PROGRESSIVE RESTORATION
December 2, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
BIBLE IN A YEAR: Jer 24-26
MEMORIZE: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6)
READ: Mark 8:22-26
22. And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
23. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
24. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.
25. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.
26. And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.
When Prophet Ezekiel prophesied in Ezekiel 37:4, flesh covered the skeletons and skin covered the flesh. A look at Ezekiel 37:1-10 shows us that there are several stages in restoration. In this case, it went from dry bones to sinewed bones, sinewed bones to fleshed bones, fleshed bones to skin-covered bodies. At this stage, they were like dead bodies - corpses, lying lifeless. Then came breath and they became a mighty army. When God is restoring an individual’s loss or losses, it could be progressive and therefore go from one stage to the other.
One important thing here is that once you can see the sign of God’s work of restoration at the first stage, know that God is committed to completing the process of restoration. Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath began a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”. Restoration is a good work. Has God commenced the work of restoration in your life? He will complete it in Jesus’ Name.
In today’s reading, when Jesus was to restore sight to a blind man at Bethsaida, He first led him out of the town before praying for him. Why? He had earlier placed a curse on the town in Matthew 11:21, so He refused to perform any miracle under the place He had cursed. From this we learn that God will not bless someone in a place He had already cursed. God does not contradict Himself. If you are in a family, church, community or nation under a divine curse, you would have to separate from any accursed thing, or else you too will remain under the curse (2 Cor. 6:17).
If a family is cursed for instance for failing to tithe, everyone in that family will suffer from it. This is why you must do everything possible to avoid God’s curse. God never blesses a place, people or church that is under His curse except steps had been earlier taken to seek His forgiveness, and for the curse to be removed. On the other hand, the healing of this blind man was in stages. At Christ’s first attempt, the man experienced partial sight - he saw men as trees. But after the second attempt, he saw clearly. Here we see that more grace is required to restore anyone under a cursed environment than the fellow under a blessed environment. The Lord will perfect every good thing that concerns you this season.
ACTION POINT:
Any known or unknown curse hindering my blessing, be destroyed today in Jesus’ Name. Father, let this year’s Holy Ghost Congress bring You glory in every area.
BIBLE IN A YEAR: Jer 24-26
MEMORIZE: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6)
READ: Mark 8:22-26
22. And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
23. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
24. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.
25. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.
26. And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.
When Prophet Ezekiel prophesied in Ezekiel 37:4, flesh covered the skeletons and skin covered the flesh. A look at Ezekiel 37:1-10 shows us that there are several stages in restoration. In this case, it went from dry bones to sinewed bones, sinewed bones to fleshed bones, fleshed bones to skin-covered bodies. At this stage, they were like dead bodies - corpses, lying lifeless. Then came breath and they became a mighty army. When God is restoring an individual’s loss or losses, it could be progressive and therefore go from one stage to the other.
One important thing here is that once you can see the sign of God’s work of restoration at the first stage, know that God is committed to completing the process of restoration. Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath began a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”. Restoration is a good work. Has God commenced the work of restoration in your life? He will complete it in Jesus’ Name.
In today’s reading, when Jesus was to restore sight to a blind man at Bethsaida, He first led him out of the town before praying for him. Why? He had earlier placed a curse on the town in Matthew 11:21, so He refused to perform any miracle under the place He had cursed. From this we learn that God will not bless someone in a place He had already cursed. God does not contradict Himself. If you are in a family, church, community or nation under a divine curse, you would have to separate from any accursed thing, or else you too will remain under the curse (2 Cor. 6:17).
If a family is cursed for instance for failing to tithe, everyone in that family will suffer from it. This is why you must do everything possible to avoid God’s curse. God never blesses a place, people or church that is under His curse except steps had been earlier taken to seek His forgiveness, and for the curse to be removed. On the other hand, the healing of this blind man was in stages. At Christ’s first attempt, the man experienced partial sight - he saw men as trees. But after the second attempt, he saw clearly. Here we see that more grace is required to restore anyone under a cursed environment than the fellow under a blessed environment. The Lord will perfect every good thing that concerns you this season.
ACTION POINT:
Any known or unknown curse hindering my blessing, be destroyed today in Jesus’ Name. Father, let this year’s Holy Ghost Congress bring You glory in every area.
Posted by Pastor E. A. Adeboye. Posted In : DECEMBER 2009
Fondly known as G.O or Daddy G.O, Pastor Adeboye became the General Overseer (G.O) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in 1981. Sheer curiosity and the search for a solution to a personal problem led Pastor Adeboye to worship at RCCG – Ebute-Metta in 1973. It was a most unlikely place of worship for a professor of Mathematics as the church had very few educated people and it lacked the comfort and grandeur of the Orthodox churches.
His desire to reach the ends of the earth is captured in this statement, “I would love to have a breakthrough to such a height that I can lend to nations and preach on every television and radio station at least one hour per day.”
