Beauty for Ashes - Encouragement Café - September 24, 2015
Beauty For Ashes
Café Menu for Thursday, September 24, 2015
Today’s Special is: Jesus Wasn’t Beautiful, But You Are
Carefully prepared just for you by your friend, Carolyn Dale Newell
Main Ingredient:
…He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, there isno beauty that we should desire Him.
Isaiah 53:2 NKJV
Entrée:
Jesus Christ walked up Calvary’s hill burdened with the weight of the cross. He was a bloody mess from the intense beatings He had received, almost unrecognizable. As Isaiah prophesied, there was nothing beautiful about Him that anyone should desire Him.
Have you ever felt like that? Like you have nothing that anyone would desire? Like you are not beautiful? Are the words “unworthy” and “unlovable” part of your self-image?
Perhaps you have tried to run from your past, but it always catches up with you. The words that cut like a knife. The innocence that someone stole. God wants to heal your heart. When He saw Jesus on the cross, He saw beauty, and that is how He sees you.
Jesus went to the cross so He can give you beauty for ashes (Is. 61:3). Jesus knows your pain because He was abused, forsaken, and rejected. He loves you, and He came to heal the brokenhearted (Is. 61:1).
Jesus loves broken people. He waited by the well for the Samaritan woman. She was an outcast. She had gone from one shattered relationship to another. She didn’t feel beautiful or worthy of love, especially from the Messiah; but there He sat, waiting for her. Jesus knew her past, and He loved her, giving her the living water.
Sister, that’s what He wants to do for you.
Commit your life to Him. Let the Great Physician begin His healing work. He wants you to see yourself as
the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God
1 Peter 3:4
Did you see that? You are precious in the sight of God.
The devil will whisper lies, but never let anyone tell you that you are anything less than the beautiful beloved child of the King.
Take Out:
Can you identify with the woman at the well (John 4:5-30)?
If so, talk to Jesus just like you were sitting with Him at the well. Perhaps you can’t identify with any of this. However, there are many women who suffer from the trauma of sexual abuse. How can you reach out and help a sister in need?
Dessert:
Father, for many, You are the only good Father they will ever know. Heal the hearts of hurting women today. Thank You, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
© 2015 by Carolyn Dale Newell. All rights reserved.
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