Scripture Study - Restore/Restoration

 1/11/24 - Restore/Restoration

For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; ... (Jer. 30:17) The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. (Ps. 23:1-3) 

Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death. The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt. Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil. (Alma 11:42-44) ... see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again. For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; ... (Alma 41:14-15) Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness. (Alma 41:10) ... and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you. (Hel. 14:31)

And may God grant, in his great fulness, that men might be brought unto repentance and good works, that they might be restored unto grace for grace, according to their works. (Hel. 12:24 And when thy people transgress, any of them, they may speedily repent and return unto thee, and find favor in thy sight, and be restored to the blessings which thou hast ordained to be poured out upon those who shall reverence thee... (D&C 109:21)

Insights: The Lord delights in restoring us. He can restore our peace and even our physical wellbeing if we ask in faith and it is His will. Additionally, we are promised a physical restoration of our bodies after death in the resurrection. This is marvelous, but perhaps of greater concern for us in the here and now is the restoration of blessings for the eternities. He wants to restore good to us, peace to us, happiness to us. But just as there are natural consequences in life, He can only restore to us what we allow Him. Our decisions, our actions, our words, and thoughts, dictate what He is able to restore to us. Some may call it karma, but it is plain that what we put out in this life, will be returned to us. If we put out good, good will come back. If we put out bad, a just God cannot reward bad with good. But what about mercy? God, in His perfection, is the most just of all. But mercy can play a part, if we repent of our "bad" and turn away from it and back to Him, who is good. Only then can mercy take the place of justice. The key is to repent quickly - to have that change of heart sooner rather than later. Don't wait to make a change, if necessary; for we don't know the hours we have left before it becomes too late!