Beauty.

July 12, 2012.

Sitting on a dock at the lake, I looked down and saw hundreds of small fish surrounding me.  I noticed that the murky water made the fish look like they were an ugly, brown color.  But, as the fish popped their heads out of the water and I looked closer, when the sun hit them, they were actually a brilliant rainbow color.

It reminded me of how we can look at people with worldly eyes and put the world's standard of beauty on them.  The world says you have to be a certain weight and look a certain way to be beautiful.

Who defined beauty???

Beauty is God.  Period.  And whatever He touches is made beautiful.  If this is true, then we are ALL radiant because we are ALL His children, whether we know it or not.  We are formed by His very own hands; created in His image.  Therefore, we are His masterpieces.  Ultimately, this means if we bash any of His children by calling them ugly, we are telling God He didn't know what He was doing when He created us.  Which is utterly stupid.  It's not in God's nature to do a bad job. 

If you ask the Lord to show you what He thinks of a person . . .  be prepared to be hit with an overwhelming love.  You are probably going to tell that person how beautiful they are in every way possible over a hundred times.  haha.  God can't keep His eyes off His creation.  He is moved by our beauty.  With our physical eyes we may not be able to see this beauty, but with our spiritual eyes we will be overwhelmed by true beauty.

For example, yesterday in Boston, I found this flower shop and bought a rose to give to an elderly woman that the Lord would show me as I was walking.  We walked for a while but nobody stood out to me.  God told me to go down this alley and there, sitting on the stoop of her house, smoking a cigarette, was the woman I was to give the flower to.

I walked up to this woman and could hear in my head all the lies that had been spoken over her about her appearance.  According to worldly standards this woman was plain, wouldn't turn your head.  She was about 55 with graying hair.  She turned my head though, and no doubt had Jesus' full attention.  I saw a ruby in the dust of lies.  Jesus thought this woman was beautiful, beyond beautiful . . . RAVISHING!  What Jesus thinks about His daughters and sons is 100% truth.  His thoughts about us should be our identity.

Before I even spoke to her the Lord showed me a calloused, hurt heart and I knew it was going to be difficult to break through.

I simply told her what Jesus thought of her.  I told her she was beautiful and that Jesus loved her.  I attempted to hand her the rose, but she just blankly starred at me like..."are you for real, lady?"  She asked me...

"What's the catch?"

I explained to her there was no catch and explained to her Jesus' love.  She thought I wanted money.  I made it clear to her that we can't buy Jesus' love, it's a gift; and that He paid the price for her, and all she had to do was receive it.  

She was super confused, but you could tell she felt special.  In the end she was able to accept the rose.  Maybe she wasn't able to receive Jesus or the words He was saying over her, but accepting the rose was a huge step for this beautiful Bostonian woman.  

The rose was planted and as others water it, it will soon become a stunning rose bush!

Another aspect of life where the Holy Spirit has been revealing beauty to me is: in myself.  This sounds funny, like I'm saying..."Oh wow, I'm so beautiful!"  But, like I said earlier...if Jesus says I'm beautiful, then I am!  haha!  Isn't that cool?!  If Jesus says I'm going to speak in front of thousands of women, then I am.  If Jesus says you're a forerunner for the Kingdom of God, then prepare yourself, because you're a pioneer!

This leads into a season the Lord has been calling me into for a while, a humbling season of true beauty.  The Lord has made an impression on my heart to do a

40 day make-up fast! 

The purpose of this fast is to rally together a group of women who have a rock solid faith and foundation in the Lord to go into battle for a generation of women caught up in self-hatred and striving to make themselves beautiful with make-up, clothes, over-exercising, anorexia, etc.  I'm totally not against make-up, I barely wear any myself, but I thought it would be a perfect thing to give up for 40 days as a symbol of laying down anything to cover up our true beauty as women.  There's a reason why it's called cover-up, it covers up blemishes that this world says are ugly, when honestly I think the Lord delights in our imperfections.  He actually thinks WE LOOK PERFECT!!! Let that blow your mind.  We are perfect in His sight.  Think of how different this world would be if a generation of confident, bold, courageous, beautiful woman took a stand and said THIS IS WHAT TRUE BEAUTY IS!!!  WE ARE BEAUTIFUL BECAUSE GOD SAYS WE ARE LOVELY!!!  NOT ONLY ARE WE BEAUTIFUL ON THE OUTSIDE BUT ON THE INSIDE BECAUSE WE REFLECT OUR HEAVENLY FATHER!!! Think of how much this will help our brothers in Christ to keep their eyes on Jesus when they see their sisters protecting them by dressing our bodies appropriately.  

It breaks my heart when I see women dressing in skin tight mini skirts, begging for the eyes of men to give them a passing glance.  I used to dress like this and cake my makeup on, and honestly it brings no satisfaction...it's actually quite uncomfortable. haha.  These women need to be told they are beautiful without trying and that Jesus is undone by their elegance.  

WOMEN OF GOD LET'S TAKE A STAND!!!  JOIN ME FOR A 40 DAY MAKEUP FAST!!! 

It may be hard, but it will be so worth it.  God will pour out His grace on you and you will radiate the beauty of the Father more than ever.  Let's see an end to self hatred, eating disorders, and low self esteem!!!