Restoration and Restitution!

Photo Credit divschooltablet.wordpress.com

Luke 18:1-8

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying,‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”

6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”   

In our home group, we've been watching Bob Sorge's Secrets of the Secret Place DVD Series.  I had read this book back in 2002.  It had impacted me then and it is definitely relevant now!  I want to summarize what has jumped out at me recently.  Timely!

Have you been praying for something for a very long time awaiting God's answer?

Has the Lord been silent?

Does the enemy speak lies and scoff at you asking when is the promise coming?

This parable tells us "always ought to pray and not lose heart".   The widow was persistent.  She went back to that judge repeatedly - crying out for justice from her adversary.  She didn't give up.  She prayed and cried out until she got her answer.  That is what God wants from us.  He wants us to persist in prayer and faith until He chooses the perfect time to answer.  

This is hard to do.  There are scoffers that tell you to quit and just move on.   They tell you that God is not going to do this for you.  This is a pipe dream.  He hasn't shown up yet, why would He now?  You're making a fool out of yourself believing for something this big.  Sometimes the scoffer, is even our own thoughts?  

The prayer of the upright is His delight Proverbs 15:8 

God wants us to cry out to Him.  And He is with us cheering us on.  He knows that at the right time, He will avenge His elect.  He will bring forth restoration and restitution and the wait will be worth it.  

How many of you have waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and then SUDDENLY God shows up and answers your prayer!   This seems to be a common practice in the Christian walk....well at least in our walk.   

When God comes on the scene and your prayers are being answered after such a long, intense wait, He not only brings restoration of all you lost, He brings restitution.  

Restoration - the biblical meaning is to receive back more than has been lost to the point where the final state is greater than the original condition.

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. Joel 2:25-26

For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord Jeremiah 30:17

And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.  Job 42:10 

Restitution - means damages for loss sustained over time. 

He shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.

Proverbs 6:31 

Though waiting on the Lord is difficult, it has some pretty amazing benefits!  As believers, it strengthens our faith and trust in Him.  It refines us like gold.  It deepens our commitment to Him.  And you get blessed by the Lord way beyond measure for remaining faithful in prayer until He answers and fulfills the promises!  

Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. Habakkuk 2:3

Prayer requests;

Ken  -  Please pray for God to open a door for additional income while we wait and stamina, energy and sleep too.  
Michele - Please pray for healing to manifest, energy and consistent sleep.  Pray for motivation (which comes w/sleep) to continue to write - books, preparation for food blog, etc) 
Ministry - Our Thurs night group has grown and is going well.  We are thankful for this opportunity to lead and minister.   Please pray for the open doors to step into the fullness - building the retreat property and equipping center. 
Pray for grace for us to wait patiently...... 

Thank YOU so much for your ongoing support, prayers, love and care for us and our ministry.  We are honored to be able to pray for those who reach out to us.  Please let me know if you have any prayer needs.   For those who have been messaging us, thank you!  I am praying for your requests.  

If you have been blessed by this ministry or feel led to support what God is doing through us - financially, below are a few options.  Your generosity and your prayer support is greatly appreciated and needed as we continue to walk in faith and God's calling. 

Megablessings  - 

Ken & Michele Cole

http://www.wantinsight.com

michele@wantinsight.com, ken@wantinsight.com

Tax deductible & non tax deductible donations can be made: 

1.  Checks made payable to Sonlit Fields, PO Box 371, El Dorado Springs, MO 64744 or if you prefer anonymous giving - you can give through our Donor Fund 

2.  Non tax deductible donations can be made directly to us by:  THIS IS THE FASTEST WAY TO GET MONEY TO US FOR DAILY USE. 

 Paypal - www.paypal.com  (michele@wantinsight.com) 

3. Donor Fund - Contact The Signatry - Ken & Michele Cole - Want InSight Fund -   Tax deductible 

    7171 W. 95th Street, Suite 501

Overland Park, KS 66212

    Phone: 913.310.0279

    Fax: 913.227.0254     www.thesignatry.com 

Vision

God has given us a vision to build a retreat property along with ministry equipping center.  

The retreat portion of our ministry is to provide a safe place for pastors, lay leaders & other ministry folks to come and be refreshed & encouraged through prophetic ministry (if wanted).  We will offer private cabins with kitchens & full bathrooms, and plenty of places to roam on the property to get quiet with the Lord. 

We will offer other specialty retreats - marriage, healing, prophetic teaching & activating people into the world & health and wellness retreats and more.  

The Lord has graced us with the desire to come alongside the Church - to bring healing, deliverance & freedom to new/newer believers.  We are not wanting to replace their church, but better help them be ready to serve in their church. 

In our community building - we will eventually have a 24/7 prayer room, healing & prophetic rooms and a place for community worship services for those on the property.  

Our passion is to minister to a lost & hurting world.   To equip the saints to do the same and to be a blessing to our community and surrounding areas.  Our hopes are that we can pour out God's love in a mighty way to bring more and more souls into the Kingdom, get them discipled, called into their purpose & destiny and released to do God's business!!!!  We also have a passion to give generously to help those in need and to help others launch into their God given destinies.  

     

The Great Hope Transition: From Deferred to Double!

I am posting this blog that a friend of ours recently wrote. He shared this with us last week.  God's timing for us receiving this is perfect!  We met Joey when he and his wife spoke at one of our home meetings in KC, in 2013.  Their faith journey is amazing and the wisdom, guidance and experience they share with us helps keeps us going!
If you are going through a hope deferred season, I know you will love this post.  

"The Great Hope Transition: 

From Deferred to Double"

Joey LeTourneau, Coarsegold, CA

"Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life." (Proverbs 13:12)

"Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope. Even today I declare that I will restore double to you." (Zechariah 9:12)

Dear Hope Champions,

Notice in this well-known proverb that the Word does not say, "IF the desire comes," rather, it says, "WHEN the desire comes, it is a tree of life." Many of your desires have been growing deep, strong roots underground, unseen to the natural eye. But you have kept hope alive. Like Abraham who came into his promised identity as "a father of many nations" because he was one "who, contrary to hope, in hope believed...And therefore 'it was accounted to him for righteousness'" (Romans 4:18; 22).

Hope keeps an account. That account is often hidden underground in the roots where the greatest life develops, but it keeps account.

Consider it like a unique, high-yield interest savings account. And though many might be discouraged with an attack on the recent sprouts they thought were finally starting to grow, even if those sprouts were snatched by a thief, they do not begin to compare with the depth, the strength and the reality of the account your hope-roots have birthed and taken residence in unseen places.

I believe we are about to see what I would call, "The Great Hope Transition" as we watch many hidden hope champions move from being prisoners of hope deferred and become sudden harvesters of hope doubled. In fact, the underground transition of such may have already happened, it's just waiting to surface in all God's glory! (Photo via Unsplash)

A Finishing Stage

"And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulations produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope."(Romans 5:3-4)

I believe many have been in a "finishing stage." The fire has come back with what feels hotter than ever, fire that you thought you had already walked through. But this fire isn't to break you down and re-mold you yet again, but to prove you. This fire will only prove the strength God has built in you these past seasons from the inside out. This finishing stage is a catalyst, like with Joseph, Daniel, or Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, a catalyst that brought about their great hope transition from being a prisoner of hope deferred to reaping a harvest of hope doubled.

And let's take joy in the fact that perseverance has been such a part of the birthing process. It is that "perseverance" that transitions us. It helps us not to live by what we see or feel in our current season, or allow it to dictate to what is beyond the veil of the next. Perseverance is what makes us champions. It is the ingredient that cannot be taught by mere knowledge or even passed on by a great mentor. Rather, it has to be experienced and extracted first-hand. Perseverance is the aroma of the overcomer who carries to the world the kind of testimony of hope that multiplies for generations. The perseverance test you have passed is the proof that you can carry the new wine for the new season.

When the Desire Comes

"Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out..."(Romans 5:5)

God's love has been poured out and that is what makes this transition from deferred to double so possible. Hope deferred may be an attack from the enemy but it is one God can use as a catapult into double. As you are pulled back and waiting in its grasp, the tension becomes a strength, force and momentum that grows strong enough to launch you further than you could have ever stepped, leapt, journeyed or even hoped on your own. Before you know it you are flung into promises in ways that you might never have dreamt possible. For God is just that good and His ways and thoughts that much higher – and different – than our own. And when you are launched by that catapult, you often land right within what used to be the horizon you once longed for.

Hope does not disappoint, it appoints. When hope finally comes to fruition, bigger, better and different than you imagined, with it comes a tree of life that shoots up fast and strong because it has been growing inside of you the whole time.

Not long ago I had a dream where I watched this kind of oak of righteousness growing beneath the surface within me suddenly reveal its full maturity and break through the crown of my head. I could see that it had actually been growing in me the whole time, waiting to reveal itself from the depth of its roots in my heart to the hope champion it had already grown to be – only hidden until that moment. It went from unseen to a fully mature oak with the most sudden of transitions.

These are the trees of life we can expect to suddenly rise from our lives in this new season. These aren't just any roots in you and not just tiny shoots of a baby tree. They are a beautiful, splendid oak of righteousness that has been growing within you during this whole "deferred" season. Soon, that tree will burst through the crown of your head too, and your delay will prove to be your greatest strength because God prepared something in you. He's prepared someone who will not be moved; who will not be shaken, someone who is ready for the double portion of restoration that His hope champions must carry to the world in this season. (Photo via Unsplash)

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound...to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified." (Isaiah 61:1,3)

Here come these trees of life! Here comes the great hope transition – from deferred to double! It's happening within you. 

Joey LeTourneau
Heavenly Hope Ministries 
Email: joey.letourneau@gmail.com
Website: www.ifgodhadahouse.com

Joey LeTourneau, his wife Destiny, and their six children are based in the hills of central California. They have lived and traveled all over the world looking to unearth the treasures God has hidden in people, places and new possibilities. Joey is the author of seven books and together they speak, train and empower others to see God's worldwide family restored – one heart at a time.

Shut Door! What Are Next Steps?

And I placed boundaries on it.  And set a bolt and doors.
                                      Job 38:10 

What do you do when you feel God has led you down a path only to find the door doesn't open?  

That's the question!!!  

As you know, we felt led to submit a proposal to a prominent family who believes in giving everything they own into the Kingdom.  We spent countless hours preparing it, editing and having several people helping us to make the best presentation we could.  (Those that helped, we are eternally thankful and pray God's amazing blessings on you. Your sacrifice of time was a gift that can't be measured, but will be rewarded by the Lord.)  We submitted the proposal and this past week we got the reply.  They said no!  They said they were compelled by our ministry and the obvious need to expand and reach more people, but their funds were tied up in long term projects.   

• We believe God gave us this vision and has been preparing us both our entire lives for this season. 
• We believe God is directing our steps, even when the outcome is not as we hoped.
• We believe that there is an appointed time for this vision to come into existence and know that God will open the "right door" at the "right time".  

I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open. Isaiah 22:22 

So, what's next for us?  Many of you have been asking us what's the plan?  Here it is!  Next steps!

1.  Continue in prayer, fasting, contending and believing!
2.  Stand in faith & watch the salvation of the Lord!
3.  Leave it in God's hands!

This devotional came the day after we got their response.  This is exactly where we are at and how we will forge ahead.

Streams in the Desert 

We don’t know what we should do; we look to you for help.”—2 Chr 20:12 NET

A life was lost in Israel because a pair of human hands were laid unbidden upon the ark of God. They were placed upon it with the best intent, to steady it when trembling and shaking as the oxen drew it along the rough way; but they touched God’s work presumptuously, and they fell paralyzed and lifeless. Much of the life of faith consists in letting things alone.

If we wholly trust an interest to God, we must keep our hands off it; and He will guard it for us better than we can help Him. “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.”

Things may seem to be going all wrong, but He knows as well as we; and He will arise in the right moment if we are really trusting Him so fully as to let Him work in His own way and time. There is nothing so masterly as inactivity in some things, and there is nothing so hurtful as restless working, for God has undertaken to work His sovereign will. —A. B. Simpson

“Being perplexed, I say,
’Lord, make it right!
Night is as day to Thee,
Darkness as light.
I am afraid to touch
Things that involve so much;
My trembling hand may shake, 
My skilless hand may break; 
Thine can make no mistake.’

“Being in doubt I say,
’Lord, make it plain;
Which is the true, safe way?
Which would be gain?
I am not wise to know,
Nor sure of foot to go;
What is so clear to Thee,
Lord, make it clear to me!’”

It is such a comfort to drop the tangles of life into God’s hands and leave them there.

We do covet your prayers.  This walk the Lord has us on is not easy.  He is faithful, however and for that we are so thankful.  At the suggestion of a friend, I am attaching a link to our proposal.  Copy and paste this link into your browser.  

file:///Users/michelecole/Desktop/BP%20Donor.htm

Would you please pray for us that God will open a door soon.  We feel grace has lifted for us and it is time to move on.   It feels very similar to when we had our house on the market in KC and awaiting God's direction ----to move here.   We are weary, but hopeful.  Our hope is in the Lord!   

Prayer requests;

Ken  -  He is faithful to work at a place that is very difficult in many ways.  The work environment is hard.  The pay is minimal.  Thankful for the job, but wishing for a full time - sufficient pay - job - until we step into destiny.   Pray for energy, stamina and sleep.    Pray for something to shift soon.
Pray for God's faithfulness to provide for our daily needs.
Michele - pray for complete healing to manifest.  I am getting sleep for the most part.. not perfect but much better.  We still both have trouble on the nights Ken has to be up and to work at 4 am.  I am really fighting the temptation to get another dog.
Ministry - well you know - please pray for open doors.
Job - God has given us two business ideas - that could be used to support us where we are going.  Pray for open doors and finances and the perfect timing.

Thank YOU so much for your ongoing support, prayers, love and care for us and our ministry.  We are honored to be able to pray for those who reach out to us.  Please let me know if you have any prayer needs.   For those who have been messaging us, thank you!  I am praying for your requests.  

If you have been blessed by this ministry or feel led to support what God is doing through us - financially, below are a few options.  Your generosity and your prayer support is greatly appreciated and needed as we continue to walk in faith and God's calling. 

Megablessings  - 

Ken & Michele Cole

http://www.wantinsight.com

michele@wantinsight.com, ken@wantinsight.com

Tax deductible & non tax deductible donations can be made: 

1.  Checks made payable to Sonlit Fields, PO Box 371, El Dorado Springs, MO 64744 or if you prefer anonymous giving - you can give through our Donor Fund 

2.  Non tax deductible donations can be made directly to us by:  THIS IS THE FASTEST WAY TO GET MONEY TO US FOR DAILY USE. 

 Paypal - www.paypal.com  (michele@wantinsight.com) 

3. Donor Fund - Contact The Signatry - Ken & Michele Cole - Want InSight Fund -   Tax deductible 

    7171 W. 95th Street, Suite 501

Overland Park, KS 66212

    Phone: 913.310.0279

    Fax: 913.227.0254     www.thesignatry.com 

Vision

God has given us a vision to build a retreat property along with ministry equipping center.  

The retreat portion of our ministry is to provide a safe place for pastors, lay leaders & other ministry folks to come and be refreshed & encouraged through prophetic ministry (if wanted).  We will offer private cabins with kitchens & full bathrooms, and plenty of places to roam on the property to get quiet with the Lord. 

We will offer other specialty retreats - marriage, healing, prophetic teaching & activating people into the world & health and wellness retreats and more.  

The Lord has graced us with the desire to come alongside the Church - to bring healing, deliverance & freedom to new/newer believers.  We are not wanting to replace their church, but better help them be ready to serve in their church. 

In our community building - we will eventually have a 24/7 prayer room, healing & prophetic rooms and a place for community worship services for those on the property.  

Our passion is to minister to a lost & hurting world.   To equip the saints to do the same and to be a blessing to our community and surrounding areas.  Our hopes are that we can pour out God's love in a mighty way to bring more and more souls into the Kingdom, get them discipled, called into their purpose & destiny and released to do God's business!!!!  We also have a passion to give generously to help those in need and to help others launch into their God given destinies.