Jeremiah 29:14

"I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive" Jeremiah 29:14

Something wonderful happens when we seek the Lord with all our hearts. He begins a restoration. It hasn't happened yet? How much is "all"? 50%? 80%? 99%? 100%? I know for some this seems hard, but it is the way of the Lord. He requires all. When you buy a car, do you buy the wheels only? Ok, how about the wheels and the frame? No? You mean you want all of it? With a full tank of gas, too? You even want air in the tires? Of course you do. You want to drive down the street with the knowledge that you own a car - lock, stock, and barrel. The same goes for the computer you just bought. You didn't just buy an Intel processor. You bought all the components. You bought the fancy case, the monitor, the speakers - every thing that makes it run. See what I mean?

When Jesus paid the price for your ransom, He bought all of you, not just an arm and a leg. He bought your body, your soul (composed of you mind and emotions), and your spirit. He paid for it all and that's what He wants. Let's go back to that shiny new car for a moment. Let's suppose that you drive it home and see a dent on the hood. Now it's no big dent, but it is noticeable to you. What do you do? You drive it back to the dealer and want it repaired. Why? You bought a new car and you want it to look new. A little later, you hear a tick in the engine. You repeat the process for the same reason. It's a new car and you want to keep it that way.

Jesus expects nothing less. Unfortunately, we tend to want to keep parts of ourselves for our own use. Won't work. Can't happen. If we want all the promises, we must keep all the conditions. And look at those promises: restoration of fortunes, restoration of lands, restoration of freedom. Joel (chapter 2) adds a few others: restoration of all that the canker worm and locust have destroyed, new crops, new wine and much more. All that in exchange for the right of ownership. "Sure," you say, "but it's easier said than done." Indeed it is. It's a process. It begins with a determination of the heart to seek God, to be totally yielded to Him. It grows as we give more and more of ourselves. It finds it's fulfillment in our total obedience.

Fortunately, Jesus is willing to let us yield a piece at a time. He is patient. He will grant us partial fulfillment for partial dedication. With that in mind, we need to begin today to yield ourselves. We need to continue tomorrow and the day after that and the week after that and the month after that and the year after that - until we have attained a measure of maturity. If we do this, we will see the restoration begin and amplify day by day. Oh, it may not be in the form in which we want to see it, but it will be there. We may not see it today, but we will see it as time goes by. Trust me on this. God has promised it. Let it happen to you! Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.