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Greetings Beloved,
It is my prayer for you that you prosper and be in health; even as they soul shall prosper. You are child of the Most High God, and I pray that you never forget that. In today’s homily, I want to share with you the word of God from Psalm 23, A Psalm of David.
And it reads,
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
One day I was meditating on the Word, I heard a voice whisper the word restoration. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word restore has three definitions. The first definition of restore is to give back or return. The second definition of restore is to bring back into existence or use. The third definition of restore is to put again in possession of something. According Scripture and the testimony of my life, I have found that restoration to be a reality. God continuously promised us restoration in His Word. In our first passage of scripture we see David testifying that the Lord restored his soul.
Genesis Chapter 2 verse 7 says, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."
There are several instances in the bible where men and women died, and the bible said that they gave up the ghost. Biblically, when one has given up the ghost means that they have died. I want to encourage you that the death of this mortal body is not the end. After the physical death of our bodies, our souls will live on.
When David testified that the Lord restored his soul, he was saying that God kept death away from him. God delivered his soul from death. I’m sure many of you may know that David was a man of war, and he fought in the name of the Lord. So, he saw many men die, and he also killed many men. Therefore, David knew that death was a reality. In the midst of the very shadow of death, David testified that the Lord restored his soul. That is my heart’s desire today, that the Lord will restore my soul.
It is becoming more and more evident every day that the value of this world and the things here are worthless. So many of the things that man has grown to cherish and love has now become worthless. Every day of our lives, we witness the truth of how vain we have become as humans, and how fleeting this world is. Jesus Christ tells us In Matthew 24:35 that, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Everything except the words of the Lord shall be destroyed. Biblical prophecy assures us that everything except the Word of God will fade. I have just one request before the Lord. Lord, restore my soul.
Death is all around us. People are dying every day in many different kinds of ways. Some have died because of old age. Their bodies were not able to hold on any longer, and some have been killed by others. There are some that have been wiped away by severe storms. There are some that have even taken their own lives. All of these are natural deaths, but you have an enemy that wants you to suffer the second death. We need the Lord to restore our souls from even the second death.
Many of us have abusively take advantage of God’s grace and mercy, and we knowingly do wrong. But you don’t understand that you are lifting up your soul to the devil. Why would you put your soul into the hands of the devil? Many of the things that the devil offers is temporary; but time is running out, and you don’t want to be lost forever.
You have an adversary that wonders to and fro seeking whom he may devour. In John 10: 10, it is written that the devil comes but to still, kill, and destroy. According to Revelations Chapter 20 verse 10, He has already been promised the second death. The second death is eternal damnation and eternal separation from the Lord. We need to remember that life can only be found in Jesus. For, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
Keep in mind that the devil wants you to be eternally separated from your Creator and your Savior. He wants you to die a natural death and spiritual death. Whosoever is sentenced to the second death shall burn with fire and brimstone forever, but we need to have it in our hearts to seek the Lord God for restoration. Cry out to the Lord. Lord God ,”Lord, restore my soul!” After you have suffered all manner of hardships and disappointments in this natural life, how miserable it is to suffer all over again.
The only One that can deliver us from death is the One that conquered death, hell, and the grave. We have to call on Him for deliverance. Call on Him while He may be found. Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven with all power in his hands. In the Day of Judgment, Jesus under the guidance of the Holy Ghost will judge whether we will suffer the second death or whether we will gain eternal life. I want eternal life. How many of you want eternal life? I don’t want to die and go to hell. Life on this earth can be good at times, but it is unfaithful and fleeting. This earth realm is filled with many fallen angels who cause all kinds of corruption and confusion. They want to destroy you and take away your hope, because they know that there is no hope for them.
They are hopeless demons. They will try to convince you that you are hopeless as they are. They tell you that there is no need in you trying to live saved. They say, "What's the use? It is impossible to walk with God." They say that you have gone too far, and you have done too much evil to be saved. The devil is a liar and deceiver. You are not hopeless. You have not gone so far that God cannot reach you. This world is full of trouble, but we must strive for eternal life with God. Some of you might be in situations that seem hopeless, but God says to you right now that He can restore you. Nothing is better than that. With eternal life, evil can no longer keep you in bondage. With eternal life, sickness can no longer plague your bodies.
There are some that have sacrificed eternal life for the temporary things of this world, but it is not worth it. Everything in this life is temporary. King Solomon, in all of his wisdom, found that all is vanity. All the material gain of this world is nothingness. I just want eternal life with God. I want the life that will never end, and I’ll be in the presence of the Lord forever. I’m here to encourage you to focus your attention on things above. Colossians 3:2 says, "Set your affection things which are above, and not on the things of the earth." If there is anything that you have placed above God, I am warning you to let it go. Whatever it is, you need to let it go.
Make sure God is always first in your priorities. For it is written in Mark Chapter 8:36, For, what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Let nothing come before the Lord God. Nothing is worth it. Lying on your coworker in order to get a raise is not worth it. Cheating on your spouse or fornicating for a few moments of bliss is not worth it. Not reading your bible and staying on social media sites all day is not worth it. God will have no other god before him. Remember that everything in this life is temporary. Live your life to live again.
Psalms 25, A Psalm of David reads;
1 Unto thee, O lord, do I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.
3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.
4 Shew me thy ways, O Lord, teach me thy paths.
5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation: on thee do I wait all the day.
6 Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindnesses; for they have been ever of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.
8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore will he teach sinners in the way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
11 For thy name’s sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.
12 What man is he that feareth him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.
13 His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.
14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.
15 Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.
16 Turn thou unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged; O bring thou me out of my distresses.
18 Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins
19 Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.
20 O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.
22. Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.
If you would look closely to these two scriptures, you will notice that David testified that the Lord restored His soul in the Psalm 23, but in Psalm 25 David said,” Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. “In Psalm 23, the Lord already restored David’s soul, but in Psalm 25 David was lifting up his soul to the Lord to be restored again. The thing we should learn from David is to continually lift up ourselves to the Lord. Make yourself a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to the Lord every day. Living saved is a constant thing. We have to practice holiness and sanctification daily, and holiness simply means separating yourself for God. Living for God and God alone! Living our lives with God! We cannot pick God up and put Him down whenever we get ready. That’s not the way it works. Surrender your life to God just like David did.
Anytime David did anything wrong, he repented of it with a perfect heart. David could not stay away from the Lord. He had to repent, and change his ways. Something within David let him know that he had to return to the One that restored his soul on numerous occasions. We should seek the Lord for restoration daily. Stay focused on living the saved and sanctified life. Don’t turn your back on the Lord. Nothing out there is more important. You have to live holy so that after the natural death has taken place the Lord will give you eternal restoration. This is the truth concerning restoration. Let us pray,
Heavenly Father,
Lord God, I pray that you deliver our souls. Restore our souls Oh LORD. Help us to seek you daily. Lord God in heaven, we know that you can hear our prayer. Deliver the souls of us your people. We are your people. Keep the hand of the wicked one away. We don’t want to die and go to hell. We confess now that Jesus Christ is LORD, Savior, and Master or our lives. We believe in our hearts that you raised Him from the dead with all power in his hands. We believe you raised him from the dead to give us power to become the sons of God; in Jesus mighty name we pray, Amen
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