Beauty for Ashes \o/

Beauty for Ashes

God will raise up a people of Jesus – those in whom Christ dwells by the Spirit of the Lord to repair the old ruins and heal the people of captivity (Isaiah 58:12).

Isaiah 61:1-4: "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken hearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations."

As we were worshiping our Lord this morning this scripture was just burning in my heart.. and I sense the Lord wanting us to be reminded of it..

We (Paul and I) were also reminded of the pure love of God.. It is most humbling the reality and the intensity of the power of His love.. It overwhelms me and fills my heart with tears of gratitude..and love for Him..

When I experience this level of intimacy with our Father, the world and the value I have placed in my natural human understanding and strength become so meaningless..His love gets me undone, I feel broken.. and in this state I remember one of the most important things I believe that He has spoken to us..

Go! Go into all the world and preach the gospel! Sharing My love and Good news with all, and make DISCIPLES! Teaching them how to obey my commandments!!

And oh His promise in Isaiah 57:15 "For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones."

To know by experience the pure love of God is the most humbling reality of life. The intensity of the power of His love overwhelms us and instantly fills our hearts with tears of gratitude and reflective love for Him. A moment in His love can transform our minds. The pride of this world and the value we have placed on our natural human understanding and strengths become meaningless to us. To know His love is to be broken. 

Through our brokenness, the way for the humble is opened into kingdom wisdom from the throne of heaven. A single burst of direct impartation from God can fill our being with wisdom and understanding of God that is far superior and supersedes all of our human precept upon precept accumulation of knowledge.

Romans 12:16: "Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion."

James 4:6: … "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."

James 4:10: "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."

1 Peter 5:6: "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.."

Collosians 3:1-2: "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth."

Father, we come to you to humble ourselves before you and ask for your mercy and grace. We repent from our pride and arrogance of seeking to live life and solve the problems of the people of the world with our natural human understanding. We choose to turn from all of our foolish ways of sin. Cleanse us, Father, with the precious blood of Yeshua ,Jesus our Lord and Saviour. Cleanse us from every residue of sin and religious ways. We come to you again emptying ourselves and laying our everything upon Your heavenly alter. Father, receive our contrite and humble spirit; revive our spirits and hearts with Your life.

Father, as we look up to You, we see the open doors to our prison of earthbound thinking. We lift our faces, our hands and our hearts to You. We set our hearts and minds on Your heavenly reality, and with all our hearts and souls we call upon Your Holy Name; lift us into heavenly places and fill us with Your love that we may be pleasing in your sight. Cast us not away, oh Lord, for we are consumed with Your love and cannot - will not - live without You. You alone are worthy and glorious above all. Look not upon our lack, but complete us with Your sufficiency. Purify us in Your holy love to become one with You forever. Father, make us carriers of Your love!!!
In Your Precious Name, Yeshua, our Lord Jesus, Amen xxx

Been thinking about LOVE :)

The word ‘love’ has been on my heart lately! A lot!

I am being reminded of WHAT IS IT?!!

We use it all the time! I ‘love’ this day, I ‘love’ this food! Even, I ‘love’ you!

The bible talks about 3 Human Loves -

1.      Storge  love: our natural, emotional love

-          Can become a suffocating love, if not returned

2.      Eros love: our natural, sexual, “falling in love” love

-          Can lose our rationality if not careful

3.      Phili0 love: our natural, friendship love. A sharing of common interest. Seeing eye to eye.

And then there is Agape, God’s love!

It’s different from human love.  It’s supernatural and comes directly from God.. We cannot produce this ‘love’ as it requires a new spirit.

Having and passing on Agape is what makes Christianity different from all the other religions of the world.

So this is what it looks like!

Definition of God’s Love

Agape is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. [It] does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong.  It is never glad about injustices, but rejoices whenever truth wins out.  If you love someone you will be faithful to him no matter what the cost.  You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him.  Agape never fails.  (1Corinthians 13)

Agape love is not dependent upon our understanding, our feelings or our desires or upon how the other person responds  and it’s not dependent upon the circumstances we are in!

In other words it’s unconditional, it is one-sided, it is a ‘freeing’ love and is centred on reaching the other person!

Agape involves a simple choice – to co-operate with the Divine lover of our soul.  It is not based on human emotion but on God alone.  It is God Himself loving through us as we learn to say  "I choose to set myself aside and allow God to love through me".

Our ‘self’ (ie. our emotions and desires) are by nature opposed to such a love  because there is nothing in it for us. Our self is somehow more comfortable with holding on to the fears, hurts and all the “justified” offences that quench the flow of God’s love in and through our hearts

By God’s grace however, we can choose to yield these things to Him so that we can be His vessel and ambassador.

Are you willing to Love like this?

Can we tear up that long list of “justified hurts” and choose to forgive?

John 12v24 tells us...”Verily, verily I say onto you, Except a grain of wheat fall  into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it dies it’s going to bring forth much fruit (Gods Love).”

So why is Agape so Important?

It is the whole meaning and purpose of or lives (1 Timothy 1v5)

It's the only way others will know we are Christians ( John 13v35)

It proves we are abiding in God ( John 15v4)

It shows we are filled with fullness of God (Ephesians 3v19)

It is proof that we love (agapao) God (John 14v21)

It is the perfect bond of union, not only between God and us, but between others and us. 

AGAPE is impossible to manufacture and even to copy because its source is God alone.  But we who are filled with His agape love are able to be agents of this supernatural love wherever we go, for with GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!

LORD, help me to daily put my ‘self’ aside and make these faith choices to honour You.. Help me to understand that I cannot do this in my own strength but only as I trust, abide and yield to You..

I pray in the Name of Yeshua!

Amen! J

With much  'agape' :)