Captivating Bible Study - Week One (Beauty)

Last night was the first week of the Captivating Bible Study.  There were 8 ladies present and I will add 3 more next week.  These are women from all walks of life --  single, married, children, no children, divorced, young and older.  I feel very privileged to be able to walk this journey beside each of these fabulous ladies.  Even though I read this book about 4 years ago, I am in a much better place now to receive what God desires to reveal to me about myself and His vast love for me.  I am sure I am going to come away from this study changed!

Last night's lesson was all about awakening our hearts to the desires and yearnings that God put in us as women.   To find out who we as women are and how we were created.  One of the questions we discussed was about our favorite movies. Most everyone shared how they loved romantic movies as well as the adventurous -- the kind where the hero comes to save the damesel in distress.  What is it about these movies that move the heart of a woman? Why do we find ourselves sighing and crying while watching them?  I believe that these types of movies touch a very deep place in our core being which God placed deep within our hearts.  We long to be loved, romanced, to be someone's priority, to have someone save us.  Most women love to get caught up in the momentary fantasy of romantic movies.  We love the way it makes our heart feel!  And even though we ultimately know that these longings can only truly be fulfilled by our Heavenly Father, the fact is He put that desire to be fulfilled and pursued deep within our hearts.  The need to be fulfilled is a natural response to a desire God put deep within our heart.  


The other question I asked the ladies was what games they enjoyed playing as a child.  We had varying answers -- I loved to play Hide and Seek and Kick The Can. In both games you hide and wait for someone to come find you.  I loved to be pursued (I still do)!  Others enjoyed playing house or dress up, games where they would care for each other or be a princess for a day. 


Near the end of the lesson we talked about beauty.  What is beauty?  Did they know that despite how they see themselves, God sees them as beautiful?  Most are still walking the journey of self acceptance.  I know that I am.


At the end of our meeting I played 3 songs.  The first one, Beautiful, by Kari Jobe, talks about God and His beauty.  I wanted to play this one first so we could put our focus on God and His beauty to prepare our hearts to hear and receive what He says about us.  Here is that song:

The next song I played was The Real Me, by Natalie Grant.  This song talks about how we often try to hide our true selves and our imperfections from others.  I know I have struggled with this one.  But God sees the real me, and He loves that real me so very much.  Here is that song:

The last song I played is called God Loves Ugly by Krista Black.  I absolutely love this song.  The very end of this song just grabs me:

Help me believe why you love me

When I know you see

You see everything

Help me believe why you love me

When I know you see

Inside and you still say I'm beautiful

You're telling me I'm beautiful

Your screaming out I'm so beautiful

And I'm finding out I'm beautiful

You're making me so beautiful

And I can see I'm beautiful

Cause you love me

I chose to share the raw, non studio version of this song because it shows the lyrics on the screen and it will help you understand the song better.  She shares a little bit beforehand, which is really good too.  Here is that song:

I hope you will take the time to listen to these songs and allow God to speak to your heart and remind you of how very beautiful you are!


Until next week,