Ashes to Beauty

Wednesday Service

November 29, 2023

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 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 may be glorified. (Isaiah 61:1,3).

Over the past few weeks, I have found that God has been blessing me beyond what I could have imagined. I feel like my words, my praise cannot capture the JOY God has given me. How He answered my prayers and my thoughts. It was my first night back to church after our Philippines trip, and I was almost recovered from being sick for a week. In the church service, the minister was preaching from Isaiah, and near closing, he went to chapter 61, where some phrases in scripture jumped out at me:

• "The spirit of the Lord is upon me."

• "…to give unto them beauty for ashes."

• "...the oil of joy for mourning;"

• "...the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."

In The Garden

I strongly feel the Spirit of the LORD is upon me. Not in the sense of prophesying, but as in we are given the Holy Spirit who teaches us all things and brings all things to remembrance. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (John 14:26). I feel I should be praising God for giving us His Spirit. According to this scripture, Jesus speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. This is the Holy Spirit speaking to us, not as in Old Testament times where God spoke directly to the prophets. The Holy Spirit is in all believers and is not just sitting there doing nothing; He is talking with us. I think of the song "In the Garden" by C. Austin Miles in 1913.

I come to the garden alone, While the dew is still on the roses; And the voice I hear, falling on my ear, The Son of God discloses.

Refrain: And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own, And the joy we share as we tarry there, None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice is so sweet the birds hush their singing, And the melody that He gave to me Within my heart is ringing. [Refrain]

I'd stay in the garden with Him Tho' the night around me be falling; But He bids me go; thro' the voice of woe, His voice to me is calling. [Refrain]

Recently, I found myself lying under the dining table (in the garden), resting from Bible study on the fruit of the Spirit; studying late at night (... the night around me be falling). As I was lying there on the floor around 1:30 AM, meditating on God's word, He started showing me things in my life, and just like the road to Emmaus, He opened my understanding of scriptures to what I was meditating on, which led to a bunch of other meditations, and more scriptures opened to me. We sometimes sing these songs without reflecting on the spiritual meaning behind them. I felt just like described in the song:

• "He talks with me"

• "The joy we share as we tarry there"

• "The melody that He gave to me within my heart is ringing"

• "I'd stay in the garden with Him though the night around me be falling"

When looking back on this, I remember "the joy we share as we tarry there." In the Fruit of the Spirit study, there was an earlier chapter on joy. I was more focused on trying to find joy through circumstances and trials in my life, focused on the differences between happiness (momentary) versus joy (lasting). As I was studying the other chapters, Goodness and Faith, this joy started filling me under the dining table. Looking back through my life, I now realize that what brings me the most joy in my life is when I feel God is speaking to me personally. This joy is "the melody that He gave me within my heart." Do we see God wanting to talk with us "In The Garden" like with Adam? Most of the time in my busy life, I hear later on "...Where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9).

Note added 1/12/2025: I looked up the story of the song from the author. He was a photographer waiting for film to develop when he picked up his Bible and opened to John 20. He started thinking about Mary going to the tomb and finding it empty, and how when Christ spoke to her, she recognized Him and was filled with joy. The author of the song "In The Garden" imagined that he was with them, witnessing that event. As his thoughts came back to the film he was processing at the time, he realized his grip on his Bible, how his muscles had reacted to this thought. He then wrote a poem, then a song. He spoke about the story in John 20.

"This is not an experience limited to a happening almost 2,000 years ago. It is the daily companionship with the Lord that makes up the Christian's life." C. Austin Miles; 1913.

Whence Knowest Thou Me?

While I was still meditating on God's goodness, that same joy came over me again as He started opening more scripture to me, showing me answered prayers—multiple past and present prayers. The Holy Spirit showed me how God is working in my life. I saw it before, but now I was feeling it. He had shown me that there was praising of God in Heaven before when I started this Psalm 100:4 journey of wanting to personally praise God; when I purposed in my heart this journey. Now, He was showing me how it felt, true praise and worship when we are in God's presence. The prayers He answered were impossible to me, and I had my understanding opened. As I came back to church service, He showed me the following verse:

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. Isaiah 61:3

He has given me "beauty from ashes." He has taken a painful memory and changed it into a spiritual blessing beyond what I can express. He has given me "...oil of joy for mourning," and a "...garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." As I was talking with someone about the service, they mentioned the words in Isaiah above. These words had already been planted in me earlier, but God, through His spirit, reminds you of all things, teaches you, and reinforces what He gave me. I had a painful memory I could not forget. I had been praying for God's help for a couple of years. I was praying for help, but also in my prayers telling God that I understand He couldn't erase memories, couldn't eliminate the free will that causes these pains. I was praying in vain to God, but that is another story how he answered.

As I continued meditating on where true joy comes from, I was moved into "I Saw Thee." Words Jesus spoke to Nathaniel, I felt as though Jesus spoke these words to me. It was brought to my remembrance (I saw thee) when I was broken on my knees at my bedside praying. It was brought to my remembrance of praying and fasting on my back in the Philippines for weeks. It was brought to my remembrance crying out for my family. It was brought to my remembrance all my private prayers over the past few years. It was brought to my remembrance being spiritually broken for my family. Then it was brought to my remembrance my vain prayers in public settings like church and restaurants where I was nervously, repetitively praying with anxiety just to get through my prayer. Then I was shown scriptures about God not wanting His words to be in vain, of no purpose. This had me purpose in my heart to try and with all sincerity pray from my heart with purpose to God for my needs. As we traveled afar, I prayed with purpose to share the gospel in some small way. I prayed to God to hide me from harm as Jesus walked in the midst of people near the synagogue at times. I prayed with no guile in my heart. As God answered these prayers in unexpected ways, the scriptures were opened to me "I saw thee." When God answers our prayers with all certainty, there is no greater joy. Not just the joy of my needs met, but the joy you feel when God shows you He hears you.

So joy comes to me as I see God moving in my life. Joy comes when He speaks scripture to me beyond the ink on the paper, beyond the philosophy, beyond the traditions of men. Joy comes when we see and feel how much God loves us. We can reason and think we know "every word" of God, but we only really know what He puts in our hearts. When we truly know and are overflowing with joy is when we are being fed with manna from above; it is feeding our souls.

So my prayer is that Jesus will touch our hearts, and we all hear "I saw thee" under the fig tree, or where we were when we prayed with purpose. We shouldn't need to ask, as in John 1:48, "Whence knowest thou me?" We should pray as on the road to Emmaus, to open our understanding of scripture. We should not pray in vain, to no purpose. As we pray with purpose, God gives us, as in Isaiah, "beauty... joy" and gives us a "garment of praise" for our "spirit of heaviness."

Thank you God for seeing me under the fig tree in my life. Thank you for the blessings being poured out unto me. Thank you for lifting this heaviness. Thank you for showing me true praise in heaven, what it feels like. I give praise and glory to thy name.

MS