Consider the lilies, how they grow...

God must have had such a wonderful time designing flowers, and choosing their smell. Each is beautiful to behold and everyone unique. They make a glorious bouquet for a friend or a captivating picture in the garden. In the wild they grow freely shedding their seeds to increase the beauty of the landscape.  

                                                                                                                                                                               
How more wonderful then is his incredible care in making us. 

Luke 12:27-28

"Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. "But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith!"

To imagine His hands crafting a flower that is so delicate and fragile; to give it a fragrant smell that will fill your senses with wonder, surely indicates a gentle passionate Father who delights in intricate detail born out of love.  

When an artist makes something beautiful they leave part of their very soul within that creation. 

That is exactly what God does when he creates us. Our Father in Heaven never makes a dud, he never makes a mistake. Every creation that He conceives is carefully and lovingly crafted in Heaven, then placed into the womb. We come from Heaven to earth. From Perfection to the world of imperfection. We start to die the moment we are born. Just as flowers start to wither the moment they are picked. But we can have new life when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. 

When we return to our Father in Heaven we will resume the beauty of our creator. We will become new again rooted in God's glory as a flower's roots are bathed in the nutrients and water of the earth. There will be a glow about us that is divine and pure. The glow of love that never dies.

As flowers delight us now with their innocent beauty and frailty we too can be messengers of that love. We are His bouquet to those who do not know him yet. 

When we feed ourselves with the right nutrients we glow and shine. Our nature opens up and reveals the beauty of what is within. God is what is within us. His word brings forth this Truth. Knowing the Truth unites us with God's glow of love. This love leads us to action. God's Grace waters the action and more seeds are sown for the Kingdom of God. 

There are so many beautiful flowers in this world waiting to be nurtured and nourished, turning their heads this way and that looking for the Son. The truth will set them free but only if we allow God within us to radiate our beauty. A christian who is without beauty is like a flower wilting due to lack of water and nourishment. 

God holds us tenderly in his hands, may we hold those fragile flowers in our hands as gently as he does. 

  

God bless 

Margaret

The beauty of Hope

The picture above I took in my back garden. It was a natural occurring event, as water had accumulated in the bottom of the slide. Over night the water froze and this is the result of that phenomenon.

I am always in awe of God's imagination. Of how He can make something so ordinary as water turn into a solid mass of beauty. When the sun shone on this masterpiece, the colours were amazing, hitting the edges of the crystals and producing mini rainbows. 

This is exactly what God wants to do with our lives. To take the ordinary and make it extraordinary with His Help. 

Ecclesiastes 3:11
Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end.

This is God's promise, He has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart. That is just awesome, mind blowing and absolutely amazing. 

This is the beauty of Hope. Believing and understanding that eternity is in our heart. That God has a purpose for us, for you and me. That we are so important to Him that He is involved in our lives from the beginning to the end, no exceptions, no matter what we have done. 

We are beautiful to God. More beautiful than anything we have seen. Regardless of how we see ourselves, to God we are exquisite, perfectly formed, radiant.  

So if the 'The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life' (Job 33:4) and 'eternity is in our hearts' who are we to argue with God. 

How much more do we need, to believe in Hope?

If you are still thinking that is not enough then, 'Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?  1 Corinthians 3:16 shows us more. 

So lets try again, the spirit of God has made me, the breath of the Almighty gives me life, I am God's temple and God's Spirit dwells in me. Are our eyes now opened?

Ephesians 1:18

Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. 

Just as the water, plain yet vital, can with the frost turn into something spectacular, so can we when we understand who and where we originate from. Our basic form taken from dust, molded by the spirit of God; given life by the breath of the Almighty, then becomes God's temple and is dwelt in by the Holy Spirit. Further more, it is gifted hope and a glorious inheritance. 

So next time you look at yourself and see the imperfections, gaze again and look at the beauty of Hope and remember who made you. Those hands crafted you, His breath gave you life, His eyes see you in perfect form because He looks at your heart. 

1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

God bless

Margaret

(author of 'How to make Victoria Sponge')