Be Restored


Meditation

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.
(Psalm 51:12)

It’s very easy to forget how we felt at that moment when we realized the truth of Jesus Christ. There are many frightening things going on in the world today that help us forget. We tiptoe through life, going from one man-made disaster after another. The Middle East has been a powder keg trying to explode since Israel became a nation in May of 1948. There are despots in various countries, large and small, who threaten the peace of the whole world. There is political corruption everywhere we look in the leadership of almost every country. The world seems closer now than it ever has been before, to destroy itself in war. What is there, on this planet, to be joyous about?
Before Jesus came into my life, I looked on those possibilities with fear and anxiety, even though I wasn’t sitting around, openly quaking terror. My dread was expressed in loose living. It was the old, “eat, drink, and be merry, fore tomorrow we die,” attitude. I was so busy looking for happiness, I failed to realize I’d had the answer when I was a child going to church. I had no lasting joy as an adult, so I searched for it in a bottle or a joint. My only real joy was in the birth of my children, but even that couldn’t be sustained for long. I was like a robot with bad programming, doing the same or similar things over and over, never getting the desired results. I was on autopilot with a final destination of hell.
Are you ready for your death, or is that one of the things you really fear? No one is promised tomorrow, anything could happen to you at any time, so being ready is important. It won’t be until you accept the free gift of salvation that your fears will be replaced with real, lasting joy. However, the devil will work tirelessly to take your joy from you and replace it with doubt. The possibility of an untimely death will be with us until the Christ returns, there is little or nothing we can do about that. Jesus offers you peace of mind that you can use to hold on to your joy. When your joy wains, you cannot be effective witnesses to the truth of the gospel message. Whenever you start to feel the world pressing in on you, ask God to remind you of that moment you were saved. Ask him to bolster that memory and remove your fear.




Prayer Time

Father God, you alone are holy. Your ways are always above our ways. Your thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Lord we praise you for your goodness. Thank you for the salvation of Jesus Christ, even though we are not worthy of anything but your scorn. We try to be righteous like you, but we usually fall short. There are times, Father, when we backslide and revert to our sinful lives. Please be patient with us and restore us to a right relationship with you. Help us to always lean on Jesus in the times we fail you. It’s always our desire, dear Lord, to please you and to be your light in the darkness of this world. However, we sometimes succumb to the temptations we face on a daily basis. Give us a spirit like yours, Father. Help us to resist the devil’s enticements and be sustained by your grace and mercy. We thank you for never failing us, Lord. We know we can always count on your sustenance and provision. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!

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