Foundations of Beauty.
When I think of that word, I think of make up. And I love make up!! I come from a line of women in my family who not only love to wear make up, but also sell make up. I was 13 when I got my first make up kit. And I would put it on really thick. My mom thought I was trying to look like a clown.
But one thing my mom taught me really early on is that the secret for a good make up, is have a good foundation. And there are alot of foundation: cream, powder, mixed. I've been in Honduras two weeks, and my skin got darker. But my make up didnt change and its hard to make it work!
It is very important having the right foundation for inner beauty. We are going to talk about three things for that foundation:
Hope
Faith
Grattitude
We need those three things for inner beauty to grow in our heart. Remember inner beauty is a quiet and gentle spirit. And that spirit wont come alone; it must have a foundation to grow.
Becaase God is the creator of beauty, those three foundations must come from Him.
The first foundation is going to be faith. Faith is the foundation on which we place our trust in God, and He begins to change and transform us so that we reflect His beauty inside out. Hope is the second foundation that reminds us whatever we face in this world, God's promises will hold us to persevere. Then there is grattitude. When we have grattitude in our hearts, we remember God's blessings in our life and we remember He is good in all things.
Before seeing them more closely, lets see what Jesus had to say about foundation. In this passage Jesus is speaking to church leaders who were very preocupied about their outside looks. So Jesus tells this story:
Mathew 7:24-27
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
There are two words that I want you to think about. Hear and practice! Hear isn't just letting words in one ear and out the other. Hear is that we are to listen and apply what we heard. There is a man who had a wonderful saying: "Too often we bring our body to church, but we don't bring our soul." When God's word is being given to us God expect us to apply it. We can hear God's words in many ways: at church, in the scriptures, a wise christian friend speaks to us. God doesn't expect us to hear His word every now and then. He expects us to listen to it every day. You wouldn't put a seed in the ground and never water it. In order for it to have a foundation, it must be cultivated every day.
In mathew 7, Jesus spoke of were two men decided to use as a foundation, rock and sand. In good weather, there isn't much difference between the both. But in a storm, it makes all the difference. A well built foundation makes the difference between a spiritual life that is thriving and a spiritual life that is struggling all the time.
FAITH
The reason we are seeing faith first because it is the part of the foundation that holds everything together.
Mathew 22:37
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Jesus says we must love Him with ALL of our heart. Have you asked why he asked ALL of out heart? Could it be that He knew we would have struggles. But He knew we would have less struggle if we placed our love, faith, and hope in Him.
The first brick in a construction is the cornerstone. That brick or rock is critical for the stability of the building. If that one brick is not placed correctly, the rest of the building is not stable. If you try to make inner beauty without faith, it won't be the inner beauty God brings.
Those leaders Jesus was talking too, were good at say the right things, wear the right words, but they were trying beauty without God.
Do you realize faith is life giving to you? The reason for this is that Jesuschrist gave His life for you. He said He came to give full life. Jesuschrist came because your heart was dark. If you do not have Jesus in your heart, it is still dark. Dark with sin. Sin is what we do when we do things that do not please God. And Jesus came to wash that away from our hearts.
Biblical faith is this: believing that God will do what He says. A woman with a great foundation of faith relies in the promises of God no matter what. So who do you strengthen your foundation of faith?
First, know God's plan for your life. His plan for your life is this: to love Him and to love others.
Second, decide each day to make Jesus your example
Third, come to church with the intention of hearing and applying God's word.
Finally, surround yourself with other trusted christian woman who will encourage you and challenge you to grow in faith.
I want to encourage you to join a woman's group to share and to grow and to be encouraged. This is very important for a good foundation of faith.
HOPE
Hope is the foundation that reminds us no matter what we face in this life, God's promises will hold us up and helps us endure so that we won't give up. This world is hard. There are things that hurt us. There is sickness. There is loss. Sometimes it feels overwhelming. Sometimes the problems of this life makes us want to stay in bed with the covers over our head. Sometimes life is just too hard.
Do you ever wonder if life will ever get easier? Sometimes we think that if it could only get easier...
But life won't get easier. It's a hard truth. So what do we do about that? Luckily, we don't have much to do about it We have hope because we have Jesus
Psalm 37:7
7 Be still before the LORD
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
When we hope, hope in God, we stop looking at the things around us. We stop expecting money or people to solve our problems. Instead of looking to solve our problems, we look up to heaven and know that God is there for us. Scripture says God will never leave us, never forsake us. He says He will help us endure.
Romans 5:
"..suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope. and hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out His love.."
He pours hope in your heart when it doesn't seem to be any answers, when it seems no one else can help us. The verse continues: "That hope is in our heart because the Holy Spirit whom God has given
us...."
When woman dont have hope, they always find themselves looking back. But hope means we are looking forward. Remember what Paul said: forget what is behind us? Without hope, we die inside. Nothing dead is ever beautiful. When we have hope in God, we remember that the pain in this world, will pave the way towards a painless future in heaven with Christ. Do you know what I love of the promises in heaven? That God will wipe our tears. We cried today, this week. Can you image God taking our tears, and never crying again for pain?
There was a time I cried all the time. And it seemed I would never stop crying. We forgot the hope God had given me in His promises. When we dont have hope, we cant do what God wants us to do. Faith is believing His promises are true; Hope is waiting for them to happen.
GRATTITUDE
Woman are never grateful with all of them. We are either too short, or too tall. Too skinny or not too skinny. curly hair that want straight, straight hair that wants curly. If I asked three things youd like to change of yourself, you would tell me ten.
If it isn't our bodies we are not happy about, it's our houses. We can see every little things that is wrong with it. There is a certain place in my house that drives me crazy. Nobody else notices, but it's the only thing I notice.
Grattitude: when we recognize that all we have is from God, both good and bad; and we give thanks for ALL of those things, both good and bad. When we have grattitude, we are content.
We are going to talk about the apostle Paul. He had been through many, many trials. Once upon a time, Paul was part of an esteem religious group, a roman citizen, and had a life of privilege. But once he gave his life to Christ, it was never the same. Shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned many times. And in those times, he wrote:
Phil 4: 11-13
11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Notice how Paul repeats: "I have learned" two times. I have learned means he had to go through a process. It wasn't something that came to him easily. Learning means we have to become skilled in something that was not easy for us. It means we must practice. We dont like to practice. We want things to happen immediately. Learning to be content is difficult. It takes concentrated time and effort in order to do it right. We must learn to face circumstances that force us to decide whether to be content or not. And its a process to choose to be content over and over again. That is the process to learn content. When we are content we do not let our heart be fixated for the thing of this world and we desire only what God gives.
There is a secret for grattitude.
Mather 6:33
Paul realized that he needed to focus on God and every situation and let God meet his need. Contentment is an inner sense of rest. A peace that comes from knowing that you are right with God and that He is in control of everything that happens. Paul was content in shipwrecked, imprisoned, hungry. He trusted in God's ability to meet his needs. Paul also learned to be content, because he gave thanks in all situation. Grattitude when things were good, and grattitude when things were not so good. When you read the new testament, notice all the times Paul says "I give thanks." One of the ways we learn to be content is to practice grattitude.
In the book, One thousand gifts, the author says how she lost her two-year old sister that was run over by a delivery truck. And she says how she saw her sisters body in the street and loose all faith. And that she struggled with believing God was good. And she said she came to Jesus when she read Jesus' story before His crucifixion. And she was astonished that Jesus, knowing he was going to die and be captured, said : "I give thanks." (Hey, I read the first chapter of this book. Only the first because it was the only available online. I haven't found it here so I plan to order it. However, I do read the author's blog aholyexperience.com. I blog with her for grattitude post on Mondays and Walk with Him on Wednesdays. You can find link to her blog on my posts this days :P)
If we have grattitude, we are better equipped to face the things that will happen in our life. If we express grattitude for a situation in our life, it doesn't matter if the situation doesn't change. Maybe you are dealing with an illness that is not going to be healed. You are dealing with a family memeber in addiction that you cant change. you live in homes you dont want to, or have jobs you dont want! Is it possible to give thanks in all those situations? Is it possible to give thanks for your life, were you are right now, even if nothing else changes? That is a question that is hard for me. But Paul says we are to give thanks in all things.
One of the suggestions of the author of One thousand gifts is that we record the things we are thankful for. She began to write one thousand things she was grateful for.
I want to share some things of my list for this week. Im only on number 73.
17) the Word anaranjado. I like the way it sounds
22) slype. (ME too!!)
..) air conditioning in a hot day in Honduras
47) Mango and avocados in Honduras
49) meeting knew friends
72) having loving sisters in another country
Write that list every week. Be grateful for the moment God has given you. Instead of wishing for things that you had, that list can remind you of what God has blessed you with right now.
Ask yourself, how is your foundation? Is Christ the cornerstone of that foundation?
Will you work hard to learn to be content? Will you learn to give thanks in the good and in the bad?
Do not do it alone. Find sisters that can take that learning walk with you.
Jesus,
I thank you for being our foundation. God, when we have faith and we have hope and gratittude for You have done for us, we know our inner beauty will flourish and grow just like You want it to! Lets remember to look to You to meet our needs. We thank you for being a good and great God. We ask You to make us beautiful on the inside. In Jesus' name we pray, amen!
When I think of that word, I think of make up. And I love make up!! I come from a line of women in my family who not only love to wear make up, but also sell make up. I was 13 when I got my first make up kit. And I would put it on really thick. My mom thought I was trying to look like a clown.
But one thing my mom taught me really early on is that the secret for a good make up, is have a good foundation. And there are alot of foundation: cream, powder, mixed. I've been in Honduras two weeks, and my skin got darker. But my make up didnt change and its hard to make it work!
It is very important having the right foundation for inner beauty. We are going to talk about three things for that foundation:
Hope
Faith
Grattitude
We need those three things for inner beauty to grow in our heart. Remember inner beauty is a quiet and gentle spirit. And that spirit wont come alone; it must have a foundation to grow.
Becaase God is the creator of beauty, those three foundations must come from Him.
The first foundation is going to be faith. Faith is the foundation on which we place our trust in God, and He begins to change and transform us so that we reflect His beauty inside out. Hope is the second foundation that reminds us whatever we face in this world, God's promises will hold us to persevere. Then there is grattitude. When we have grattitude in our hearts, we remember God's blessings in our life and we remember He is good in all things.
Before seeing them more closely, lets see what Jesus had to say about foundation. In this passage Jesus is speaking to church leaders who were very preocupied about their outside looks. So Jesus tells this story:
Mathew 7:24-27
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
There are two words that I want you to think about. Hear and practice! Hear isn't just letting words in one ear and out the other. Hear is that we are to listen and apply what we heard. There is a man who had a wonderful saying: "Too often we bring our body to church, but we don't bring our soul." When God's word is being given to us God expect us to apply it. We can hear God's words in many ways: at church, in the scriptures, a wise christian friend speaks to us. God doesn't expect us to hear His word every now and then. He expects us to listen to it every day. You wouldn't put a seed in the ground and never water it. In order for it to have a foundation, it must be cultivated every day.
In mathew 7, Jesus spoke of were two men decided to use as a foundation, rock and sand. In good weather, there isn't much difference between the both. But in a storm, it makes all the difference. A well built foundation makes the difference between a spiritual life that is thriving and a spiritual life that is struggling all the time.
FAITH
The reason we are seeing faith first because it is the part of the foundation that holds everything together.
Mathew 22:37
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Jesus says we must love Him with ALL of our heart. Have you asked why he asked ALL of out heart? Could it be that He knew we would have struggles. But He knew we would have less struggle if we placed our love, faith, and hope in Him.
The first brick in a construction is the cornerstone. That brick or rock is critical for the stability of the building. If that one brick is not placed correctly, the rest of the building is not stable. If you try to make inner beauty without faith, it won't be the inner beauty God brings.
Those leaders Jesus was talking too, were good at say the right things, wear the right words, but they were trying beauty without God.
Do you realize faith is life giving to you? The reason for this is that Jesuschrist gave His life for you. He said He came to give full life. Jesuschrist came because your heart was dark. If you do not have Jesus in your heart, it is still dark. Dark with sin. Sin is what we do when we do things that do not please God. And Jesus came to wash that away from our hearts.
Biblical faith is this: believing that God will do what He says. A woman with a great foundation of faith relies in the promises of God no matter what. So who do you strengthen your foundation of faith?
First, know God's plan for your life. His plan for your life is this: to love Him and to love others.
Second, decide each day to make Jesus your example
Third, come to church with the intention of hearing and applying God's word.
Finally, surround yourself with other trusted christian woman who will encourage you and challenge you to grow in faith.
I want to encourage you to join a woman's group to share and to grow and to be encouraged. This is very important for a good foundation of faith.
HOPE
Hope is the foundation that reminds us no matter what we face in this life, God's promises will hold us up and helps us endure so that we won't give up. This world is hard. There are things that hurt us. There is sickness. There is loss. Sometimes it feels overwhelming. Sometimes the problems of this life makes us want to stay in bed with the covers over our head. Sometimes life is just too hard.
Do you ever wonder if life will ever get easier? Sometimes we think that if it could only get easier...
But life won't get easier. It's a hard truth. So what do we do about that? Luckily, we don't have much to do about it We have hope because we have Jesus
Psalm 37:7
7 Be still before the LORD
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
When we hope, hope in God, we stop looking at the things around us. We stop expecting money or people to solve our problems. Instead of looking to solve our problems, we look up to heaven and know that God is there for us. Scripture says God will never leave us, never forsake us. He says He will help us endure.
Romans 5:
"..suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope. and hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out His love.."
He pours hope in your heart when it doesn't seem to be any answers, when it seems no one else can help us. The verse continues: "That hope is in our heart because the Holy Spirit whom God has given
us...."
When woman dont have hope, they always find themselves looking back. But hope means we are looking forward. Remember what Paul said: forget what is behind us? Without hope, we die inside. Nothing dead is ever beautiful. When we have hope in God, we remember that the pain in this world, will pave the way towards a painless future in heaven with Christ. Do you know what I love of the promises in heaven? That God will wipe our tears. We cried today, this week. Can you image God taking our tears, and never crying again for pain?
There was a time I cried all the time. And it seemed I would never stop crying. We forgot the hope God had given me in His promises. When we dont have hope, we cant do what God wants us to do. Faith is believing His promises are true; Hope is waiting for them to happen.
GRATTITUDE
Woman are never grateful with all of them. We are either too short, or too tall. Too skinny or not too skinny. curly hair that want straight, straight hair that wants curly. If I asked three things youd like to change of yourself, you would tell me ten.
If it isn't our bodies we are not happy about, it's our houses. We can see every little things that is wrong with it. There is a certain place in my house that drives me crazy. Nobody else notices, but it's the only thing I notice.
Grattitude: when we recognize that all we have is from God, both good and bad; and we give thanks for ALL of those things, both good and bad. When we have grattitude, we are content.
We are going to talk about the apostle Paul. He had been through many, many trials. Once upon a time, Paul was part of an esteem religious group, a roman citizen, and had a life of privilege. But once he gave his life to Christ, it was never the same. Shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned many times. And in those times, he wrote:
Phil 4: 11-13
11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Notice how Paul repeats: "I have learned" two times. I have learned means he had to go through a process. It wasn't something that came to him easily. Learning means we have to become skilled in something that was not easy for us. It means we must practice. We dont like to practice. We want things to happen immediately. Learning to be content is difficult. It takes concentrated time and effort in order to do it right. We must learn to face circumstances that force us to decide whether to be content or not. And its a process to choose to be content over and over again. That is the process to learn content. When we are content we do not let our heart be fixated for the thing of this world and we desire only what God gives.
There is a secret for grattitude.
Mather 6:33
Paul realized that he needed to focus on God and every situation and let God meet his need. Contentment is an inner sense of rest. A peace that comes from knowing that you are right with God and that He is in control of everything that happens. Paul was content in shipwrecked, imprisoned, hungry. He trusted in God's ability to meet his needs. Paul also learned to be content, because he gave thanks in all situation. Grattitude when things were good, and grattitude when things were not so good. When you read the new testament, notice all the times Paul says "I give thanks." One of the ways we learn to be content is to practice grattitude.
In the book, One thousand gifts, the author says how she lost her two-year old sister that was run over by a delivery truck. And she says how she saw her sisters body in the street and loose all faith. And that she struggled with believing God was good. And she said she came to Jesus when she read Jesus' story before His crucifixion. And she was astonished that Jesus, knowing he was going to die and be captured, said : "I give thanks." (Hey, I read the first chapter of this book. Only the first because it was the only available online. I haven't found it here so I plan to order it. However, I do read the author's blog aholyexperience.com. I blog with her for grattitude post on Mondays and Walk with Him on Wednesdays. You can find link to her blog on my posts this days :P)
If we have grattitude, we are better equipped to face the things that will happen in our life. If we express grattitude for a situation in our life, it doesn't matter if the situation doesn't change. Maybe you are dealing with an illness that is not going to be healed. You are dealing with a family memeber in addiction that you cant change. you live in homes you dont want to, or have jobs you dont want! Is it possible to give thanks in all those situations? Is it possible to give thanks for your life, were you are right now, even if nothing else changes? That is a question that is hard for me. But Paul says we are to give thanks in all things.
One of the suggestions of the author of One thousand gifts is that we record the things we are thankful for. She began to write one thousand things she was grateful for.
I want to share some things of my list for this week. Im only on number 73.
17) the Word anaranjado. I like the way it sounds
22) slype. (ME too!!)
..) air conditioning in a hot day in Honduras
47) Mango and avocados in Honduras
49) meeting knew friends
72) having loving sisters in another country
Write that list every week. Be grateful for the moment God has given you. Instead of wishing for things that you had, that list can remind you of what God has blessed you with right now.
Ask yourself, how is your foundation? Is Christ the cornerstone of that foundation?
Will you work hard to learn to be content? Will you learn to give thanks in the good and in the bad?
Do not do it alone. Find sisters that can take that learning walk with you.
Jesus,
I thank you for being our foundation. God, when we have faith and we have hope and gratittude for You have done for us, we know our inner beauty will flourish and grow just like You want it to! Lets remember to look to You to meet our needs. We thank you for being a good and great God. We ask You to make us beautiful on the inside. In Jesus' name we pray, amen!
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