Restoration of the Heart

Last Time we talked about how to begin your journey of restoration by making the choice to follow Christ. Unfortunately, all of us who have made that decision will know all too well that not everything goes great after that. Things didn’t get easier for me after I was baptized but quite more difficult in many ways. There is more to the restoration of the heart.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s asked the question why are things so hard now? Wheres God? Wheres the spirit promised to me? I mentioned the freedom of holiness but how can you get that? This is another very complex question but there are really two reasons why things are not so simple.

The first is that Satan still has authority in this world and as we know.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.11 Peter 5:8

Satan complicates everything and will do everything in his power to ensure that you can’t get a strong connection to God. That’s why every worthwhile writing about restoration has to mention spiritual warfare. Being a battlefield medic is very different than being a civilian doctor.

The second reason is that we are all still unfinished.

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.Philippians 1:6

We have been promised restoration through the resurrection but that’s not an instantaneous process. God could just snap his fingers and heal all the damage in our lives but he doesn’t choose to work that way. Once again this is an issue of free will. We have the choice every day to leave and choose the sin that we left behind. If we didn’t then our sacrifice would be quite meaningless. Just like Jesus is slowly taking back his authority over the world, so does he help us to heal the broken scarred places in our lives.

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.Luke 9:23

Jesus says we have to do it daily for a reason. Why did God make the Jews do so many monuments and festivals as sign of remembrance? We are forgetful and just like the Jews did over and over throughout the old testament, we still lose sight of God and doubt his goodness no matter what he has done in our lives.

You may have chosen to follow God but you have to renew that vow every single day. You can tell in a marriage when a couple may still be technically married but basically separated, it happens slowly over time. You often hear the phrase, “we’ve just grown apart”. If you want the relationship to work, you have to renew that vow every single day. That’s why one of my most important practices every day is going through John Eldredge’s daily prayer. There are many other prayers and it might even be better to have your own, but there are a handful of commands in scripture that all have to do with submitting yourself back under the will of God. We drift throughout the day and we have to get realigned. There are days I may not know what happened to me but I just get sidetracked and I have to Go back and resubmit myself every single day. This is absolutely essential to stay connected.

So if you are staying connected to the vine and coming to God every single day, you are giving him an avenue in which to work in your life. It may not always feel like it because of our broken state but he is there and if you allow him to, he is in fact working towards your restoration.

Restoring the broken places

One of the reasons we have trouble experiencing the power we have access to through the spirit are these deep wounds we all have in our lives. Sin still left scars that Satan can choose to embed himself in whenever he so chooses. Sometimes I have tried to cast out demons speaking lies into my life but sometimes it doesn’t work because they still have authority over a place in your heart. We may repent from sin but we still have to ask for forgiveness for the sins of our past. Especially key moments in your life where you have made agreements with something untrue.

In the show avatar the last air bender they go through a really interesting aspect of eastern philosophy.

Pathik	The water flows through this creek, much like the energy flows through your body. As you see, there are several pools where the water swirls around before flowing on. These pools are like our chakras.
Aang	So chakras are pools of spiraling energy in our bodies?
Pathik	Exactly. If nothing else were around, this creek would flow pure and clear. However, life is messy, and things tend to fall in the creek. And then what happens?
Aang	The creek can’t flow?
Pathik	Yes. But, if we open the ponds between the pools … [He removes moss blocking the exit for the water.]
Aang	The energy flows! [The water that was blocked by the moss becomes clear. Aang and Pathik smile at each other.]
Pathik	There are seven chakras that go up the body. Each pool of energy has a purpose, and can be blocked by a specific kind of emotional muck. Be warned, opening the chakras is an intense experience, and once you begin the process, you cannot stop until all seven are open. Are you ready?

This stuff is all true. There really isn’t technically Chakras or chi but instead the holy spirit and a wounded heart. I find many things in other religions are accurate because why else would so many people be deceived by them? Like I’ve said before, Satan has to look as much like the truth as possible without being true in order for people to believe his lies.

I gave into self loathing as a child because everyone around was being used by Satan to try to diminish me and convince me I have nothing valuable to offer the world. I agreed with it and it created a massive rift in my heart. I haven’t completely healed that wound but I have made massive progress. God sometimes reminds us of a terrible moment in our lives that we want to ignore, often times this is an invitation for healing. When I sense it I will pray: “God I invite you into this place in my past. Heal me from this moment in my life. I am not worthless. I renounce this agreement. Heal me of this damage Jesus. ”

It takes several times for things to change, sometimes you feel different and better immediately and sometimes you won’t really feel anything. There are people who have seen Jesus physically enter into a memory where you were hurt or where you did something terrible which led to continual sin. He shields them from whatever it is. Its a beautiful process.

Freedom from sin

Healing these wounds is like plugging up holes in a castle wall. Once you’ve covered them up, its extremely difficult for anything to get in that you don’t want there. There is a way to be completely free of sin. Given enough constant perseverance and effort, you can be so free that sinning makes you sick and you not only are immune to temptation but the idea is utterly repulsive to you. Full disclosure, I am still a ways away from that but I believe in the healing process and I have gotten freedom from doing it.

so we have to submit ourselves back into Gods authority every day. We have to claim the work of Christ over our lives every day in order to receive it. We must play an active role in our healing, allowing God access to the places in our lives that are still broken. Another very important aspect of this is a deeper understanding of spiritual warfare. I will save that topic for the next blog since its such a large topic in and of itself. I hope this has helped you in some way. Let me know what you think by commenting below.

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