You're Beautiful

As I listened to this song for the first time, I felt my spirit respond in a very tangible way to how incredible it will be to see Jesus face to face one day... When we actually think about how beautiful He is, how absolutely captivating, intoxicating and exquisite He is - it forces me to gain a depth of understanding regarding the perspective I have of people, circumstances and life in general.. What can compare to Him? Who can compare with Him? I am so blessed by the beauty of love He has bestowed upon me, the life He has given me... and I love how Phil Wickham describes Gods' beauty in this song. I think that if you let the words sink in, you'll understand what I mean...

.You're Beautiful.

I see Your face in every sunrise
The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes
The world awakens in the light of the day
I look up to the sky and say
You’re beautiful

I see Your power in the moonlit night
Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright
We are amazed in the light of the stars
It’s all proclaiming who You are
You’re beautiful, You're beautiful

I see you there hanging on a tree
You bled and then you died and then you rose again for me
Now you are sitting on Your heavenly throne
Soon we will be coming home
You’re beautiful, you're beautiful

When we arrive at eternity’s shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more
We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring
Your bride will come together and we’ll sing
You’re beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful

I see Your face, You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful
I see Your face, You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful
I see Your face, I see Your face
I see Your face, You’re beautiful, You’re beautiful, You’re beautiful

before and after

There is love where giants hide
In the middle of the room, in the middle of my heart
And the night time speaks a sorrowful song
Of things broken, of joy unshaken.

I was there, face to face. I will never forget that moment
The coldness seeped in through the bottom of my toes
Numbing to the lungs. The frost slipped out of my mouth
Becoming the tears I couldn't reveal...
after all this time..

Do you hear the noise in my heart
Pounding so violently at the thought of this
I am so disappointed with the world.
Twisted innocence
Tainted love
All the tortured memories.

I watch them as they go to Your hands: my comfort
Let the giants sink beneath the waves...
Let me watch them drown and choke:
For they have tried to strangle the life from me..

Thoughtlessly - indifferently.. they have inflicted their pain
Their cruelty was my comfort before I met You
When I finally looked into Your eyes Jesus..
All I could see was the truth..
It was You

You have led me tenderly.. purposefully..
I know You will never leave.
You have burned my heart with Your promises..
Let me feel the fire of Your truth, the hope of Your restoration.
The permanence of Your love...

Beauty was restored the moment You spoke my name
It was You who held me through the nights so full of tears.
It was You who shook the foundations of my frame
It was You, who carried this cross for me

You have awoken my heart
Your hands have healed my scars and clothed my body
Even now You enfold my heart
How can brokenness mean this much to You?

That You would care enough to stay
To see beauty restored and life flow through me
I don't understand Your goodness
There is nothing else for me... all I want is You.

I am drawn to You, in love: and it sets me free.

encouragement

Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence. Psalm 42:5

O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your dwelling places Psalm 43:3

RESTING IN THE LOVE OF GOD

God ministers to broken and aching hearts in a variety of ways. The Holy Spirit touches our lives through:

ASSURANCE...

See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called His children -- think of it -- and we really are! But since most people don’t know God, naturally they don’t understand that we are His children. 1 John 3:1 TLB

That is why I am suffering here in jail, and I am certainly not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to safely guard all that I have given him until the day of his return. 2 Timothy 1: 12

COMFORT...

But even so, you love me! You are holding my right hand! You will keep on guiding me all my life with your wisdom and counsel, and afterwards receive me into the glories of heaven! Psalms 73: 23-24 TLB

My sheep recognize my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. No one shall snatch them away from me. John 10: 27-28 TLB
As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you. Isaiah 66:13

FAITH...

Yet there is one ray of hope: His compassion never ends. It is only the Lord’s mercies that have kept us from complete destruction. Great is His faithfulness; his loving-kindness begins afresh each day. Lamentations 3: 21-23

Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him to help you do it, and He will. Psalms 37: 5 TLB

HOPE...

Now glory be to God, who by His mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of -- infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes. Ephesians 3: 20

“For I know the plans I have for you,“ says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29: 11 TLB

Now we can look forward to the salvation God has promised us. There is no longer any room for doubt, and we can tell others that salvation is ours, for there is no question that He will do what He says. Hebrews 10: 23

Come to me and I will give you rest -- all of you who work so hard beneath a heavy yoke. Wear my yoke -- for it fits perfectly -- and let me teach you; for I am gentle and humble, and you shall find rest for your souls; Matthew 11: 28-29

PEACE...
So now, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith in His promises, we can have real peace with Him because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Romans 5: 1 TLB

“I am leaving you with a gift -- peace of mind and heart! And the peace I give isn’t fragile like the peace the worlds gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14: 27 TLB

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 6-7 TLB

TRUST...

As part of the act of faith by which a person establishes a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, trust is placed in the ability of Jesus Christ to restore the broken relationship between God and sinful man. Once Christ has been received as Lord and Savior, the believer begins to develop the confidence and trust in God to fulfill all the promises which Scripture makes to the maturing Christian.

We can trust God because He always tells the truth...

He has given us both his promise and his oath, two things we can completely count on, for it is impossible for God to tell a lie. Now all those who flee to him to save them can take new courage when they hear such assurances for God; now they ca know without doubt that He will give them the salvation he has promised them. Hebrews 6: 18 TLB

God will continue to be true even when every person is false. Romans 3: 4 NCV

We can trust God because He loves us...

We know how much God loves us because we have felt his love and because we believe him when he tells us that he loves us dearly. God is love, and anyone who lives in love is living with God and God is living in him. And as we live with Christ, our love grows more perfect and complete; so we will not be ashamed and embarrassed at the day of judgment, but can face him with confidence and joy because he loves us and we love him too. We need have no fear of someone who loves us perfectly; his perfect love for us eliminates all dread of what he might do to us. If we are afraid, it is for fear of what he might do to us and shows that we are not fully convinced that he really loves us. So you see, our love for him comes as a result of his loving us first. 1 John 4: 16-19 TLB

Many sorrows come to the wicked, but abiding love surrounds those who trust in the Lord. Psalms 32: 10 TLB

We can trust God because He is in control...

May the God of peace himself make you entirely pure and devoted to God; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept strong ad blameless until that day when our Lord Jesus Christ comes back again. God, who called you to become his child, will do all this for you just as he promised. 1 Thessalonians 5: 23-24 TLB

We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him They are the people he called, because that was his plan. Romans 8: 28 NCV

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “ plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29: 11 NIV

We can trust God because He will help us in times of trouble...

In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown you efforts with success. Don’t be conceited, sure of your own wisdom. Instead, trust and reverence the Lord, and turn your back on evil; when you do that, then you will be given renewed health and vitality. Proverbs 3: 5-6 TLB

But remember this -- the wrong desires that come into your life aren’t anything new and different. Many others have face exactly the same problems before you. And no temptation is irresistible. You can trust God to keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it, for he has promised this and will do what he says. He will show you how to escape temptation’s power so that you can bear up patiently against it. 1 Corinthians 10: 13

~ from John Thurman's Helpful Bible readings: http://www.johnthurman.net/templates/System/details.asp?id=26963&PID=560353

a prayer for mercy

Healing hands of love and mercy
hold us now..
Be the soothing balm that covers us
The shelter that keeps us
The love that strengthens us
The truth that calls forth in us
The strength of Your eternal promises
Send our roots deep into all that You are
No depth of pain, no realm of fear
No lie can undermine Your truth
for You are truth.. Your redemption is complete.
Your life flows into the darkest places in us
Sanctifying who we were and all we will be
Your work is complete..
Give us the strength to walk in it: to truly see it: to believe it.
As men and women grounded in You and alive
Because of You.. we are free.
Hands of love hold us now
Never leave us, or forsake us
Show us all that You are and
Give us the strength to see who we are in You
Wrap us up in You.. make us brave in You..
Give us to purity... that it might have its way with us
Give us to long suffering and perseverance.. that they
May teach us how to fight for love
and forgiveness..
Take us beyond,
Let nothing stand between us Jesus..
Let our hearts be undone because of You
..that we might see Your face and know Your heart...
Shine Your healing love upon us again..
You are the one who fought for us, loved us and made us whole.
When all others turned and abandoned us.. when darkness came
and they did not believe
You stood with us.. You lifted our faces to look into Your eyes of peace and kindness..
You were unashamed
Even now, You are unashamed.
Your amazing love overpowers fear.. Your love conquers doubt..
Miraculous and true, You lean into our spirits: full and complete.
I see the hope in Your eyes.. the love in Your eyes..
Jesus.. be near to us now..
We long to know You, we long to touch Your heart.
Hold us now, in Your beautiful hands of love.
..............................................................................................................................................

for my beautiful friend.. He sees you, He knows you and His love will see you through.

sacrificial LOVE.

What is sacrificial love? How often do we actually exemplify this kind of love? How often are we willing to lay our love down - even though we know that it could be despised? How often do we love like Jesus does? Are we willing to be soft yet tough, tender yet purposeful, weak yet strong? Are we willing to let God be everything in us, though it costs us everything? Are we willing to let go of our perceptions, paradigms, conditions, expectations and fears: to be the kind of love we were meant to be... to walk it out in surrender, humility and sacrifice? Do we want to be this kind of love.. even if it means we're misunderstood, despised or mistreated?

To sacrifice means:

the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.

the thing so surrendered or devoted.

a loss incurred in selling something below its value

to surrender or give up, or permit injury or disadvantage to, for the sake of something else.

What is Love anyways?

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is Love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-13

a relevant thought...

Whether the cause of fear is major rejection or mild discomfort, the final solution is the same: I must be willing to hurt (greatly or minimally), to suffer loss (be it everything or a few moments of social ease). Only when I accept what I fear, resolving that I am willing to endure whatever may happen, will the fear lose its power (1 John 4:18). The perfect love of Christ provides me with what I need to face my fears. In Christ I have a relationship I cannot lose, a relationship sufficient to sustain me if all others fail. I have an unbreakable safety net beneath me as I venture across the tightrope of involving myself in other people's lives.

When I declare myself, by an act of will, to be willing to lose all human relationship (approval, recognition, love, etc.) if obedience to God requires it, I will be freed from the entanglement of fear. And only when I am freed from the fear of losing a relationship will my motivation approach the reality of love. When I encounter an embarrassed stranger in Sunday school or a close friend who is seriously mishandling his problems, my words will have the power to encourage if they are prompted by love. Notice the paradox: To love a person, I must be willing to lose my relationship with him. Dependently holding onto anyone or anything but God is, in its final form, idolatry. Idolatry is at root - a fear of the wrong god.

~ An excerpt from the book, "Encouragement: The Key To Caring" by Dr. Larry Crabb & Dr. Dan Allender