True Beauty and the Beast

            Perhaps you’ve seen the tale. The lovely young maiden seeks to rescue her father from a hideous beast only to sacrifice her own freedom in the process. The heroine Belle’s unconditional love for father and Beast transcends what human minds can reason and eyes can see. How fitting to call her Beauty.

            Today’s culture boasts their definition of beauty on magazine covers, television and movies screens. The ever changing opinion of a select group prompt the craze of change draped over mannequins around the globe. Money driving the beast of fashion and trend until the idea of beauty lasts only as long as a fad. Women buy the lie of the enemy channeled through designers and consequently buy the clothes, accessories and hairstyles. The whole ritual declares beauty short lived and always fleeting; not unlike the ancient altar sacrifices which brought only temporary peace.  

            Yet there is a beauty which is unfading, eternal and highly praised by God; the lovely attributes of a quiet and gentle spirit. This beauty cannot be found in a store and no amount of money can buy it. Yet it is available to every open and seeking heart. Hallelujah! But first the lies we have believed about beauty must be denounced and the clear definitions of quiet, gentle and meek need to be gained. For instance, God says the meek shall inherit the earth, (Mat 5:5, Psa 37:11).        However, the meek are not weak or passive. Instead they are God fearing, humble, obedient, teachable, and patient.

            Likewise, the quiet spirit is not silent but rather it speaks without arguing, it is not arrogant and it never boasts. And the gentle spirit is tender hearted and compassionate, nurturing, encouraging, it is not rude and it knows peace. These are the character traits of a true Beauty which pleases our God. How gracious is the LORD who speaks hope to a fractured spirit gazing in the mirror. Dear sisters, can you hear our Father’s loving voice speaking to our hearts; lasting beauty is not found in reflective glass, it wells up like a soothing spring from the transforming truth in His Word.

            So how do we gain the quiet and gentle spirit that the LORD declares beautiful? We purpose to apply necessary beauty treatments. We spend time soaking in the Scriptures. There, still before the LORD, the truth of God reflects our beauty condition; casting light on areas dry, cracked and worn in need of exfoliation, moisturizer and renewal. And similar to the rejuvenation which is gained by spending time in a health spa, the spirit is cleansed with every application of God’s truth to our lives.

            I want this unfading beauty which sun, wind and time are helpless to erode. So I dare to bare my soul before the Healer. I breathe in God’s words of life and I steep my mind in His Spirit. I bypass the mirror and seek the LORD’s reflection in my thoughts and deeds. Still, I bow before the Lover of my soul in submission trusting that as I give myself over to the work of His hands, I will indeed emerge…better than before, purer…beautiful.

            Daughters, fret not over the lies of the beast in the mirror and our world, for God is faithful!

                        “He has made everything beautiful in its time”, (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

Tracy Frazier

Founder/Director

The FOLD: Fellowship Opportunity for Ladies Discipleship

For further insight and contemplation the following links are provided;

Video: In Circle; Dannah Gresh / The Lies Young Women Believe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6M4oLKxu3E

 Music Video: Mercy Me / Beautiful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vh7-RSPuAA

Let There Be God

What hope for tomorrow would we have if God’s promise of mercy was not the crown of each morning? New beginnings would be meaningless and mundane without grace and forgiveness shining on the horizon. Thankfully, our Creator knew we would be a people tethered to darkness, yet desperate for countless chances to feel the warmth of His radiance. Great and wise, God wove into the soul of man an awe of light. And in our tapestry story His love and hope shimmer…from the beginning. God tells us in the beginning of the book of John that He is both light and life.


“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 
He was with God in the beginning. And through Him all things were made, and without Him was    nothing made that was made. In Him was life and that life was the light of man. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5)


Looking back at the first recorded spoken words of God in Genesis 1:3; “Let there be light”, I see much more than the ancient account of our origin. I hear God proclaim “I am!” And with this introduction the Alpha and Omega extends to man the invitation to behold Him and be free from darkness. The words “Let there be light,” seemingly beckon us to let there be God! For if in our hearts we do not first believe there is God, how then are we to embrace His telling of our beginning? How can we process the wonder of His love pursuing us, or His mercy extended for our rejection and rebellion? Why would we accept His plan of restoration and grace if we did not first receive the truth that God is? Indeed we must first and foremost…let there be Light!


The reality of a Creator is perhaps most evident in the wonderful mirroring of Genesis’ account of the creation of both Earth and man. Only Divine Intelligence could design such vastly different life forms with such similar origins. Consider how in their beginnings each are formless and cloaked in darkness. Yet, in God’s capable hands are held water and spirit and by His Word alone, Light shines and life begins. With the Earth’s birth all creation sings of God’s glory. And beyond Adam and Eve, man follows in kind; for every newly born babe wails a song of life at the first sight of light. Light is life.

Still, the truth of Creation is claimed counterfeit by those who are spiritually blind. Those who will the Light a falsehood choose to grope in darkness for some cause and effect they can explain or touch. Yet, our Creator God is spirit...intangible and dwells in unapproachable light, (1Tim 6:16). How then are we to behold the Almighty: the One who speaks and it is so? By faith. Accepting the generous gift of God’s Word; Jesus Christ as God in the flesh.  


By embracing Jesus as the Light of man, who has come down from heaven to make atonement for our sins we are freed from the bondage of darkness. We are saved from spiritual blindness and eternal death. In an instance we are changed from children of the Night to children of the Day, and morning miraculously reigns in our heart (Gen. 1:4-5). New believers are then symbolic lamps which are filled and fueled by the Holy Spirit that they may exhibit the Light of Genesis 1:3.  Light overwhelms the darkness and people are reborn, made new. God words it this way;

 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone the new is here!                                                                                                                 (2 Cor 5:17NIV).

When we purpose to let there be Light, the mighty works of the Creator’s hands become clear.
A new song of life erupts from our heart. Praise pours from our lips and the assurance every evening will be overcome by morning keeps hope always on the rise (Gen. 1:5).

Oh, yes! Let there be Light!
Let there be God! Amen! Amen!


Tracy Frazier
Founder/Director
The FOLD Ministry




For further insight and teaching view the inspirational videos below.

Video Clip: Patsy Clairmont / Let There Be Light
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HpRO8g9Qds
 

Worship Music Video: Jesus Culture: Father of Lights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A07nBDoiE54