Tag: beauty for ashes

This is Love

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He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief…

Isaiah 53:5

Have you felt the pain of rejection?  Has your heart been broken by someone who was supposed to love you? Have you lived with regret over your past?  Have you experienced loss with indescribable sorrow and grief?

If you have lived on this earth for very long you soon realize your heart will not go untouched.  To live and to love brings the opportunity for pain.  There is no getting around it.

The good news is, there is hope. You are not alone.  There is One who sticks closer than a brother.

Do you know HIM?  His name is Jesus.  He loves you so much that He suffered and died for you and now is seated at the right hand of God interceding for you!

JESUS KNOWS about rejection.  JESUS KNOWS your pain.  JESUS KNOWS your sorrow.  Not only does He know about such pain, but He, Himself, has experienced all of these and MORE.

The amazing, beautiful thing about Jesus is that He experienced pain, rejection, and sorrow by CHOICE.  He chose to experience these things in order to set your heart free.  He chose to suffer because of His amazing love for you and for me.   No one would choose the pathway of pain. No one would choose to walk through the door of grief and sorrow.   We all know, It is one thing to experience unwanted pain inflicted on us by others. However, none of us would  intentionally choose to be broken and to be wounded. Who would do that?

Jesus would. And He did.  For you.  For me.  For the world.

Hebrews 12:2 says “For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross… what joy could there possibly be in the excruciating death He suffered? YOU!  You were His joy!! Joy which compelled Him to walk the pathway of darkness and to endure the suffering of the cross.  He was filled with joy at the thought of redeeming you and me and saving a lost world.   He knew you needed a Savior to heal you, to deliver you, to take your sins and my sins upon Himself.

He went through it all so that He could write your love story.  He came to rescue you.  He came to save you.

Do you sometimes have issues with self esteem?  Do you sometimes feel like no one cares or that no one loves you?  Turn your eyes to the cross and see His love poured out for you. You are so very valuable to HIM!! Because He CHOSE this kind of suffering, there is healing for you, there is beauty awaiting you in the midst of your brokenness.

There is no one, nor will there ever be, anyone who loves you like Jesus loves you!  At the cross, He meets you there and He offers extravagant love, forgiveness,  rest for your weariness and healing for your deepest wounds.  Place your hand in His….His nail scarred hand, and allow your heart to be captivated by His love.

Will there be more pain in your life?  More struggles?  Yes.  The difference is Him.  He will give you strength and peace in the midst of your storms. There will be treasures to be found in your trials.  He will never leave you, nor forsake you.  He will turn all things around for good in your life.  Your life of surrender will have purpose and meaning.  

But you must Choose.

Are you going to hold on to your life, your ways, your sins, your pain,  or will you surrender ALL to Him and allow Him to give you His beauty for your ashes?

You will find His grace is sufficient for you.  Look into His Word, get to know Him and fall in love with your Savior, your Lord, your King.

Just as Jesus was resurrected from death to life, He can bring life to the dead places of your heart.

How do I know these things?  I know them because I have experienced His love and mercy in my own life.  His forgiveness has freed me from the chains of guilt and shame. He has brought life to places that were dead.  I have seen His power and love change hearts and turn brokenness into beauty.  He has given hope where there was no hope. His love has captured my heart.   My future is secure in Him,  My prince has come and rescued me.  He offers the same love to you.

Run to His arms, my friend, experience TRUE love…. say YES to the extraordinary love He died to give you and allow Him to write your love story.

For God SO LOVED the world that HE GAVE His only begotten son, that whosoever would believe in HIM, would not perish but have everlasting life.  John 3:16

Bitterly Broken Woman or Beautifully Beloved Daughter?

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All of us have been wounded at one time or another.  All of us have been hurt by someone who was supposed to love us.

In the rawness of our pain, we begin to believe the lie that we are the ONLY one and that our hurt is GREATER than anyone else’s.  We become angry as our self talk screams that life is NOT fair and someone needs to pay for our brokenness.

We can hold so tightly to the pain that the weight of it keeps us in a PIT of despair threatening to destroy the very core of who we are.   The chains soon wrap around our broken hearts as self-pity consumes us and a root of bitterness begins to grow.  Been there!! What do we do?

Will your life portray a bitterly broken woman or a beautifully beloved daughter?

One is trapped in a prison of her own making, the other is free not because there is no pain but because she has learned the importance of surrendering her broken heart to her Savior.  She understands the reality of our journey on this earth was not guaranteed to be pain free.  We were NEVER promised that. Not here. Not now. Not this side of heaven.

The truth is the resentment, anger, bitterness and unforgiveness that is trying to destroy you is MORE toxic than the actual source of your brokenness!  In other words, it is not the action of someone else that will harden your heart…it is YOUR response to it that will do the most damage.  Oh, sister if we can only get a picture of this! Your enemy will try to use other’s hurtful choices to blacken YOUR heart   He is out to destroy YOU, as God’s beloved daughter. Let me just stop here and say, it is okay to have those feelings…you have been deeply wounded!  It is okay to be angry, to cry, to have emotions you didn’t know you had but the key is not to stay in that place.  Don’t deny how you feel! Pain causes all kinds of things to surface on the get-go.  I just want to encourage you to give yourself some time to deal with those feelings and work THROUGH them.  Determine in your heart that you will NOT let your pain destroy the YOU that God created YOU to be!

The truth is, the enemy would love to destroy the beauty God desires to bring from your ashes. But, seriously, hasn’t the enemy stolen enough from you??  Think about it! Isn’t enough, enough???

No matter what has broken your heart and left it in pieces, there is HOPE!!  This WORD is for YOU!!

Isaiah 61:1-3

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) and the day of vengeance of our GOD, to COMFORT ALL WHO MOURN,

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 of PRAISE INSTEAD OF A HEAVY, BURDENED, and FAILING SPIRIT, that THEY MAY BE CALLED OAKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, the planting of the LORD, that HE MAY BE GLORIFIED.

Sweet one, did you get that? Read it again!! Jesus came for YOU and for me….for the broken! You do NOT have to allow “THIS” to destroy you, whatever your “THIS” is!!! Friend, JESUS already purchased your healing and wholeness! He CAME to HEAL your brokenness, to give you beauty for your ashes, JOY instead of mourning, the garment of PRAISE instead of the heavy burdened failing spirit that you now may be experiencing!  Oh, how HE loves YOU!!! He knows of your brokenness, He SEES your tears, HE understands your pain!

WHAT is His purpose for this promise??  “that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

Here, God likens His people (HIS daughters) to Oaks of righteousness. This speaks volumes about the way HE sees YOU!! Oak trees are known for their great strength and stubborn durability. Their strength and life do not come from what you can see on the outside but from their deep roots that are hidden underground. The root system grows so deep into the soil as to reach the water and nutrients that is needed for them to be what they were created to be. These deep and large roots provide the foundation for this tree to withstand all kinds of conditions from wind, drought, storms, and even earthquakes.  That is God’s heart for YOU and for me and for all of His beloved children.   Jeremiah gives us an even clearer picture of what this looks like:

                                                Jeremiah 17:7-8

(Most) blessed is the man (woman) who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the LORD and whose hope and confidence the LORD is.

For he (she) shall be like the tree planted by the waters that spread out its roots by the water;  and it shall not see and fear when heat comes; but its leaf shall be green.  It shall not be anxious and full of care in the year of drought, nor shall it cease yielding fruit.

Friend, I believe YOU desire to live out your God-given destiny as His beautiful beloved daughter! Your hope, your trust, your confidence and the ONE you rely on MUST be in the ONE who loves YOU like no other!!  Even now.  It’s not your husband, your best friend, your pastor nor your parents! THE ONLY ONE who can bring light to your darkness is the ONE who is LIGHT!!  Don’t waste another moment.  Turn to Jesus, tell him of your hurts, release your bitterness and allow Him to grow your roots deep within the soil of HIS unending, unrelenting, unchanging love for YOU!  Don’t allow those unproductive roots of ugly emotions to poison and infect the strong deep roots in Christ, that He has for you.  Invite Him to set YOUR heart free and stand strong against the storms, the wind, the rain, the hurt, the pain, the anger, the bitterness… so that the display of HIS splendor is revealed in you and through you!  That is timeless beauty that no person, no circumstance, no pain can ever take away! You go girl!

See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.  Hebrews 12:15