What is Beauty?

Lord, I pray that You would give me the “incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious” in Your sight…1 Peter 3:4.

It is good for us to pray this, but we should also hold fast to this word as well!
In doing that we find we need courage to keep doing, keep looking into the eyes of Jesus and behold Him.  For what we look on and hold in our hearts is what we become. You like watching vampires, and the walking dead, well, you might look like one of them very soon.

For me, I like mysteries in like a "who done it" type show or movie. And there are times I have to say no to them. My husband, well, he can take them or leave them, but for me, I must really work to say No to watching those kind of things all the time!

In the passage below we look at the power of God and saving people. In this vital scene, we are reminded that we like to be on the winning side, right? We all went to high school and experienced some rejection, some deep pain maybe by someone speaking ill against you or by implying something that was wrong about you. In high school, you either fit their mold or you had to create another group of people to hang out with. But to me, school was not about the 'crowd' but about getting my diploma. It was not about how many friends I might or might not have, but that I kept a focus for that which I worked at for 12 years.  My reward was going to be my diploma!

In the case of Jesus, He was rejected by the masses. Oh surely He had people to follow Him and even had a meal served to them in the wilderness as no stores were close enough and held enough bread to be bought, so Jesus prayed and had the disciples hand out the crumbs............but boy, those many crumbs expanded to feed thousands.

What is beauty and where is it found?

Well, it is not found on T.V. or at the movies. Mother Theresa came close but still not close enough like the beauty of the Lord who I behold. 

Isaiah 53:1-3

Who has believed our report?

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 

2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,

And as a root out of dry ground.

He has no form or comeliness;

And when we see Him,

There is no beauty that we should desire Him. 

3 He is despised and rejected by men,

A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. NKJV

Out of a dry place Jesus appeared. He wore no robes of royalty. Had no diadems mentioned. No he was not regarded.

He walked along a river, the Jordan, and met John there to be baptized.

What now was His name? Oh yes, Jesus the Christ whose power no foe can withstand.

Tall, yes,most likely and probably had long hair! But His face held peace in it. His countenance of love spoke volumes. A reprover, yes indeed. Authentic, and attracted to saving lost souls. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter without reluctance. He did not blame others, but took the blows. Not only beaten but sent to the cross as well, and his scourging was severe. His destination a tomb or so many thought.

Psalm 38:13-14...13 But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;

And I am like a mute who does not open his mouth. 

14 Thus I am like a man who does not hear,

And in whose mouth is no response.  NKJV

Would you shrink from that? Not a smooth place of skin remained on his body. Wronged and abused, he was the oppressed, died for mankind, and then walked out of the Tomb. His triumph over death, hell and the grave came through humiliation. It was not about Him, but about the Father!

Psalm 90:14-17

14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,

That we may rejoice and be glad all our days! 

15 Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,

The years in which we have seen evil. 

16 Let Your work appear to Your servants,

And Your glory to their children. 

17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us,

And establish the work of our hands for us;

Yes, establish the work of our hands. NKJV

Let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us.....a beauty that is of His divine character. It is in that beauty, that we are held in and in that we see people's hearts won for Jesus. It is in His excellence of character, that the beauty of the Lord will shine through us when we allow it to happen.  In holding Jesus before us and looking into His way, truth and life.......we constantly see the loveliness of life established before us.  In this prayer above, we see the main heartfelt desire............that they reach that which they were destined. When we choose to speak what He speaks and act as He would act, then we carry out His purpose for our lives. And it is one that comes with established favor.

Charles Spurgeon wrote this: Revenge, lust, ambition, pride and self-will are too often exalted as the god's of man's idolatry; while holiness, peace, contentment, and humility are viewed as unworthy of a serious thought.

Seriously thinking we are to come to God's thoughts and His ways....they are much higher!

When you move on down the passage you find how the rain and the snow come down from heaven....the earth is watered and begins to bud and flourish. In that which God provides we gain seed. We are to sow that seed. And in His Word that goes from our speaking His Word, we find purpose. We go out in joy and are led forth in His peace.

In doing for the Lord, minding His thoughts is foremost and then act on what you have spoken from His word. If you are the healed, then act like you are the healed. Go do something you could not do before you read this.

For keeping God before us we come to the garden He planned for us. We do not leave empty handed and have more than enough to share with others. We are elated to be going to worship God with others and look how we might pray even more for our communities and for people's lives to be touched by the beauty of the Lord.

Isaiah 55: 10-13.....10 As the rain and the snow 

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it 

without watering the earth 

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire 

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 

12 You will go out in joy 

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills 

will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field 

will clap their hands. 

13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,

and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.

This will be for the LORD's renown,

for an everlasting sign,

which will not be destroyed." NIV 

I leave you with this today. You have every opportunity to become poetry in God's mouth and His Words. The reality you face should be the open door where you are the inspired and the delighted. In this poem of you, God speaks loudly. You were set to live in this day and in this hour. To receive Jesus as Savior, you move to the head of the class to find out even more of what your life involves. Eternity: well, you have just begun to find out how long that really is.

Of you, a gem of beauty, oh so serene, born into the family of God. Who can fathom His goodness for you? You become the sweet to someone's bitterness. You value those who are the talented. You even explore their exquisite gems, so lovely, and you encouraged them to continue and become what God planned. Your talent took you to speak to someone's success. Your capable heart sent out words to lift and guide. And the prayers you prayed: well, they are all being answered by God one by one! You blossom in the beauty that is you. Not by being you, but Who God planned for you that looks just like you do!

What is beauty? Beauty is that which binds the God of peace, the God of healing, the God of victory to everything we find ourselves in this hour. It is found in the broken, the forgotten, the misplaced, the scattered, the wind-driven, and in the darkness of prisons. Beauty is where we take Jesus and meet others in the grace bestowed upon us. 

Walk out your door today, and find that place to take the beauty of the Lord. You might be surprised where it will take you! Amen!

Notice: 

The Voice of Prayer  has a new teaching published:

The Glory of the Latter Rain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44w_A_1IBgg



You can also visit my Youtube channel The Voice of Prayer for more teaching at  http://bit.ly/1tNyBhV

How Many Times a Day Does the Lord Speak to Us?

Acts 9:10-20.......................10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Behold, here am I, Lord." 11 And the Lord said to him, "Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight. " 13 But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Thy saints at Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon Thy name. " 15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake. " 17 And Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he arose and was baptized; 19 and he took food and was strengthened.  NAS

Ever thought how many times a day the Lord is speaking to us? I do! I know I have a grand-child who loves conversation and loves to tell you new things she has learned going to pre-school. So when we get together, get our crafts box out and markers with coloring sheets, our conversations begin and it can cover from food, to riding bikes, to what she ate for breakfast and what she did at the playground yesterday evening.  I have learned about dog's bodies and how they work. I have learned about the wind and why it is important for our little dog to go out of door periodically to keep her temperature just right to keep her cool. Yes, I have learned some new things. And from all this, I have learned that God too, is speaking all the time and are we listening?  Are we hearing the next instruction He gives to guide us through the day? Ananias was listening and heard to go and do something hard, but he obeyed!

Yes, I know that girls can out-do most boys in the speaking category, and our girl is well on her way to the Debating Team of all time, but one thing is certain, God created the child and I believe He loves to share with His children as well she does!

I think it is inspiring to read about Ananias and know he answered in this vision......"Behold, here am I, Lord."

I know in times of ministry I had the switch on readily to hear what He was wanting to do in the Chapel in the Jail Ministry and even in the Women's Shelter for those things were full on ministry and needed to hear His voice to fulfill God's plan for each ministry time in those places and not mine! But there are times we all can find the place to sit and idle much like a car and not be going any where. Yeah, listen to that engine and how it idles! Sitting in an idling car is useless till it is ENGAGED! Being engaged means we are connected and ready and not still idling only. 

Engage as verb: to involve someone's interest or attention in...

Engage with.:establishing a meaningful connection or contact with

Engage in: participate in or become involved

 But I will bring this back to some prayer time as it is the relationship of our wanting to speak with God that keeps that door open to hear Him when He is giving us something new, something we need, or something He wants to bless to us! For His Word is life to us and when we keep that place clear of just idling in place, making sounds like a running car, and receiving noise, then we are not hearing God and not moving forward in what would present itself as the next thing for us to do in and through Him!

Psalms 131 

131:1 A song of ascents. Of David.  

My heart is not proud, O LORD,

my eyes are not haughty;

I do not concern myself with great matters 

or things too wonderful for me. 

2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul;

like a weaned child with its mother,

like a weaned child is my soul within me. 

3 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD 

both now and forevermore.   NIV

Quiet places, with no sounds, should be the place our soul comes to dwell. Our minds, our wills and our emotions are to be so quiet as to hear a pin drop from a table top to the floor. As David wrote in the scripture above, he is showing us that he had to be like a weaned child from the mother and her breast.

We were taught by Jesus in Matthew 18:3 the importance of becoming as little children when coming into His kingdom.

A babe can have the breast but when time comes to start growing up, as much like the world, the child must learn to live without the breast and without having it as number one in its life. If you have children of your own, you have no doubt seen the amount of time it takes to start weaning the child and get them into learning about new foods for the body. Going back to the conversations with our grand-child, her most favorite new food was bread, that was toasted with butter added and even avocados were on the top of the list of five new ones when new foods were added to her diet when the "milk' was leaving the scene for all time. Toast still ranks but avocados hit an all time low value to her.

So too, we as followers of the Lord must be weaned of things of the world. We are to find that which we do not fret over, but adhere to finding the meat of God's Word that leads us to new places where we know the Lord to be our Shepherd and that we will not be in want of any good thing. That it is He who causes us to lie down in green pastures, feasting on the good of the land and to be led beside the still waters finding His peace and relaxation in HIM and in HIM alone! And all the while this is going on, it is our souls that are being restored to the way it was suppose to be done long ago in the Garden of Eden. But thanks be to God who had the plan of His Son in a Redemption and a Cross on Calvary for the greatest sacrifice ever! Amen.

Psalm 23:1-3...........The LORD is my shepherd;

I shall not want.  2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters. 

3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness 

For His name's sake.    NKJV

When we push back the world and move toward God, it is His light and revelation that comes. It is knowing that He has a place for you and for me. It is a place with everything we need to fulfill God's call on our lives whether we go to the mission field or raise six children on the homefront. We can have every thing we need to fulfill His plan for us whether we are the truck driver on long hauls or the Foot Dr. at the strip Mall. We can have everything we need to fulfill His plan whether we are the CEO of the greatest company of the world or the man who runs the local barber shop downtown. We can have everything we need when we follow His plan and hear HIM when He speaks to us. 

Let's again consider David. He is usually a good example of how leadership looks. He was anointed to be king and the horn of oil was poured on him. 1 Samuel 16:12-13....And the LORD said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!" 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah. NKJV

    That is something done for a person who stands in a place God has called him to come stand. He did not push his way through. He continued to remain humble and do the next thing, and sometimes hide in low places from those who sought his life, but David had a mind toward God and to hear Him speak.

It was years before the throne came. In fact he served King Saul not only on the battlefront but also in the bedroom because of the spirit that distressed Saul's life! For this David played music on the harp and worshiped God from Saul's bedroom! How important praise and worship is for us today!

David spent many months on the dusty road with the thorny bush before he walked the halls of the great palace of a king. It was about ten years that Saul persecuted David. 

In another time of trial, David let Shimei curse him, and yes, throw up the dust and stones at David. He left Jerusalem before Abasalom took the throne with that prideful lust for glory.

 Yes, in reflecting on David's accounts through so many trials, he got to the throne and finally stayed till the end of his life. Humility and the revelation God had begun it and would finish it was David's focus.

It is finding peace for our souls. It is finding that we do not need to fret over "stuff" and "doing".

When our souls become quiet to the things of the world, then it is our confidence that gains the ascendancy to God to hear HIM speak.

It is coming to God and the Father and saying I do not want to be controlled by depression, anger, anxiety or even jealousy. I will not have fear, hopelessness or suicide. For whoever is the boss at work, the teacher at school, the nurse on duty when I give blood, the Dr, who gives very hurtful shots, the one thing THAT I NEED TO KNOW AND REMEMBER IS  that the Lord delivers and heals.

 "Well things did not turn out like I thought they would turn out!"

For whatever we could get ourselves into at work, at play or at home, God is our instrument of restoration. 

It is saying we will not be depressed because of this silliness that is still going on at work, but we choose to be liberated to cry if we need to, and walk through this sharing our deepest feelings with the Lord and and know He will send what we need just when we need it the most. WE choose not to settle down in receiving less than God has for us. WE choose to rise up out of mediocrity and believe God's best for us when we know He is speaking and showing the way in which to walk this day and everyday!

Then like David, we, will dance and sing with laughter, and find that ability we need that comes from God alone to move forward in this situation. Like David, we too, can take our eyes off the situation and circumstance and the Lord will give us patience to possess our souls and have the ability to take charge of it....(Luke 21:19)

It is the Lord Who  anoints us with the “oil of joy” (Isaiah 61:3), refreshes us with His Spirit, and sets us free from negative emotions this day. Amen!

So what if we started our day with, "Behold, here am I, Lord." I wonder how fast we would hear God relay that important mystery we need for the day to us?

Father, thank You for the examples You have given to us in Your Word. Our relationship was implemented by Your Son Jesus, and we expect to be those to hear and answer when YOU call, "Behold, here am I, Lord."

We know that relationship is talking together and getting to know each other on a personal level. Help us and guide us through this important time together with YOU. I pray that we would continue earnestly in prayer to YOU and be vigilant with thanksgiving. I pray that each who prays this today and every day, that we would be men and women who walk in wisdom toward those who outside, redeeming the time. I pray that we too, like Ananias, will have the opportunity to say we are listening and ready to move on Your next instruction regarding ministering to those on the outside and those who have come into the kingdom for such a time as this.

I pray that our speech will be seasoned with salt that we may know how to answer each one who is sent our way.( Colossian 4:2-7)

I pray that we be humble to hear, seeking to put the world out and draw close to You and hear You speak. Father, today our trust is in YOU and we dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. We choose to delight ourselves in You and it is YOU who gives us the desires of our heart. We are committed to Your way today Lord and our trust is in You. We expect like Psalm 37:6 that You will make our righteousness shine like the dawn and the justice of our cause like the noonday sun. We seek to please You and have fellowship with You for today and every day.

In Jesus' name, we pray and speak..........

"Behold, here am I, Lord."..........Amen.

You can also visit my Youtube channel The Voice of Prayer for more teaching at http://bit.ly/1tNyBhV