BEAUTIFUL SOUL PRESENTS

A
DEEPER
LOOK
A WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL THAT
DIVES DEEPER INTO SCRIPTURE
FOR REVELATION AND
ENCOURAGEMENT.
WRITTEN BY: AMANDA BROWN
 THE STONES WILL
CRY OUT; A CALL
TO WORSHIP
Often times when Jesus spoke, it was the
Pharisees (the teachers of the law who
claimed to know God) that missed the entire
message of what he was trying to say. In this
weeks devotional, we will look deeper into the
following scripture to hear and receive the
message that Jesus was giving to the people
when he said "if they keep quiet, the rocks will
cry out."
Scripture Reference: Luke 19:37-42
"When he came near the place where the
road goes down the Mount of Olives, the
whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to
praise God in loud voices for all the miracles
they had seen: "Blessed is the king who comes
in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and
glory in the highest!" Some of the Pharisees in
the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your
disciples!""I tell you," he replied, "if they keep
quiet, the stones will cry out."As he
approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he
wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had
only known on this day what would bring you
peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes." 
 "GOD CAN CAUSE EVEN

"
THE STONIEST OF
HEARTS TO TURN BACK
TO HIM."
Amanda Brown,
Beautiful Soul
 AT TIMES,
WE ARE THE
STONES
Have you ever been in a place where you are so focused on the
outside world that it becomes difficult to worship? Maybe you're
overworked or you're in a low place emotionally and you just
can't seem to bring yourself to a place of authentic worship.
Maybe you even turn to outside sources for comfort because you
can't seem to find your way through God's presence. We know
that God's word says nothing not darkness or powers or
principalities can separate us from him but I think anyone that
has been serving the Lord for any length of time can honestly say
yes, they have been through a season or two where it has been
difficult to worship. In this encounter with Jesus, we find him
traveling through the towns toward the Mount of Olives
preaching and teaching. His disciples began to praise and sing
joyfully in his presence. Much like the world today, the Pharisees
found it disrespectful and told Jesus to "rebuke his disciples." His
response was that if they kept quiet, the stones would cry out.
 Many people referred to the stones as the rocks on the ground or building structures. Even some
worship songs have the lyrics "I won't let the stones cry out for me." But I challenge you to think a little
deeper. Jesus often spoke out loud but with internal messages that his followers didn't understand until
some time after he said it. After stating that the stones would cry out he looked over the city of
Jerusalem and wept for it, saddened that the peace he was bringing was hidden from their eyes. I
believe even in the moment, Jesus' heart was being softened and prepared for what was to come and
he felt sorrow for the ones who could not receive him knowing that if they got quiet enough to receive
him their hearts of stone too would cry out in praise. Though he was Jesus, he didn't always know and
understand the full will of God in real time as he walked the earth, he just walked in obedience anyway
trusting in the Father. See at times, we become like the Pharisees and those very stones he spoke of.
With hardened hearts, we look for answers and understanding when the answer is praising and trusting
in our Father's perfect will.
 A HEART EXPOSED
CAN BE HEALED

The Pharisees had hearts of stone,

hearts that could not receive the Son or
his teachings. They had no joy, only
questions and judgement so they
couldn't understand the praise that
came from the disciples. It is easy to
judge the Pharisees but put yourself in
their shoes for a moment. They believed
that they knew God and knew exactly
how he would come and then they were
met by the one claiming to be the Son
of God who came as a regular man
wanting no praise or recognition. During
difficult seasons, we often miss God and
our very own hearts can become like
stone as well. We can tend to shift
blame and question God and our hearts
become calloused making it difficult to
believe the words of Jesus and find joy
and praise in a particular season.
 Sometimes, we don't understand what
God is doing and so we refuse to praise
until we see the final outcome. Our hearts
become hardened to the very idea of God
blessing us with real hope and a good
future and we even begin to envy those
who are able to praise through every
season. And other times, it is our own
mistakes that make us feel unworthy of
celebrating in our savior's presence so
instead we lean into our pride trying to
comfort our own selves with the attitude
that we know God and we know the
scriptures. This can cause our hearts and
minds as well as the body of Christ to be
divided, knowing on the surface that God
is good but not living that truth out in our
own lives. But trust that when you expose
your heart and allow yourself to turn back
to God and cry out to him, he is willing and
able to heal you.
A HEART OF STONE
FOR A HEART OF
FLESH
If you are in a season where you
are finding it hard to praise, I
want to encourage you today.
God sees you and wants to
fellowship with you. God
promises that even your heart
of stone will cry out to him. It
will cry out tears of repentance
that will allow him to exchange
that heart of stone for a
softened heart of flesh and at
that time you will see again
that God is for you and you too
have a reason to continue in
joyful praise. In Ezekiel 36:26
God promises to restore you. He
says that he will remove our
hearts of stone and replace
them with hearts of flesh.
God promises to put a new spirit
in us, and cause us to walk in
his ways and keep his
judgements. No matter your
mistakes, we can know this to
be true because in verse 22 he
says that he does not do this
because we deserve it, but to
protect his Holy name. God
restores his people even in their
faults because of his namesake.
He will always show us how
great his name is until all of his
people are reconciled to him. I
encourage you to take heart and
get prepared to worship like
you've never worshiped before.
TAKEAWAYS

Here are some takeaways: #1 If you have found yourself sitting in guilt
or shame for questioning God through a difficult season, rest assured
that He sees you and promises to restore you to him. To remove your
shame and pride and replace it with humility that will allow you to
authentically praise him yet again.
#2 If you've been sitting in judgement of those who find it difficult to
see or honor God in their season, rest assured that God sees them too
and pray for them. God will reward those who are faithful during times
when it is easy to judge and look down upon others.

BY: AMANDA M. BROWN

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