Beautiful

"The King is enthralled by your beauty." Psalm 45:11

In a world that is constantly trying to tell us that we don't "measure up"...

......in lots of ways....

I'm not "good" enough....
I'm not pretty enough...
I'm not skinny enough....
I'm not smart enough....
I'm not a good enough mother...
daughter....
friend....
I'm not good enough because I don't have a husband.
I'm not good enough because I don't have a career.
I'm not good enough...
I'm not enough!

....God tells us something entirely different.

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Before the creation of the world, I chose you! (Eph. 1:4)

I knew you before I formed you in the womb. (Jer. 1:5)

I created you with such care and wonder. (Psalm 139:14)

I know you completely, inside and out, like no other. (Psalm 139:1-3)

You are the apple of My eye. (Psalm 17:8)

You are beautiful to Me. (Psalm 45:11)

You are radiant and your face is never covered with shame. (Psalm 34:3)

You are a display of My splendor. (Isaiah 61:3)

I have counted every hair on your head. (Luke 12:7)

I rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

I surround you with songs of deliverance. (Psalm 32:7)

I hem you in before and behind. (Psalm 139:5)

I watch over your coming and going both now and forever. (Psalm 121)

I redeem your life from the pit. (Psalm 40)

Your name is written on the palms of My hands. (Is. 49:16)

You are a new creation. (2Corinthians 5:17)

I have clothed you in robes of righteousness. (Isaiah 61:10)

You are clothed with strength and dignity. (Proverbs 31:25)

You wear a crown of beauty instead of ashes. (Isaiah 61: 3)

I crown you with love and compassion. (Psalm103:4).

And there is no where you could ever go to escape My love for you. (Psalm 139:7)

We have got to get a hold of WHO we are as His Beloved....His precious daughters....and rest in the security of being HIS.

As I was researching facts on beauty and advertising for my talk, I came across this Youtube video. It is HEART WRENCHING and I wept after I watched it. Please know it is graphic, but it is NOTHING you would not see in a Victoria's Secret commercial on TV. I think sometimes we can so insulate ourselves in the Christian community that we aren't always aware of what is going on in the "world." Many women and young girls are watching secular TV and see these commercials daily. Many watch the reality shows that some of these images came from. God has placed such a burden on my heart for our generation and the next generation of young women.....this is what they face daily. The video is called "Onslaught" and it is very appropriately named.

Lord, may I see myself- the way YOU see me...beautiful in Your eyes.  Quiet the whispers (and shouts) of the world that tell me I must be something else to "be enough."  You love me RIGHT WHERE I AM, no matter what I look like.  In fact, YOU are "enthralled"- spellbound, captivated, "filled with wonder and delight" by ME.  You have called me by name and I am YOURS.  I love You, Jesus.

Freedom!

On July 4th, Independence Day in the United States of America, we do more as Americans than just eat hot dogs and watch fireworks. We celebrate our independence!

Lots of people think July 4th commemorates our victory in the Revolutionary War. But, we are actually celebrating the date that our founders signed the Declaration of Independence.

But, what is the "Declaration" all about?

I'm sure if you conducted a "man on the street" interview asking random people about the Declaration, they would know that it was stolen in the movie, "National Treasure," but not much else.

Why is our INDEPENDENCE so important?

And, do we as Americans take it for granted?

I love the verse from Galatians 5:1 that says,

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free."

Christ died to set us free from bondage to sin and death.

Deep down in the recesses of our spirits, we have a deep longing to be free.

"For what avail the plough or sail, or land or life, if freedom fail?" ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

This Independence Day, take a moment, won't you, and ponder some of this wonderful document. Remember always, that we live in the most amazing country in the world. And, because of Divine Providence, we are blessed with incredible liberties, freedoms, and privileges that the rest of the world only dreams about.

Part of the Declaration of Independence:

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.

I pray YOU will have a wonderful July 4th.....and as you enjoy your hot dog and watch beautiful fireworks light up the sky, let us join together thanking our amazing Lord for the blessing of the United States of America, but most of all, for the beautiful gift of Jesus, who indeed gives us true freedom.

Father, thank You so much for the gift of Jesus, and that through His sacrifice, I, indeed have true freedom from sin and death. Thank You, Lord, that because of Jesus, I am no longer a slave to sin, or have to be in bondage to anything. Thank You, Lord, for the sacrifice of our founding fathers. Thank You for Your gift of the United States of America. Thank You that I am blessed to live here. Thank You, Lord, for the sacrifice of all the brave service men and women who continually fight to keep us free. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.