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If you feel as though your life has been overwhelmed by adversity, and you feel as though you've been under the gun, so-to-speak, and you don't know where to turn, you don't know what to do, you're devastated in some way, then you are a candidate for a time of refreshing.

Anybody can dance and shout in church, but where your faith really counts is when all of hell's power has broken loose against you at home. It's not likely that Satan's going to attack you in church. He's going to wait until you get home, then make you think that all you heard really doesn't work.

It's not likely that you will see people have pity parties and stay strong in faith at the same time. You've got to become your own best cheerleader and get in position to experience restoration in your life.

A Sign of Turning
As you study in the Word of God, you'll find that laughter is a sign of captivity being turned. When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, "Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing" (Ps. 126:1-2).

When you see Christians laughing who haven't laughed in a long time, it's a sign that God is turning their captivity.

How many years have you been under Satan's attacks? How many years have you lived way below your privileges as a child of God? How many years have you lived in shame? Does it seem like the more money you make the more it's consumed and devoured before you can even enjoy it?

Imagine Yahweh showing up at your house and saying, "I will restore to you everything." All the demons in hell will have to stand there and watch Yahweh turn devastation into restoration in your home. If all you can see is devastation and all you can talk about is devastation, then you're not in the presence of God.

Let me show you something here in Joel 2:21. God is saying this: "Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things." If you're ever going to experience restoration and refreshing, then you must be glad and rejoice first.

Refreshing and restoration are linked directly to your perspective and attitude about your circumstances. That's hard for some people. Many people are so negative about everything. You can say to some people, "Good Morning" and they'll say, "Hang around, it is not over yet." They will find something negative about everything.

The greatest expression of faith is thanksgiving and praise. Aren't we people of faith? Do we believe we receive when we pray? Then why do we wait to rejoice after the results come?

It's Our Move First
If God tells you something, then you should say thank you in advance because He keeps His word. He's not a man that He should lie. He invented integrity. His word is His bond. He confirms His word with signs following. So I don't have to see it first.

There are a lot of people in the body of Christ who need restoration. Yet, people are waiting until they see restoration. "I'll get excited and I'll praise God and I'll give more when the restoration comes." God says, "No, you get excited and praise Me, and I will restore the years."

The Bible tells us to enter into His presence with thanksgiving and praise. Start this act of getting in His presence with thanksgiving and praise no matter what your circumstances might be. This puts pressure on the devil. It just drives him up the wall when he has plotted and planned and schemed and set you up for the kill for months and months, and then when the attack is launched, you keep praising God anyway.

He thinks he knows you better than that. He thinks you will be offended and will not pick up your Bible, nor listen to your tapes, nor read your books. That's what he thinks you will do. But when you praise God anyway, you make it hard on the devil!

What's he saying? You can destroy everything I have, take everything I have, do whatever you will, but there's one thing you will never steal from me and that's my joy, hallelujah. If Satan can't steal your joy, he cannot keep what he stole from you.

It must be restored, hallelujah. And the prophet was saying, "I don't care if I don't have one positive thing happening in my life, it will not get my joy." Somebody said, "Well, you just don't understand what I'm going through." But, every time God's people are devastated, God sends somebody with a joyful spirit.

Haggai's name means, "festive spirit." You know what that tells me? When you've been devastated, overwhelmed with adversity, then you may not be able to go where there's someone with a festive spirit.

That's the reason that you're going to have to develop your own festive spirit. No matter what you're going through, if you refuse to let it get your joy, then there is no way the devil can keep what he stole. He can't keep you down.

So start changing your outlook about your situation. Go ahead and give praise and thanksgiving to God right now before you even see any results of restoration. And then the Lord will do great things in your life!

Source: From Devastation to Restoration by Jerry Savelle.
Excerpt permission granted by Jerry Savelle Publications

Author Biography

Jerry Savelle
Web site: Jerry Savelle Ministries International
 
Dr. Jerry Savelle was an average, blue-collar man who was struggling and needed God's help. While he considered himself a "nobody," when he became a believer God told him not to worry about it because He was a master at making champions out of nobodies. God has since taken Dr. Savelle from being a constant quitter to a man who knows how to stand on the Word of God until victory is experienced. Because of the life-changing combination of God's faithfulness and Dr. Savelle's "no quit" attitude, his life is totally different than it was thirty-eight years ago.
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