BBD 07.17.17 Soul Restoration (New)
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>
Since June 8th 1998, this
is the 1784th
Burning Bush Devotional
17 July 2017
Soul Restoration
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in
green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of
righteousness for His name’s sake. – Psalm 23:1-3 NKJV.
Who is it that needs a
restored soul? A person who has had their soul damaged by sin. 1 Peter 2:11 says, “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which
war against the soul.” The NIV puts this as: “to abstain from sinful desires,
which wage war against your soul.” Sin is at war with your
soul, and seeks to conquer and destroy you.
The early church father,
Augustine, had fallen into the degradation of sin before his salvation, he had
a damaged soul. Reading the words of Romans 13:14 was key to
his turning from sin and to the Lord Jesus. Romans 13:14 says, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill
its lusts.” The NIV puts this as: “Rather, clothe yourselves with the
Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the
flesh.” Augustine put on the Lord Jesus Christ by
believing upon Jesus, and it changed his life restoring his soul.
John Newton who wrote
the words to the Hymn, Amazing Grace, knew what it was like to have a damaged
soul. He knew about the damage of sin from having been a slave trader. You can sense in the words of the hymn,
renewal of his soul from degradation to being made new as we are told in 2 Corinthians 5:17. Here are
the first words of Amazing Grace:
Amazing grace! How sweet the
sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
Newton describes the
shocking difference between a damaged soul, and a soul that has been restored.
King David who wrote the
23rd
Psalm knew well what it was like to have a damaged soul. David
knew from having committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranging the murder of
her husband, Uriah. After having been confronted with his sin by the prophet
Nathan (2 Samuel
12), David repented, and we have his confession in Psalm 51.
David, after saying, “He restores my soul,” gives the
formula for the restoration of a soul. Here it is, “He leads me in the paths of
righteousness for His name’s sake.” To have a soul restored
it is necessary for us to follow the Good Shepherd in the “paths of righteousness.” The
beginning of that path is to receive Jesus as our personal Savior, but that is
just the beginning.
Romans 8:5-6 gives us
additional insight: “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what
the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their
minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the
flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” Here we see that if we succumb to the desires of the
flesh and engage in sinful behavior the result is “death.” It may not
be an immediate death, but it will be a death to peace, and in the place of
peace we may experience anxiety and fear. It will be a death to the abundant
life that Jesus came to give us for as long as we engage in sinful behavior.
Allow the Lord, the Good
Shepherd, to restore your soul. Allow Him to lead you in the paths of righteousness
where you will find peace and the abundant life.
Copyright © 2017. Ed Wrather. The
Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998
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