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Scripture Sunday: Bouquets of Roses

February 11, 2012 By Sandra Heska King

God sent me to announce the year of his grace—
a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies—
and to comfort all who mourn,
To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion,
give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes,
Messages of joy instead of news of doom,
a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.
Rename them “Oaks of Righteousness”
planted by God to display his glory.
~Isaiah 61:2-3 (Message)

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Comments

  1. S. Etole says

    February 11, 2012 at 11:11 pm

    The Rose of Sharon … the greatest rose of all.

    • Sandra says

      February 12, 2012 at 8:33 am

      Indeed!

  2. Shanda Oakley says

    February 11, 2012 at 11:52 pm

    Beautiful shot!
    BTW..I stopped my In Search of Beauty because there wasn’t enough interest. I do appreciate your intentions to link up. I have an On Your Heart Tuesday blog hop if you’d like to link to that. It opens on Mondays at 6pm and is open till Friday.

    • Sandra says

      February 12, 2012 at 8:40 am

      So that’s why I couldn’t find the linky-doodle thingie. There are times when we just have to let go of some things for whatever reason to make room for new. Right?

  3. Nancy says

    February 12, 2012 at 1:21 am

    Your roses are incredible!!! Thank you for sharing them.

    • Sandra says

      February 12, 2012 at 8:44 am

      Thanks, Nancy. This was a heavy (as in weight) bouquet! The managing partner of one of the offices my husband is connected with gives them to the wives of his management team. He’s not even my husband’s boss since my husband is in compliance–but considers him indispensable. He’s a wonderful and gracious man.

      • Nancy says

        February 12, 2012 at 10:01 am

        That’s generous of him…

  4. Nancy says

    February 12, 2012 at 7:54 am

    That passage from Isaiah is one of my all-time favorites.

    I sent you a message on Facebook–for some reason my site is eating your messages 🙁 They did show up in my blogger feed, though, so I knew you stopped by to say hi!

    • Sandra says

      February 12, 2012 at 8:46 am

      Mine, too. And I read these words from the Message with new eyes–stopped to chew on every line.

      I had some of that happen on Blogger when I was there. Then the messages would all come through at once.

  5. Maureen says

    February 12, 2012 at 10:21 am

    Beautiful. Joy instead of doom. Praise instead of languid. Thank you for sharing, as you mourn, how the Lord cares for your needs and gives you roses instead of ashes. Blessings to you!

    • Sandra says

      February 12, 2012 at 5:26 pm

      Ashes make a good fertilizer, yes?

  6. Julee Ann says

    February 12, 2012 at 12:31 pm

    Beautiful flowers … and Isaiah’s words!

    • Sandra says

      February 12, 2012 at 5:27 pm

      So much in those few words. Thanks for coming by, Julee Ann.

  7. Kerry says

    February 12, 2012 at 1:23 pm

    Beautiful roses and love Isaiah’s words.

    • Sandra says

      February 12, 2012 at 5:27 pm

      🙂

  8. Linda says

    February 12, 2012 at 3:51 pm

    How lovely Sandy – a magnificent bouquet in exchange for ashes. A beautiful gift.

    • Sandra says

      February 12, 2012 at 5:28 pm

      A great exchange!

  9. Janet Macy says

    February 12, 2012 at 4:25 pm

    Oh! Oh my! What beautiful scripture. This touched my heart so deeply

    A bouquet of roses, messages of joy, and a praising heart. What a wonderful thing to offer: to us from God; from us to others.

    This gave me joy. Thanks for that. I needed some joy. I need to be able to give joy, roses, and praises so that everyone will know what an awesome God I serve.

    • Sandra says

      February 12, 2012 at 5:28 pm

      Joy to you, Janet! I’m so glad this touched you.

  10. Carol J. Garvin says

    February 12, 2012 at 4:55 pm

    Thank you for this, Sandy. This is very meaningful for me. Our family members each placed a rose and the congregation added rose petals at the memorial for my brother-in-law. There were so many beautiful roses. Perhaps I can show some of them on my blog and link to yours, if you don’t mind???

    • Sandra says

      February 12, 2012 at 5:29 pm

      That’s beautiful, Carol. So meaningful. Yes, do share. And I never mind you linking. 🙂

  11. Joanne Norton says

    February 12, 2012 at 7:00 pm

    Right among my favorite verses… and most lovely, lovely roses…

    • Sandra says

      February 12, 2012 at 10:06 pm

      🙂 🙂

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