You need to know that the Lord really wants to help you. God looked down throughout the courses of time and saw that no one was able to help us. God saw that humanity was lost in sin. We had no resolution for the pain, sorrow or heaviness of our lives. He saw that every attempt of recovery and restoration ended in utter failure. So, God sent a Savior. Jesus came to give us God’s help were we live.
God’s recovery looks different from ours.
- Have you tried to get over the pain, sorrow and heaviness of your life?
- Have you tried to recover from a break or a bruise?
- Have you been through recovery programs and still suffered on the inside?
On the outside, everything appeared to be restored.
People said you were looking good, but you were still hurting on the inside.
If there is still trouble on the inside, God wants to help you deal with it.
God wants to give you a river of life on the inside. He wants to cause you to rejoice with joy inexpressible and full glory in Christ your Savior. Before you can truly rejoice, you must deal with anything that is persisting in your life.
God wants to give you lasting victory, deliverance and rejoicing.
For that to happen, we must have a recovery on the inside.
Have you ever tried to act like everything was great, when on the inside you were broken and defeated?
You bought a new suit to make you look better. You changed the way you did your hair. You washed your face and wiped away the tears. The Lord wants to do more for you than make you look good on the outside.
Jesus wants to help you where you live!
Look at what the Lord wants to do for you.
Isaiah 61:1-4 NKJV “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.
Isaiah 61:7 NIV Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.
This text is a reminder of the Lord’s mission to help you where you live.
Jesus said the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him to give good tidings to the meek, to bind up broken hearts, to redeem and release captives, and to bless the poor. He came to console mourners and those who grieve, to give beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, and praise for heaviness.
He came to take our loss so that we could possess His gain.
This is a double portion for us.
- Instead of loss, we have a gain.
- Instead of pain, we have His joy and beauty.
- The Lord wants to give us more than relief.
- He wants to give relief, but then He wants to give us His portion.
- If you have ashes, He will gladly trade them for beauty.
- If you are mourning, He will cause you to cease from weeping and be anointed with the oil of joy.
- If the spirit of heaviness presses upon you, He will set you free and clothe you in garments of praise.
That is the Lord’s plan for your life.
His grace and mercy has invented double relief. He has come to you today to remove the evil, the bad, and the painful and bestow on you His goodness, joy, and blessing.
Would you like to know how to live in God’s blessing and favor?
Would you like to live in His everlasting joy?
Would you like to repossess what Satan has stolen from you?
God has provided in Christ and His sufferings double for all our sins and troubles.
When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He satisfied the demands of the law that was against us because of sin.
Such an infinite price was paid that it was more than double the demerits of sin.
For God spared not His own Son.
Isaiah 61:7 NIV Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.
God has a plan for those who have been distressed and under attack.
You may have come to a place of despair. You have been turned inside-out and upside down. You felt like there is no hope for things to turn around. You are not living in God’s blessing or favor. You are too acquainted with mourning, ashes, and heaviness.
God is ready to turn things around.
You need to know that God is invested in you. If anyone can help you, it is the Lord.
The prophet Joel spoke about this generation and what many are experiencing.
Hundreds of years ago, Joel saw a time when calamity, trial and affliction continued to come upon God’s people. He saw the distress and pain that many bear.
In Joel 2:25, the Lord said: “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust…”
Restoration is all that some people want. God wants to do more.
After restoring what has been consumed, the Lord promised to send the blessing of the Holy Spirit. When that blessing comes, new life and new growth will spring forth speedily in our lives.
That is exactly what Isaiah was saying. God wants to restore and He wants to give you His comfort, His beauty, His joy and His praise.
Do you know any one that things are better on the outside but they still have trouble on the inside?
God has a plan for deliverance, restoration and healing.
He is going to restore your joy, peace, and blessing. God is not ready to throw in the towel, He is not going to quit on you. God is ready to give you double for your trouble.
He is ready to come to your aide where you live.
Jesus wants to help you.
- If you have been defeated, Jesus wants to lift you up.
- If you have been discouraged, He wants to give you new joy.
- If you have been grieving and mourning, He wants to give you a new garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
Matthew 11:28 NIV “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Here is the key for your relief. If you want salvation, forgiveness or healing, come to Jesus. If you want new joy and rejoicing, come to Jesus. If you want to lay aside the garments of heaviness, He will give you the spirit of praise.
Throughout the ages, God has offered help where people live.
To receive God’s blessing and help they had to obey Him.
Do you think God would have saved Noah if he had refused to build an ark?
Can you hear Noah saying, but God, it has never rained before?
Anyway, this is too much to ask. You want me to build an ark, but there is too much opposition. Nobody thinks this is going to happen! Have you heard what people are saying about me?
Abraham could not find blessing until he obeyed the Lord.
He had to leave home before the promise could be given. He had to yield totally to the will of God.
1 Peter 5:7 NIV Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7 NLT Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about what happens to you.
God really wants to take care of you.
God wants to turn things around in your life. He is willing to take all of your messes and burdens. He will take your worries and anxieties. He is the healer of all our diseases. He is the Savior for all our sins.
In 2 Kings 4, the Shunammite woman’s son had died.
This boy was the result of God blessing this woman. After her son’s death, she knew her only hope was in God. Determined to get help, she ran to the man of God. Elisha saw her coming and sent his servant Gehazi to see if everything was well. She told him, “It is well.”
Have you ever done that?
On the inside something is dead, but you say, “It is well.” You are hurting on the inside, but you say, “It is well.” You have unresolved troubles, but you say, “It is well.” You have unforgiven sin, but you say, “It is well.”
She knew that she had to get to the man of God.
After trying several things to make it right, Elisha went into the house and found the child dead on his bed. (2 Kings 4:32)
Sometimes you cannot deal with the issues that are going on inside without going inside to deal with them.
Death and evil consequences must yield to God’s power. Sin must yield to the authority of Christ. Life is the only answer to death.
For you to have real comfort, beauty instead of ashes, joy instead of mourning, and festive praise instead of despair, the Lord needs to do something on the inside and on the outside.
- You need salvation and you need His blessing.
- You need healing and you need restoration.
- You need to be released from your burden and you need joy, blessing and covering from the Lord.
God wants to change things for you.
There is victory in Jesus over every attack of the enemy. Jesus came into this world to deal with what you are facing. When He conquered death and the grave, He did it for you. He did it to heal the brokenhearted. He did it to proclaim liberty to people who are captives. He did it to recover what has been lost. He did it to release those who are oppressed.
