Gifts of Beauty from the Ashes of Tragedy

1 The 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, 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD'S favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and 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.

 Isaiah 61

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Most people would have very little problem accepting this crown.

This Crown, however, is a little more difficult to swallow.

 

 When tragedy strikes as it has in our Nation many times and as we know the Bible to be true, we are merely on the very precipice of suffering, with regards to end-time events unfolding, why do we automatically gravitate towards blaming GOD, and not recognizing that we live in a FALLEN world, a world marred by sin? Beloved, when the first humans sinned, they brought upon humanity AND Creation the consequences of sin. Disobedience opened the door to tragedy. Tragedy was not something Shakespeare created. Tragedy found its origin in man's disobedience. So what does God ensure us about tragedy? He ensures us that though it has found an access point it WILL have an END. 

There will be no tears or sadness in the life to come. That's something to shout about right there! But also, right now, God tells us he will give Beauty for ashes and the oil of joy for mourning...RIGHT NOW. Look at this scripture in reverse:

That God  may be glorified
That God may show YOU as the planted of the LORD
That GOD may testify through YOU against the evil unleashed in the world through SIN
To SHOW Lucifer he HAS some OAKS of righteousness, STRONG, MAGNIFICENT, in RIGHT STANDING with GOD Who Have found PRAISE, The OIL of JOY, and took the ASHES you wanted to crown them with  and instead  created a CROWN of BEAUTY
These planted Ones are Consoled BY GOD that MOURNING & weeping may endure for a night, BUT JOY does COME.

Guess what? Satan will NEVER be granted JOY,PEACE, RIGHTEOUSNESS in the HOLY GHOST!

 Jesus bled for every hurt, pain, tragedy, and offense we would every encounter. The chastisement of our peace was upon him! He was wounded and bruised so that we could be healed! THAT is good news!

Whether your tragedy has been relational, physical, mental, emotional, environmental, or financial, Jesus has made a way for gifts of beauty to rise up from the ashes of tragedy. I pray this for you today:

Father, 

Thank you for YOUR BEAUTY that we continue to gaze on. Thank you for your desire to CONSOLE us, not point fingers at us. We know the real enemy is Satan. He is always looking for a way to uproot Your Oaks of righteousness. But I thank you for every vessel PLANTED by YOU. I pray that they will not be shaken by the times in which we live. I pray that the OIL of JOY will be poured in today and heal the sad, wounded places.. I thank you for freeing from the garment of heaviness today and cloaking your people with the GARMENT of PRAISE. You want us to turn our gaze to YOU because everything about YOU is praise worthy. We praise You, we love You, we adore You, we thank You for the Beauty of Your Countenance. Open our eyes and empower your people to grasp your Word in the middle of tragedy. We trust you to pull Beauty out of the Ashes of our life!  It's in Jesus Name we Pray, It is SO!

Let this psalm encourage you today!

 

False Walls, False Words, and False Alliances

What is going on in the good ole USA? How can we interpret our current world and national church issues in light of scripture? This was my prayer recently before the Lord. As a Christian and as an American and as a Woman, and as a person of African descent, I am troubled by the direction our country is happily dancing towards.

As I was praying, the Lord brought two scripture texts before me to read: Isaiah 30, and Ezekiel 13. He said, "This is where we (as a people ) are. If we want to have outrageous church, we should be outrageously honest about the State of the Union and the state of the Body of Christ. I won't go into the Biblical text here because I want you to read it for yourself. Ask God to confirm His Word, indeed, he is already doing so, through ministries like EX Ministries and Jonas Clark Ministries. God is speaking this Word so that we will not be surprised. I will do as he instructed the prophets of old: to write it down, put it in a book (Isaiah 30:8).

So, I'll give it to you straight, no chaser:

Many are prophesying out of their mind and heart, and following their own spirit
Many see lying falsehoods and lying divination
Many have spoken empty, false, and words of delusion
Many are operating in a seducing spirit, promising peace, especially to Israel, when there is no peace
Many are making men to hope and hope for a word to come and confirm a false word they have given

We (the American Church) have not gone up into the gaps and breeches as we should

We have not built a wall of intercession to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord

We have built a flimsy wall and daub it, coat it with false words thinking that it will hold

The Lord will send an overwhelming rain, hailstones, and violent winds even of His Spirit, will come to tear down these false walls. People are in prayer, but they are not praying the prayer of intercession but the gospel of bless me, give me, enlarge me

God is coming to deal with the builders of false walls, walls of intercession that do not cover, and that do not build the Believer. He will bring it down, He will expose the foundations of it, and those who built it, God says they will perish along with what they built. Woe to the Women Prophets who create deceptions and merchandise to capture humanity.

Why is this happening? Because you profane me for handfuls of barley and pieces of bread, slaying those who should not die, and giving life to those who should not live by your lies (Ezekiel 13). Much LYING has been told to the people of God and underhanded payments to keep the "sheep" marching to the slaughter. God is coming for those whose palms are greased with filthy lucre.

With LIES you have made the righteous sad and disheartened, strengthening the hands of the wicked that he should NOT return (turn away from wickedness) because the false prophets have promised the wicked life.

Even now your nation (USA) seeks to align itself with Egypt, much like the children of Israel. (Isaiah 30) You carry the riches off to a people that cannot and will not profit. You attempt to trust in the shadow of Egypt.

Even now, those who are aligned with Egypt (naturally and spiritually) say to the Seers, "Don't SEE! Prophesy to us illusions, smooth sayings. Cease holding up the HOLY ONE in front of us!Get out of the way of righteousness!"

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As the days continue, we will see more of this attitude unfold. You will see the apostate church grow, and you will be forced to raise up a standard or be drawn into the parade of ungodliness and compromise. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. We will take our stand on the wall, and join with others who will intercede, and pray, and follow the instructions of the Lord. The time is coming when no man can work. We must utilize the time we have to spread the Gospel. When the enemy comes in, LIKE A FLOOD the SPIRIT of the LORD will lift up a standard against Him. I encourage you to seek the Lord. He needs an outrageous Church to carry the Gospel without compromise!

Blessings!