“And those who are wise – the people of God – shall shine as brightly as the sun’s brilliance, and those who turn many to righteousness will glitter like stars forever” (Daniel 12:3).

Did it ever occur to you that as a child of God you are to radiate in your countenance the beauty and glory of God? Have you ever considered the inconsistency of having a glum expression while professing that the Son of God, the light of the world, dwells within you?

Proverbs 15:13 reminds us that a happy face means a glad heart; a sad face means a breaking heart.

When missionary Adoniram Judson was home on furlough many years ago, he passed through the city of Stonington, Connecticut. A young boy, playing about the wharves at the time of Judson’s arrival, was struck by the missionary’s appearance. He had never before seen such a light on a man’s face.

Curious, he ran up the street to a ministers’s home to ask if he knew who the stranger was. Following the boy back, the minister became so engaged in conversation with Judson that he forgot all about the lad standing nearby.

Many years later that boy – unable to get away from the influence of what he had seen on the man’s face – became the famous preacher, Henry Clay Trumbull. One chapter in his book of memoirs is entitled, “What a Boy Saw in the Face of Adoniram Judson.”

A shining face – radiant with the love and joy of Jesus Christ – had changed a life. Just as the flowers thrive when they bend towards the light of the sun, so the shining, radiant faces are the result of those who concentrate their gaze upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

May we never underestimate the power of a glowing face that stems from time spent with God. Even as Moses’ countenance shone, may your face and mine reveal time spent alone with God and in His Word.

Bible Reading: Matthew 5:13-16  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205:13-16%20;&version=31;

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will spend sufficient time with the Lord each day to insure a radiant countenance for the glory of God and as a witness to those with whom I have contact each day.

About the Author: http://talk.thelife.com/authors/dr-bill-bright/

Recently, several bloggers tackled a highly sensitive and debated topic— the need for women to attend to their beauty and appearance.

A Sensitive Issue for both sexes

Woman’s appearance is a sensitive issue, because from a man’s perspective, a wife’s effort to be beautiful for her husband speaks of her care and respect for him, and communicates her desire to be sexually attractive and available for him. Making a reasonable effort to care for and beautify herself is a demonstration of her devotion. In his view, a lack of effort in this regard demonstrates a lack of concern for him. Bottom line – whether we like it our not, it’s important to our guys.

When it comes to beauty, women react against the burden of expectation, the fear that they will fall short of the desired standard, the inevitability of decay, and the resentment that the script is different for men than it is for women. A woman wants to be loved and accepted as she is. From a wife’s perspective, a husband’s attraction to/desire for beauty can magnify her feelings of personal inadequacy and insecurity, and she may fear that his love/acceptance depends on her ability to measure up.

So who is right? The stalemate in the discussion often boils down to the fact that women resent the fact that men are so attracted to beauty, while men resent the fact that women don’t make the effort to properly attend to it. So how do we resolve the impasse? In my opinion, we can’t hope to make sense of the question until we view woman’s beauty and beautification through the lens of the biblical typology of gender, and the eternal, cosmic meaning of sexuality.

Beauty has a cosmic meaning

Psalm 45 is a song celebrating the marriage of a Hebrew king to a foreign princess. But it’s also a messianic prophecy pointing to the relationship between Christ the King and His Church-Bride. The Psalmist notes that the king “desires her beauty”, and that the princess, in turn, makes herself beautiful—“all-glorious”— for him.

Scripture uses this imagery to illustrate how we are to make ourselves beautiful for our King. The Lord wants us to clothe ourselves in fine, spotless garments of righteousness—in holy character and holy deeds. (Rev. 19:7—8) He wants us to be beautiful, and through Jesus, we are!  The great story of the gospel is that God gives us the opportunity to clothe ourselves in the beauty of Christ. He provides the beauty- and we don’t need to work or strive to measure up, nor do we need fear that we will fail to meet the standard.

So what does all this have to do with our discussion about female appearance? It has a great deal to do with it. We live—as C.S. Lewis coined it—in the “shadow lands.” The earthly, physical realities of our lives are but shadows—copies—of true and heavenly realities (e.g. Heb. 8:5; 9:24-25). The physical and temporal exist to point us to the spiritual and eternal. And nowhere is this more the case than in the relationship between male and female.

Human sexuality is a parable —a testimony to the character of God and to His spectacular plan of redemption through Jesus. This spiritual truth is so magnificent that God chose to put it on display permanently. Everywhere. Men were created to reflect the strength, love and self-sacrifice of Christ. Women were created to reflect the grace and beauty of the Bride He redeemed.

I believe that men are “wired” to be attracted to beauty in women because our Heavenly Bridegroom desires the beauty of His Bride. And I believe that deep down, every woman wants to feel beautiful and desired. This is the way that God has created us as male and female—and the illustration points to something far bigger than ourselves.

Beauty is more than a passing pleasure

Many scorn beauty as “a passing pleasure.” They think that the illusive, fragile, fading, temporary, and wrinkle-and-stretch-mark-prone nature of female beauty indicates that men (and women) should just “get over it” and focus on more important things.

Beauty is indeed a passing pleasure. But I think there’s a deeper meaning here that we dare not trivialize. The symbolic importance of beauty/beautification is not unlike the symbolic importance of marriage. Woman’s beauty, and all the broken, distorted ideas about it, will not so much pass, as give way—in the end—to that to which beauty points. There will be no marriage in heaven because the shadow will give way to the reality. Likewise, the illusive, fading, temporary beauty of women will one day give way to the breathtaking, spectacular, eternal beauty of the Bride of Christ.

The gospel doesn’t negate man’s desire to enjoy beauty and woman’s desire to be beautiful, but it does shift the focus of our attention beyond the symbol to that to which it points. When we consider the jaw-dropping picture painted by Scripture, it would seem that our Lord finds our desire for beauty not too strong, but too weak. We get all wrapped up with the earthly and the superficial and temporal, while the supernatural and eternal is offered us. Like an ignorant tourist who spreads out his towel under the picture of the umbrella on the sign, because he does not know that the sign points to the beach. We are far too easily pleased. (Again, a favorite C. S. Lewis thought)

Embracing beauty

Followers of Christ know that the symbol is not even fractionally as important as the reality. But they understand that it is not totally unimportant either.

So girls, let’s give the guys a break. Let’s stop condemning them for feeling attracted to beauty and wanting us to make a reasonable and sustained effort in that department. And guys… give us a break. Please understand how very personal and painful this issue can be for women. It’s very difficult to stay engaged in fighting a battle we know we are destined to lose. The beauty of our youth will inevitably fade. And most of us don’t have a hope of even remotely resembling the airbrushed model on the cover of the magazine.

In my opinion, the answer to the conundrum surrounding the discussion about female beauty is not to diminish or deny its importance, but to exalt and embrace the all-surpassing beauty to which it points.

Let’s always remember that the whole issue of female beauty is merely a signpost. It’s reminder to all of us—male and female—that the King desires our beauty, and that we ought to carefully attend to our character, and to making ourselves spiritually beautiful for that great destination wedding on the other shore.

Read more about Beauty:

Take our study on Beauty
Beauty: To What Extreme?

“Before they call I will answer” (Isaiah 65:24 (NIV).

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him” (Psalm 8:3-4)?

When my husband and I redecorated our living room five years ago, the decorator in a furniture store recommended a beautiful hand-painted porcelain lamp to go with our color scheme. “Wouldn’t a matching pair of these be gorgeous?” she said as she ran her hand over the smooth surface of the lamp. I looked at the price tag and said, “Maybe one.”

Even with the furniture store’s sale price, the lamp still cost more than we would normally pay. But we decided to splurge with one exquisite accent piece and bought one lamp. We’d make do with another table lamp we already had for additional lighting.

Several years later, we met our daughter at the furniture store parking lot to transfer our grandsons after a sleepover at our home. We arrived before our daughter, so we browsed the outdoor sale tables. “Look at this, Dear,” I said to my husband as a familiar-looking lamp caught my eye. “Isn’t this just like our hand-painted lamp?”

A sales associate checked our record of purchases and confirmed it was the identical lamp. Now it cost less than one-third of the original price. Even so, my husband said, “Ask if they’ll come down more.” I did, and they took another ten percent off the sale price. The lamp didn’t have a shade, but that wasn’t a problem because I had a matching shade at home.

When we had purchased the first lamp five years earlier, the shade was slightly flawed. The store replaced it and said we could keep the damaged one. By turning the flawed side to the back, we would have an identical pair.

Now when I look at my twin lamps, one on each side of the room on end tables by our recliners, I smile at God’s sweet goodness in giving us matching lamps. He used the rendezvous with our daughter to add a special surprise to our lives and to show He even cares about the beauty in our home. We weren’t shopping for lamps that day, but God had a bargain waiting. God, the designer of the universe, also makes a wonderful interior decorator.

Thank you, Lord, for the special surprises You add to my life. Even though You created the vast universe, You still care about the tiniest details that concern me. When I see the small things You do, I feel reassured that You are taking care of the big things, too. Whether I’m aware of it or not, I know You are always mindful of me and are always working on my behalf.

Questions: How has God surprised you with things He’s done in your life? What other Bible verses remind you of His loving care?

Please open your Bible and read Psalm 78:1-4.

Little six-year-old Timothy skipped home at a leisurely pace with his older brother. His elementary school was only a 5 minute walk from his house, but it took him a lot longer than that to arrive at home, much to his brother’s chagrin!

It was the first day of spring. The sun shone brightly. The wind whistled gently through the air, and it seemed as though the entire world was blooming … alive after its winter slumber. At seemingly every turn, the natural world around him aroused his amazement and wonder: a dancing butterfly, a fuzzy caterpillar, a colorful flower, all alive with growth and life and wonder!

Sometimes we’re almost like polar opposites of little Timothy when it comes to God. We get accustomed to God’s grace. Blind to His glory. Oblivious to His love. When there’s work, plus family, plus church, plus everything else, it’s easy if we’re not careful to become distracted.

When was the last time you were in awe of God? While must constantly strive to increase our knowledge and understanding of our Lord, we should never lose the sense of wonder at who He is and all He has done for us.

Jesus called the children around Him, “took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.” (Mark 10:16) Can you approach Jesus as a child, not with a childlike intellect (1 Corinthians 13:11) but with a childlike attitude? A childlike attitude will keep us humble as we continually are reminded of God’s high exaltation, our lowly place, and (despite of our lowly place) how God has lifted us up with Him when we put our trust in Him, so that He may even call us “friend”. (John 15:15)

“Let the name of the LORD be praised, both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.” Psalm 113:2-3

Question: What do you admire most about the natural beauty around us, and have you stopped to really see it lately?

Just as we are attracted to beauty, we are also affected by our perceptions of beauty. Magazines, advertising, the different environments you may find yourself in through the week — it doesn’t matter where you go, issues of ‘beauty’ and ‘image’ follow. It colors how you perceive and react to others, and it deeply affects how you identify yourself. Our approach is key in defining beauty. To feel beautiful is to to feel attractive based on attributes that we possess as individuals. Understanding beauty is to not shrink back from life, but to thankfully recognize and embrace the gifts one has been given and use them to empower and better others. Fathers have the opportunity to reflect a healthy perception of beauty into the lives of their sons and daughters. As you walk through this study, allow yourself the time to reflect on how your own father invested (or didn’t invest) in a meaningful definition of beauty within your own life. But remember, dad’s are human too, and many people have not experienced this sort of meaningful relationship . As a result, our perception of beauty, and how we are made beautiful, has the potential to become skewed.

There was a video on CNN yesterday that stopped me in my tracks.

The children are all wearing the same dress and the same expression, only the color of their skin is different.  An interviewer asks the little girl “who is the smart child?” “who is the mean child?” Over and over the little girl assigns all of the positive characteristics to the white children and all of the negative characteristics to the darkest skinned child.

I sat and watched, saddened and a little heartbroken until the interviewer asked the girl “Why is she the good child” and the little girl says “Because I think she looks like me.”

That really got my attention.

I’ve always thought of racism as a great evil that is taught, that somehow, for some reason we teach children to hate.  But I found her answer very illuminating.  Don’t we, as adults, assume the best of the people are who are most like us? Could the roots of racism really be that simple?

Just because it’s a natural response certainly doesn’t mean it’s acceptable or good and it doesn’t excuse us from taking active steps to combat our own wrong thinking. Later on in the clip, the girl’s mother fights back tears as she whispers “I guess she just hasn’t been exposed.”   I wonder about my own childhood – were the children in my story books the same color as I am? Were the dolls I played with?

I know that part of what made Star Wars such a game changer is that Lucas intentionally played with this thinking.  In the movies the Jedis, the good guys, all wear dark colors while the Storm Troopers, the harbingers of evil, are clad in sparkling white.

It’s easy to watch this little girl and think “wow, that’s sad” but what do I see when I look at my own thinking? What do you see when you look at yours?

How do you combat the mistaken thought that “people who look like me are better”?

More:
Searching for a beautiful woman
Beauty at what price?

Originally written by Charles H. Spurgeon, published in “Mornings & Evenings,” entry for November 5th, PM.

“Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.” Psalm 100:4, KJV

Our Lord wishes all His children would richly possess high and happy thoughts concerning His blessed person. Jesus is not content when His sons and daughters think wrongly of Him. It is His pleasure whenever His adopted ones are delighted with His beauty.

We should not consider Him as a bare necessary, like to bread and water, but instead as a luxurious delicacy, as a rare and ravishing delight. To this end He has revealed Himself as the “pearl of great price” in its peerless beauty, as the “bundle of myrrh” in its refreshing fragrance, as the “rose of Sharon” in its lasting perfume, as the “lily” in its spotless purity. (Matthew 13:46; Song of Solomon 1:13, 2:1, 2:2, KJV)

Remember how far Christ is exalted beyond the skies, where things are measured by the only true standard. Think how God esteems the Only Begotten, His unspeakable gift to us. Consider what the angels think of Him, as they count it their highest honor to veil their faces at His feet. Consider what the blood-washed think of Him, as day without night they sing His well deserved praises.

High thoughts of Christ will enable us to act consistently in our relations with Him. The more loftily we see Christ enthroned, and the lowlier we are when bowing before the foot of the throne, the more truly we will be prepared to act our part towards Him. Our Lord Jesus desires us to think well of Him, that we may submit cheerfully to His authority. High thoughts of Him increase our love. Love and esteem go together.

Therefore, think much of your Master’s excellencies. Study Him in all His preexistent glory, before He took on Himself human form. Think of the mighty love which drew Him from His throne to die on the cross. Admire Him as He conquers all the powers of hell. See Him risen, crowned, glorified! Bow before Him as Wonderful Counselor and Mighty God, for only then will your love to Him be as it should.

Question: How has God revealed His beauty in your life lately? How can you make a point to share this with others?

About the Author: Charles Spurgeon

One of my favorite questions to ask my three year old daughter is, “Why are you special?”

In such a visually-driven society it’s easy to get caught up in our appearance. There is nothing wrong with looking good and being healthy, but too often we fall into the comparison trap. We must remember the truth. What is our truth? God’s Word. Period. Not someone’s interpretation of God’s Word or their opinion about your situation, but life’s instruction manual, wholly inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16).

How God sees you

Do you know what God says about you? You are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). You are glorious. God knows the number of hairs on your head (Matthew 10:30). After all, He put them there, and colored them too! He knit you together in your mother’s womb (Psalm 13:14) so you can be confident that He knows you inside and out.

But, we try to change ourselves.

It seems silly that we would want to change God’s work. We see it all the time, whether we want to make something bigger or smaller, a different shape or a different color. I am not trying to be critical of these things, because they are not all bad. The key is why. Why do we want to change our appearance?

If it’s to impress your spouse or friends, attract attention, or a hope that you will feel more important, then you are fooling yourself to think that these changes will make you happy. Our happiness can only be found in one place, one person: Jesus Christ. Anything else that you try will fail.

Sadly, our appearance is not the only thing we try to change. We try to be someone we are not either to impress others or to feel better about ourselves. God gifted us all in a special way (1 Corinthians 12). We need to embrace our gifts! Have you ever thought about what you are truly gifted at doing? Perhaps you can paint a beautiful landscape, organize a business conference, run a marathon, or quiet a fussy baby. We were each uniquely designed by God for His pleasure and purpose. Yet, we can spend so much time trying to be someone else.

Your worth is found in Christ alone

Many Christian men, women, and teens significantly struggle with their worth. It might not be the first thing that they think they struggle with, but it can be the root of other issues. Perhaps they are having a hard time dealing with a friend or family member, perhaps they are worried about something at work, or perhaps they are timid about saying what they really think. Why? They are worried about what they say and do because of what others might think.

God did not give us a spirit of timidity. He gave us a spirit of power and discipline (2 Timothy 1:7). Do you need to read that again? Strength! Do we need to get up into someone’s face to be strong? Absolutely not, but we do need to know what we stand for.

Romans 14 talks about being firm in our own convictions. There are many differences of opinion in the body of Christ, and as long as we don’t disagree about the black and white issues of our salvation,  we need to learn to accept our differences and build each other up. It’s okay to disagree. It’s not okay to follow along with someone else because you want to fit into that Bible study or that church. God made individuals with their own talents and desires to work together to honor Him.

Remember that only God can fill us up. Only God can judge us (1 Corinthians 4:4). Each of us have the privilege of our own mind. God has given us the power to control our emotions and He holds us accountable for our words and our actions. When another’s words or actions hurt us, we have the option to let them continue to hurt us or let it go. We stand on the truth of God’s Word. When we are honoring God, He will bless us.

Unfortunately, the same is not always true for our family and friends. Even when others offend us, we can still hold our head high, knowing that our worth is found in God Himself. We are sons and daughters of the King! We don’t need to follow anyone else’s agenda. As a matter of fact, God was very clear about this point. In Romans 12, He tells us to present ourselves as pleasing to Him and not be conformed to this world. He actually wants us to stick out! He wants us to be lights for Him and others will not always like that.

What do you see when you look in the mirror?

So, why are you special? I encourage you to take a good look at yourself today. Are you too critical of the child that God made? Do you think that He could have done a few things better? Or are you thankful that the Creator of the Universe chose every part of your body, just as He chose where to put each star in the sky?

My parents gave me the gift of understanding why I’m special. They reminded me who made the parts of my body that I questioned, and helped me to find my worth in Christ. So, take another look, maybe this time through His eyes. You are special, so special. Isaiah 43:4 tells us that we are “precious and honored” in His sight. Enjoy who He made on the inside and the outside!

Maybe no one has ever told you this before. Maybe you didn’t hear it from your mom or your dad. You didn’t hear it from your teacher or your coach. You don’t hear it from your spouse, your boyfriend, or your girlfriend. But, hear it now, loud and clear, that the Almighty God says you are special. So, look in the mirror again, and then ask Him to help you live under His grace and protection. God made each one of us truly fabulous!

Editor’s Choice: See yourself as God sees you! Take our Life Lesson on Understanding Beauty