Beauty for Ashes

No matter who we are, after we have committed a sin, there are consequences. Sometimes the sin is invisible - like an ungodly thought or attitude, and sometimes it’s a sin that you cannot hide - for example getting pregnant before marriage. (That was me!)

It is important to remember that God will always make a good thing out of a negative situation, if you turn to Him and ask for forgiveness. And follow it up with a changed life and lifestyle - determined to live for Him. He will make beauty for ashes.

Isaiah 61:3 KJV

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

He will help you carry the burden of those consequences, but He will also forgive the sin. This is the time for you to also forgive yourself and forget that sin. Satan will try to remind you of your failure, and try to get you to take your eyes off of Jesus and His forgiveness. He paid the price of that sin that God demands from you (from each one of us when we sin) when He died on the cross at Calvary. He did not stay dead! He rose again - proving His victory over sin and death! So, when Jesus says “I paid it all so you can have a relationship with God the Father through Me!” believe him!

I remember an illustration used in a church service when I was a young girl that really made it clear to me. Imagine there is a great King in the land, and He lived in a palace that was surrounded by 20 ft walls, and guards placed at the entrance. You really wanted to see the King. You needed to ask Him something, but you knew there was no way they would let you in. So there you are sitting on the curb of the road, looking at the beautiful palace in the distance with tears in your eyes. Then along comes a man dressed in fine clothing, walking with a group of people. He sees you sitting there crying, and he comes over and asks you what is wrong. You tell Him that you desperately want to see the king to ask him something important, and as you're speaking he holds out his hand to you and says, “I am the King's Son. Come with me and I will bring you into the kingdom to meet my Father.”

That's exactly how it is with Jesus Christ, the son of God. Only He can bring you to the Father but you must take His hand and trust Him. You must give your heart and life to Jesus knowing that He paid the ultimate sacrifice for your sin, and my sin, by the shedding of His precious blood many years ago on the cross.

John 14:6

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

John 3:16–18

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already…”

Romans 10:9–10

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”