Psalm 23:6 NKJV
Genesis 1:27 NKJV
Psalm 50:2 NKJV
Isaiah 28:5 NKJV
I Kings 19:18 and Romans 11:5 (Referenced)
Psalm 27:4 NKJV
Beginning Series
It doesn’t take long to figure out God loves beauty and is beautiful. Not only are there spectacular places of beauty on earth, and under the earth, the skies and the heavens are filled with the glory of the Lord.
In addition to that, there is great beauty all around us every day.
God intended it that way.
It is a gift to us.
The poet John Keats begins his poem Endymion by saying, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever: it’s loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness; but still will keep a bower quiet for us and a sleep full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.”
A thing of beauty that is our joy forever does fill our nights with dreams so when we wake we know we are not alone. We know as the dawn breaks we are given a new day…a new chance.
With every breath we take we know we are in God and God is in us. God created for a purpose. God created us for a purpose.
Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
God created man and woman to dwell with Him. In the 23rd Psalm God gives green pastures, still waters, strength and a good path. He tells us even when we are in a dark place we are not afraid because His rod and staff guard and guide us. He feeds us, anoints us with Holy oil, and fills our cup to overflowing with blessings.
All the days of our lives we are given God’s goodness and mercy. The psalmist concludes Psalm 23:6 with his thoughts on what God has given him by saying, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
From sunrise to sunset God is with us, IN us, and His beauty is all around us.
Often, we think heaven is a beautiful place where God abides, and so it is. But what of God IN us? Wouldn’t it also be true that this same one eternal God continuously creates His beauty IN us?
We read in Psalm 50:2, “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth.”
God shines forth IN us. The perfection of the beauty of God IS in us. When we feel our first breath in the morning we realize God is IN us, God is with us, God surrounds us.
The Irish call that a ‘Thin Space’ because in that moment, heaven and earth are ever so close.
Before we begin planning our day and filling it with ‘busy’ we have a momentary opportunity to see and feel the beauty of God IN us.
Each day, in that moment I hear God ever so clearly. If I am still enough and I listen, I can hear His heartbeat. I can feel His breath.
The prophet Isaiah put it this way in Isaiah 28:5, “In that day the Lord of hosts will be for a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of His people.” We learn in I Kings 19:18 that a remnant of Israel remained. The Apostle Paul wrote of the remnant in Romans 11:5. They are believers set apart by grace. God is our crown of Glory and our diadem of beauty!
Isaiah reminds Israel (and us) that even when we fall short, the Lord of Hosts is and will always remain our beautiful crown of glory.
When we pause to hear and feel the heartbeat of God, we know His beauty IS in us.
The beautiful light of God shines in us.
Even when we feel like we are in a dark place, God’s light shines in us. As Psalm 23:4 says, “Even if I walk through a very dark valley, I will not be afraid, because you are with me. Your rod and your shepherd’s staff comfort me.”
Day and night, night and day God’s beautiful light shines in us and we know Him. As we know God we desire to spend time with God and we want to be with God.
In Psalm 27:4, David wrote, “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to dwell in His temple.”
As he sought God, as David contemplated God in us, as he saw God’s goodness and beauty, he knew he wanted to spend eternity in the presence of the beauty of God.
David knew he wanted to DWELL with God.
He wanted the BEAUTY of God.
He wanted God because even he knew “a thing of beauty is a joy forever.”
Our Holy Beautiful Creator is our joy forever.
Today’s Spiritual Practice is: Beauty of God
Spend time contemplating the Beauty of God.
In God, Deborah
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