YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL - continued...

.....He longs to have you spend time with Him and when you do He will draw you closer to Him.
And it is in that closeness with your creator that you will find your true beauty. You see I believe beauty is spiritual, not just “skin deep” and this is what I am going to get into with you now. I will give you scriptures too that will prove to you that you are beautiful.
Proverbs 31 teaches a lot of being a woman of dignity and grace; these are characteristics of a woman that make up a Godly Woman. In verse 30 of Proverbs 31 it says: Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. This verse does not mean you should not have charm and beauty, but that just those on their own can be deceptive. You see Proverbs 31 is talking of a Godly Woman and that word “Godly” is what sets us apart, when a woman is charming and beautiful and fears the Lord she is a Godly Woman. 1 Peter 3 verse 3-5 teaches that your beauty will be seen through your quiet and gentle spirit, not by your outward adornments. Now don’t hear what I am not saying, it does not mean you may never again wear make-up or jewelry, I love to wear both of those I don’t want you to become legalistic about it either. It is important to look after your body and eat right and keep healthy. What this verse is saying is that if you are filled with the Holy Spirit you will have a beauty that radiates from within you. And it will be this that makes you beautiful whether you wear make-up and jewelry or not.

So you see your beauty is not just a physical thing. You are beautiful, firstly, because God created you. You have spiritual beauty from within because of the Holy Spirit in you. You have a Godly beauty because you fear the Lord. You have an anointed beauty from the sacrifices you have made for the Lord and you have priestly beauty that comes from the works you do for the Lord.

This is a little song by Nicole Nordeman. This is not from my book - but I felt it was rather appropriate.

Anyway
Bless the day this restoration is complete
Dirty, dusty, something must be underneath.
So I scrape and I scuff though it's never quite enough -
I am starting to see me finally.

A gallery of paintings new and paintings old
I guess it's no surprise that I'm no Michael Angelo
Every layer of mine, hides a lovely design
It might take a little patience
It might take a little time...

But You called me beautiful
When You saw my shame
And You placed me on the wall
Anyway...

You who have begun this work will someday see
A portrait of the Holiness You meant for me
So I polish and shine, till it's easier to find
Even an outline of mine

But You called me beautiful
When You saw my shame
And You placed me on the wall
Anyway...

And You placed me on the wall
Anyway.

We are works of art in God's gallery. Some of us are old and forgotten and ashamed of how we look, but when God finds us and begins to restore us it is a wonderful and sometimes painfull process. And yet - even though we are not Michael Angelos or Rembrandts - He still sees us as beautiful, exquisite, priceless peices of art which He created and He hangs us proudly on His gallery wall for all to see. That's what this song speaks to me.

I hope that these last two days have led you to realise in some small way that You Are Beautiful. And I pray that you will realise your worth to God and how precious you are to Him.