Friday, September 30, 2022
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4
Living A Restored Life
Saved by grace. Restored by grace. Falling away after you have been a believer for a while and coming back after being restored carries even stronger emotions than being saved. Before we are saved, we don’t know the sweet fellowship with God and other believers, so we do not recognize the void in our lives. But walking, falling, sliding away leaves a gaping hole where our relationship with God and fellowship with other believers belongs. Coming back into fellowship after being restored is like coming home after being lost. We are coming back to open arms and love and warmth and acceptance – or at least we should be. That is the reception you get in a grace filled church. Coming back into fellowship with other believers is just one part of the whole picture. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to living restored is the battle we have with ourselves.
After any battle that you survive you will most likely have scars and anytime something has to be mended – or restored – it leaves a mark. These marks are daily reminders of our failures, but they should really serve to be daily reminders of how loved we are and, how even with those marks, we are valuable and cherished to our Heavenly Father. You don’t sin without something being injured or broken. The scars are real and will remind us of our weakness, but also of His mercy.
Sometimes it is living with the scars and consequences of our failures that can steal the victory out of our restoration. The road is long, and path leads uphill. Every single day, with so much intention, we have to win the battle that rages in our heads – the one that whispers You are no good and You are too far gone, and Why even try? The one that screams You will never be usable by God again. You have messed it up forever.
We can let the scars take us out of the game or we can let the scars make us stronger. It is tough because the road is long and the process feels so slow. Having to live with consequences and broken relationships, etc. from our sins makes living a restored life even harder but in Him it is possible. Victory is ours.
Satan wants nothing more than for us to live defeated. When we live defeated, we are not going to step up and help someone else who is going through exactly what you went through. Living restored in our victory that Christ claimed for us, we become powerful for the glory of God and His kingdom. Our testimony is stronger, and our resolve is sure in His strength. God is all about restoration. He wants everyone that is lost or fallen away to come back, and we are sometimes called to go and get them.
The very same power that rose Jesus from the grave is the power that resurrected us from our graves of sin the first time and the same power that snatched us back from destruction again and again. And that power is in us every day. This is the power that sustains us and quiets the lies in our heads. This power is what makes living a restored life possible.
