Final Talk : Beauty from Ashes
Theme: God can create beauty from the broken pieces of our heart.
The term beauty from ashes seems contradictory. When something is set to fire, it starts to burn and desintegrate. Depending on how dense the material is determinates how fast it will desintegrate. But in the end when everythings is consumed, all that is left is a pile of ashes. The original form is unrecognizable.
Some of your lives might seem unrecognizable. There were certain events that began to desintegrate that life. At one point you looked around, and it seemed your life had become ashes. We can have one of three reactions: Give up and be depress, be bitter or angry, or take those ahes to God and let Him make them beautiful.
My grandma got married for the first time when she was 18. Her husband was a military and had my mother. But she was discontent with her life. She left her husband and moved to Ohio. A friend of her suggested to go on a date with her friend. My grandmother didn't want to go on the date. That man forced her and she became pregnant with my Aunt. When she was born, the doctors told my grandmother her child would not survive and they sent her home. This was many years before there was good medicine for new borns. But, by God's mercy, my aunt survived. Three weeks late she received a call to pick her child up. She then married the man who I knew as my grandfather. I learned many years later my grandfather had not been faithful to her and had cheated with her best friend. This broke her heart and make her become bitter. She spent alot of time in the hospital. This was because she was bitter, and she went through many surgeories. The doctors told her her bitterness was killing her. Until she realized only God could restore her, she was able to let go her anger and bitterness. If she would have not allowed God to repair her heart, she would not have lived the rich and full life she lived the rest of her years, and me and my brother and sister would have missed the blessing her life was to us. You see, when God healed my grandmother's heart, she develop a quiet and gentle spirit. She loved everyone she knew. She was known to cook for the sick. She was known to go and take care of those who were about to die. She taught me to serve in church, serving as a musician in the church choir for 30 years. She taught that a quiet and gentle spirit is a heart that can forgive. When my grandfather got ill after the divorce, not once but twice, my grandmother took him in and nursed him. It was a powerful example for my life.
Many of you have a broken heart. It might have been something that happened to you when small. Maybe a failed marriage. Maybe a loss of a beloved. Maybe a mistake you made. Or maybe you have been disappointed so much, you are broken hearted.
Do you believe it's possible for God to restore that heart? For Him to give you knew hopes and dreams? And the answer: YES! He can.
And if you are not broken hearted, listen and share it with those who are.
Isaiah 61:3
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
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.
This words were about a coming time when God's chosen people would no longer suffer. They had been taken captive, beated, chased throughout the world, and their hearts had been broken for their mistakes. Isaiah wanted them to know that God would not only restore them, but do much more they could imagine. Think in the term "crown of beauty." Only kings and queens wear crowns. A crown is not something you buy in the grocery store and put it on. It is custom fitted for the user. So when the Word says we will have a crown of beauty, it means God will give us hopes and dreams for us.
For those struggling with a broken heart, you might not be sure of what I am telling you, for right now all you might remember is what you use to have. And you want that, but it is no longer there. But God wants to create beauty from what you lost.
Remember Jesus was crucified and buried in the ground. What did God do three days after? He rose Him up. God is in the business to raise that that was dead. An God wants to give you knew life after loss. Truth is there are some things we will never recover. The time has come for you to let that go and accept that it's gonna and put it behing you. It is time to turn your eyes to God and ask Him to put the broken pieces to give you a new heart.
When a plant has seeds, it drops those seed so they go into the ground and bring forth new plants. There is this flower (Banksia ericifloria) whose seeds only grow when they are heated by fire.
James 1:2-4
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
When God lets us go through difficult time, and when we experience the heat and pressure, it's when God lets us see what parts of our lives are lacking. Isn't it amazing how God uses our struggles to bring us closer to him. Maybe you are not a woman of faith, but are struggling. Could it be that God is calling you to connect with Him in a closer relationship?
When I was thinking of this last talk, this next passage seemed to sum up our life, specially those who follow Jesus.
2 Corinthians 4:7-18
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
When I think about this verse, it truly reminds me that I can be concerned with what is going on with this body. I could be concerned with the fact that I may not feel well all the time. I could be concerned my gray hair is starting to show. But this body will not last forever. So it is not important for me to be focused on it. But the Bible says He has placed eternity in my heart if I believe in Him. Si I must guard it.
The beautiful thing about being women is that we care for each other deeply.
Theme: God can create beauty from the broken pieces of our heart.
The term beauty from ashes seems contradictory. When something is set to fire, it starts to burn and desintegrate. Depending on how dense the material is determinates how fast it will desintegrate. But in the end when everythings is consumed, all that is left is a pile of ashes. The original form is unrecognizable.
Some of your lives might seem unrecognizable. There were certain events that began to desintegrate that life. At one point you looked around, and it seemed your life had become ashes. We can have one of three reactions: Give up and be depress, be bitter or angry, or take those ahes to God and let Him make them beautiful.
My grandma got married for the first time when she was 18. Her husband was a military and had my mother. But she was discontent with her life. She left her husband and moved to Ohio. A friend of her suggested to go on a date with her friend. My grandmother didn't want to go on the date. That man forced her and she became pregnant with my Aunt. When she was born, the doctors told my grandmother her child would not survive and they sent her home. This was many years before there was good medicine for new borns. But, by God's mercy, my aunt survived. Three weeks late she received a call to pick her child up. She then married the man who I knew as my grandfather. I learned many years later my grandfather had not been faithful to her and had cheated with her best friend. This broke her heart and make her become bitter. She spent alot of time in the hospital. This was because she was bitter, and she went through many surgeories. The doctors told her her bitterness was killing her. Until she realized only God could restore her, she was able to let go her anger and bitterness. If she would have not allowed God to repair her heart, she would not have lived the rich and full life she lived the rest of her years, and me and my brother and sister would have missed the blessing her life was to us. You see, when God healed my grandmother's heart, she develop a quiet and gentle spirit. She loved everyone she knew. She was known to cook for the sick. She was known to go and take care of those who were about to die. She taught me to serve in church, serving as a musician in the church choir for 30 years. She taught that a quiet and gentle spirit is a heart that can forgive. When my grandfather got ill after the divorce, not once but twice, my grandmother took him in and nursed him. It was a powerful example for my life.
Many of you have a broken heart. It might have been something that happened to you when small. Maybe a failed marriage. Maybe a loss of a beloved. Maybe a mistake you made. Or maybe you have been disappointed so much, you are broken hearted.
Do you believe it's possible for God to restore that heart? For Him to give you knew hopes and dreams? And the answer: YES! He can.
And if you are not broken hearted, listen and share it with those who are.
Isaiah 61:3
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
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.
This words were about a coming time when God's chosen people would no longer suffer. They had been taken captive, beated, chased throughout the world, and their hearts had been broken for their mistakes. Isaiah wanted them to know that God would not only restore them, but do much more they could imagine. Think in the term "crown of beauty." Only kings and queens wear crowns. A crown is not something you buy in the grocery store and put it on. It is custom fitted for the user. So when the Word says we will have a crown of beauty, it means God will give us hopes and dreams for us.
For those struggling with a broken heart, you might not be sure of what I am telling you, for right now all you might remember is what you use to have. And you want that, but it is no longer there. But God wants to create beauty from what you lost.
Remember Jesus was crucified and buried in the ground. What did God do three days after? He rose Him up. God is in the business to raise that that was dead. An God wants to give you knew life after loss. Truth is there are some things we will never recover. The time has come for you to let that go and accept that it's gonna and put it behing you. It is time to turn your eyes to God and ask Him to put the broken pieces to give you a new heart.
When a plant has seeds, it drops those seed so they go into the ground and bring forth new plants. There is this flower (Banksia ericifloria) whose seeds only grow when they are heated by fire.
James 1:2-4
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
When God lets us go through difficult time, and when we experience the heat and pressure, it's when God lets us see what parts of our lives are lacking. Isn't it amazing how God uses our struggles to bring us closer to him. Maybe you are not a woman of faith, but are struggling. Could it be that God is calling you to connect with Him in a closer relationship?
When I was thinking of this last talk, this next passage seemed to sum up our life, specially those who follow Jesus.
2 Corinthians 4:7-18
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
When I think about this verse, it truly reminds me that I can be concerned with what is going on with this body. I could be concerned with the fact that I may not feel well all the time. I could be concerned my gray hair is starting to show. But this body will not last forever. So it is not important for me to be focused on it. But the Bible says He has placed eternity in my heart if I believe in Him. Si I must guard it.
The beautiful thing about being women is that we care for each other deeply.
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