Scriptures of Encouragement ~ Beauty for Ashes

"Not only does the Lord want to turn your walls into bridges, but as He promises in His Word, He also wants to give you beauty for ashes."

And thus began another chapter in Joyce Meyer's fabulous book, Beauty for Ashes*.

I read this chapter a few weeks ago, but I could not get away from the message found on page 215. The more I thought about it, the more I knew I had to share this with my readers. The way she broke down the following Scripture is actually very simple, but get ready. Grab a towel. You're about to be washed in a monsoon of grace. Ready?

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified Me to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted; He has sent Me to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord [the year of His favor] ...To grant [consolation and joy] to those who mourn (in Zion) ...to give them an ornament (a garland or diadem) of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment [expressive] of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit. (Isaiah 61:1,2,3 The Amplified Bible)

"God has done His part by giving us Jesus...Now, you must do your part by making a quality decision that you will never give up until you have allowed Him to:

"bind up your wounds;
heal your broken heart;
liberate you in every area of your life;
open your prison door;
give you joy instead of mourning,
a garment of praise instead of a heavy, burdened and failing spirit;
AND
beauty for ashes."

I told you a towel to dry off would be necessary. **grin**

Isn't that powerful? I have read this Scripture countless times and have been blessed countless times by its message. But, never had I broken it down into its simple infrastructure like Joyce did. Oh. My. Goodness.

Can you see the picture of the cross? Can you see our Savior stretched upon the splintered wood like a lamb secured to the butcher block at the slaughter house? Why did Jesus do that? He did that so that we could run into the open arms of a loving God who desperately desired to bind our wounds, heal our hearts, set us free and bring beauty out of our dark and broken places. Whoa, dude! I can see it so clearly. I hope and pray that you, my precious reader, can see the love also.

Enough with the towel. I need a Kleenex.

*Meyers, Joyce. Beauty for Ashes. Faith Words, New York, New York, 2003.



Father God, thank You for the power of the Cross - the redemptive work done there for us...US! So undeserving. Open the eyes of our hearts to understand the depth of Your love. Help us realize that, through the cross and Blood of Jesus, our wounds have been bandaged, our broken hearts healed, we have been set free from the chains that bind us, You have given us joy and praise. You, Lord, have taken our dark and broken places and made them beautiful, all because You loved us - SIMPLY  because You loved us. Thank You Lord. We praise You. You alone are worthy of our praise.
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