Greetings and welcome to Living Supernaturally. Thank you once again for giving us this opportunity to minister God's word and to spend a few moments in prayer. Today, we'll be talking about being cleansed and restored. Zechariah chapter 3, verses 3 to 5, ‘Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. Then he answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, "Take away the filthy garments from him." And to him he said, "See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes." And I said, "Let them put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him and the Angel of the Lord stood by.’ There are moments in life when we feel stained, weighed down by failure, or distant from God. We may look at our past mistakes and wonder if restoration is even possible. This beautiful message of the gospel is that God not only forgives, but He cleans, He restores at not just the surface level, but He renews our heart as well. Sin leaves guilt, shame, and spiritual dryness. But God promises cleansing through His mercy. God's cleansing is not partial. Through Jesus, He has completely washed, forgiven and made new. And throughout the scripture, we see that Jesus in His earthly ministry, He restored people who were rejected in society. In Mark chapter 1, verse 40 onwards, we see that the leper came to Jesus and says, "If you are willing, make me clean." Jesus simply touched him and said, "I am willing." The Lord Jesus restored him lovingly. Peter denied Jesus three times. Yet after His resurrection, Jesus restored him lovingly. Failure was not the end of Peter's story. Restoration became his testimony. God never restores us merely to make us comfortable. He restores us for a purpose. He has a plan and a purpose and a vision for our lives. In Joel chapter 2, verse 25, it says, "And I will restore to you the years that the locusts have eaten." What does it mean? That God is able to redeem seasons. He's able to restore relationships, lost opportunities and spiritual dryness; all of this can be restored. So, when God restores, fear becomes faith, shame becomes testimony, weakness becomes strength, brokenness becomes our ministry, restoration and cleansing is not just a one-time emotional moment, it becomes a daily walk for us as believers. So, what are we to do? We are to spend time in God's word, confess sin quickly, don't keep it in our heart, but confess. Believe that when we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us. Stay connected to Christian community, pray consistently, worship wholeheartedly. No life is too broken for God to restore. No heart is too stained for the Lord to cleanse. Jesus specializes in making all things new. God is still in the business of cleansing and restoring life. So, your story and my story is not over yet. Let's pray, Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for the cross. We thank you for you have cleansed us and restored us, that you have taken us from this place of darkness and put us into your marvelous light. Help us to walk with this understanding. Lord, I pray that our past failures and brokenness will not dictate our future, but we will put our future and our trust in your hands, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
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