Tag: beautiful

Life is About Much More Than Possessions

Life is About Much More Than Possessions

Life on earth is comprised of human beings, needs, wants/desires, relationships, jobs/callings, accomplishments, and many more categories.  It would be a challenge to try to list everything that is included in day to day human life because it can be very broad and very detailed.  It would cover too much to be able to list, in reality.

One trait that is negative that is sometimes a part of human life is greed.  Thankfully, it isn’t everywhere or in all people, but it is certainly there and it is definitely negative.

The Lord has been teaching humanity various lessons since the beginning of creation.  Here are some samples from His Word.

But He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one is affluent does his life consist of his possessions.”  (Lk 12:15 NASB)  This is a warning against greed and an inordinate affection for possessions.

Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  (Col 3:5 NKJV)  Covetousness (another word for greed) is named among a list of sins in the Bible.

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  (Heb 13:5 NKJV)  This passage in the Bible instructs us to be free of greed, and to be content with what we have. 

Rather, we are told to remember what is TRULY important:  that Jesus has promised us that He will never leave us nor forsake us. 

What a beautiful and meaningful promise from our Savior!

Jesus Fulfilled Prophecy

Jesus Fulfilled Prophecy

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing.  For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.  7 The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water . . .  (Isa 35:5-7)

This passage of Scripture has beautiful, poetic language in it.  This is a prophetic passage about the ministry of God’s anointed Savior and Redeemer.

We can recognize that a number of the things mentioned in this passage occurred in the ministry of Jesus Christ when He was on earth.  And many other miracles took place in addition to these.  Glory to God!

  • Blind people were healed (Mt. 9:27; 11:15; 12:22; 15:30; Mk 8:22-25; Lk 7:22)
  • Mute peoples’ tongues were loosed and they glorified God with their voices (Mt 12:22; 15:30; Mk 7:37)
  • Deaf people received their hearing (Mt 11:15; Mk 7:37; Lk 7:22)
  • Lame and maimed people were healed (Mt 11:15; 15:30; 21:14; Lk 7:22)
  • Lepers were cleansed (Mt 11:15; Lk 7:22; 17:11-14)
  • People were raised from the dead (Mt 11:15; Lk 7:22; Joh 12:1, 9)

The last part of the passage in Isaiah at the top of this article is looking toward the end times, after Jesus returns to the earth.  Here is a teaching pertinent to the 2nd coming of Jesus from another website:

Peter called the time after Jesus’ return the times of “refreshing” and “restoration of all things” (Acts 3:19-21). Isaiah painted this beautiful word picture: “The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. … For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water” (Isaiah 35:1, 6-7).  ~ Source:  https://lifehopeandtruth.com/prophecy/end-times/water-in-bible-prophecy/

Jesus fulfilled many of the prophecies concerning the Savior, but there are still some that are going to be fulfilled in the future.  Those of us who follow Jesus and serve Him need to recognize the nature of the times in which we live, and to share the Good News of salvation as widely and lovingly as we can.  God bless you.

Unfailing Love

Unfailing Love

God, alone, is capable of bestowing UNFAILING love upon a person or a group of people.  Since God is love (1 Joh 4:8), we can see why this would be possible as well as understandable.

Here are three different versions of the same Bible verse about God’s love:

Because your faithful love is right in front of me—I walk in your truth!  (Ps 26:3 CEB)

For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.  (Ps 26:3 NKJV)

. . . for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.  (Ps 26:3 NIV, emphasis added)

There are many more verses in the Word that talk about God’s precious, beautiful, unfailing love (all NIV):

In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.  (Ex 15:13)

Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love.  (Ps 6:4)

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.  (Ps 13:5)

See also Psalm 18:50; 21:7; 32:10; 33:5, 18, 22; 36:7; 44:26; 48:9; 51:1; 52:8; 62:12, and many more!  Further research into this truth will strengthen and support your faith in all circumstances.

What I hope to accomplish here is to remind us all how very deeply and how faithfully God loves each one of His children.  God’s love is unfailing, and it is unconditional.  There is no love anywhere else in creation like the love of God for His people.

God’s love is dependable, constant, consistent, unshakable, and enduring.  His love is more important than anyone else’s.  When you are the object of His love, His love for you makes you a better, kinder, and more loving human being.  His love enables you to love others in a more mature way than ever before. 

Meditate upon His unfailing love. Make it a practice to have an awareness of His constant, abiding love.  It will bless your life and faith immensely.

Beautiful Feet

Beautiful Feet

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:  “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”  (Rom 10:14-15)

Another version of the final line in the above Bible verse is:  “Beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News!” 

We’re not talking about just any old type of good news, but specifically about the Good News of Jesus Christ.  This is the good news that tells how Jesus purchased salvation for all who accept Him as their Savior and Lord!  Hallelujah!

This is the “almost too good to be true” kind of news that no one readily believes in this cynical, unbelieving world. 

This very genuine good news MUST be passed on and accepted before its power can take effect.  When we each accepted Jesus as our own Lord and Savior, one of the main assignments we were given was to share our testimony of God’s love and forgiveness.  Consider this passage:

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.  (2 Cor 5:18-19, emphasis added)

Jesus fulfilled His mission of reconciling mankind to His Father, and has committed the same ministry to us.  We are called to the Ministry of Reconciliation through Jesus Christ.  However, we don’t need to die as Jesus did but to simply tell our own testimony to everyone who will listen to our story.  As the Scriptures say, “Freely you have received, freely give.”  (Mt 10:8)

While we are still able, while a measure of freedom of speech remains, we must endeavor to fulfill this honored calling and mission entrusted to every believer by Jesus..

The Beauty in this World

The Beauty in this World

He has made everything beautiful in its time.  (Ecc 3:11)  All the beauty that we see in everything is a gift from God.

Naphtali is a deer let loose; he uses beautiful words.  (Gen 49:21)  This verse compares a person to a liberated deer, and highlights the graceful and pleasant words that this person uses.  Even beautiful words (songs, poetry) are a wonderful gift from God.

And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.  (Lev 23:40, underscoring added)  This verse demonstrates that even the beauty in nature—the world around us—proceeds from God’s generous goodness.

These verses from the Bible (and my comments upon them) are used simply to endorse the concept and display it to you, that the beauty that we see, hear, taste, and touch in this world emanates from God’s love, generosity, and goodness.

Beautiful and successful relationships are also a gift from our loving God.  (Pro 13:20; 27:6, 9b)

We serve a good God who is full of lovingkindness and a desire to bless and to embrace us in beauty!   Hallelujah!

Beauty

Beauty

“Beauty will save the world.”  ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth.  (Ps 50:2)

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”  (Isa 52:7)

What is Zion and why is it important to Christians? 

Jerusalem and Zion are one and the same city.  Zion was the place of God’s special presence among His people, and the place where they turned for help and deliverance.  Jerusalem has been the holiest city in Judaism and the ancestral and spiritual homeland of the Jewish people since the 10th century BCE (before Common Era).  During classical antiquity, Jerusalem was considered the center of the world, where God resided.

What does all of this have to do with our topic of beauty?  Because God promises to shine forth out of Zion, which is called the perfection of beauty! 

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful.  (Ps 33:1)

The Word of God reminds us that praise is beautiful—not only in the sight of God but in the sight of men, as well.  If I happen to find a television program that is broadcasting a praise and worship service, I find it so beautiful to see that I’m moved to tears.

. . . rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.  (1 Pet 3:4, emphasis added)

In this verse from first Peter, the Word of God tells us that a gentle and quiet spirit is indestructibly beautiful!  It is also very treasured by our God.  So, we see that God considers salvation to be a beautiful thing, along with our praises to Him.

It is this inner quality of beauty that God commends and which the entire world unerringly recognizes!  We will achieve this level of beauty as we obey God and seek to follow Him.  He is the only One who transforms lives because He is the glory and the lifter of our heads!  (Ps 3:3)  Because His Spirit lives within each one of us, His beauty will shine forth through us.

This is why Isaiah 52:7 (at top of this article) calls the feet of those who spread the Gospel “beautiful feet”!  We all may confidently pursue this beauty that shines forth from our inner man.