Beauty for Ashes – Cloak of Praise

May 11th, 2021 - Have you ever gotten dressed in the morning and looked in the mirror and just felt 'good' and confident about what you were wearing.   That somehow, the clothes you had put on this morning made you feel like you can tackle the world.  Then there are other times you feel like you are so mismatched and disorganized and your hair is unkempt and just nothing worked.  You leave the house for your work day feeling vulnerable.   It is much like this in life.  As we take on the unique challenges we each face every day, we do so sometimes feeling weak and unable to combat the forces that are raging around us.  We look at the world and its winning.   The Bible is full of stories where forces of evil raged against God's people but God protected them.  In doing so, he always gave them instruction that seemed odd at the time but in practice demonstrated faithfulness to God.   It is hard to fight the forces of this world without wrapping yourself in God's word.   Without praying to him and using the power of the Holy Spirit as He left it to us to use and making Jesus the Lord of our lives.   Praising God in good times and bad help us stay close to God and wrap ourselves in His glory.   This is how you face each day with confidence.   Even if you have mismatched socks. Isaiah 61:1-4