1 Peter 5:10 "…he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation."
“There are seasons when God refreshes His people, and also seasons when God restores truths and ministries that have been lost through sin, neglect and tradition. We are now in a time of restoration or restitution as the KJV reads of Apostolic ministry to the church. The word restitution comes from the Greek word apokatastasis, meaning to reconstitute in health, home or organization, to restore again.”
“To restore means to bring back into existence or use, to reestablish, to bring back to an original condition. It means to put back, replace, reinstate, reinstall, revive, recall to life, return, to rebuild in a form supposed to be the original. This implies that there has been a departure from the original design. Things fall apart and deteriorate through neglect, decline is inevitable without constant upgrade and renovation. Restoration is then necessary to correct and change the situation.”
~Moving in the Apostolic by John Eckhardt
We have been seeing God build His Church – us. And God has been laying foundation into us. God has changed the way a lot of us think and the way a lot of us view “church”. The Spirit of the Lord has been bringing things up and has been teaching us that we are the Church, not a special place (building). We ARE the Church. Also, in this process, God has been restoring the biblical truth back into our lives, so that we can no longer sit idly by and be spectators. We have an integral part to play as the Body of Christ, because we are the Church.
Ephesians 4 (NKJV)
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
So, restoration is an extremely big part in what God has been doing to us and in our thinking. He has been changing the old wineskin. Whenever the Holy Spirit wants to bring new wine He has to replace the old wineskin with a new wineskin. How He replaces the old wineskin with the new wineskin is with new revelation, changing our thinking, changing the way we are, and the way we perceive things. He is removing things out of our lives that are no longer relevant to His vision for us. I am very excited to see that God is making us into a new wineskin. Because, where there is a new wineskin the Holy Spirit is able to pour new wine.
Matthew 9:17 (NLT)
“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.”
I believe that is what the Holy Spirit wants to do with us at Restoration Life. He wants to heal some things in us, remove some things, equip us and, ultimately, restore us back to our organic roots. This is why we have an open forum when we gather for meetings, so each person can get very comfortable in operating in their giftings under the direction of the Holy Spirit. We will continue on this journey of learning how to recognize our giftings and operate in our giftings as we follow the Holy Spirit. That is the way Jesus Christ taught His disciples. The disciples then matured and ended up changing the world.
Restoration Life Ministries will never be a one-man show. As we continue to humble ourselves and submit one to another and follow the instructions in Ephesians 4:16, operating correctly in our own special giftings and seeing the body of Christ strengthened and matured, God will do new things for us, God will put things into the right places. I am very excited to see where the Holy Spirit is going to take us.
I love the Church and I am glad that we are gathering together at the river of the Holy Spirit. I am very excited for the plans and purposes that the Lord has for us in the upcoming future. I eagerly await to see how the Lord is going to build us, HIS Church.
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Zechariah 4 (NLT)
6 Then he said to me, “This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 7 Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel’s way; it will become a level plain before him! And when Zerubbabel sets the final stone of the Temple in place, the people will shout: ‘May God bless it! May God bless it!’”
8 Then another message came to me from the Lord: 9 “Zerubbabel is the one who laid the foundation of this Temple, and he will complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has sent me. 10 Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.”
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1 Peter 5 (NLT)
1 And now, a word to you who are elders in the churches. I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ. And I, too, will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world. As a fellow elder, I appeal to you: 2 Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly - not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. 3 Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example.
4 And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.
5 In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.
10 In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. 11 All power to him forever! Amen.
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Psalm 23 (NKJV)
1 The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4 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.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
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1 Corinthians 14:26 (NLT)
Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize.
When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said.
But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.
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Ephesians 4 (NKJV)
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.”
9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.