✨ Those Who Walk With Jesus — Part 17 ✨ The Ongoing Restoration

✨ Those Who Walk With Jesus — Part 17 ✨
The Ongoing Restoration

📝 Their Message (Summary)
With General Conference near, this reflection wrestles with what it means when the Church speaks of an “ongoing restoration.”

If the Restoration were only about priesthood and ordinances, then why did Joseph Smith teach that authority is not preserved by succession, but by adherence to the pure principles of the gospel? If priesthood can be conferred but then lost through sin (D&C 121:37), then the ongoing restoration must be much deeper than structures, programs, or policies.

At its heart, restoration is about returning to God’s presence. That is what Adam and Eve lost in Eden, and that is what every prophet since has taught: the path back through faith, repentance, obedience, passing the sentinels, and ultimately being born again of fire and Spirit until we see God face to face.

The Catholic/LDS paradox on priesthood worthiness is explored—if sin does not void priesthood, then why did the Catholics lose it? Joseph Smith answered plainly: the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with heaven. Without righteousness, heaven withdraws, and “Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.”

Thus the “ongoing restoration” is not primarily about policies or programs, but about the restoration of you—from being spiritually dead, cut off from God’s presence, to being alive again in Him.

This restoration means intimacy with Jesus. Not just knowing about Him, but walking with Him, hearing His voice, and entering into His rest (Hebrews 4, Jacob 1:7, D&C 84). This is what the brother of Jared experienced (Ether 3), what Moses sought to lead Israel into but they shrank from, and what Jesus offers still: “I am come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

🔥 My Reflection
This post strips away my excuses. Too often I think of “restoration” as something external—the Church, the programs, the unfolding. But here I’m reminded: the real restoration is in me.

Am I waiting for heaven to finally know God? Or am I entering into intimacy with Him now, as friend to friend (Exodus 33:11)?

The honesty here is piercing: it is possible to spend a lifetime in activity for God while never actually knowing Him. That is religion without restoration. The call is not to loyalty to an institution, but to Jesus Christ Himself. Risky, yes—because people can confuse their own voices for revelation—but without risk, we never enter intimacy.

What stood out most is the simplicity: the ongoing restoration is to be restored to the Father through Christ. Anything less—no matter how noble—remains partial.

🕊️ The Invitation
As conference approaches, don’t just ask, “What new thing will God restore to the Church?” Instead ask, “What is God restoring in me?”

Will you let Him restore your sight, your hearing, your joy, your hope, your intimacy with Him? Will you allow Him to shake away everything false, so that only what cannot be shaken remains (Hebrews 12)?

Pray the prayer of restoration this week:

“Jesus, I am sorry. Forgive me. Please come for me. Restore me to Yourself.”

And believe—He will.

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🔗 Walking with Jesus — A Family’s Story
This is part of a series sharing the six-year testimony of a family walking daily with Jesus.

Post #17 — The Ongoing Restoration
Previous: Post #16 — For It Was Founded Upon a Rock
Next: Post #18 — (coming soon)