We see a great deal of activity in San Diego county. Increased activity of the Spirit is a sign of God’s visitation, but in the midst of God’s visitation there is also a sense of awe at what He is doing. And, while unity is a main emphasis on maintaining the Spirit’s movement, unity is not the main thing. Restoration is.

There is a difference between a people who place an emphasis on restoration and those that don’t. There is a difference between those who get hung up on what people have been through, and those that have a goal of restoring others. A forerunner church is a restorative church.

The enemy always tries to silence the voice of God’s people. He attempts to remove the prophetic voice because it is the voice of hope and restoration to the church. It’s a voice of direction and a voice of authority. To restore someone means to restore them better than they were before they went through something that caused them to incur loss. Men and women are looking and searching for a prophetic people that will restore and heal them better than they were before. This is God’s promise.

“‘But you, Mountains of Israel, will burst with new growth, putting out branches and bearing fruit for my people Israel. My people are coming home! Do you see? I’m back again. I’m on your side. You’ll be plowed and planted as before! I’ll see to it that your population grows all over Israel, that the towns fill up with people, that the ruins are rebuilt. I’ll make this place teem with life – human and animal. The country will burst into life, life, and more life, your towns and villages full of people just as in the old days. I’ll treat you better than I ever have. And you’ll realize that I am God,” Ezekiel 36:8-11 MSG Bible.

What does it mean to fall in sin?

A person that has stumbled or fallen into sin is a person who is bleeding spiritually. They are being robbed and plundered by the enemy. They are stuck, frustrated, or grieving and dealing with the sting of shame, failure, remorse and condemnation.

“This is why I weep and my eyes overflow with tears. No one is near to comfort me, no one to restore my spirit. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed,” Lamentation 1:16 NIV.

Isaiah 42:22 says, “But this is a robbed and plundered people. All of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prisons. They have become a prey, and no one delivers; and a spoil, and no one says, ‘Restore them!’ ” (World English Version).

Restoration and forgiveness is a spiritual and prophetic act of faith and love. We are not capable to restore out of human effort and religious observations.

“After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” Galatians 3:3 NIV.

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit,” Galatians 5:25 NIV.

“Brothers, someone is caught a sin (fault, trespass), you who are spiritual (caught or led by the Spirit, prophetic), restore (mend, heal, equip, perfect) in a spirit of gentleness, so you too will not be tempted.” Galatians 6:1.

In regards to the prophetic, we look to 2 Peter 1:21, “For prophecy never had it’s origin in the will of man but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

If the enemy cannot silence the prophetic voice, he will try to make restoration conditional. Mark 14:66-72 is the story of Peter denying Christ three times. Peter was self assured and eager to live for God, or so he thought, but he lacked experience. He needed a lesson or two about the deceitfulness of his own heart before he was really ready to live for Christ.

Peter ended up discovering things about himself he didn’t even know existed. Scripture says that Peter was filled with bitter remorse at his own lack of strength and integrity. He was genuinely sorrowful and filled with regret over his sin, and that’s really the point. God allows us to discover our own weaknesses as preparation for the future.

Through these experiences He makes us stronger. His goal is not to heap more condemnation upon those that are already broken over their sin. He doesn’t continue to place conditions upon people who have learned from their mistakes.

Failure is often a prerequisite before promotion, not an event that is used to rule it out. Far too often people’s mistakes are used as weapons against them to disqualify them, rather than seeing past negative events as things to learn and grow from, and as great tools to equip people for their future. Those things educate us about ourselves and teach us a few things about God, the enemy and others too. The LORD doesn’t get hung up on our failures.

When Jesus caught up with Peter, it wasn’t to make him feel guilty or condemned. He knew Peter already felt like that. Jesus came to restore Peter and commission him for service. He already knew what Peter had learned about himself. He wanted Peter to learn more about His nature, and He knew that Peter needed to have his faith restored. He needed to have his shame and remorse over his failure healed and washed away.

Peter was carrying deep burdens in his heart. Notice that Jesus did not leave him in that condition very long. It was only 50 days between Peter’s denial of the LORD and when he preached to a crowd of over 3,000 people that came to Christ. Jesus simply asked, “Do you love Me?” Then He reminded him of his purpose. Feed My people, (John 21:15-19). Jesus recommissioned Peter and released him to go and continue with the work of the LORD.

God always looks for those that will stand in the gap, not just as people who pray, but as those that will take action to restore others. There are multitudes of people waiting and placing their hope in God, but we all need to remember that God uses us to carry out His plans and purposes. He is actually astonished when He looks for what He considers a reasonable expectation, yet does not find it.

“He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene…” Isiah 59:16.

The power of the prophetic voice is a voice of restoration. Restoring and mending someone is to release healing to their life. It requires a prophetic act of releasing the heart of God and the Word of God towards that individual.

“To be prophetic is to manifest the passion and emotion of the heart of God.
The prophetic is not only a channel for the words of God, but it manifests the accompanying emotion of the Father in speaking to His children. It is not enough to speak the word of God – it must be said how God would say it. To be prophetic is to bring the word of God with His emotion.”
– Stephen Hill, (from What Does it Mean to be Prophetic? Page 6.)

Jewish Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, (in a book called The Prophets), says that the prophetic word is a, ‘blast from heaven.’

“The task of the prophet is to convey the word of God. Yet the word is aglow with the pathos (the anguished longing from the heart of God). One cannot understand the word without sensing the pathos. And one could not impassion others and remain unstirred. The prophet should not be regarded as an ambassador who must be dispassionate in order to be effective,” pp 25-26.

“..…What he is saying here is that the prophetic word is only effective if the person who gives it has a sense of the emotion that is in God’s heart. This is the place where prophetic speaking is uttered from.” – Stephen Hill.

A prophetic people have a firm grip on the demonstration of God’s compassion which has been displayed and demonstrated throughout history.

A prophetic people have a firm grip on the present reality of God’s restorative nature. His mercies are new every morning!

A prophetic people have a firm grip as to the destiny and future of God’s children. They have a hope and a future that is secure, according to Jeremiah 29:11.

Each one of us has people that God has put in our lives so that we would be a part of their restoration. People often don’t realize that God wants us to take a more active role in restoring others. Sometimes you think you’re waiting on God to do something for you, and the tendency is to look for that opportunity to come from someone else.

Perhaps that is true, and maybe you are waiting for God to send someone to you that will release something greater into your life. But, in the meantime, are you asking the right questions? Who has God put in your life that He is expecting you to do something for?

Sometimes God will drop a person in your life so that we would be a part of restoring something that they lost. Whether it’s a recovery of hope, health, or even ministries that have been lost, you become God’s mouthpiece and His messenger of restoration to those in your path.

YOU are the voice of restoration. YOU are the messenger of hope and restoration.

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!” Isaiah 52:7 NLT

Use what you’ve been through to feed and strengthen others. Sharing your story is part of your healing and it leads to your restoration, because ministry comes from your brokenness. God doesn’t throw away the clay! (Jeremiah 18:1-4).

He makes it into something new and useful for God’s service. He doesn’t waste the issues from your experiences. He redeems them, anoints them and places His power in your testimony. Once again Jesus asks the question (to all of us): “Do you love Me?” Feed my people. Amen, LORD.

Let us be the voice of healing and restoration to all that you send cross our path.

 

~ Laura Gagnon

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Laura Gagnon is a woman who has been blessed with the gift of understanding God’s restorative work through her own personal experience. Through her insights and revelation, God has led her to influence many individuals into a restored relationship with Jesus Christ. She is a woman who stands on the promises of God, encouraging others in an elevated expectation of the miraculous and declares the gift of His life. Laura is the author of Healing the Heart of a Woman and writes for her blog, Beyond the Barriers.

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