CHAPTER  SEVEN

God Is Able To Restore!

Let us again begin with God’s grace:

 

Amazing Grace

 

Amazing grace how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost but now am found

Was blind but now I see

 

Twas grace that taught my heart to fear

And grace my fears relieved

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed

 

Thru many dangers, toils, and snares

I have already come

Tis grace that brought me safe thus far

And grace will lead me home.

 

When we've been thereten thousand years

Bright shining as the sun

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Then when we first begun.

 

Welcome to chapter Seven of Addiction Recovery.

 

We are grateful that you have made a decision in your life to live a new way. This will require honesty, willingness, and a total surrender of yourself to a greater power that is able to make a difference in your life.We pray that you are blessed as you participate, and that in these coming chapters change will become very noticeable to you. Let us begin chapter seven. Read the following and the join me in the short prayer below.Is God able? The creator of the universe, our heavenly Father, when we ask Him to do anything, we must believe that He is able! In chapter seven we are seeking God to do a work in us that we must believe that He is able to do. His word tells us that we must come to Him believing. There are many passages that we can refer to that will help us to see that we must come to Him this way, such as Mathew 9:28"And when He was come into the house, the blind men came to Him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this?They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched He their eyes, saying According to your faith be it unto you."These men were made whole, they went away being able to see, no longer blind!You also can come to Him believing that He is able and He will heal your heart and remove your hurt! Let's ask Him now to create in us a new heart and give to us a new life!Join with me in this prayer:Heavenly Father, thank you that I can come to you at anytime and with any request and you are always available to me, Father today I ask that you will help me, I believe that you are completely able to restore me whole,restore in me a new heart today, and a right spirit, help me to not be blind anymore to the effects of my ways, and give to me the wisdom and strength to overcome this difficult time in my life, I thank you Jesus for saving me and helping me to turn my life around so that I can have a new life that is free from addiction, I give you all the glory and all thanks, in Jesus name, Amen!

 

STEP SEVEN - God is able to cleanse us and create in us a new heart! Humbly we come to God and ask him to remove our shortcomings and we ask him to shape and to mold us unto his image and likeness.“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” Psalm 51:2Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10When you believe he is able. Then God will restore you to what he created you to be. A blessing!

 

GOD WILL RESTORE!

 

Maybe it’s a family relationship, A Job, a Home, Cars, Riches, Talents, A relationship with God, with friends, your church, parents, and through the effects of your choices you have lost very important parts of your life. Maybe your addiction has cost you more than you ever wanted to lose, but now all of this can be put into the past not to have any more power to steal, to kill, or to destroy anymore, here and now is where we live and the past is no more! Now we realize the errors of our ways, and we are believing God for a change!God can change things, he is able to restore all that the cankerworm has stolen from you! Joel 2Together We Can!Restoration!"To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness: that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified." Isaiah 61:3OUR CHALLENGE TODAY!That he might be glorified, we understand this visitation of mourning.The times when our heart is squeezed like a wet sponge, it is in these times that Jesus captures our tears even as we are soaked in the flood of mourning from our heart.He captures our tears and begins a healing. It seems that in these times healing is far from us, that joy has left us and forgotten how much we are in need, and that there is no beauty around in any place that we look, but with each tear that we shed, Jesus draws near! Often the world seems so unfair, many are hit with diseases that do not discriminate, with tragedies that sweep in to destroy, and with hard times mentally, physically, economically, or socially that just don't seem fair! Why do bad things happen to good people? To the rich and to the poor alike, to those that live holy and to those that do not? These tests and trials are blind to the choice of whom they should go to! We can only know this, "It is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment" Questions such as, “How is it that Jesus is glorified in our pain?”“How is it that Jesus is glorified in our death?” These begin to surface.Their answer is in: How we respond in these tragic times! Herein is Jesus glorified, when our tears turn into joy, when our ruined lives are healed and turned into trees of righteousness, and when we stand tall and praise him despite our pain, despite our sorrow, and despite the heaviness of tragedy! As Christians we have this confidence, knowing that Jesus is always at work causing all of this to work together for our good, as it is written, "For your shame ye shall have double, and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them." Isaiah 61:7 Friends we might think that we know what these times look like, but know this, Jesus is always at work and never ceases! He himself changes not, but he can change us and our situation!This is what has happened for countless people for many years, God has restored them; for example, let us consider just one, Joseph,In Genesis 37 we read of Joseph, and how he had a dream, and was hated by his brothers because of it, he then became the target of their envy as they plotted to kill him, then to cast him into a pit, and then to sell him into slavery.In Genesis 39 we find that Joseph the slave was brought to Potiphar, an officer of the Pharaoh, so that he as his slave would become the Pharaoh’s servant and overseer of his house.So we see so far that Joseph, had a dream and was thrown in a pit, almost left for dead, then sold into slavery and soon to be thrown into prison, as we read in Genesis 39 how Potiphar’s wife accused him of rape and he was cast into prison, now none of these things or similar things to this may have happened to you, but it might seem that your life can relate to this tragedy, you see,Joseph did nothing wrong, he lost his family, he lost his job, he lost his money, and he lost many days of his life, all because of tragic events. The same as you have lost, regardless of fault, he suffered pain and you have been suffering pain, now does this change? Yes! In Genesis 40 we read of how Joseph while in prison interpreted a few dreams and his words of interpretation was fulfilled by God. Now shortly after this the Pharaoh was told of Joseph’s talent to interpret dreams, the next thing that we see is the beginning of Joseph’s change, from slave, then inmate, then unto the Pharaoh’s right hand man! In Genesis 41:37-57 we read about Joseph being placed into a high position of leadership in the Pharaoh’s Court!Now he is no longer the same Joseph that many people knew, and so it is with you, no longer a failure, no longer an addict, a mess up, a delinquent, or any of the many other negative things that people may have said about you, now you are new!Restoration is possible and here is how we can request this in our life:Say this with me, “Have mercy on me O God according to thy loving kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”“Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.”“For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.”“Against thee, and thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: That thou might be justified when thou speaks, and be clear when thou judges.”“Behold I was shaped in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”“Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the inward parts thou shalt make me to know wisdom.”“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.”“Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

”“Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out my transgressions.

 

”“Create in me a clean heart,

O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

”“Cast me not away from thy presence;

and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

”“Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;

and uphold me with thy free spirit.

 

”We must realize the truth about ourselves and then ask God to heal us. We must acknowledge that we have done wrong, that we need work with God, and that our addictions continue to remind us of this always! We must agree that God is supreme and that he is the Truth, and that he knows all about us, and we can’t hide anymore.Like David we must remind God that we are in need of mercy, because of our weakness. When we walk in this truth then we will realize where we are in life, who we have become, how we got here, and who can help us to change. We now seek to be clean, free from our addiction, purged with hyssop, hyssop was a medicinal branch that brought healing, both healing mentally and physically from the effects of sickness. Like David, we too must show our sincerity by repeatedly petitioning God for his mercy and forgiveness. And finally we must fear God and the possibility of losing loved ones because of our addiction. Once we have a right relationship with God he will begin to restore joy, and so many other things that have been taken away.God can and does restore!“And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.” Joel 2:25, 26“And ye shall know that I am you God in the midst of you and none else!Good news! God restores all!“Stretch forth thy hand, and he did so, and his hand was restored whole.” Luke 6:10“Then touched he their eyes, saying, according to your faith be it unto you, and their eyes were opened.” Mathew 9:29, 30God is able to save, to deliver, and to restore.He can save you! Ask him to come and live in your heart, confess him to be your Lord, and believe that he has the power to change your life and to bring you back from the brink of destruction!

 

Jesus Heals Our Hurts