Intricate and Beautiful

Are you like me and start your day cringing in the mirror at the bed head and puffy eyes staring back at you? Well don’t be.  Let me tell you what you see each morning is beautiful.  It is amazing. Everything in you was so beautifully and intricately designed.  Take an anatomy class some time and tell me you are not amazed at the super human computer called a brain or the the amazingly complex electrical system called the nervous system.

One of the changes I am making in my life is my weight.  After many years of health issues I gained a lot of weight.  So I am in the process of cleansing my body and reprogramming it.  I am amazed at how our bodies respond to the foods we put in it.  How you can lose weight with adding the amount of water you intake.  My health problems also remind me of just how intricately we are designed.  Notice how when you get a headache you may be nauseated or your vision gets blurry.

I am apart of an internet group of people who are all losing weight.  We each have our own page.  On one of those pages they ask what celebrities body you would like to have.  Why can’t we like the one that we have been given?  That body was designed just for you.  Yes there is a creator and he lovingly designed and formed you.  You are a work of art.  You are precious to him.  Often times we are not precious to ourselves so we do take care of this gift.  Are you thankful for the body you have given?  Do you see yourself as lovingly designed?  I hope you do.

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?

22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Am I really beautiful?

Am I really beautiful? Am I the kind of person that others would say I am a real beauty? The beauty I speak of is inner beauty. Do I reflect my creator? Can you see Jesus in me? Like all women I desire to be viewed as beautiful in the eyes of the man I love. I want him to think there is no one more beautiful. Now I realize that is probably not reality but I desire it.

In the book “Captivating Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul” by John and Stasi Eldridge they speak of a woman as a beauty desiring to be swept up in a great adventure. I must admit that as a hopeless romantic I to desire this. I don’t desire to be the adventure but part of it. I want to know that I am a beauty that my knight would desire to fight for and defend. I want to be the type of beauty that inspires him and is truly his life saver. The adventure would be this gift that God calls life. It really is one adventure after another.

My Savior sees me as a true beauty, one worth fighting for and even worth dying for. He reveals to me each day just how beautiful I am. That beauty comes from being more and more like him. Scriptures speak of the beauty of God. For example,

Psalm 50:2
From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.

Women, if we reflect God then are we not beautiful? A woman’s beauty is not skin deep but in who she is in Christ.

Proverbs 31:30
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

I know that the man in my life sees me as beautiful. I know my Savior sees me as beautiful. Because of my Savior and the support and devotion of the man in my life I can honestly say, “I am beautiful”.

Paradise Lost

I was recently on the phone with a friend in Hawaii. He was sharing with me how all the fruit on his trees were ready to start picking. The types of fruit included bananas, limes, mangoes, avocados and much more. I was a bit envious as I opened my refrigerator to see how bare it was. Rarely do we have much fresh fruit in our home due to the expense.

Later that day he called from the beach. There he described what he saw. He was in solitude overlooking the blue water when a baby turtle emerged on the beach. That turtle was followed a few minutes later by his “brother”. My friend then saw the water spray in the distance from the spout of a whale. Before long the mother turtle emerged seeking her young. I could not help share with him how I was tearing up just thinking of the beauty of God’s creation and how truly blessed he was. He went to his truck to get his fishing gear when he saw two wild roosters playing around his truck. I laughed and shared with him how God was providing for him. You see, he could catch some fish and catch the roosters and have them for dinner followed by fresh fruit from his backyard for dessert. Everything he needed was right there. God had literally provided a feast for him. Here in Arizona fruit is not cheap neither is fish. While he was sharing what he saw with me we both realized he had been taking this all for granted. He lived in the midst of a paradise and it was lost to him.

This reminds me of my walk with Jesus. He is my paradise and I can easily take Him for granted though His majesty is ever present and in front of me. It’s at those times I am not truly abiding in Him. In John 15: 1-11 we learn that Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. Abiding in Him means we are deeply connected to him like a branch is to a vine. It is at this time that we can find joy even in times of adversity. When abiding in Him we become dependent on Jesus for everything.

When we see become despondent, worried and anxious this is a sign that we are no longer deeply connected to Him. Fact: when your horizontal relationships are failing it is time to look at the vertical relationship. Whenever we see trouble in relationships and in our mental state of being we need to look and see if we are taking Jesus Christ for granted. Are we no longer abiding in Him.

The whale my friend saw is deeply connected to the ocean. If we remove that whale it would die. The same goes for our spiritual well being. We must be deeply connected our Savior, he is our Paradise.

I challenge you to stop and see where are you in your relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not know Him I recommend you visit this web site – http://www.needhim.org. If you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ then evaluate if you are abiding in Him. If you are not let Him restore your life back to the paradise it can truly be. Take my friend for example. Each day is sweeter then the day before. He loves his time in nature and his time with Jesus. What an inspiration this man is to me. Let’s all do the same so that our Paradise can be Found.