News:

What happens if you get scared half to death twice? -Steven Wright

Main Menu

A loving restoration

Started by Roscoe, August 28, 2011, 05:22:08 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Roscoe

 This thought hit me today and I thought I'd share it....
Psalms 23:3 He RESTORETH my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Restore: to bring back to a state of health, soundness, or vigor.Joel 2:25-2725 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
26 And ye shall eat in 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.
27 And ye shall know that I [am] in the midst of Israel, and [that] I [am] the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
   Joel 2:32    And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

  For just a few moments, let's talk about restoration. All of us have, to some point fallen and failed miserably in our walk with God. It's because we are human, and there is no way to overcome our sinfulness without God. Thus, as we live our life from day to day, we fall and must be restored in our walk with God.
  One of my hobbies is old cars. This thought came to me today, and I'd like to elaborate on it a bit.
  At one time the '46 Chevrolet truck that I now drive was a shiny new truck, without a dent, ding or scratch. I'm sure that the new owner probably took a lot of pride in it, and took very good care of it. Likewise, a new Christian is so proud of their newfound salvation and walk with God. Much like I imagine the original owner of my truck showed it off to his friends and family, we were so happy to show of our new understanding with God and what He has done in our lives.
  As years went by, the truck was put to work and suffered scratches. I imagine the first scratch or ding brought pain to the new owner. But then, as time went on, it became just another old farm truck. It was probably patched up and used up to the point that it was no longer useful for anything. Then it was parked out in the field, where it sat for years, enduring the cold, the heat, the rain, the snow. It was left to rot.  Many of us have lived a life like this old truck. We started off shiny and new, and then we stumbled. Maybe it was a scratch, like slipping a curse word. Or was it a more serious dent- did we commit adultery, lie, steal? No matter, a sin is a sin, and a dent is a dent.
  At any rate the dings and dents of life began to add up, just like on the old truck. Every sin leaves its scar, until we can barely get down the road of life. We become damaged goods, and Satan would like to park us in his field, telling us that we are used up, no good for God or anyone.

Years later, a man drives by and sees the remains of the old truck in the field. It's broken, dinged and damaged, the paint almost gone, and all of the glass broken out. Many people have passed it by, and have saw no more value in it than its scrap metal value. Oh, but this time, the man that sees it is a restorer. He sees what it used to be, not what it is. He sees what he can make it be again.
Today, many of us are sitting broken, dinged and damaged in Satan's field of lies. No one sees the value in our lives because of our past mistakes. But today, the Restorer is here. He sees what you once were for Him, and sees what you can be. He will make us new if we let Him.
Psalms 23:3 shows what God will do for you. In Joel 2:25 is His promise to you, if you are willing to reach out to Him and let Him restore you.
  The restorer of the truck makes a deal and brings the old truck out of its field. I'm sure it had sat so long that the tires were flat, and the dirt of the land had slowly began to drift up around the wheels, holding it immobile.
   The restorer preservers and soon the truck is taken home to a shop. The first thing that is done is the old truck is pressure washed to free all the dirt off of it so the restoration work can begin.  Once the dirt is off, the truck is stripped and sanded to get rid of the rust. Undoubtedly if the truck had feelings this would hurt. The dirt, the old paint stripped away to reveal a clean surface
.
  Like the old truck, we have been down so long and parked in Satan's field of sin that the sin tries to hold on and keep us captive. When the Restorer comes along, He begins to cleanse us of the sin that we have lived in for so long.  Sometimes it's painful, as we are stripped to a clean surface. The Psalmist, David, showed how we should be this way:
Psalms 51:10   Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
The surface must be perfectly prepared or the new paint will bubble and show what is really under the nice finish. How many so called Christians look good and shiny on the surface- but when trouble arises, what's underneath begins to show? The dents are hammered out, and the mechanicals are redone so that the truck can go down the road once more.  Once drivable again the truck can be used and worked on a little at a time, until it is totally restored and new again. In our lives as Christians, the restoration process takes time. The old truck was not back on the road overnight. It takes many hours of love and work from the Restorer to bring us back to what we once were.
Someday, the old truck will be shiny and new appearing again, because someone cared enough to invest the time in it to restore it. Meanwhile, it is an ongoing project.
  Likewise, we as Christians will be shiny and new again, because Someone cares enough to invest the time in us to restore us. We are ongoing projects until the day He calls us home, shiny and restored.
   David Garrett, 26, one of the nation's foremost young concert performers, had an accident that every world-class musician must dread: at the end of a concert at the Barbican he tripped and landed on his violin. The instrument is a 290-year-old Stradivarius, so rare that it would be almost impossible to estimate its value. Certainly there are people who would have gladly paid hundreds of thousands of pounds for it, before its glamorous owner did a turn as Mr. Bean.
"I was all packed up and ready to go when I slipped," Garrett told the Evening Standard. "People said it was as if I'd trodden on a banana skin. I fell down a flight of steps and on to the case. When I opened it, the violin was in pieces. I couldn't speak and I couldn't get up. I didn't even know if I was hurt – I didn't care. I've had that violin for eight years. It was like losing a friend."
You can be sure that Garrett paid whatever it cost to restore this rare instrument. Yet, you are more valuable to God than that violin is to anyone. I'm sure Garrett would not have given his life to restore even such a rare, fine instrument. But that's just what God did for you.
Today, I am here to tell you in the words of Psalms 121: "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.2 My help [cometh] from the LORD, which made heaven and earth."
Your Restorer is here, and He will restore and renew you. Lift up your eyes.

  As Galatians 6:9 says, "And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

Hope it helps someone.....if not, don't laugh to hard at my ramblings.  :hi:
Potstirrer and snoop extraordinaire   "I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world."- Thomas Edison

Lynx

That'll preach!

I can't really say anything about you putting a restored truck in your message.  I referred to my music collection in my first sermon at church.
"Do you sing at church?"
"Yes I sing at church, I sing at home, at work, in the car, at the supermarket, at Wal-Mart..."
:sing: :sing: :sing: :sing: :sing: :sing:

The Purple Fuzzy


mini

Good thought.  I enjoyed it!
DISCLAIMER: All rights reserved. Meant for entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. Not necessarily the view of this website. This supersedes all previous notices.

I wonder if we made a wax figure of Mini, and then melted it, if we'd get Roscoe... -MellerYeller

sunlight

:like:

You now rate up there in my book, almost as high as mini... :grin:

  :attackhug: Be full of hugs!

mini

Not to :pinkwink: the thread, but he has at least 4 feet to go to get as high as me...

:ugly:
DISCLAIMER: All rights reserved. Meant for entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. Not necessarily the view of this website. This supersedes all previous notices.

I wonder if we made a wax figure of Mini, and then melted it, if we'd get Roscoe... -MellerYeller

sunlight

:grin: why do you think I said it like I did? :halo:
  :attackhug: Be full of hugs!

Roscoe

Quote from: minnesota68 on September 02, 2011, 11:17:47 PM
Not to :pinkwink: the thread, but he has at least 4 feet to go to get as high as me...

:ugly:
:pound: I don't wanna be that high....obviously the air is thin up there, starving the brain. :ugly:

And thank you, chel. I was gonna respond that I don't feel worthy enough to be in the same category with mini, but that ugly mug opened his yap, so- I shall accept the position in your book, with an eye towards pulling the big galoot down to my level.  :hypocrite:
Potstirrer and snoop extraordinaire   "I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world."- Thomas Edison

sunlight

haha! When I get back stateside... you guys are first on my list of trips whenever I have the time open up again... Beware! :grin:
  :attackhug: Be full of hugs!