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.

 

 

 

Warfare — So Passé?

Scripture, a book of out-of-date exceptions or a handbook of examples?

An example of an out-of-date exception is that we now no longer sacrifice at the Temple, but forgoing truths about Satan is at our own peril.

To know how to war, we must know our enemy. Three of its general tactics?

  1. I’m Not Here: Too many churches treat Satan as already defeated, so we live as if he is no longer active in our lives. Because of this, when evil happens to us, we have only ourselves or God to blame.
  2. Full Scale Assault: Once we awaken and engage our enemy as instructed by scripture, it levels assaults directly at us and even at those in our lives. If we are yet unskilled warriors or maybe in a broken state, the enemy needs only small skirmishes to discourage and derail us. As we grow in skill and might, the enemy elevates its assaults.
  3. Let’s Cut a Deal: As Graham Cooke says, “the enemy is on a limited budget.” As we become too powerful, it will try to negotiate a deal. “You know you’ve been mighty for the Lord and you’ve accomplished a lot. You’ve earned a break; let others do the work.”

What should we do?

Multiple verses provide strategies and tactics, but we’ll start in James. Look up more for extra credit.

Submit therefore to God [it starts here and only here]. Resist [our responsibility] the devil [guess it must be actively engaging us] and he [a real being] will flee from you [we can kick its tail, in Christ]. James 4:7

Alone you have NO power against our enemy, so you must begin by submitting your authority to our King. Then you resist. How?

  • Acknowledge its existence. Ever walk into a place and for no good reason felt angry, or tempted, or unsettled. Or ever had a slightly challenging conversation that unexplainably exploded as if someone doused it with gas? Is Satan an active category in your worldview?
  • Kill the head trash. Once the accusations and gossip start in your head, stop them instantly. Replace them with facts and scriptures you know to be true. Try this for a day, and see if it impacts your life.
  • Avoid. A simple way to think of this is “watch little feet where you go.” You could also add “watch little mouse where you click,” “watch little Netflix what you choose,” and “watch little iPhone what you access.”  Another is to be self-aware about the many excuses you make. “Holiness is so impractical,” or “I can guard my heart as I steep in wicked influences.”
  • Invoke God’s authority. Once we recognize our enemy’s presence, send it away in the name and power of Christ. Decide to resist.

Example:

My wife’s and my discussion about our kids exploded into Armageddon over a very small thing.

How you could engage: Enemy, I see your tactics. I stand under the cover and authority of my King, and I take captive every thought, rebuking every word of head trash and accusation against the woman I love and like. In the name of Jesus Christ, the one who died, rose, and sits at the right hand of my Father on our behalf, I command you to leave, all of you: anger, accusation, lies, fear, guilt, shame, disappointment, and any I’ve missed. Go to the foot of the throne and take the punishment given to you. I resist your efforts to destroy my relationship with my bride, the very one I am here to protect, and I receive the love, peace, forgiveness, grace, and mercy of my King in this place right now.

If you decide the enemy is not actively engaged in your life, its already won most of the battle.

Accept its existence and involvement, seek out other verses, grow in power, and crush your enemy. It will make you more dangerous for good.

We will post more examples in the future, and we welcome comments of what you do below. 

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Know What Topics Will Be Posted Each Week

Posts will be published by 5 p.m. each Wednesday.

The FIRST week of the month’s posts will relate to our identity in and by Christ, including our names

The SECOND week will relate to God’s design for male and female hearts

The THIRD week will relate to posing, wounding and healing

The FOURTH week will relate to living in Act III

If there is a FIFTH week, I get to pick a topic of my choosing, or you get to request a topic you’d like covered

As review, STARTING IN JANUARY, the topics will be:

  • Week 1: living out of our identity
  • Week 2: our masculine and feminine hearts
  • Week 3: healing
  • Week 4: living behind enemy lines
  • Week 5: you or I get to select

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