Beautiful

There is one thing about me that you should know. I have absolutely no musical talent whatsoever. None. I wish I did, though. There are so many songs that mean so much to me.
I suppose that is why I appreciate so much those who are talented and gifted with a beautiful voice and the ability to understand musical instruments and the dexterity to play them so gracefully.

There are a lot of young people at my church who have been gifted with enormous talent. I so enjoy hearing them sing and play in our church services and special programs. One of those young people sang this morning. She and her mother sang a song by Francesca Battistelli. The song is called 'Beautiful Beautiful'. It is one of those songs that really speaks to me. I've been thinking about it all day. It speaks of how God can turn your life into something beautiful. Wow.
I pondered this for a long time today.

God indeed can make something beautiful of your life. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are God's workmanship. The Greek word used is 'poiema' or poem. How cool is that? We are God's poetry.

In Isaiah 61:1-3 the bible tells us that God will will trade beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.

In Revelation 21:1-5, we see that God is going to wipe every tear away and make all things new.

2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul tells us that, as Christians, we have been made new creations in Christ Jesus. Wow!

Best of all, in Romans 8:1, Paul teaches that for those of us who are in Christ, there is no condemnation.

Indeed, 'Beautiful, Beautiful'

God is AWESOME!

Zombie Apocalypse?

There is a new television series that we have been talking about at work. It's a show called 'The Walking Dead' on American Movie Classics. It's a show based on a comic book that came out a while back. It's actually pretty good. (If you are into horror movies, you'll like it.)

I discovered that just about any conversation can be used as a jumping off point for sharing Christ with someone.

It had to have been the Holy Spirit who brought this to mind in my conversation today. In Matthew 27:50-53, Jesus gives up His spirit. He dies on the cross. When he does, all kinds of wild stuff starts to happen. Matthew tells about dead people coming out of their graves. (Appropriate in a conversation about zombies, I guess.)

I shared this with my friend in the course of our conversation. Then Colossians chapter 1 was brought to mind. Wow! The Holy Spirit is so awesome! I told my friend that when Jesus died on the cross that day, things started to unravel because Jesus is God. He died. There was nothing holding the universe together for that moment. (Colossians 1:11-17)

God loves us so much that He would rather die and have His creation devolve into chaos than live without us. Of course, he took up His life again and restored order. He also restored the relationship that was destroyed in the garden so long ago. In doing so, He gave us (who have been restored to Him) a ministry. The ministry of reconciliation. (2Corinthians 5:17-19)

Ready to come full circle in the conversation? Those of us who believe are now alive in Christ Jesus. No longer are we the walking dead. :)

God is AWESOME!!