For the past year, I have been working relentlessly on this project and am confident that it will be a blessing to you and many others. As part of the Beauty Marked community, I want to personally thank you for encouraging me throughout this process with your comments and feedback on the blog posts I've shared. I can't say thank you enough, and believe that Break Every Chain truly is my best work to date.
For a number of years now, Spring has been a season of new beginnings in my life. As many of you know, I had a health trial in April 2007 where I had to undergo and recover from major lung surgery to remove a malignant mass. It was quite a storm, but looking back I know that it was the catalyst to many of the blessings that were to come in my life. Then, fast forward two years later, I married my husband in April of 2009, a special sign of redemption and love from the Lord that brought and still brings me great joy. Now, fast forward another two years to April 2011, the month that I gave birth to my gorgeous daughter Grace, once again showing the great victory that we have in Jesus and His ability to give us double for our trouble. So, as you can see, Spring has a great connotation to me personally and brings me great joy. The following scripture passage was in my wedding program and beautifully expresses the joy and abundance of this lovely season:
Song of Solomon 2:10-13
“My beloved spoke and said to me:
‘Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes
Give a good smell.
Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.’ ”
As the Spring blossoms appear all throughout the country, I believe that there is a whisper of change being proclaimed to those that have ears to hear and eyes to see. Not just in the physical, but in the spiritual as well. Seeds that were sown in times of darkness, quietness and uncertainty that once were dead are springing forth in our lives, giving evidence to the faithfulness of our God and His ability to make all things new. The season of cold, difficult, laboring, toiling winter is coming to an end and a new season of joy, peace and rest is arising. God is calling us to rise up, shaking off the guilt of the past and forgetting the things which are behind. Come out from the shadows and chains of sins and grab hold of our freedom in Christ. He is calling us to shine forth in our God-given beauty, referring to us as His “fair ones”, fair meaning beautiful, lovely, clean, pure, fine, pleasing to the eye or mind especially because of fresh, charming or flawless quality. It’s time to embrace who we are in Christ, not necessarily because we deserve to be called fair or even feel fair, but because that is how our Father sees us. Lastly, He is calling us to come away with Him. Come to Him and away from the world. Draw near to Him and allow Him to draw near to us. Get lost in His presence. Make time for Him and go deeper in intimacy with Him, silencing the noise of our busy schedules and tuning our ears to the voice of heaven. As we surrender our plans and our agendas to set aside this special time with Him, we will begin to bloom.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you so much for your Word, that beautifully restores my soul and uplifts me in my time of need. I thank you for the season of Spring, as buds form and bloom throughout the earth as a sign to your children of the new things ahead. As we take time to come away in your presence and meditate on your Word, I ask that you reveal Yourself to us in a new way. Open our spiritual eyes to see and our spiritual ears to hear your voice through this season. Enlighten us by your Word. Captivate us in your presence. Illuminate us with your glory. I pray right now, Father, in Jesus’ Name, that you will help us to keep our focus on you. That we will begin a new season of devotion and commitment to you as we prepare to celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Just like a seed, He died, was planted in the earth and rose again on the third day, springing forth as a majestic, eternal bloom, bearing the seeds of generational salvation for many to come. We thank you and praise you for your mighty works, God. To you be all the glory and honor and praise, both now and forever. Amen.
Emonne Markland
Leave Your Beauty Mark
P.S. I encourage you to study and meditate on Song of Solomon 2:10-13 this week. Allow this passage to get into your spirit and spring forth new revelation. I personally have found profound revelation on these scriptures from the commentaries of Matthew Henry, Scofield’s reference notes (1917 edition), Wesley’s explanatory notes and Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, all of which can be found within the free Bible Study Tools app. In these references, Song of Solomon 2:10-13 is explained as a metaphor of turning away from sin and the law and the beauty and newness of Christ’s coming, bringing a wonderful season of joy to those that receive Him. I highly recommend reviewing those commentaries, as they are rich with truth. As you study, please feel free to come back to this post and share your thoughts on what the Lord is revealing to you through this passage.
Hello beautiful ladies!! Today has been a fairly relaxing day. I've been at home with the baby and my mom stopped by to visit for a bit. This morning I took some time to study in preparation for my trip to Oklahoma this weekend for The Pink Lid purity conference. It will be my first time preaching as a momma! My perspective on life has changed so much and my passion for young women knowing the truth about beauty and purity has intensified as a result. I'm delivering a message of freedom based on Isaiah 61 and various other scriptures. As women of God that have accepted the free gift of salvation, we are entitled to the freedom that Jesus died to give us!
Isaiah 61:1-3 tells us that God equipped Jesus with anointing and the Holy Spirit in order to preach good news to the poor, set the captives free, proclaim the year of Jubilee (see Leviticus 25:8-17), heal the brokenhearted, comfort those who mourn, and to give us BEAUTY for ashes! He has also given us the oil of joy in place of mourning and a garment of praise in place of heaviness that we may be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that He may be glorified!
I have shared this message numerous times over the past 2 years and every time it is such a joy to deliver. Thank you, Jesus for the freedom that you died to give us! May we stand fast in this freedom and never go back to our former life of bondage (see Galatians 5:1)
This week I encourage you to take time to study Isaiah 61 and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal this message to your spirit like never before. May every weight, every burden and every chain that has held you down from your past be broken THIS WEEK in Jesus' Name! May you receive the freedom and beauty that Christ came to give you & may He be glorified in your walk of freedom!
Be sure to come back and share what God has spoken to you as you read and meditate on this message of freedom!
Emonne Markland: Leave YOUR Beauty Mark
