Forgotten Promises Resurrected, The Promise of Restoration

What Led Me Here

How I was lead to the promise of restoration was divine prodding and Holy Spirit whispering in my ear about time and the sins of my own father and his father and grand fathers before.  

What is Time?

I started thinking about time in the same way God may view time outside of this earthly realm.  Of course here on earth, time, to our perspective, seems linear, or at least that is what we have been taught and have generally accepted. But, when you look beyond our earthly realm, it’s a different world.   It’s a world that doesn’t follow Newton’s Laws of Physics, a world where the least is the greatest, a world where there is no separation from beginning to end.  It definitely is not Earth! With all that in mind, I’ve been thinking about time in the grand scheme of things and how it really affects us in the eternal sense. In the eternal sense it seems logical to me that time is actually timeless. Take for instance, Hebrew

13:8 where it is revealed, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever”.   Jesus, AKA God never changes, He’s all knowing and all powerful and He’s the great “I Am”.   And, it’s revealed in Revelation 22:13  that Jesus said, “ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

A Vision Started it

Keep that all in mind because I want to tell you why, at least in part, all this has been heavy on my mind.  It started November 10, 2022 when I found out my dad had died when his house caught fire late in the night of the 9th, after he had gone to bed. He didn’t even realize there was a fire before he was overcome by smoke and flames. As you can imagine, that was hard and unexpected news to hear and digest.  But the thing that has been bothering me is the vision that I had after I went to bed and fell asleep the night of the 10th. The short version is that my dad came to me in the vision, I could tell he was distraught even though he wasn’t saying anything.  We were inside a big building so I asked him to walk with me and as we left the building it was a beautiful day and I started to ask a bunch of “why” questions stemming back to my childhood to the present day.  My dad stayed silent during the questions but after the questions, he fell to the ground and writhed in what I interpreted as pain and guilt.  Then it was over.  In the beginning, the vision caused me to have more questions than answers. I’m not going to pretend I have all the answers today, I don’t know that I will this side of Heaven. On the flip side however, there is satisfaction in knowing the promises God has given us and what we should to be doing. 

Repent!

A theme through the Bible, that sticks out like sore thumb, is to repent of our sins. We are told to repent and lean on God and all will be forgiven.  So simple but apparently extremely hard for so many people. As I sit here writing this, I can’t help thinking I’m here because my dad was here first and his father before him and on and on.  I can’t help but think each one of my forefathers help makeup who I am.  I know I belong to Jesus, I know He bought and paid for me. I know I’m adopted by the most high, the creator of the Heavens and Earth, the Lord of lords and King of kings.  Why do I bring that up? Because non of us are worthy, all of us have sinned and all of fall short without Jesus. I know this world is not my home but I also know that I’m here for a purpose and it’s to glorify God. 

All Things are Possible with God

I know this is a bit deep, and you may have never thought about life like I’m discussing, but please stay with me because the meat and potatoes are coming.  Before I go further, keep in mind Matthew 19:26, “But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  I urge you to think outside of this earthly realm and realize that our purpose and authority comes straight from God-a limitless God, an all knowing God, an all powerful God . You must believe and you must have faith in God and let all the restraining thoughts in this realm and this world has placed on us to deceive us that we are weak and don't have any power or authority.  

God is Lord!

That brings me to Leviticus 26:40 under the heading of “The Promise of Restoration” in my Bible, says, “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt—then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land.  The land also shall be left empty by them, and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; they will accept their guilt, because they despised My judgments and because their soul abhorred My statutes.  Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God.  But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God:

I am the Lord”.

We Must Confess Our Iniquities, and Repent

We must confess our iniquities, and repent. We must also pray for the sins and iniquities of our fathers.  We must do this because this is what God directs us to do.  I’ve been taught from an early age that I’m responsible just for me, my sins and my salvation but I also have culpability for the sins of my forefathers.  And I know anything is possible with God so I pray to be forgiven of all of my iniquities and even my forefathers iniquities. I also pray for their forgiveness and their salvation.  

Are You With Me?

Now, I can imagine that raises the shackles on many readers.  Let me explain a bit, I’m familiar with the parable of the rich man and Lazarus explained in Luke 16:19-31.  I’ve read about the void between Hades and Abraham's Bosom that keeps people going from one to the other and vice-versa .  I liken it to a prison.  I’m also familiar with the verse in Luke 11:9-10 where Jesus says, “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will  find; knock, and it will be opened. For everyone who asks received, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened”.  And, I know and believe Matthew 19:29 where Jesus states, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”. 

What's Holding You Back?

So, what’s holding your prayers back.  Your answer should’ve nothing. And I’m not saying that prayers are vending machine but rather used to glorify God and expand the Kingdom of Heaven.  I am saying, with God, Nothing is impossible!

May you always walk in the Truth!