WORD OF LIFE CHURCH INTERNATIONAL: ⏩ COVENANT OF MARVELS ⏪ DAY 25 "LORD, RESTORE MY LOST YEARS"

SCRIPTURE

John 5:6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time [in that case], he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

Joel 2:25 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.

KEY STATEMENT

Money can be restored. Property can be restored—broken-down cars, stripped painting, old houses. Relationships can be restored. Humanly speaking, one thing that can never be restored is time. Why? because time flies and it does not return. Years pass and we never get them back. Yet God promises the impossible in Joel 2:25 :

“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.”

When I continue reading and meditating the story of this man paralyzed for 38 years, the Bible says that "... Jesus knew that he had been now a long time [in that case] ..." (John 5:6).

In this particular context, time is the greek word "chronos" and can be compared with the lost years that the locust, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm hath eaten in his life.

Are you in such place? Looking back to your past, does it look like your years have been lost? wasted? I have a good news for you : AS LONG AS YOU ARE ALIVE, THERE IS HOPE (Ecclesiastes 9:4)

GOD CAN RESTORE TIME

By healing him, we can say that Jesus restored to him the 38 lost years of infirmity. How did Jesus do it?

He did it by causing a faith shift, a paradigm shift, a mental shift, a thinking shift in the life of this man.

Before Jesus could heal this man, Jesus asked him a question, "Would you like to get well?" (John 5:6)

Here is his answer,

“Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get into the water, someone else goes down there before me.”

When we read carefully what this man is saying, we can see that he is not answering the question but is explaining his lost years. Actually, he is telling Jesus the reasons why he has spent all those years at the same place without any positive result.

1) I can't

2) I have no-one to help me

3) While I am on the way down some other person gets in before me

A close analysis of those excuses explains why most people around the world waste their time while they should make the most of it as instructed by Paul.

3 PARADIGM SHIFT TO RESTORE YOUR LOST YEARS

a. REMOVE FROM YOUR VOCABULARY "I CAN’T"

Instead of giving yourself the reasons why you can’t, why don't you give yourself some good reasons why you can ? Instead of giving yourself the reasons why it is impossible, why don't you give yourself good reasons why it is possible ?

Take note of this fact : Whenever God says “you can”, it’s your responsibility to drop the t from the can’t and say, "I CAN".

Read with me some biblical reasons why you can:

YOU CAN because in Mark 9: 23, Jesus says, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes" (NKJV)

YOU CAN because it is written, “There is nothing which God is not able to do” (Luke 1: 37 BBE).

YOU CAN because it is written, “‎GOD CAN DO anything (GOD IS ABLE) ...far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us..." (Ephesians 3:20 MSG)

YOU CAN because Paul in the Bible says, “I CAN DO everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need." (Philippians 4:13 NLT) ; ” I am able to do all things through him who gives me strength” (BBE)…

b. REMOVE FROM YOUR VOCABULARY "I HAVE NO ONE TO HELP ME"

No man on this earth is greater than how he believes. A man who believes right is a man who will live right. If you live and believe that you are where you are because you have no one to help you, you will stay there until death because you have chosen to live as a victim rather than as a victor.

Please note that being left alone is never and will never be an excuse of stagnation in life. Why ?

1) Because it is impossible for the covenant keeping God to abandon or forsake those who are in covenant with him.

Isaiah 49:14 “Zion said, ‘The Lord has abandoned me, the sovereign master has forgotten me.’ 49:15 Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? 36 Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? Even if mothers were to forget, I could never forget you!

Hebrews 13:5-6 : "Your conduct must be free from the love of money and you must be content with what you have, for he has said, “I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU AND I WILL NEVER ABANDON YOU” So we can say with confidence, “THE LORD IS MY HELPER, AND I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT CAN MAN DO TO ME?”

2) Because the Bible records raw testimonies of people who have been abandonned and left alone but God made a way for supernatural encounters for them.

* In the Bible, there was a young Egyptian man who was abandoned by his master because he was ill. But in the midst of the rejection, God connected him with the King David who took care of him.

1 Samuel 30: 13 "David said to him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” The young man said, “I am an Egyptian, the servant of an Amalekite man. My master abandoned me when I was ill for three days."

* In the Bible, Mephibosheth was abandoned by his nurse and he remained crippled all his life. However, though he was paralyzed, God granted him to enjoy the effect of the covenant of his father Jonathan with the king David.

2 Samuel 4: 4 "Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became crippled. His name was Mephibosheth."

c. REMOVE FROM YOUR MIND THAT SOMEONE ELSE CAN TAKE YOUR PLACE

Unless you know and believe that you are unique, you cannot live an unique life. What makes you unique? Everything!

Believe it or not—no one else is just like you. Your physical appearance, your voice and personality traits—your habits, intelligence, personal tastes—all these make you one of a kind. Even your fingerprints distinguish you from every other human being—past, present, or future. You are not the product of some cosmic assembly line; you are unique.

But the most important fact of your identity is that God created you in His own image (Genesis 1:27). He made you so you could share in His creation, could love and laugh and know Him person to person. You are special indeed! The Bible reveals God’s total interest in you as an individual.

The psalmist wrote in one of his most beautiful prayers, “I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). God knew you even before you were born. Then, and now, He has plans just for you, plans conceived in love.

CONCLUSION

In summary, if you want God to restore to you the lost years, you need these 3 paradigm shift :

a. REMOVE FROM YOUR VOCABULARY "I CAN’T"

b. REMOVE FROM YOUR VOCABULARY "I HAVE NO ONE TO HELP ME"

c. REMOVE FROM YOUR MIND THAT SOMEONE ELSE CAN TAKE YOUR PLACE.

PROPHETIC DECLARATIONS AND PRAYERS

TODAY PRAISE GOD WITH THOSE PSALMS :

Psalms 18:46 The LORD liveth; and blessed [be] my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

Psalms 46:1 God [is] our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Psalms 46:7 The LORD of hosts [is] with us; the God of Jacob [is] our refuge. Selah.

Psalms 48:1 Great [is] the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, [in] the mountain of his holiness.

Psalms 62:7 In God [is] my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, [and] my refuge, [is] in God.

Psalms 94:22 But the LORD is my defence; and my God [is] the rock of my refuge.

Psalms 145:18 The LORD [is] nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.