From ashes to beauty

To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes…. Isaiah 61:3

Dear brothers and sisters,

Greetings to all of you in Our Lord’d matchless Name!

We begin our Lent Season this week with the Ash Wednes Day. Around 230 AD, a group of Christians started fasting for the 40 hours leading up to Easter. To prepare their hearts for Easter. Pretty soon, the idea caught on. Years later, they bumped it up to 7 days of fasting. And they called it Holy Week. And by 325 AD, the church officially made it 40days. The Bishop will smear Ashes on the head of those getting ready forBaptism. The following 40days are mourning or repenting for their sins. Mourners in the Kingdom of God are blessed people because of the Hope in Christ.  Matt 5:4

The messianic promise above assures us a great hope to all of us. God’s chemistry is totally different from ours. He can make wine out of water; beauty out of ashes.

Ashes are finished product of destruction. They were meant for throwing out. The so called people of God have become like that due to various attacks on them. They were left hopeless. There was a spirit of despair in them. Darkness had dawned upon them. They have lost the joy of the Lord.

Our Lord Jesus do not abandon any one who come under His grip. He will revive them and make them shine for Him. He will mend them into an useful vessel. The Lord said “ You will be called the priests of the Lord” Is 61:6. Instead of lament they will praise and worship Him with Joy and Hope. The Cross of our Lord Jesus makes it possible for you and me.

As we entered into another season of lent, let us draw closer to Jesus and His cross. Let us experience his deeper working of our Lord Jesus in our lives so that we may reflect His beauty in all aspect of our lives.

God Bless

Prabhu