We are still learning how to make restitution appropriately, and we are still on the story of Mr. Zacchaeus the tax collector.
This morning, let us examine one more thing that made making restitution easy for him.
Luke 19:8 [TLB] Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “Sir, from now on I will give half my wealth to the poor, and if I find I have overcharged anyone on his taxes, I will penalize myself by giving him back four times as much!”
One thing is evident here. He was sincere. He didn’t try defending what he had done. He wasn’t going to beat around the bush. He didn’t try to blame the system or the government, as some would have done.
Little children, God wants and expects you to be sincere. The moment you are at fault, admit it.
So I am posing this question to you this morning;
Have you wronged someone before?
Have you cheated on a friend?
Have you unjustly used someone before?
If you are still trying to justify why you did what you did, you haven’t gotten the drift yet.
Now is the time to make amends.
Walk up to that friend and do the needful. If you need to involve your parents or guardians, by all means, do.
May God strengthen you as you decide to do things right, Amen.
Prayer: Lord, help me to make amends where necessary.
Action Point: Are there areas you need to make restitution? List them out.
Declaration: I am living for Jesus so I do things right!
The dictionary defines restitution as the restoration of something lost or stolen to its proper owner. It can also mean recompense for injury or loss. Restitution can involve money being paid back in some cases.
Were there cases of restitution in the bible? Yes, and in the next few days, we will be looking at these cases one by one.
The first case we will be examining is the case of Mr. Zacchaeus
In the case of Zacchaeus, we see that his encounter with Jesus in Luke chapter 19 facilitated his restitution.
Luke 19:8 [TLB] Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “Sir, from now on I will give half my wealth to the poor, and if I find I have overcharged anyone on his taxes, I will penalize myself by giving him back four times as much!”
This means you cannot totally make restitutions without meeting with Jesus.
So my first assignment is to lead you to Jesus if you’ve not met him.
Say after me;
Lord Jesus, I believe you came to the earth and that you died for me. I confess and I acknowledge you as my Lord and personal savior. Come into my life today. Come and reign over my affairs. I surrender my all to you this day. Thank you because I am now yours, amen.
As simple as that, you are now one with Christ.
Now, your journey to making restitution begins. Amen
Congratulations!
Prayer: Lord, help me to make amends where necessary.
Action Point: Are there areas you need to make restitution? List them out.
This is one promise I want you to always remember as you grow older in life. The LORD has it all planned out. He has plans to take care of you till good old age.
Here is one of the promises you should hold on to in life;
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:19 [ESV]
Children, God says through his word that he will supply every of your need. That means you should always cast your cares and burdens upon Him.
Why do you need to worry yourself over basic necessities of life? With the above promise, you do not have to worry about anything because you have a father in heaven who is always ready to attend to your need.
Let me show you another scripture;
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? – Matthew 6:25-27[NKJV]
Conclusively, God has us in his long-term plans. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and trust his timing
Prayer: Ask the Lord to supply all your needs. Amen
Action point: Are you worried about a thing? Cast your care on Jesus
Declaration: I refuse to worry because the Lord supplies all my needs.
Learning prayer by observation is one great way to learn how to pray. At home, listen to how your parents pray. Notice the following:
Their choice of words.
What they use to pray.
Where they pray.
Do they sit or stand always, often, or once in a while?
Do they hold hands?
Do they pray in the Holy Ghost? How often?
Do they shout or mutter to themselves? When do they raise their voices? What do they do then?
Do they pray at night? How often? What time at night?
Do they pray in the morning? How often? What time in the morning?
This list is just a way for you to see how prayer is done. What you notice might not be how you would want to do yours, but it would certainly help you to pray.
At church, watch how people pray. Sure, you will see tons of differences there. Again, you are not meant to follow everything you see. The Holy Spirit can give you your own way to pray. He will supply you with the words to use. That is how unique you are to God.
Watching and listening to fellow Christians praying is meant to point out to you where you need to improve, how to improve, what to stop doing, and what to continue. You learn, unlearn and relearn.
The bible says we should not abandon the gathering of brethren. I believe this is to help us grow spiritually. Part of spiritual growth in Christianity is praying. When in the presence of other brethren regularly, we grow our prayer muscles.
Iron sharpens iron as the bible says, so, if you want to learn how to pray, one sure way to do that is to watch and listen to other believers when they pray. Be a sponge and soak what you see. Also, as a sponge get ready to be squeezed – flushing out wrong perceptions about prayer, building your prayer muscles for more spiritual growth, and learning new ways and things about prayer.
