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What Makes Beauty, Beauty?

Ever “see” a women whose heart is so stunning she cannot but radiate beauty, love, tenderness, goodness, and might?

Youth presents its own form of beauty, but a woman in her sixties, eighties or even at one hundred can radiate a loveliness that moves hearts. So what makes beauty, beauty?

Beauty, as designed by God, infuses all of creation. It reflects His heart, His character, His desire. Even after devastation, wild flowers push up from the burned forest floor.  No matter how darkness tries to eradicate beauty, it finds ways to reveal itself.

What does beauty do to a heart? When words are insufficient to alleviate deep pain, beauty can offer solace, comfort and hope. It can wrap its arms around us, awakening something in our hearts only it can stir. It speaks to our souls in profound ways, even stopping us in our tracks. It is a glimpse into God’s own heart.

But beauty is assaulted because it is so wonderful for good. It gets twisted, damaged, and judged. It is used to accuse and it can create deep disappointment. Beauty can also be misused by those without discretion. All of this is the work of our enemy, of our world, and of greedy mankind.

You are too thick, too old, too thin, too black, too imperfect, too asian, to not-what-the-magazines-are-screaming-as-desirable, too pale, too white, too . . .

To make matters worse, marketing is DESIGNED to inculcate deep personal disappointment that demands people buy anything that will make them acceptable, desirable, even better than others. Only this cream, this hair color, this outfit, this look, this body type, this . . . will make me acceptable, maybe even captivating? Even worse, beauty has been the source of such pain that some women bury it, refuse it, despise it, hide it, choosing control and efficiency instead.

What does God want for you? He wants you to know Him at such a personal level (Jer 24:7) to where you experience His boundless love (Rom 5:8, 1 Jn 3:1 and countless others). Then, He wants to heal you, to set you free (IS 61:1-3) from the lies and accusations that you are “too much” and “not enough”. Once this occurs, you can  begin to accept that you truly are beautiful. You can tenderly and securely allow your heavenly Father to reveal the beauty He designed in you before the beginning of time. Then, you will begin to understand what makes your beauty, your beauty.

What do you think? Share your comments below.

Want to learn about IS 61 healing? Look for information about our upcoming events on the events page.

 

 

 

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But it “Works”

Eve had to call for Adam after she ate — He was in the garage or playing video games, or so many men think.

Scripture says they were elbow-to-elbow.

Instead of standing between his wife and evil, Adam weaseled out. He chose Eve’s dangerous decision over God’s wisdom and love.

Adam abdicated his responsibility to obey [DISOBEDIENCE] and protect [PASSIVITY & COWARDICE]. Instead he chose Eve over God [IDOL WORSHIP].

Can anyone relate? I can.

Afterwards, as he and his wife hid as God came “a lookin.”

 . . . God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid [FEAR] because I was naked [SHAME]; so I hid [POSING] myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me [BLAMING GOD], she gave me from the tree [BLAMING EVE], and I ate [ADMITTED ONLY AFTER BLAMING OTHERS].” Gen 3:9-12

In these simple acts, Adam corrupted his design. In doing so, he imprinted a pattern on all of our designs.

As you look through these verses, can you relate? Personally, this is beyond humbling as these “traits” have been part of my own story. Let’s start by focusing on just one.

“I was naked; so I hid”

Ever feel shame because you were exposed? What do you do? In keeping with our role-model Adam — we hide. Behind what? Behind that something that “works,” that allows us to keep face, or to get the validation we need. That “something” is called our pose, or in many cases, it’s our personality.

Ever met the guy who relied all too much on humor or sarcasm to prevent you from really getting to know him? What other poses “work?” Mr. Know-It-All, Mr. Hard Ass, Mr. Passive, Mr. Successful, Mr. Leader Guy, Mr. Nice Guy, Mr. Womanizer, Mr. Angry, Mr. . . .

You’re around a guy and something just doesn’t feel settled or grounded. You feel like he is almost “working the room” in his own way to stay in control and maybe to keep you far from his heart. By the way, going totally passive is a way to “stay in control,” because you prevent anyone from holding you accountable.

You sense that if the diplomas on his wall, the money in his account, the muscles on his arms, the women in his bed, the countless excuses he makes, or the jokester comebacks he always uses were all removed, he would be totally exposed. You would see his “nakedness,” to go back to Genesis 3.

Want to walk away from having to rely upon where you hide, your pose, or that part of your personality that “works” for you? Ask God to show you where you have been hiding, then accept His invitation out.

Want to learn more? Check out our website our come to one of our events.

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Golden Bats and Manhood Ratings

Men, if we are meant to engage in epic battles, to live in crucial adventures, and to offer rescue to our beauties, how can these go astray?

The song says that they looked for love in all the wrong places. One of our entanglements is when we look for our strength in all the wrong places.

O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, And my refuge in the day of distress, Jer. 16:19

How often do you ask the Lord for strength before the difficult conversation, the need to humble yourself, the complex business meeting, or the challenging task? How often do you go to the Lord for refuge ? Are these even categories you live within? What do you do instead? We can . . .

Rely on our “golden bats”

In the movie The Natural, the character Roy Hobbs is a naturally gifted baseball player who believes he needs his special “golden” bat to succeed. When it is finally broken he thinks he is ruined, only to realize he’d relied far too long on that bat after he got the crucial hit without his “crutch”. What do you rely upon outside of God for your strength? How would you feel if you could come through without having to rely upon your golden bat?

Expect our beauties to rate us as men

What does it feel like to be respected by your girlfriend or wife? In Ephesians 5:33 it says that “the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.” It is part of God’s design that by this act, men are inspired and feel supported. But can we relinquish our desire to battle, to live in adventure, and to rescue, if our wife does not respect us?

But we take it a step farther. We expect our beauties to be our rating.

“Honey, can you tell me if I am a man. Can you give me the strength that I need?”

How does this request sit in your stomach?

By giving our beauties our “report card,” we ask them to offer far beyond their identity as ezer knegdo’s, expecting them to take the place of God. This exhausts and frustrates them as they are waiting for us to offer our strength without their having to be the source of that strength. The latter is destructively circular.

So what can we do?

If we are honest, we know we’ve relied on things or people other than God to be our strength, stronghold, or refuge. Want to grow out of this? Give God permission to father you away from these reliances and into an ever-deeper relationship with Him. He’ll then become more and more your source of power.