"The Beauty in the Beast"

Genesis 1:27

"So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them."

2 Corinthians 5:17-18

"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him."

Saints of God, I greet you in the wonderful, mighty and beautiful name of Jesus! Oh how sweet to trust in Him and to take Him at His Word! It's an honor and a privilege to call Him Father and Friend for truly He is a Father to the fatherless, and hope to the hopeless! The Bible says, Psalms 68:4-5 (KJV), "Sing unto God, sing praises to His name: Extol Him that rideth upon the heavens by His name JAH, and rejoice before Him. A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in His holy habitation."

 I want to encourage you today that God loves you so much and is fighting for you, for your soul to be saved! He desires for us to stay under the Blood of Jesus Christ, the One who died for you and me so that we could be reconciled back to Him, made whole, and become new creatures in Him. We are set apart for His glory, as it was in the beginning, so it shall be in the end!

As I was reasoning and breaking bread with one of my sisters in Christ, she expressed her concerns about a special person in her life and how tears have been her food day and night. She had a desperate need for her loved ones to be saved. In the midst of our conversation, the Lord started to remind me of a revelation He gave me many years ago while watching the movie, "Beauty and the Beast." Many of us may know this animated romantic fantasy, which opened my eyes even more to the mercies of God and His love to mankind from the beginning. (For those who don't know the content of this movie: According to the Wikipedia site: Beauty and the Beast focuses on the relationship between the Beast, a prince who is magically transformed into a monster and his servants into household objects as punishment for his arrogance and cruelty, and Belle, a young woman whom he imprisons in his castle in exchange for her father's freedom. To break the curse, the Beast must learn to love Belle and earn her love in return before the last petal from an enchanted rose falls, or else he will remain a monster forever.)  

I shared this beautiful revelation of the beauty that's within all of us through Christ Jesus. We ended with prayer to seal our confidence to always remain in the Lord no matter what beast we see before our eyes. That beast represents our human nature, which, when sin is conceived, turns us into something that God isn’t pleased with. It might seem foolish to some, but as I watched this young woman love this beast, I began to see the love of God revealed and His mercies that are everlasting, despite our sinful nature. Romans 5:8-9 (KJV),"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." 1 Corinthians 1:27(AMP) states, "But God has selected [for His purpose] the foolish things of the world to shame the wise [revealing their ignorance], and God has selected [for His purpose] the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong [revealing their frailty]."

In Genesis 1:27 and 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, both scriptures speak of a gift from God, the living soul that was created in His image and likeness. He expects that the old Adamic/sinful nature (the beast) be put away and be reconciled back to Christ Jesus, so we can see the beauty of Christ Jesus within us. God knows that even when we give our life to Him by following the Plan of Salvation (Acts 2:38), we will fall, but the Bible says, a righteous man may fall seven times but he will rise again (Proverbs 24:16). 

Brethren, is there someone who have wronged you, a burden of hurt from someone that you are carrying, or unforgiveness festering within your heart, is there a burden from your past that you just can't seem to break through because it's like a plague that comes back to haunt you? I want to encourage you who might be facing such things to take the time to meditate on the suffering of Christ Jesus for you and me.

Isaiah 53:5-6 (KJV) declares, "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Jesus didn't deserve it, but because of His love for us, He endured many stripes because He desires for us to have a relationship with Him. To be reconciled back to Him revealing "The Beauty in the Beast." 

The Lord wants us to daily take off the old Adamic nature (the BEAST) that was introduced at the beginning because of disobedience, which led to spiritual death. He wants us to be transformed into "The Beauty" of Christ Jesus.

Let's go a little deeper into the scripture, Hallelujah! Peter proclaimed in 1 Peter 3:18, "Christ suffered for our sins once and for all. He never sinned, but He died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered a physical death, but He was raised to life in the Spirit." Saints, our heavenly Father endured rejection, physical torment, emotional trauma, and spiritual agony so we can be given access to eternal life.  

With all this being said, let us take on Christ to reveal "The Beauty in the Beast". Let us have bowels of mercies towards one another. To any who have hurt us physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Yes, it's a hard task, but what about Jesus? What would Jesus do? We want the Lord to grant us mercy, but then we don't want to give it to others! God forbid, brethren! I love you with the love of the Lord, and it's not by might, nor power, but only by the Spirit of God, are we able to do this. Let's ask the Lord today to wash us from all self-righteousness, selfishness, bitterness, or the spirit of rebellion that might be lingering within our hearts towards anyone.

Just like the Beast had to learn to love Belle, the great news is that we don’t have to earn God's love like he tried to earn hers. He loved us before the foundation of the world. The Bible says, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Let us ask the Lord to help us love each other just as Christ loved the Church. Let's ask ourselves daily, what would Jesus do? To guide our steps each day, so the love of God can be shed everywhere we go, in Jesus' name! SELAH!!

Please have yourself a wonderful day and remember we are just pilgrims passing through this world! From dust we came and dust we shall return, but our Soul will return back into the hands of the one who made each one of us!

Please take time to read the scriptures throughout!

1 Corinthians 6:11

"And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."(KJV)