Restoration: Seeking What Matters with God's Help

Devotional

Day 1: God Values the One That Is Lost

God’s heart is for the one who is lost, not just the many who remain; He rejoices over every single person who is found and restored. The parable of the lost coin reminds us that heaven celebrates not over the group, but over each individual who turns back to God. Sometimes we become content with what we still have and forget to value what has been lost, but God never stops searching for the one. He calls us to share His heart, to care deeply for what is missing, and to pursue restoration with diligence and love. [59:59]

Luke 15:8-10 (ESV)
“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Reflection: Is there someone in your life who feels overlooked or lost? How can you intentionally reach out to them this week and reflect God’s heart for the one?

Day 2: Transformation Requires a Soft and Willing Heart

God desires to transform us from the inside out, but He can only do so if we are soft and willing in His hands. Like clay in the potter’s grasp, a hardened heart resists change, but a soft heart is moldable and open to God’s shaping. True transformation is not about fighting God or holding onto our own ways, but about surrendering and trusting Him to work out the rough spots in our lives. As we approach the end of the year, let us not settle for who we were, but ask God to make us new, moving from glory to glory. [49:38]

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (ESV)
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

Reflection: What area of your heart have you been resisting God’s transformation? What would it look like to surrender that area to Him today?

Day 3: Value What Has Been Lost—Don’t Settle for Less

It’s easy to become comfortable with what remains and ignore what has slipped away, but God calls us to value what we have lost and to pursue its restoration. Whether it’s patience, peace, trust, or a godly character trait, losing something repeatedly reveals that we do not truly value it. Instead of replacing what’s lost with what is easy or comfortable, we are challenged to do the hard work of recovery, refusing to settle for a limited, superficial life. Restoration is not about advancement, but about reclaiming what once was ours and should be treasured. [01:18:23]

Philippians 3:12-14 (ESV)
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Reflection: What is one godly quality or relationship you have let slip away? What specific step can you take today to begin reclaiming it?

Day 4: God’s Word Illuminates the Path to Restoration

God has given us His Word as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, equipping us with everything we need to recover what has been lost. When we feel confused, directionless, or unable to regain what’s missing, it is often because we are not immersing ourselves in Scripture. The process of searching God’s Word is not just about reading, but about prayerfully exploring, allowing the Holy Spirit to address and transform our hearts. If we value restoration, we must value God’s Word enough to seek it diligently, trusting that He will illuminate the way forward. [01:31:22]

Psalm 119:105 (ESV)
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Reflection: When was the last time you searched God’s Word for guidance on something you’ve lost? Set aside time today to prayerfully read Scripture about that area and listen for God’s direction.

Day 5: Let Your Testimony Point Others to Jesus, Not Your Tantrum

When we lose something important, it’s tempting to broadcast our frustration and seek validation or vindication from others, but God calls us to let our testimony—not our tantrum—be what others see. The world needs to hear how God has restored and redeemed us, not just our complaints or drama. When we recover what was lost, we should point people to Jesus, celebrating His faithfulness and power to restore. Our testimony brings hope and glory to God, while our tantrum only draws attention to ourselves and distracts from what truly matters. [01:23:55]

Revelation 12:11 (ESV)
“And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.”

Reflection: Think of a recent struggle or loss—how can you share a testimony of God’s faithfulness in that area, rather than focusing on the difficulty itself?

Sermon Summary

God is always preparing us for what He wants to do in our lives, both now and in the future. Too often, we settle for what we already know or have experienced, coming to God with low expectations and little desire for something new. Yet, God’s Word is living and active, and He desires to reveal fresh truth and do a new work in us, no matter how long we’ve walked with Him. Communion reminds us of Christ’s sacrifice—His body given and His blood poured out—so that we might be made clean, forgiven, and restored. This is not just a ritual, but an invitation to ongoing, intimate fellowship with a God who eagerly desires communion with us.

The parable of the lost coin in Luke 15 challenges us to examine what we truly value. The woman in the story was not content with nine coins when she had started with ten; she tore her house apart to find the one that was lost. In our own lives, we often become comfortable with loss—whether it’s patience, self-control, relationships, or spiritual passion—accepting limits and settling for less than what God intends. We may even replace what’s lost with what’s easy or comfortable, rather than doing the hard work of restoration.

God calls us to value what has been lost enough to seek it out and reclaim it. This requires honest self-examination and a willingness to let God transform us, softening our hearts and molding us like clay in His hands. Restoration is not passive; it demands effort, searching, and a return to God’s Word, which is the light that illuminates our path. Instead of broadcasting our frustrations or losses to the world, we are called to share testimonies of God’s faithfulness and recovery, pointing others to Christ rather than to ourselves.

Heaven rejoices not over what is lost, but over what is found and restored. In the same way, we are invited to pursue what we’ve let slip away—whether it’s a character trait, a relationship, or a spiritual discipline—trusting that God is able to redeem and restore. It’s not over just because something is lost; with God’s help, we can recover what truly matters and live lives that testify to His transforming power.

Key Takeaways

1. God Desires to Do a New Work in Us No matter how long we’ve walked with God or how much we think we know, He wants to reveal new things and deepen our relationship with Him. Settling for past experiences or knowledge limits what He can do in and through us. We must come to Him with expectation and openness, asking Him to do a new thing in our hearts and lives. [19:12]
2. True Value Is Revealed in What We Refuse to Lose The parable of the lost coin teaches that what we are willing to search for reveals what we truly value. If we are content to let patience, self-control, or spiritual passion slip away, it shows a lack of value for those things. God calls us to refuse complacency and to pursue restoration, even when it’s uncomfortable or difficult. [60:45]
3. Comfort Can Be the Enemy of Restoration We often settle for what is easy or familiar, even if it means living with limitations or loss. Restoration requires hard work, honest self-examination, and a willingness to be transformed by God. Choosing comfort over growth keeps us from experiencing the fullness of what God intends for us. [61:42]
4. Our Testimony Should Point to Christ, Not Our Tantrums When we lose something valuable—peace, joy, or spiritual fervor—it’s easy to broadcast our frustrations and draw attention to ourselves. But God calls us to seek restoration quietly and to share testimonies of His faithfulness when recovery comes. Our lives should point others to Jesus, not to our own drama or disappointments. [80:01]
5. God Has Given Us the Tools for Recovery We are not left helpless when something is lost. God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, providing the guidance and encouragement we need to recover what’s missing. If we value restoration, we must be willing to do the hard work of searching, studying, and allowing the Holy Spirit to illuminate and transform our lives. [89:43]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[19:12] - The Call for God to Do a New Thing
[22:28] - The Power of Christ’s Blood and Forgiveness
[23:12] - The Promise of Being Made Clean
[49:10] - The Need for a Move of God
[49:38] - Reading the Transforming Word
[56:18] - The Frustration of Losing What Matters
[58:44] - The Value of the One Lost Thing
[59:59] - Why We Settle for Less
[60:45] - The Danger of Complacency
[61:42] - Comfort vs. Restoration
[78:23] - Go and Recover What’s Lost
[79:32] - Testimony vs. Tantrum
[89:43] - God’s Word: The Tool for Recovery
[98:51] - Responding to the Call to Restoration

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Luke 15:8-10 — “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Observation Questions

In the parable of the lost coin, what actions does the woman take when she realizes one coin is missing? What does this show about her attitude toward what was lost?
According to the sermon, what are some examples of things we might “lose” in our spiritual lives, and how do we often respond to that loss?
What does the sermon say about how heaven responds when something (or someone) is found and restored?

Interpretation Questions

Why does Jesus use the example of a woman searching for a lost coin to teach about God’s heart? What does this say about what God values?
The sermon mentions that we often settle for what is comfortable or easy, even if it means living with loss or limitation. Why do people tend to choose comfort over restoration, even when it’s not best for them?
The pastor said, “Our testimony should point to Christ, not our tantrums.” What does it mean for our testimony to point to Christ, and why is this important for others to see?

Application Questions

The woman in the parable refused to be content with nine coins when she had started with ten. Is there something in your life—like patience, self-control, or spiritual passion—that you’ve let slip away and become comfortable living without? What would it look like to start searching for it again?
The sermon challenges us to do the “hard work” of restoration instead of settling for what’s easy or familiar. Can you think of a specific area where you’ve chosen comfort over growth? What is one step you could take this week to pursue restoration in that area?
The pastor talked about how we sometimes broadcast our frustrations or losses to others, but God calls us to share testimonies of His faithfulness instead. When was the last time you shared a testimony of God’s restoration in your life? If you haven’t, what’s holding you back?
God’s Word is described as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Are you regularly using God’s Word as a tool to help you recover what’s missing in your spiritual life? If not, what’s one practical way you can start this week?
The sermon says, “It’s not over just because something is lost; with God’s help, we can recover what truly matters.” Is there something you’ve considered “lost for good” that you need to trust God to help you restore? What would it look like to invite God into that process?
The pastor encouraged honest self-examination and a willingness to let God transform us. What is one area of your heart or life where you need to ask God to soften you and make you open to change?
Think about your relationships, character traits, or spiritual disciplines. Is there one specific thing you want to reclaim or restore in your walk with God? How can your small group support you in this?

Sermon Clips

If we would just get in God's word and we would read God's word and we would soak it up... you get in God's word and God would begin to illuminate. He would begin to illuminate things in your life. It's not just that the Holy Spirit could work through the word and deal with you. Because that's what you need first and foremost. You need to be dealt with. He could come and illuminate some things that are in your heart. Some thoughts that are trapped and lurking around in your mind that you need to deal with. The Holy Spirit will speak through God's word and deal with those things for you.

Rather than regain what was lost we replace it with what is comfortable... Restoration is hard work if you lose one thing it could be in a million places who knows where this thing went... finding something restoring that back to the original necklace or whatever it might have been is hard work and we don't want to do the hard work we take easy we take comfortable all of the time and it's limiting.

He can only transform us if we're willing. You can't fight him. You can't fight him. You ever play with play -doh when you were a kid... if you're hard you can't be transformed you got to be soft you got to be soft to the things of God you got to be soft to the ways of God you got to be soft into the desires of God... just like soft clay in the potter's hand and he'll get rid of those rough spots in your life because you've got rough spots.

He's laying foundations. He's wanting to do a new thing today because he knows what he has for you tomorrow. And sometimes we don't come expecting enough. We don't come expecting for God to do something new. We don't expect anything new. We don't expect a new revelation. We feel like the amount of faith that we have, the amount of confidence or trust that we have in him or the knowledge or understanding we have of God is enough, and it's not. [00:17:29]

God's word is a living and active word. And so every time you come to it, it's not a bunch of dead words on a page. God can speak newly to you, reveal something newly to you in a passage you've read 50, 60, 80, 150 times. And he can breathe something new out of that because it's a living and active word. [00:18:10]

What an incredible statement from our God, that he eagerly awaits communion with us, that our God, who is infinite and limitless, wants us to come into his presence and spend time with him and commune with him. How many times do we just take God for granted in a sense, that we just don't, we don't spend the time? And I want to encourage you today, spend the time with a God who wants to have communion with you. [00:19:26]

Thank God for the blood. Because as his blood was poured out, symbolically that blood was poured on us. And it's his blood that cleanses us and washes us clean. What an incredible spectacle to think of. Blood being poured on and you being made white. That makes no sense. But that's exactly what happens. Because Jesus' sacrifice on the cross today. you have been made clean. [00:22:33]

There's coming a day the Word tells us that we will come into the presence of God and we will walk in and we will be blameless and we will put on new white robes is what it said. Man, I don't know about you, but sometimes I just feel filthy. Filthy in life. I remember being filthy in sin. It's an incredible feeling to be where I am today and know what it is to be forgiven. [00:23:12]

We need a move of God in our lives, church. We talk about the world needing a move of God, that people need Jesus. And people aren't going to find Jesus if you don't get Jesus. Church, it's on us. It's on us. We've got to get it together. We've got to serve Him. We've got to know Him. We've got to have a fellowship and a relationship with Jesus like we have with nobody else. Because if it's not real to us, it never gets real to them. [00:49:15]

Heaven gets excited just for the one. Heaven understands the value of one life and it understands the value of all life but when one life says yes I'm in heaven rejoices that salvation has come to that life. What an incredible thing. [00:53:51]

Stop settling for nine. I hate losing stuff. I'm not a fan of it. Are you? Anybody a fan of losing things? I'm not a fan of losing anything. I'm kind of meticulous about where I put things... The woman in the story had 10 coins. I brought 10 quarters today. Not really the same value as 10 silver coins. But she lost one of them. I mean, she still had nine. I don't know how you value money in your life or value things. But if you had 10 and then you only had nine, nine, that bothers me. That'll drive me crazy. Where'd this one go? Because this one has value. [00:56:28]

Why do we so many times in our lives settle for the nine and not care about the one? I mean, if you're not careful and you don't care about the one, eventually it'll become the two. Eventually it'll become the three. You'll just start losing stuff because you don't value the things that you ought to value in life. [01:01:15]

Losing something of value is frustrating. I don't know if you feel this way, but I feel this way. Losing something of value is frustrating. [01:01:36]

If you lose something enough it tells me you don't value it because you've not done the work of trying to keep it and to possess it and so you'll lose it. [01:08:05]

Uncomfortable and sometimes we accept limits because they're comfortable. That's why you get angry and you don't think a thing of it because you're comfortable being angry it's easier to be angry than to control your temper are you following me this morning it's limiting is it helping your relationships no it's not helping your relationships it's hurting your relationships it's hurting your relationship maybe with your children or with your spouse or with your friends it hurts relationships because when you get in that mood and you get angry nobody wants to be around you you understand that it's limiting but you don't care because you're comfortable we choose what's comfortable all the time. [01:12:49]

Don't be content with what you still have, what you think that you still can drum up and what I still got. No, get out there and go find it. Go find what you have lost. If it's something that you possessed that now you do not have, well, go out and find it. Go get it. Reclaim it. [01:18:23]

See, what people need today is to hear the testimony of the believer. They need to hear your testimony, not your tantrum. Oh, we love the tantrum. Oh, boy. People love the tantrum. She didn't rant about what was lost. She told everybody when she found it, celebrate with me because I found my lost coin. But nobody knew what was lost. She didn't go on a rant about it. She didn't go on a tantrum about what was lost. She just went out and found it. She called everybody to rejoice when it was found. [01:19:28]

Your testimony is always pointing people to Jesus. Your tantrum is always pointing people to you. [01:23:44]

There's a lot of things that we lose in life and we just sit back and we're like, oh, I guess that's over. If not over, go find it. Go reclaim it. Go recover it. Do we serve a God who knows how to reclaim, who knows how to restore? Yes, we do. [01:27:14]

If you've lost it, go get it. If you forgot it someplace, go find it. If you didn't value it, then start valuing it so you can regain it. If that used to be a character trait, but you blew it because you got involved in things that you shouldn't have, go back after it, get the disciplines so you can now have the character once again. It's not over. I'm telling somebody, it's not over. Go find it. [01:28:55]

But if you read God's word you'd get some hope. That if you start doing it God's way if you start walking according to God's promise you'll see the promise come to pass in your life. But if you're not in God's word you don't know the promise. You don't know the way. You lack direction. There's no clarity. Because you need a God who supersedes everything and sees all of it that to be able to tell you in the little microcosm of your brain of your little life of the small perception of what you can tell is going on he would be able to illuminate for you so that you could have faith for things that you can't see yet and trust him for things that you are not seeing yet in your own life. [01:32:13]

That's the God that you serve. He has given you the tools, his word. You have to give a careful search. This isn't reading to get reading done. This is reading prayerfully. This is exploring God's word. [01:35:06]

You have to give a careful search. This isn't reading to get reading done. This is reading prayerfully. This is exploring God's word. Oh, I have a problem with being judgmental. Okay, pull out your Bible. Get a study Bible. Get a Thompson Chain reference Bible or some other kind of Bible. If you need a suggestion, I would give it to you. Find something that will pull out some passages about judgment so you can start learning about judgment and then about forgiveness. Because maybe that's what you've lost and you can't forgive, so you're going to regain that by getting in God's word and seeing how God does it and have that heart for your own life. [01:35:13]

If you'll be open and honest, the Holy Spirit is going to address your life and your living with his word. It will speak to you. And that's what you need is you need the light, a light to find your way. And he's given you the tools. You are not tool -less. You have all the tools that you need. You have his word, you have his truth, and you have his spirit that is in you. You've got what you need. [01:38:10]

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