Beauty For Ashes
By Carol Blansett
God put this Scripture song into my heart and on my mind two mornings last week. I even found myself singing it one morning. The second morning God led me to examine the words more closely and sort the negatives and the positives.
“He gives me beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning; A garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” Is 61:3
So much is spoken in those two lines of Scripture! He gives it ~ but are we willing to reach out and receive it from His hand?
Ashes . . . the remnants of lost and burned substances that once were of value. Mourning . . . a cavernous wail deep in the heart of debilitating grief after a wrenching loss. Heaviness . . . a weighty burden to carry inside until we can get from beneath it or let Jesus carry it for us, once we can let it go.
Beauty, joy, praise . . . His answers to heal the downsides of ashes, mourning and heaviness of spirit.
When He fills your soul with the beauty of the earth, glorious mountains and hills, green, green grass and blue skies; white, puffy clouds flowing gently across the sky, gentle rain or sunshine, fresh air and all of the beauty of creation revealing God's glory. His gifts from above are not like anything made with our hands.
He is able to fill our insides with beauty as well, as we read and meditate on His Word to us. We are His children, His tender babies whom He dotes upon and treasures as we do our own. He wants to shine through us to light others’ paths to Him. Know how to get in touch with your tenderness? Read in the Word how He sees us . . . through the blood of Jesus once we make the choice to be His own.
Joy . . . bubbles up from inside to radiate out, showing others that Jesus is the answer. If you have joy in your soul, you can’t hide it!
Praise . . . the way to lighten the heaviness of spirit. Try it! Heap on the praises. Go to the Word where you will find so much He has done for us for which to praise His name, our Lord Jesus! Not only the love He has for us, or the active role He has played, but the fact that He sees us through His Son’s blood if we have been saved and redeemed. Praise God for all His Mighty love and deeds on our behalf!
Copyright © November 2008– Carol Blansett. All rights reserved.
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