God's Standard of Beauty

Lately I have been struggling with something I think a lot of women struggle with.  I have been feeling like my appearances are what give me worth and value.  I know this isn't true, but I continuously fall prey to believing the lie that who I am is nothing more than what's on the outside.

A book I have been reading quoted a young woman who said "...That's not God's definition of true beauty and we shouldn't allow it to become ours."  The world uses movies, magazines, advertisements, etc. to make us believe that we need to wear this or that, be thinner, or use this brand of makeup to make us attractive.  It's NOT true! 

1 Peter 3:3-4 is just one of the passages that defines God's standard of beauty: "Do not let your adorning bet external- the braiding of hair and putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear- but let your adorning be with the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious."  This verse is posted on my mirror for me to see everyday.  While it is a great reminder, I have come to realize it's not enough.  I need to be constantly meditating on who God is and the love He has for me.  My identity is in Christ.  No beauty product will ever accomplish what He has done and will do in my life and yours.  God's standard of beauty is a gentle and quiet spirit.  My prayer is that He will give me the gentle spirit that He finds so beautiful.

Rejoice

For those of you who know my current situation, this title probably seems very strange.  My grandpa went home to be with the Lord yesterday morning.  Even though we knew it was coming, it still came as a shock to my family and me.  However, I came across the following passage tonight and realized how badly I needed to hear it.  Philippians 4:4,7 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice...And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Obviously, the circumstances make it pretty hard to rejoice.  It would be much easier to be angry or question why God would take such a faithful servant.  My grandpa was the most godly man I have ever known.  I am so thankful for the testimony of his life.  However, I am now realizing that God is working through his death too.  Seeds have been and are constantly being planted because of the life and death of my grandpa whether it be the nurses hearing the Word being read to him in the hospital and in hospice, people witnessing my family praying and being thankful to the Lord for his goodness despite the circumstances, or even the strength my grandma has shown throughout the recent weeks. 

We may never understand why God chose to bring my grandpa home when He did.  However, I refuse to question His love and His goodness.  Deuteronomy 7:9 says Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful god who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. God is faithful in good times and bad.  Psalm 16:2 I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."

Life Lesson: What's Really Important

November is a crazy month for everyone.  In addition to preparing for the holidays, many of us are rushing to meet deadlines whether it be for school or work.  Lately I have been feeling very overwhelmed with the projects, presentations and papers that I am expected to complete in the next two weeks.  However, God has shown me that in the grand scheme of things, I am stressing over things that don't really matter.

This past Sunday, my grandpa ended up in the hospital due to hemorrhaging in the brain.  He is a wonderful spiritual leader in our family and a very strong man, so seeing him lying in a hospital bed, barely able to move, unable to speak clearly, and frustrated with the circumstances has been very difficult.  However, the Lord is using this to remind me that my worries are completely foolish.  God is in control of everything.  He is good no matter what the circumstances.  Romans 8:28 says  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  Everything that happens is part of His perfect plan.  I have not been trusting in Him or His promise to work for the good of my family.  While I am praying for my grandpa's healing, I am thankful for the reminder that I need to trust in God's perfect plan.  His grace is enough. 

2  Corinthains 12:9  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

A False Sense of Security

I know I have written a post similar to this before, but it really hit me today how much I struggle with the need to feel secure.  I rely on things and people that God has blessed me with.  I don't think there is anything wrong with enjoying what God has given us, but when we stop and think about it, would losing something or someone affect our faith in the One who provides true security?

Hebrews 12: 26-29 says "At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, 'Yet once more I will shake not onlly the earth but also the heavens.'  This phrase, 'Yet once more,' indicates the removal of things that are shaken-that is, things that have been made-in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.  Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire."

God shakes things up in our lives to show us what is eternal and what isn't.  He wants to remind us that He is the only constant. 

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Malachi 3:6 "For I the Lord do not change..."

Our material posessions won't last, people will fail and disappoint us.  The only hope we have for finding true security is found in the arms of the One who "will never leave you nor forsake you." 

 

The Power of the One True King

It has been way too long since I have last written!  However I am super excited to share what God is teaching me.  I have been studying the book of Daniel and through it I am learning so much about the soveriegn God we serve. 

Before I can share what's on my heart this morning, I feel the need to give you a little bit of background about what has happened in the book of Daniel to this point in my study.  Daniel and three other boys his age were taken from Jerusalem to Babylon to learn the literature and language of the astrologers.  Daniel and the others were even given new names to try to encourage them to abandon their beliefs in God and believe in the false Babylonian gods.  (Each of their original names had a meaning related to God and the new names were in honor of the false Babylonian gods).  However, they remained strong in their faith despite the ungodly culture they were surrounded by.

The portion of scripture I read today was about Daniel interpreting King Nebuchadnezzar's dream.  The king had a dream about a statue who's head was made of gold, arms and chest of silver, middle and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay.  A rock struck the statue and shattered it into pieces.  In order to spare his own life, Daniel had to interpret the king's dream.  He begged and pleaded God to give him the wisdom and knowledge necessary to interpret the dream.  God revealed the dream and it's meaning to Daniel who was then able interpret the dream for the king.

The statue in the king's dream represented the different empires that were to come (each metal a different empire).  The rock in the dream represented Christ at His second coming.  When Daniel relayed this message to the king he began to worship God and claimed him as "Lord of kings."

The point I am trying to make is that if King Nebuchadnezzar, who had no personal relationship with God responded in worship to the power and might of the One true King, then why are we not living even more in awe of Him?  Those of us who do have a relationship with the Lord know even more about His greatness than the king of Babylon and yet we often fail to lead lives characterized by worship.  Why is this?

My prayer is that God would help me to worship Him just as I was created to and that He would help me to live in a way that brings Him honor and Glory.  On my own I will fail.  There is no doubt about it.  However, by His grace I am able to trust in Him to provide strength in my weakest moments.  We serve a great and powerful God!  It's time for us as Christians to start living like we believe this with every fiber of our being. 

Just One Day

Psalm 84:10 says: "For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere..."  If I were given one day to live how would I spend it?  What would my attitude be?  Do I really believe one day in the presence of the Lord is better than a thousand here on Earth?  I would like to think I would have the same attitude as David, but in all honesty, I would probably spend my last day enjoying the things this world has to offer, but why!?

I should be living a life so in awe of God that I look forward to the day I meet Him face to face, yet I feel like I have so much I want to accomplish here first.  I want to graduate from college, get a full time job, get married, have kids...I could go on and on.  That entire list is about what I want.  What does God want for my life?  It doesn't matter what I want.  Proverbs 19:21 states: "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."  If God calls me home tomorrow, will I be ready? 

My prayer is that I would view just one day in the presence of the Lord as more precious than a thousand anywhere else.  More precious than time spent with loved ones, more precious than time spent preparing for my future, more precious than the greatest things this world has to offer because this world is nothing compared to the greatness in store for those who have trusted Christ as Savior.  This life is temporary.  James 4:14 "yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.  What is your life?  for you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."  I want to live my life in preparation for the day that I will meet the Lord face to face.

If you were given just one day to live how would you spend it?

A Whole New Perspective

My devotions today were on the subject of marriage.  My first reaction was: I am not married, so how can I possibly learn anything from this?  However, despite my negative attitude God softened my heart and gave me a whole new perspective on marriage. 

The passage I read today was from Ephesians 5:21-33.  This passage discusses the roles of husbands and wives.  Any woman who has grown up in the church knows that the woman's role in a marriage is to submit.  I have heard it a thousand times.  However, God totally changed the way I view submission.  I have always just thought of it as something that I will have to do someday when (Lord willing) I get married.  It is so much more than that!  Ephesians 5:22 says "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  This doesn't mean that women are supposed to view their husbands as Lord, but that when a woman submits to her husband, she is serving the Lord.  It's not just something I will have to do someday, it's another way that I can live my life to glorify God!

The passage also discusses the role of husbands.  While it is easy for me to think: okay this is yet another thing that doesn't apply to me, that's not true at all!  I need to make sure that whoever I will someday marry is capable of carrying out his role according to God's word.  I need to be sure that he is someone who will love me sacrificially and in a way that will encourage purity.  Ephesians 5:25-27 says "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."

While it is important for the husband and the wife to carry out their roles in a marriage, it all means nothing if they do not have Christ as their foundation.  I don't know when I will get married, but I want the purpose of my marriage to be to bring glory to God by showing the love of Christ.

 

 

Overwhelmed

With school having started back up a week and a half ago, I find myself feeling very overwhelmed.  Besides school, I have a practicum that requires 54 hours in a classroom this semester, a part time job, and church activities.  Maybe that doesn't sound like much, but trying to find time to keep up on homework, maintain relationships, and have time for a social life is proving to be a challenge.  I am not sharing all of this to complain about how hard my life is, but because I have learned something through the struggle.

I am not relying on God nearly enough.  Here are a few verses that have convicted me of this truth:

Philippians 4:5-7 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.  The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 4:17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

1 Peter 5:7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

These verses make it very clear that God cares about me and is going to take care of me.  When I worry, I am essentially believing the lie that God is not enough.  God is enough!  He is big enough, strong enough, and loving enough to take care of me no matter how overwhelmed I feel or what I am going through.  When I trust in Him, He will bring me a sense of peace that I can't even begin to fathom!  What a blessing to experience peace in a time of chaos!  I may feel overwhelmed now, but God is preparing me for something much bigger than my worries.  Give it to God!  You will be glad you did :)

The Other End of the Rope

Jeremiah 15:20 "...for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord."

Today, my time in the Word was spent in Acts 27.  Paul was travelling to Rome by sea when a storm hit.  When everyone else on the ship had completely given up hope, Paul shared a message that an angel had brought to him.  The message was this: "Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar.  And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you."  God wanted Paul to make it to Rome and He was going to make sure it happened.  Paul's hope was in God.  He was the one holding on to the other end of Paul's security rope.

Who have I placed my hope in?  Who is at the other end of my security rope?  Is it God or someone else who will not be able to deliver?  What a huge wakeup call!  While I like to think that I rely completely on the Lord, if I am totally honest with myself, I know that's not always true.  I have a tendency to rely on others when I am in tough situations.  It's okay to take encouragement from others, but when we are relying on others instead of God, that's when we run into problems.  What if God were to take everyone I loved?  Would that destroy my hope? 

Relying completely on others will only lead to disappointment.  God is the only one who can and will deliver us.  Psalm 18:2 "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer..."  I love and am very thankful for each and every person God has placed in my life, but at the end of the day, the only one I want holding on to the other end of my rope is God. 

Guitly Conscience?

As followers of Christ, we are able to confess our sins to God and He will forgive them.  Hebrews 8:12 says: "For I will be merciful toward their iniquitites, I will remember their sins no more."  Once we confess our sins to God, he forgets them and doesn't hold them against us.  So why do I still feel guilty?  Sometimes even after I confess and make things right with God I still feel guitly about my past sins.



In my own life, I have found that when I feel this way it is often because I am not taking God at His word.  I have the head knowledge that I am forgiven, but until it reaches my heart, it doesn't allow me to live with a clear conscience.  In times like these I need to ask Him to help me to believe that I am forgiven and He loves and accepts me despite the sins I have committed.  Psalm 103:12 states "as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us."


If we have surrendered our life to Christ and His finished work on the cross, we don't have to feel guilty.  The price is paid!  Because He shed His precious blood, we are made new!  Romans 6:6 says "We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."  I am so thankful for this wonderful truth.  I am no longer a slave to my sin because of what Christ did for me! 

My Personal Testimony of God's Grace

          I was raised in a loving home.  My mother was a believer, so we went to church regularly and my sister and I were involved in Awana’s as kids.  I had thought all along that my dad was a believer too.  It wasn’t until I was in high school that I realized that wasn’t actually the case.  My dad finally made the decision to follow Christ and it has been such a blessing to me and my entire family.

            I was saved when I was six or seven years old.  We had been talking about Salvation in Awana’s and I knew that was something I wanted and needed.  One of the leaders took me out into the hallway and I prayed and asked Christ to forgive me of my sins and I put my trust in Him and His finished work on the cross.

            I would say my faith has been a very gradual process.  Because I was saved so young, there wasn’t a whole lot of change immediately after making the decision to follow Christ.  I tried to be a good kid and obey like the Bible says to, but I don’t think I really truly understood the weight of my sin until I was in high school.

            When I was in 8^th grade we began attending the Efree church in Polk City.  We also attended Sunday school and youth group.  I can still remember when the youth pastor, Eric Simpson, introduced himself.  He was so excited to see new kids at church, but I was terrified.  I was and still am pretty shy around new people and Eric was so outgoing and upbeat!  I had no idea at that moment how much of an impact that man would have on my life.  During my time in youth group and Sunday school with Eric, I grew so much.  Eric was a prime example of what it means to live for the Lord and he inspired me to become more like Christ by setting such a godly example.

            In 2007, I decided that I wanted to be baptized.  I had been baptized as a baby, but I now understood that I needed to be baptized again now that I truly understood what Christ did for me when He died on the cross.  On August 26 I was baptized by Eric at Big Creek.  It was such an awesome experience to publicly show that I wanted to live my life with the sole purpose of glorifying God.

            Eric passed away my senior year of high school.  It was the hardest thing I had ever faced.  I had family members who passed away, but none of them were as much a part of my life as Eric had been.  I honestly think the only thing that helped me through that time was the knowledge that God had called Eric home and that he was with Him in heaven.  I know that I will see Eric again someday.  I still keep a letter in my nightstand that Eric had written to me before he moved to Wisconsin.  I read it every once in a while to remind me of the man who showed me what it truly means to live for the glory of God and what he taught me.

            I hope I haven’t given the impression that my walk with God has been easy.  I have definitely struggled with sin.  Toward the end of high school and the first few years of college, I was not living for the Lord.  I was in a relationship that was anything but pleasing to God.  I knew I should end things because the relationship was causing me to distance myself from God.  I knew I was sinning, but I wasn’t ready to stop, so I pretended to be the “good Christian girl” everyone expected me to be, but inside I felt like such a hypocrite.

            Finally, during my junior year of college God got a hold of me and made it clear that it was time to end the relationship for good.  I obeyed, but I was terrified.  What if no one else ever wants to be with me?  What if I am single for the rest of my life?  These were the questions that were constantly replaying in my mind.  God drew me closer to him despite my doubt.  Through time in His word and lots of prayer, I finally realized that God had bigger and better plans for me and that I need to rely on Him completely to take care of me.  I finally confessed my sins and I know that He has forgiven me and I am no longer tied down by what I have done.  When I finally grew to be content where God had me, he brought someone new into my life.  By God’s grace, we started a relationship with Christ as our foundation.  It has been such a blessing to be a part of a relationship that’s centered around Christ.  However, I know that if things don’t work out, it’s because God has something better planned.

            I have no idea what my future holds, but I know that I don’t have to be afraid.  The God of the universe has my life all planned out.  He is in total control.  It’s up to me to trust Him and let Him use me for His glory wherever and however that may be.  I still have a lot to learn and I am definitely a work in progress, but I am so thankful that my sins are paid for by Christ’s blood and I am no longer bound to sin.