Captivating - Week 8 (Beauty To Unveil)

"Show me your face, let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet and your face is lovely."
(Song of Solomon 2:14)

Beauty.....as women, we desire it, we long for it, we yearn for it.  Beauty may be the most powerful thing on earth.  Beauty speaks.  Beauty invites.  Beauty nourishes.  Beauty comforts.  Beauty inspires.  Beauty is transcendent.  Beauty draws us to God.  The essence of a woman is beauty.  She is meant to be the incarnation of a captivating God...a God who invites us.   A woman who is unveiling her beauty is inviting us to life!  

But what are the messages that we have been told about beauty that have distorted our image of it?  This was the topic of discussion this week in our Captivating Bible Study.  As the facilitator of the group, I wanted so desperately to be the one who could respond with the undeniable "yes", when it came around to my turn to answer the question of the night:  "Do you think you are beautiful".  Although I believe that God is beautiful and that His creation bears His image, I still struggle with accepting what God says about me...that I AM BEAUTIFUL and that I have something to offer to this world.  And it grieves my heart.  Because I know that it grieves God's heart.  If I was made in the very image of God but cannot accept myself as beautiful, then am I not telling God that I, whom He created, am not good enough?

Why do I get stuck here?  I am tired of going around this same mountain.  I have believed the lies of the enemy that others told me that:

• I am undesireable; 
• I am not worth keeping; 
• I am not pretty;
• I do not matter
• I have nothing to offer; 
• I am not good enough. 

How many times will I lay this hurt and pain at His feet, only to pick it up again and again?  My heart is still in need of Jesus' healing. One woman on the DVD shared this quote which I've been reflecting on over the last couple of days:

"I know God loves me, and if He can delight in me, then there's something there."

God loves me!  He delights in me.  And because of that truth, I can rest in knowing that I am beautiful.  I have His attention!  In His eyes, I am the essence of beauty!

The King is enthralled by your beauty.  (Psalm 45:11a)

Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me." (Song of Solomon 2:13b)

Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil.  (Song of Solomon 4:1a)

You are altogether beautiful, my darling, beautiful in every way. (Song of Solomon 4:7)

Do you have trouble seeing yourself through God's eyes?  Look up!  The more we gaze on the beauty of the Lord, the more we will be able to see ourselves in the light His beauty.  Take some time this week to ask the Lord to show you the truth of what He says about you.  Allow Him to unveil your beauty!

How Does God See You?

My dear friend Laura recently wrote this amazing story on her blog about a new revelation she received from the Lord about how He sees her.  I thought it was so amazing that I asked her permission to repost it here.  So my friends, this is for you.  May you realize that you ARE a treasure, a perfectly crafted and polished gem, handpicked by your Creator to display the beauty and glory of the Lord!


Reposted from Laura The Artist:


Recently I was asked to ask and ponder on How God sees me...I asked, "How do you see me God?" He answered that to Him I am a gem. At first I was disappointed because that is something that I hear frequently from others that God says about them. Then God went on to elaborate more to me. A beautiful gem stone cannot shine unless there is light flowing through it to bring out the fire and sparkle...God says that He is that light. A beautiful gem stone cannot even sparkle unless it has been cut and faceted...God says that He is the designer and maker. A beautiful gem stone cannot be properly displayed unless it is in a setting, a setting designed by the maker for it's specific use and purpose...God says that the Body of Christ is that setting - the community of believers, the culture of the supernatural. A beautiful gem stone must also be cleaned up, shined, and polished on occasion as the everyday atmosphere can dull it's luster and beauty...God says that "Jesus makes all things new" and that I am clean and pure. This revelation impacted me and gives me so much more understanding of how God sees me. Every gem stone is unique in shape, color, environment it comes from, and hardness. I am a treasure that was taken from a dark place, cut and shaped, faceted in pain and glory and put into a setting perfect for the Maker's use. I sparkle and shine, I delight and awe, and am worn in a place that God can see everyday. To the glory of God the Father.

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,