Isaiah 61 ~ Oaks

I have some time this evening so I thought I would share one of my most favorite passages of scripture ...

Isaiah 61

"The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me.

He sent me to preach good news to the poor,

heal the heartbroken,

Announce freedom to all captives,

pardon all prisoners.

God sent me to announce the year of his grace,

a celebration of God's destruction of our enemies,

and to comfort all who mourn,

To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion,

give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes,

Messages of joy instead of news of doom,

a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.

Rename them "Oaks of Righteousness"

planted by God to display his glory.

will sing for joy in God,

explode in praise from deep in my soul!

He dressed me up in a suit of salvation,

he outfitted me in a robe of righteousness,

As a bridegroom who puts on a tuxedo

and a bride a jeweled tiara.

For as the earth bursts with spring wildflowers,

and as a garden cascades with blossoms,

So the Master, God,

brings righteousness into full bloom

and puts praise on display before the nations.

In reading the Gospels I am keenly interested in observing the ministry of Jesus Christ, His attitude towards those who were acknowledged, confessed sinners. To the woman that was brought to Him caught in the very act of adultery, He shows great tenderness, understanding and grace. "Woman, where are your accusers?" "Sir, I guess I don't have any." "Well, neither do I condemn thee, go thy way, sin no more." (John 8) Oh, how tender He deals with her. Then there is the woman at the well in Samaria. Now she wasn't the most moral woman around obviously. She had been married to five different men. And then finally decided marriage wasn't for her and so she was just living with a man. And yet Jesus in His dealing with her was so gracious, revealing to her His identity. Oh, the attitude of Christ towards the sinner was always beautiful! He had good news for sinning man and those that confessed and were aware of their sinful state. "Bouquets of roses instead of ashes" indeed!

Have a blessed evening everyone!~

Tim

From Ashes To Roses

I have some time this evening so I thought I would share one of my most favorite passages of scripture ...

The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me.

He sent me to preach good news to the poor,

heal the heartbroken,

Announce freedom to all captives,

pardon all prisoners.

God sent me to announce the year of his grace—

a celebration of God's destruction of our enemies—

and to comfort all who mourn,

To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion,

give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes,

Messages of joy instead of news of doom,

a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.

Rename them "Oaks of Righteousness" planted by God to display his glory.

will sing for joy in God,

explode in praise from deep in my soul!

He dressed me up in a suit of salvation,

he outfitted me in a robe of righteousness,

As a bridegroom who puts on a tuxedo and a bride a jeweled tiara.

For as the earth bursts with spring wildflowers,

and as a garden cascades with blossoms,

So the Master, God, brings righteousness into full bloom

and puts praise on display before the nations.

In reading the Gospels I am keenly interested in observing the ministry of Jesus Christ, His attitude towards those who were acknowledged, confessed sinners. To the woman that was brought to Him caught in the very act of adultery, He shows great tenderness, understanding and grace. "Woman, where are your accusers?" "Sir, I guess I don't have any." "Well, neither do I condemn thee, go thy way, sin no more." (John 8) Oh, how tender He deals with her. Then there is the woman at the well in Samaria. Now she wasn't the most moral woman around obviously. She had been married to five different men. And then finally decided marriage wasn't for her and so she was just living with a man. And yet Jesus in His dealing with her was so gracious, revealing to her His identity. Oh, the attitude of Christ towards the sinner was always beautiful! He had good news for sinning man and those that confessed and were aware of their sinful state. "Bouquets of roses instead of ashes" indeed!

“Do not watch the petals fall from the rose with sadness...know that, like life, things sometimes must fade, before they can bloom again.”~unknown author

This morning I came across these verses .... I just found it interesting ... and very cool ...

Isaiah 61: 1-3 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon 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, to proclaim the years of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 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.

And this story... At the Royal Palace of Tehran in Iran, you can see one of the most beautiful mosaics in the world. The ceilings and the walls flash like diamonds in multifaceted reflections.

Originally, when the palace was designed, the artist specified huge sheets of mirrors on the walls. When the first shipment arrived from Paris, they found to their horror that the mirrors were shattered. The contractor threw them in the trash and brought the sad news to the architect.

Amazingly, the architect ordered all the broken pieces collected, then smashed them into tiny pieces and glued into the walls to become a mosaic of silvery, shimmering, and mirrored bits of glass.

Broken to become beautiful. It's possible to turn your scars into stars. It is possible to be better because of the brokenness.

If human hands can create something breathtaking, even in the midst of disappointment and brokenness, how much more can God, the Creator and Restorer?

This is a super overwhelming thought, don’t you think?

Becoming John Malkovich?

There is this question that I've come across which I found intriguing, "Can wounds (in and of) themselves become a source of healing?" It just seems a paradox ...

In Isaiah it says, "By his wounds we are healed," which pretty much answers the question but raises another ... How? New Testament Christians were exhorted to view their own suffering not as just a random thing, nor as retaliation of wicked people around them, not even as punishment for their own shortcomings ... Suffering was to be viewed as communion with the Savior who endured the cross.

Paul writes, "I want to know Christ, and the power of His resurrection," It's easy to give a hearty "Amen!" to that one right? But then Paul goes on ... "The fellowship of his suffering, becoming like him in death." E-Gads! There must be another way! Health, prosperity, name it and claim it ... But alas, this seems not to be the case.

There is this strange, dark comedy I saw again recently called "Being John Malkovich." The gist of it is that a man finds this dirty, cramped, cold secret passageway that takes those who venture in, (Shazzam!), into the mind of John Malkovich. Then you find yourself behind his eyes, feeling and thinking as John does, responding as he responds ...

Perhaps this works as a metaphor here ... The wounds we go through become not just healed wounds. In fact, it is becoming more and clearer to me as time goes on that they'll remain in some degree unhealed until heaven. But they do take us deeper into the fellowship of Christ's suffering. They help us to hear His voice in the Word ... To really hear the inflections of anger, heartache ... and joy. We feel them deep to the core! We can then share His Word with the anger of a betrayed lovers heartache, the urgency of a parent warning their toddler who is wondering unaware into the street. The whisper of a father who wants his daughter home, anytime of the day or night, dressed anyway the want ...

The value of our wounds is to be made into His image. We get to really see, think and respond to people as Jesus does. The twelve step group, coworkers, the lady next to you in church ... And to speak to them as He does. "Go in peace," "Woe unto you," "Come to me," and the voice is the same as His voice ... In empathy ... In love ...

Just some thoughts ...