Ashes are my Beauty

 

I compiled  scripture over the years friends who have lost a loved one.  There is Hope in Death, his name is Jesus.  When I am distraught, I often had no words to pray.  I have learned to pray scriptures and God speaks to me, quiets me, and gives me peace through his word.  Though I have no idea the pain each individual has, I have felt loss, and these are the verses that minister to me.  If you find yourself using this page, please leave a message and I will pray for you in this season of loss.   Things to remember in this season, aside from the hope of Jesus:  legacy lives on through you… All the love you were given, everything that person taught you, will not fade, but will be ever present to others and your family through your actions, teaching, and love. Every time you smile, give a hug, tell a joke, comfort someone, and love a piece of your loved one will shine through you.

Prayer:

Jesus I praise you that in all you ways
Your plan is perfect
Forgive me for my humanness and anger right now because I am experiencing loss
I know your entire human life was filled with loss…
I praise you that even when I have no words, as I mourn,
You, Holy Spirit of God are living in me
Thank you that you groan for me,
because You search my heart, and know the mind of the spirit.
You intercede on my behalf.
You alone are my hope and comfort
Because if I am a follower of Jesus,
I trust I am called according to Your purpose,
And his promise is that You Will in ALL THINGS work for the good of those who love Him!
So I give you my pain, my yoke
It is more than I can bear
Even when I am faithless
You my Jesus are faithful to me, thank you
So I hope in you and will not be disappointed, thank you for this promise
You know the way to the place where I am going One day
You have prepared a place for me before you even chose me
You know the begining and the end
I praise you that my loved one that knows Jesus
Met him face to face
Is enjoying his/her inheritance
My loved one has a new heavenly body and
is fulfilling their divinely, appointed, and eternal destiny
The Spirit of God whets my appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead.
Thank you that you put a little of heaven in my heart so that we’ll never settle for less.
I live with such good cheer.
Earthly living is Cramped conditions, it here does not get me down.
It reminds me of the spacious living conditions ahead.
It’s what I trust in but don’t yet see that keeps me going.
I wait patiently and know all my earthly partings will one day be joyful reunions
I quietly hope,
quietly hope for help from God.
It’s a good thing when you’re young
to stick it out through the hard times.
When life is heavy and hard to take,
go off by yourself.
I enter silence.
I will not run from trouble.
I will Take it full-face.
The “worst” is never the worst.
Why? Because the Master won’t ever
walk out and fail to return.
If he works severely, he also works tenderly.
His stockpiles of loyal love are immense.
So today, I keep a grip on hope:
God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I thank you that You will not forget me
You heal my broken heart
and bandage my wounds.
He counts the stars
and assigns each a name.
Our Lord is great, with limitless strength;
You are my strength
My comfort
My peace
My ever present help in trouble
My Shepherd
My healer
My shield
My refuge
My living and abundant water
I will find shelter in the shadow of your wings
You are my strength and shield
So today I dwell on your promises and speak your word
Because I know your word that goes out from your mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what You desire
and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.
You are My hope

 

Scripture Used:

Isaiah 49:23b
“those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”

Numbers 6:24-26
“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”

He has prepared a place for your loved one:

John 14:2-4 (NIV)
My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

2 Corinthians 5:1-7 (The Message Bible)
For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade – —and we’ll never have to relocate our “tents” again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less.
That’s why we live with such good cheer. You won’t see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don’t get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going.

He is my help and hope:

Romans 8:24-26a
For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

Lamentations 3:19-28 (The Message Bible)
It’s a Good Thing to Hope for Help from God
I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—
the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there’s one other thing I remember,
and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:
God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).
He’s all I’ve got left.
God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
to the woman who diligently seeks.
It’s a good thing to quietly hope,
quietly hope for help from God.
It’s a good thing when you’re young
to stick it out through the hard times.
When life is heavy and hard to take,
go off by yourself. Enter the silence.
Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face.
The “worst” is never the worst.
Why? Because the Master won’t ever
walk out and fail to return.
If he works severely, he also works tenderly.
His stockpiles of loyal love are immense.

Matthew 19:26 (NIV)
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

On Prayer (even when we have no words as we mourn, the Holy Spirit living in us groans for us, because he searches our hearts, and knows the mind of the spirit.  He intercedes on our behalf.  If you are a follower of Jesus, you are called according to His purpose, his promise is that He Will in ALL THINGS work for the good of those who love Him!)  :
Romans 8:26b-28 (NIV)
“We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

James 1:5-6 (The Message Bible)
If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves.

Jeremiah 29:11-14
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

He Heals the broken-hearted:
Psalms 147:3-5 (The Message Bible)
He heals the heartbroken
and bandages their wounds.
He counts the stars
and assigns each a name.
Our Lord is great, with limitless strength;
we’ll never comprehend what he knows and does

Isaiah 49:15-16 (NIV)
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me.

Psalms 62:5-7 (NIV)
Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

He is our Strength, shield, defense, and our help:
Psalms 28:7
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.

Exodus 15:2
“The Lord is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

I will not fear He is my rest and comfort:
Psalms 62:1
Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

There is no other name by which we are saved:
Deuteronomy 4:35
You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other.

John 10:27-30
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

1 Peter 2:24
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

Colossians 2:2-3
My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

When you use God’s word and dwell on his promises, He promises this:
Isaiah 55:11
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

There is no condemnation:
John 3:16-17
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.