Restore Us, O Lord!

 I have had close friends in my life over the years. Some of us have stayed close. Our relationships have grown deeper over the years. However, I have had other close friends, and we gradually drifted apart. Time and distance have a way of eroding relationships. The same is true for our relationship with the Lord. We start off very close to Jesus when we get saved, but if we don't keep in close touch with Him, we get farther and farther apart.

The people of Judah had drifted very far from God. In fact, they had run away from Him in some ways. They finally came to their senses and cried out to the Lord. (Lamentations 5:21) "Restore us, O Lord, and bring us back to You again. Give us back the joys we once had." That may be a prayer that you need to pray today, or you may know someone who needs to cry out to the Lord for restoration. I pray we will all do whatever it takes to be restored.

We have to take the first step in coming back to the Lord. We have to admit our sins, and we have to change our mind, so that we decide to do God's will, not our own will. Once we pray that prayer, and God hears the sincerity and the faith in our voice, He will act. He will restore us to a right relationship with Him. We might have gone miles from God, but it is only one step to get back, because of His great desire to have a close relationship with us.

God doesn't ever give up on us, no matter how far we roam. He wants us to live in joy. He desires for the joys we once had to be back in our life. However, joy is a fruit of the Spirit. It comes by being submitted to God and allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us and bear His fruit in our life. Our joys come from our relationship with God being right. They don't come from circumstances. I pray we will all get close to God and grow in our love for Him and our obedience to Him every day, so we can be filled with joy all the time.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Ezekiel 1-3.