10
Feb '22
You are Beautiful!
10
Feb '22
Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead. (Song of Solomon 4:1)
Did you know that you are beautiful?
Not just pretty or handsome, not just alright, or acceptable, but beautiful and radiant in the eyes of God?
It can be hard for us to believe this about ourselves sometimes. The enemy loves to attack our minds and lower our confidence in Christ.
Satan doesn’t want us to view ourselves the way God does. Satan wants us to feel ugly, unworthy and unloved.
But in the face of God’s perfect love, the lies of Satan fade away like dust!
Every day we are being transformed to be more like Jesus.
In our loving pursuit of God, we become reflections of His own beauty and goodness since we are made in His beautiful image!
God created you unique and with intentionality. The sound of your voice, the color of your skin, your eyes, your height, your personality, your passions, your quirks… everything about you He adores! You are His living, breathing masterpiece, workmanship and poetry!
Be encouraged today that God sees you as beautiful, radiant, valued, gifted and loved. He does not view you through the lens of the world. He doesn’t view you in the lens of yesterday’s mistakes or past sins. He views you the same way He views Jesus, made righteous by His blood. You are pure, whole, lovely, radiant, strong, a warrior, valued, desired, cherished, treasured, beautiful and extravagantly loved beyond measure!
“Lord, thank you for transforming myself into your image and helping me to see myself the way you do!”
“Extravagantly Loved”, wow, what a way to describe God’s love for us. When I read this devotion it brought a smile to my face. It caused me to pause and reflect on the truth that “He created you and I unique and with intentionality”. No matter what lies the enemy is trying to feed you, remember this devotion, “You are pure, whole, lovely, radiant, strong, a warrior, valued, desired, cherished, treasured, beautiful and extravagantly loved beyond measure!” Hallelujah!
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
30
Aug '19
Life is Beautiful and Brief
30
Aug '19
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)
Beneath my fun-loving exterior is a very analytical person. I love my life, I love spontaneity and I also happen to love trying to figure things out!
But like all good things taken to the extreme, my analyzing can turn obsessive and my focus fixed on that which cannot be explained anyway. It’s like the quote I ran across recently from prolific author Philip Yancey: “Faith is believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.”
How true is that! Even so, I am always trying to make sense of a given situation going forward. Always.
But in light of today’s verse, how sad is that that I am consumed with trying to know what I think I need to know when I think I need to know it. Surely I’m missing out on opportunities to serve the Lord and the rest that is only found in him.
In a recent siutation when I was trying to “make sense” of what was going on, I also listened to a great sermon from a pastor and the best take-away nugget was this: “When you need to know, you’ll know.”
How simple! And yet how hard.
Here I am trying to find wisdom in what I can see and what I can figure out, when my life could be freed up by this reminder that God is sovereign and has all things under his control—no matter the circumstance.
Whatever I am trying to figure out today may not matter tomorrow. So why am I not looking to God first and seeking his direction in what matters most in this very moment?
“Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom,” the psalmist requests of God. And how do we gain a heart of wisdom?
By knowing the mind of Christ. By acknowledging our frailty and our humanity. And by remembering that God is God and we are not.
In Psalm 90 we read this:
Thou turnest man to destruction/dust … For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
And toward the end of the passage, it says:
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
The psalmist reminds us that God determines our life span, and he has his own timing and plans for each of our lives. Will we serve him and seek to fear and obey him before we once again turn to dust? Or will we fix our minds on ourselves, on our current circumstances and on trying to live our lives without regard to God’s perfect purposes?
At the end of the day, even if our lives never make sense (even in reverse!), we are called to bend the knee and praise the one who has “brought forth the earth and the world.”
Because of God’s “unfailing love,” life indeed is beautiful. And though it may be brief and sometimes confusing, because of his son our eternity is secure … causing us to “rejoice and be glad all our days.”
Knowing that your life is beautiful and brief, have you made yourself available to God for him to work in and through you as you walk by faith? List one reason that causes you to “be glad” today, because of the new life the Father has prepared in advance for you (Eph. 2:1-10).
When I read this devotion it blessed me beyond measure. I needed this word today and I pray it feeds your spirit man and encourages you to rejoice, be glad and find the beauty in today because life is beautiful and brief. Amen!
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Matthew 7:1-2