Beauty for Ashes

Isaiah 61 : 1 - 3

The Year of the Lord’s Favor

1The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,^a

2to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

3and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the Lord

for the display of his splendor. 

I know that you, like me, have ashes in your life. The areas or situations that need to be restored, redeemed. The areas that need the touch of the Master's hand.

I ran across this verse tongiht. 

Often God will give me a verse to lift my heart when I am burdened for one of those areas that need His redemption. Not long ago, it was the Book of Daniel. What an awesome God we serve!

He gave me this tonight and I just wanted to share it with you. 

God is so good.

He IS our Redeemer!

Praise Him with me!

Lord,

You know the areas of my life that are weighing my heart down. Thank You that You are God. Thank You that You have the power to bring beauty from ashes! Please do that in those areas of my life and in the life of my family. You have proven that You are faithful. Thank You for helping my heart to remember!

I love You, Lord!

Cheryl

 

Revive Your Marriage

For the month of September, I am participating in a Revive Your Marriage Series. Throughout the month, there will be one thing to pray for in your marriage on a weekly basis.

For the first week, the challenge is to Revive Your Prayers for your Husband. The basis of this challenge is James 5:17. The verse says, "The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."(KJV)

In the book by Stormie OMartian - The Power of a Praying Wife, she gives several examples of how we can pray for our husbands. Be sure and ask your husband if he has any special requests and include those. Here are a few others to include:

• • His Wife -that’s a good place to start right? lol!
  • His Work
  • His Finances
  • His Affections
  • His Temptations
  • His Fears
  • His Purpose
  • His Health
  • His Trials
  • His Integrity
  • His Priorities
  • His Fatherhood
  • His Past
  • His Attitude

One of my favorite verses on prayer is Philippians 4: 6 -7, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving make your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. "




You can participate too! I can't get this button to go to the correct date on the blog, but there is a link on the side of the blog where recent posts are listed. Or you may copy and paste the link below the button.

http://womenlivingwell.org/2012/09/week-1-revive-your-prayers-for-your-marriage/

Rubber Meets the Road

I have been thinking of raising money for missions. I need to stop thinking and start doing. I found a couple of deserving organizations on this blog post by Ashlee B Lucas.  If you are looking for a way to serve God where you are or somewhere to go, this may be for you.

http://ashleeblucas.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/restoration-hope-whatever-whenever-just-do-it/

Restoration Hope-Whatever…Whenever….Just do it!!!

This entry was posted on September 3, 2012, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment

Do you know anyone who said Yes to God before they got the question? Would you be willing to do that?
Yes God! Whatever? Whenever?
I do…Jason and Brandy Hester! Restoration Hope! www.restorationhope.org
One of the values we hold dear at Restoration Hope is that we only work through strong South African organizations with whom we share a common vision and passion. We are honored to serve alongside our two primary partners, Tabitha and iThemba.
TABITHA MINISTRIES Tabitha Ministries is a Christian non-profit organization providing care for people affected and infected with HIV/AIDS. Based in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, they care for adults and children in the community with a major focus on “child-headed households.” Tabitha also operates an orphanage and school focused on caring for, ministering to and develop the next generation of leaders.
iTHEMBA PROJECTS iThemba exists to serve the people of Mpumuza and to give them a hope for the future through education, empowerment and new skills. They are particularly passionate about the new generation — the children and youth.
Their passion extends into two areas — the moral fibre of the youth and their education. They believe that if a new generation of men and women can step into adulthood with a high level of education and strong moral convictions, the community of Mpumuza will experience a new hope for a much brighter future.
What does God say about orphans and our responsibility?
Blog by Tim Davis:

1. God calls Himself the Father of the  fatherless.

·        Psalm 68:5, “A father of the fatherless and a  judge for the widows, is God in His holy  habitation.”

2. God considers spiritual service the  purest when His people are taking care of orphans.  (and)  A religion that does not care for orphans is no  religion at all.

·        James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father  accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their  distress.”

3. God’s people are commanded to care for  orphans.  To see an orphan afflicted, and to turn a deaf ear,  is sin, even rebellion.

·        Exodus 22:22, “You shall not afflict any widow or  orphan.”
·        Isaiah 1:17, “Learn to do good; seek justice, reprove  the ruthless, Defend the orphan, plead for the  widow.”
·        Isaiah 1:23, “Your rulers are rebellious, and  companions of thieves; everyone loves bribes, and follows after  rewards.  They do not defend the  fatherless.”

4. We can be the hands and love of Christ  Himself by providing practical care.

·        Deuteronomy 10:18, “He executes justice for the  orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and  clothing.”
·        Psalm 10:14, “But You, O God, do see trouble and  grief; you consider it to take it in hand.  The victim commits  himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.”
·        Matthew 18:5, “Whoever receives a child in My name,  receives Me.”
·        Matthew 25: 45, “Truly I say to you, to the  extent that you did it to one of the least of these, you did it unto  Me.”

5. Orphans are to be taken care of with  the same honor and provision as a Pastor or Priest.

·        Deuteronomy 14:28-30, “The Levite (priest),  because he has not portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan  and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in  order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which  you do.”

6. A portion of all that we possess is  sacred and belongs to the orphan.

·        Deuteronomy 26:12-14, “You shall say before the  Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have  given it to the Levite and the alien, the orphan and the widow, according to all  Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed or  forgotten any of Your commandments.”
Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/redletters/2006/11/scriptures-on-c.html#ixzz25PytRTPf
I am not sure what God is calling you to do. It could be to go. It could be to give. It could be a different ministry.It could be to adopt or foster a child. It could be you don’t know you have never asked.
Say yes to God!!! Whatever it is…One person can make a difference!!!!

Number Our Days

Psalm 90:12 Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

I struggle.
There is so much to do that I want to bury my head in freestyle on the computer.
Freestyle is so easy to organize. I can almost always win.
And I don't feel like I am winning when it seems that as soon as I get something done, it is undone.

Do you struggle with that?

If I do the dishes and clean the kitchen, it will be undone by the time we eat our next meal.
If I pick up the den and sweep the floor, the baby will eat, and she's a messy eater, and  the floor need to be cleaned again. 
If I do the laundry, we wear the clothes and they are dirty again.
I know that I am preventing another layer of messy by continuing in the the struggle for order, but I never seem to get there.

Nonetheless, freestyle is not a wise use of my time.
I want every hour to count.

Matthew 9:37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few."

I want to be a laborer in His harvest. If I am wasting my time, who is perishing because I didn't use my time wisely and labor in the harvest?

Many are perishing! So many!

Oh Lord, burden our hearts for the lost! Teach us to labor fruitfully in Your harvest and lead others to You!
Let us be mindful of every hour that we could use laboring in Your harvest! Let us love each of these perishing ones as You do.

Lord,
Thank You for loving me. Thank You for Your mercy and patience. Thank You for the opportunity to work as Your laborer in Your harvest. Help me to see the opportunities that are before me and take advantage of those. Give me the opportunity to do Your work.
I love You so, Lord.
In Jesus Name,
Cheryl

The Source

I was talking with my son yesterday about life. I asked him what he wanted more than anything else.
He wasn't sure.
It's funny. We often don't know what we want.
But I am sure of what we need. And even if we don't know it, the only thing that can really fill us, the only thing that can really satisfy us, the only thing that can really make us whole, the only source of joy, of all good things, is God.
We want to be a people that seek, glorify and honor God, don't we?
I often pray that for all of my friends and family. That we would be a people that seek, glorify and honor God.
Then, we want to be mission minded. I want to get out there and testify!
Matthew 9:37 "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few."
I want to be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within me. I want to let a sick and dying world know that there is a Savior.
I want my children to know how to do that.
Lord,
Help us to be faithful to seek You and know You. Empty us of ourselves and fill us that we may honor and glorify You! Teach us to be laborers in the harvest!

Hidden Sins

So much of our sin is hidden sin. It's not the obvious. Most of us look like the good "Sunday School Girl." If we lose our tempers with our kids, and as Lisa TerKeurst says, our "mean girl" comes out, we don't do it in public, for heaven's sake. We do that in the privacy of our own homes.

Everyone wants to look good.

Imagine if the secret sins, the ones that only you know about, were displayed for all to see.

How embarrassing!

Consider the adulterous woman...

8 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ² Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, ⁴ they *said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. ⁵ Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” ⁶ They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. ⁷ But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. ¹⁰ Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, ^[b]Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”]

  

What sins would you forsake if you knew it would be made public? Would you forgive that friend or family member that hurt you? Would you watch that TV program or movie that you wouldn't want Jesus to see?

Would your pride shame you? Would you let yourself go down that trail of anger and let it all hang out?

I doubt it.
 All of our sins will eventually be revealed and judged. 


I am ashamed to admit, that though I know God sees my sin and it hurts Him, I obviously care more about what others think than what He thinks, if you judge by what I am able to conquer privately. The sins that others can't see, I harbor and allow. 

If we treated all our sin as if it were embroidered on our chests like "The Scarlet Letter,"  we would be more likely to forsake them. It's just human nature.

I know that you, like me, want to have victory over the "secret sins" in your life. God sees all and judges all. It will all one day be revealed. I want to stand before him in judgement without shame. And I want to live for Him now completely and wholly His, nothing held back. I can't be all that He intends if I let the enemy win the battle of  my "secret sins."

Lord,

My anger is as the sin of murder.   I want to treat it as such. I want to love unconditionally like You. Help me to put nothing before my eyes that wouldn't glorify You. And I want to reach a dying world. Empty me of all the world and fill me with You. I love You, Father. Thank you for Your love and forgiveness. Thank You for Your Son.
In His Name,
Cheryl 



In researching secret sins, I found a post by John MacArthur. (http://www.gty.org/Resources/Articles/A214)

He makes several points so eloquently, that I will am going to post his words for you. 

Nothing Safe about Secret Sin

John MacArthur
Jesus' exposition of the law is a devastating blow against the lie that image is everything.
Our Lord taught repeatedly that sin bottled up on the inside, concealed from everyone else's view, carries the very same guilt as sin that manifests itself in the worst forms of ungodly behavior. Those who hate others are as guilty as those who act out their hatred; and those who indulge in private lusts are as culpable as wanton adulterers (Matt. 5:21-30).
So Christians are not to think of secret sins as somehow less serious and more respectable than the sins everyone sees. Here are three reasons secret sin is especially abhorrent:
1. Because God sees the heart.
Scripture tells us "God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7). No sin--not even a whispered curse or a fleeting evil thought--is hidden from the view of God. In fact, if we realized that God himself is the only audience for such secret sins, we might be less inclined to write them off so lightly.
The Bible declares that God will one day judge the secrets of every heart (Rom. 2:16). He "will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil" (Eccl. 12:14).
Not only that, secret sins will not remain secret. "The Lord [will] bring to light the things hidden in the darkness" (1 Cor. 4:5). Jesus said, "There is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops" (Luke 12:2-3). Those who think they can evade shame by sinning in secret will discover one day that open disclosure of their secrets before the very throne of God is the worst shame of all.
It is folly to think we can mitigate our sin by keeping it secret. It is double folly to tell ourselves that we are better than others because we sin in private rather than in public. And it is the very height of folly to convince ourselves that we can get away with sin by covering it up. "He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper" (Prov. 28:13).
All sin is an assault against our holy God, whether it is done in public or in secret. And God, who beholds even the innermost secrets of the heart, sees our sin clearly, no matter how well we think we have covered it.

2. Because sin in the mind is a fruit of the same moral defect that produces deeds of sin.
When Jesus said hatred carries the same kind of guilt as murder, and lust is the very essence of adultery, He was not suggesting that there is no difference in degree between sin that takes place in the mind and sin that is acted out. Scripture does not teach that all sins are of equal enormity.
That some sins are worse than others is both patently obvious and thoroughly biblical. Scripture plainly teaches this, for example, when it tells us the sin of Judas was greater than the sin of Pilate (John 19:11).
But in His Sermon on the Mount Jesus was pointing out that anger arises from the same moral defect as murder; and the one who lusts suffers from the same character flaw as the adulterer. Furthermore, those who engage in thought-sins are guilty of violating the same moral precepts as those who commit acts of murder and adultery.
In other words, secret sins of the heart are morally tantamount to the worst kind of evil deeds--even if they are sins of a lesser degree. The lustful person has no right to feel morally superior to a wanton fornicator. The fact that she indulges in lust is proof she is capable of immoral acts as well. The fact that he hates his brother shows that he has murder lurking in his heart.
Christ was teaching us to view our own secret sins with the same moral revulsion we feel for wanton acts of public sin.

3. Because hidden sin involves the compounding sin of hypocrisy.
Those who sin secretly actually intensify their guilt, because they add the sin of hypocrisy to their offense. Hypocrisy is a grave sin in its own right. It also produces an especially debilitating kind of guilt, because by definition hypocrisy entails the concealing of sin. And the only remedy for any kind of sin involves uncovering our guilt through sincere confession.
Hypocrisy therefore permeates the soul with a predisposition against genuine repentance. That is why Jesus referred to hypocrisy as "the leaven of the Pharisees" (Luke 12:1).
Hypocrisy also works directly against the conscience. There's no way to be hypocritical without searing the conscience. So hypocrisy inevitably makes way for the most vile, soul-coloring, character-damaging secret sins. Thus hypocrisy compounds itself, just like leaven.
Beware that sort of leaven.
No matter who suggests to you that appearances are everything, don't buy that lie.
As a matter of fact, your secret life is the real litmus test of your character: "As he thinks within himself, so he is" (Prov. 23:7). Do you want to know who you really are? Take a hard look at your private life--especially your innermost thoughts. Gaze into the mirror of God's Word, and allow it to disclose and correct the real thoughts and motives of your heart.

Dry Bones

Life for My Bones

 Sometimes I feel spiritually dry and wiped out. God is always there, ready to restore me when I come to Him. His Word has the power to restore me in ways that I find supernatural. 

His Word is...
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart..Hebrews 4:12 (NASB)

I come to His living Word and receive LIFE! It always amazes me how His Word breathes new life into me when the stresses and strains of every day living drain all my energy and joy.

I think part of it is that His Word puts my eyes on Him. He is the Giver of all Life! I guess it shouldn't amaze me so that when I come to the Giver of Life, I receive Life!

He is the giver of hope and all good things. He came that we could have life abundant, but that life is only available as we dwell in Him and seek to glorify the Living and Holy God. ^{(John 10:10} The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.) The enemy of our souls seeks to destroy us, but God wants us to have an abundant life. He is the only source of the fulfillment that we seek. He can fill you up!

Are you thirsty? Are your bones dry? Mine get that way! 

Come with me and drink His living water ! 

There is a dying world out there that needs the hope we have to offer. Most of the time I am not sure how to reach that dying world. But I want to...Do you feel that way?  Let's ask God to show us how to reach the lost and empower us to minister to them. He is faithful!

These verses are pulled from today's "Walking With Women Through the Word" by Wendy Pope(http://wendypope.org/.) Wendy always pulls encouraging thoughts from the passages for the day.

 

“I will put my breath into you, and you will come to life.  Then you will know that I am the LORD.”
Ezekiel 37:6

“ We have become old, dry bones-all hope is gone.”
Ezekiel 37 :11

 “’I will put breath into you, and you will come to life.  Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”
Ezekiel 37: 6

 

 “O, my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again.”
Ezekiel 37:12

 Ezekiel 38:23
He destroys our enemies for His Name’s sake, so they will know He is LORD.  He is the Defender of His Name.

  Nahum 1:7
“The LORD is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust Him.”