I received the following this morning via email, which means I did not write it.  I wish I had! I deem it so good I want to share it with you in follow up to this morning’s lesson.

Beauty for Ashes — trust Him with our ashes.  Do we go on day after day with regrets for our actions, guilt for our not acting when we should have, looking back and wishing that we had done this or that differently?  Do we continue in the same pattern, hating our life situation, hating our jobs, and being overall just plain miserable within ourselves?  What can we do?  We have a personal relationship with the Lord but we halfheartedly serve Him. (We go to church on Sunday [morning only], tithe, we don’t party and drink and do drugs and all that immoral stuff, but what do we actually DO?) We get up in the morning, drag off to work (dreading it all the way), get by until it’s time to leave again, go home, turn on the TV, eat and flop until time to go to bed and then we get up the next morning and start all over again, day after day after day. And we expect something to be different in our lives and we expect God to bless us and our family?  Why? We have to make changes to see changes.  Why would we expect to see anything different in our lives if we do not do something to make it happen?  As a well-known TV psychologist would ask, “How’s that working for you?”  NOT GOOD would have to be our answer.  We’re not children anymore where we can always know that our parents will step in and “fix” things for us.  We ARE the parents now and unless WE take the action, hummm, now what? So, let’s DO something different if we expect to see different results, okay?  Let’s give Him the ashes of our messed up, seemingly non-mendable lives and start making some changes immediately and then we can expect different results.  Or this time next year we’ll be right here feeling the same old downtrodden miserable way, experiencing the same old problems, still hating everything about ourselves and our lives, only we’ll be another year older.  The same psychologist would say, “The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.”  I want that statement to be FALSE in my life! Today is CHANGE day and it’s not just for today; it’s a lifetime change and only we can do it for ourselves!  Now is the time; not tomorrow or next week, or after this or that, but NOW is the time to relinquish those ashes and start experiencing the beauty of a changed life!

IDOK DEVOTION FOR THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2010

FOR PRAYER AND PRAISE:

To review the list of names for prayer, please click here.

Beauty for ashes.  We find it in Isaiah 61.

Beauty for ashes

Strength for fear

Gladness for mourning

That’s what the song says: Beauty for Ashes

And at 2:15 this morning in a short window of consciousness I was quickly jotting a note to preserve the thought so I could bring it to you for today.  Yes, He gives us beauty for our ashes and the only fee for this transaction that you and I are asked to pay is to be willing to trust Him. To be willing to trust Him with our ashes. To give over to Him to do as He pleases with us and our ashes.  Ashes from dreams burned to nothing  now but a heap on the floor.  Ashes of a life burned in the flames of disobedience.  Ashes.  Lives in Ashes. Actually a good place to be. Yes, an excellent place to be IF.  IF from that pile of rubble we will allow HIM to lift us and give us

Beauty for ashes

Strength for fear

Gladness for mourning

Peace for despair.

Just think of it. JESUS.  Only JESUS can take our ugly sins of omission and commission and give us a testimony of His beauty. Only JESUS can empower a scared ‘little girl’ to stand and oppose an unregenerate man and regain her dignity. Only JESUS can mend a heart so broken by grief that she feels like she will never laugh again, but she does.  Only JESUS gives peace in the midst of diagnosis that says get your house in order.

And it all starts with a simple decision to TRUST HIM with our ashes.  TRUST that HE knows what to do.  Trust that He loves and cares. Trust that He is kind and good.  Trust.

Beauty for ashes.  Whatever pile of ashes you woke up in this morning, JESUS has your answer. No, JESUS  IS your answer.

Isaiah 61 (Holman Christian Standard Bible) ¹ The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to the prisoners;

² to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn,

³to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the LORD, to glorify Him.

ABBA, You know the state, the time in which I come this morning; how I got here, how this day will develop, how I will respond, how You will deliver me from all that seeks to harm me and not just me but every soul who will decide today to trust You with our ashes.  And I pray all our IDOKs will bring all their ashes to You today.

We pray for our IDOK Troops for their safety and protection today; for their families and friends waiting for their returns that they will wait in peace and integrity.   We pray for each soul represented by a name on our Praying For These list, asking You to tend them as You see fit. And we thank You that we can trust You with them.  That just calling their name to You, not knowing the need is enough — You know.   Amen and amen, LORD.

Again, we pray for Peace and protection for Israel and for grace and space to repent for America.  We pray for revival in Your Church LORD and for You, Holy Spirit, to come in power convicting and convincing sinners of their need of salvation to not only miss hell but to have LIFE, here and now and forever.  This we pray in Your Name LORD JESUS.  Amen and amen.