Behold

There are over 1200 instances of the word, "behold" in the bible. There are over 1200 instances of God trying to get our attention in the bible. In Genesis, God used the word, "behold" to show Adam and Eve the garden of Eden. God used the word, "behold" to establish a covenant with Abraham and Noah. John used the word, "behold" to identify Jesus as the lamb of God.  What is God using to get your attention? What are you ignoring? What do you need to behold? 

Beautiful

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Most of us have been conditioned to accept certain standards of beauty. If God sees beauty in our brokenness, then what do we see beauty in? Do we see beauty in creation? Do we see beauty in destruction? Do we see beauty in our pain? Do we see beauty in sickness and death? What if our life story was weaved with a colorful collection of our successes and failures sown together with our joy and pain? What if our weakness makes us beautiful? Our need for a savior and our inability to save ourselves made us God’s most beautiful creation. We are beautiful because we are flawed. We are beautiful because of our imperfections.

Broken

Most of us may not realize that we are all broken. We all have scars. We have open wounds and sore spots. We have calluses. We have areas of our lives that did not heal properly. We have issues, but these are the things that make us beautiful. These are the things that shape and mold us. These are the things that strengthen us. We are all beautifully broken.

There is a method of mending in Japanese culture called “Kintsugi.” It is related to the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, which calls for seeing beauty in the flawed or imperfect. The repair method was also born from the Japanese feeling of mottainai, which expresses regret when something is wasted. Our scars are not wasted. Our wounds are not in vain. Our brokenness has a purpose, and our purpose is beautiful.

God's Best

Most of us don’t have a clue of what God’s best looks like in our lives. It’s not because we don’t want it. It’s because we’ve been conditioned to accept the status quo. We think that because the struggle has lessened that that is God’s best. Not so. God’s best is beyond our realm of comprehension. It’s bigger than we could think or ask. It’s more than we could ever imagine. Stop settling for good. Stop accepting better. There’s more.

Better

God wants us to be better. God wants us to do better. God wants our best. God wants to give us His best. Most of us settle at good. Good is better than before, so we find contentment in mediocrity. We settle for less. We stop striving. We stop thriving because things are better. Better is not the destination. It's just a pitstop on the road to God's best.

Bitter

Are you bitter? Do you have some lingering unresolved issues? If you hear someone's name, does your blood boil? Is that heartache still a place of contention? Maybe that pain is too fresh to deal with....but don't become bitter. Don't let your hurt and sadness turn into resentment and bitterness. Let it go. Give it to God. Bitterness has a way of spilling over into other areas of your life. It's a poison. It pollutes. God wants you to be better not bitter. 

Aim

Isaiah 54:17  (NKJV) No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment. You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord.

We are all walking around with targets on our backs. For some of us we have targets because of our race, our politics, and our religion. We find ourselves in opposition at every corner. We are constantly in the crosshairs of our enemies. I find comfort in knowing that the weapon will not prosper. God never said it wouldn’t be formed. We tend to get frustrated at the formation of the weapons of our destruction. God says, “they won’t prosper.” Keep this in mind, when the enemy takes aim….he will miss. No matter how close the accident. No matter how close the health scare. No matter how low the funds. No matter how crazy the kids are acting. No matter what takes aim at you. It won’t work!

For your Friday listening pleasure: https://youtu.be/BzAkMvK1Ljw