed it off. But the wife looked at me and said, “Parrots fly over the border from Mexico through here all the time.” I looked at her and wondered what that had to do with anything. We could never catch a wild parrot. I got up at 5:00 the next morning for my quiet time. In the middle of my devotions, I heard something outside. As I looked out my window, I saw that the woman had set up a cage in a nearby tree and was down on her knees praying. I wondered if I had somehow led this woman into total delusion. Did she expect a wild parrot to just walk into the cage? Snickering, I returned to my quiet time. Later that morning I led a big prayer meeting, all filled with faith.
The following morning I got up for my quiet time again. This time I was in deep prayer for a major ministry—the very thing for which I needed faith. Again, I heard something outside. I opened my window and looked to see this woman shutting the door of the cage. Inexplicably, a large, beautiful parrot had flown into the yard and walked into the waiting cage all on its own! I looked up at the Lord and said, “Lord, I am in bad trouble for my lack of faith.” And it just felt like He agreed with me.
That day the Lord began to speak into my heart and say, “Your borders are too narrow. But I can cross your borders, I can bring the supply that’s needed. If you will have faith as a child, I will release that which you need in this hour.” Today that parrot sits in my house. I can’t look at it without being reminded of God’s supply in the face of childlike faith. I encourage you that no matter where you are in life, God has a plan to increase your measure of faith!
Restoration Day 9: Our Strength and Joy
“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit” (Ps. 51:12). Without JOY, we have no strength. Without strength, there is no ability to withstand our next attack. This is the meaning of the word strength.
When time comes to complete a project or a season of our life, we must have strength to push forth to the end. Nehemiah 8:9-11 says, “And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn nor weep.’ For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, ‘Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our LORD. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.’ So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, ‘Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.’” (NKJV) The time had come to complete the Temple. The people of God had realized their sin that had led them to captivity. However, Nehemiah said, “This is Feast time. Rejoice and new strength will come! Let the past be behind you! Gain new strength to move forward.”
To birth, we must have strength. 2 Kings 19:3 says, “This day is a day of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth.” (NKJV) When the time comes, must have strength to bring forth our next season. To have STRENGTH, we must have JOY!
Our enemy longs to rob us of our joy and get us out of the salvation process. That does not mean that he can steal our salvation by robbing our joy, but he can steer us away from the forgiveness, healing, prosperity and restoration that are by-products of our salvation. His strategy many times is the same one he used on King David: he causes us to sin. Nothing will rob us of the joy of the Lord as effectively as sin in our lives.
But these are days in which God is longing to restore joy to His people through deeper levels of repentance. In repairing the breaches that sin has caused, God is able to restore joy. Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart does good, like medicine.” Joy works like a medicine and brings healing to our bones. That is why Scripture says that the joy of the Lord is our strength (see Neh. 8:10); it brings with it the power to heal and maintain the health God has for us.
Even though David sinned and lost his joy, we see from Psalm 51 that he was able to ask the Lord to restore that joy to him. Through the blood of Christ, we are positioned with even greater favor than King David had to ask the Lord to forgive our transgressions and restore the joy of our salvation.
Restoration Day 10: Our Health!
In this year of REST (5775), we need to understand restoration! Usually there are three main issues linked with our struggles: Finances, Religion, and Health. We will spend more time on the Blood as we proceed but let’s declare our health restored.
God says, “‘For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds,’ says the Lord, ‘Because they called you an outcast saying: “This is Zion; no one seeks her.”’” (Jer. 30:17) Through sin we have become fragmented and scattered in a way that can result in physical illness, even to the point of decreasing our life spans. But God is the Mighty Physician who will restore our health. The Lord heals. However, many times, this is a journey in the fallen world around us. Environment changes and decay, bloodline and generational disorders, traumas of this world, and just close contact with a very populous society, are all factors that effect our health.
Jesus’ Treatment of Disease was Part of His Redemptive Plan of Freedom.
Jesus healed sick people. This was one of His major ministries. He dealt with many organic causes of illness, individuals, affected by madness, birth defects, and infections. The blind, the deaf, the lame, and sufferers approached Him for help. I love the story of the woman with the spirit of infirmity who “pressed through” in Mathew 9. To me, she is the best example of personal overcoming. She overcome the religious structure of the day, the reproach of being a woman, the stigma of being unclean and pressed through and touched the Lord. This caused the Lord to release virtue or power from His own Body that healed her condition.
In the Hebraic culture of the day, most believed that illness was the direct consequence of sin (John 9:1-3), resulting in punishment. However, Jesus shifted this concept of understanding in the people of that day by healing a blind man who had been sick since birth. He declared the sickness was not related to the man or his father, but was for His Glory. This shifted the paradigm of punishment related to sin. Many of our wrong choices produce consequences that affect our body. However, Jesus came to extend grace to bring us out from the bondage of the punishment of sin and into healing and wholeness. He had the power both to forgive sin and to heal (Matt. 9:1-8; compare Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26).
On several occasions He used His own spit as an ointment or anointing (Mark 7:32-35; 8:22-25; John 9:6-7). I find this fascinating. One of the key ways to test DNA is through spittle. Jesus took Father’s spittle and placed it on the eyes of the blind and watched their eyes formed. Regardless of the cause of their distress, people found that Jesus could truly help. There can be no doubt that the ability of Jesus to perform miracles is seen most vividly in His healing ministry. Mental illness and epilepsy were not uncommon. Their sickness was usually associated with demonic powers. Sterility and barrenness were also major issues in biblical times. The Lord addressed fever and dysentery, also.
Therefore, know that the Lord wants to address your infirmity and weakness and restore your health. Never condemn yourself for imperfections and weaknesses. Rather, just get on a journey and relationship with a Holy God who desires to bring new strength to you.
Charles D. “Chuck” Pierce serves as President of Global Spheres, Inc. (GSI) in Corinth, Texas. This is an apostolic, prophetic ministry that is being used to gather and mobilize the worshipping Triumphant Reserve throughout the world. GSI facilitates other ministries as well, and participates in regional and national gatherings to develop new Kingdom paradigms. Peter and Doris Wagner complete the leadership team of this new wineskin. Chuck also serves as President of Glory of Zion International Ministries, a ministry that aligns Jew and Gentile. He is known for his accurate prophetic gifting which helps direct nations, cities, churches and individuals in understanding the times and seasons in which we live.
Chuck has a degree in Business from Texas A&M, Master’s work in Cognitive Systems from the University of North Texas, and a D. Min. from the Wagner Leadership Institute.
Chuck, his wife Pam and six children and nine grandchildren.
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