Eva said:
Ι dont want to lie about this. I often tend to be influenced by the way people tend to see my life, my family, my sufferings as a kid. I sometimes tend to think my trials as something bad. Not always, some other times I am glad about the great lessons God taught me. But... some other times...
I think we need to discuss this more.
Fearnot said:
Like Eva I agree I like to discuss it a bit more.
First tho, I want you to know how amazingly wonderful was the insight you shared with us about would Jesus make someone He loved dearly go thru something in the nature of the most scary horror movie ( death)?
And I agree with you most physical pain now isn't scary, it is something to be endured.
But I am trying to find the good of daily growing ugly, due to old age. I mean hair loss, skin thinning, dry, and now not just wrinkles, but many many more and much deeper and wider and longer wrinkles. And losing teeth, to the point now, where I almost think losing all of them, might be better. As it is now its one tooth, and a gaping hole, two more teeth, and another hole etc. Plus they are browning from cavities, gums are red and swollen, where the teeth meat the gum line a lot of teeth are missing enamal there resulting in more holes.
The point is, I am embarrassed because I feel self-conscious about browning teeth, holes etc. so that when I do see someone I am trying not to talk in such a way my teeth are not on display.
But really rather than trying to convince you of the greatness of the changes, I am trying to see ugliness in a positive light. What does God want me to learn?
I have gain a lot of accepting the need to endure pain and learning from it, and you have really given me a new light on dying.
I think I still some core feeling or fear of being alone when I die. I really think I
acquired that perspective the day of being beat by a foster man and locked in a closet for over 24 hours. I was in physical pain but even more I felt all alone and guilty.....and I somehow became convicted that death was like that only much worse ( the utter darkness and being alone).
I am feeling much better because I know Jesus says He will not leave me ( and I know he really was with me that day, because I needed to suspend normal bodily need to go pee etc. or face real death as I was threaten. I was not hungry, nor had to go pee, nor needed to 'talk' with someone because Jesus was there helping me.
We can discuss it as often as you'd like to Eva. That's one of the functions of the body of Christ and why the Lord wants us to have friends who are Christians, so we can discuss things like this together as often as needed to remind ourselves and each other of what our attitude is supposed to be.
Barbara, what you're seeing, obviously is "the outside" and you consider it "ugly". Not all other people do. I'm sure you're aware that different cultures have different standards of what is beautiful and what is ugly right? I learned that when I was in Italy as a child. The men there prefer their women with "a little meat on them", or what we would consider at least "chubby" if not downright fat. To them, that's beautiful. There are many other differences in many other cultures. It all depends on where you live and what you accept for yourself. You have obviously bought into the american culture of what's beautiful - in fact, it's not even the american culture's idea, it's hollywood's ideas you've bought into.
What's one thing we see over and over and over about everything that's different between God and the world? God always says the opposite of what the world teaches us doesn't He? What He teaches us is that the body you are currently wearing is not you. You are a soul, a spirit, and you "have" a body, not the other way around. Your body is no different then something you're wearing for this particular part of your life. It's not permanent. It's perfectly normal for it to age and fall apart. Not because God wanted it that way, He didn't, but because of sin. The ugliness you see is sin. Not "your" sin, but the sin that is in the world including you, decaying everything.
In reality, you are only as ugly or as old as you think. Period. Notice I did not say, "as you think you are". I ended with the word "think". What you think about, determines in many ways what you look like, and mostly what other people see. If you smile and forget about whether or not you have teeth or what color they are etc, and you smile from your heart so that your eyes light up and you feel your happiness, THAT is what people will see. They won't see your teeth or lack of them. If you think about your teeth, their lack, their color, etc. and you dwell on that, then you're being self centered, and that's what people are going to see - someone who's totally wrapped up in themselves.
God teaches us that beauty is something that we get on the inside and is projected to the outside, and it begins with our thought life. Remember those pages I made for you about who you really are? When people see you that way, they see a beautiful woman! Just as this graphic says. “True beauty emanates from a woman who boldly and unabashedly knows who she is in Christ”.
Even the secular world has learned that beauty is inward:
They simply don't understand that the ultimate secret to true beauty is Christ and who we are in Him. I know, you're thinking, well my thoughts won't change my teeth, etc. Well, that's not necessarily true, because in some cases, your thoughts actually can change how you look physically and not just what other people see when they look at you, but for the most part, you're right. However, it's what other people see that seems to concern you the most, so that really doesn't matter does it? What does make up and all the other junk people buy to make themselves look better do? It covers up what they think doesn't look good and highlights what they like so that other people will be more likely to focus on the good parts instead of the bad parts, or so the bad parts won't stand out so much, right? Same principal as how our thoughts work.
The more you focus on your looks, the more power you give them over yourself. You are giving your body, which is corrupted by sin, power over you. You're giving it the power to decide how you will relate with others, who you will enjoy being with or talking to, and when and how you'll enjoy being with or talking to others. You're allowing your body to determine how you will feel about yourself, your life, other people, etc., instead of your mind and God's Word. That's not good or healthy or scriptural and it's certainly not what God wants or teaches us.
I'm not saying we should ignore our bodies and dress like bag women on the street 
So what is God's Truth about our bodies? The Truth is that God made you body exactly the way it is. Not the defects you see - those again are caused by sin in the world. But your body as a whole was made by God to be vehicle for you to use in this life to bring honor and glory to Him. It wasn't made for you to obsess over. It's not that important. it's kind of like a car, although I hate to say that too because so many guys obsess over cars 
If we want to be beautiful, then we need to be the fountain of joy, others can run to when they've run out of hope; the fountain of peace others can run to when they're overwhelmed; a fountain of love that others can run to when they're hurt or betrayed. When we make ourselves and our homes a place where others can come for comfort and love, to find peace and joy in the midst of their storms, then believe me, they will see us as the most beautiful of women, for we will be like Jesus to them, and we'll be using our bodies as He wants us to.
Like everything else the Lord's taught us, this is simply another area of our lives that we are to be in control of our thoughts. Actually, there is NO area of our lives that we shouldn't be in control of our thoughts and feelings. God doesn't say we're to guard our hearts and minds only when we're thinking about or might think about certain areas of our lives, now does He? He tells us to stay alert and on guard constantly, and take captive all those thoughts that are contrary to His Word.
It sounds to me like this is important to you, therefore I would strongly suggest talking to the Lord about it and listening to what He has to say to you. Read His Word when talking to Him about it. Start with Proverbs 31:10 and on, and check out: Matthew 23:27-28; Romans 10:15; 1 Peter 3:3–5; 2 Corinthians 4:16–18; 1 Timothy 2:9–10; Titus 2:3–5; Isaiah 61:10; Galatians 5:22–23; James 3:17-18; Isaiah 32:17; Isaiah 46:3–4; Proverbs 20:29; Ephesians 5:8-10; 2 Corinthians 10:5; Philippians 4:4-8; 1 Peter 2:9–11; 1 Peter 3:8–12; 1 Peter 4:7–8; 2 Peter 1:3–9; Psalm 48:14; Psalm 71:18; Proverbs 16:31; Psalm 145. Reflect on them with the Lord and see what He tells you about it.
1 Peter 3:3–5 —Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. *Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. *For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, *
Besides doing the above, what else can you do to change things for yourself? What do you want to change and what do you want not to change?
Originally Posted by Fearnot
I have gain a lot of accepting the need to endure pain and learning from it, and you have really given me a new light on dying.
I think I still some core feeling or fear of being alone when I die. I really think I
acquired that perspective the day of being beat by a foster man and locked in a closet for over 24 hours. I was in physical pain but even more I felt all alone and guilty.....and I somehow became convicted that death was like that only much worse ( the utter darkness and being alone).
I am feeling much better because I know Jesus says He will not leave me ( and I know he really was with me that day, because I needed to suspend normal bodily need to go pee etc. or face real death as I was threaten. I was not hungry, nor had to go pee, nor needed to 'talk' with someone because Jesus was there helping me.
Perhaps you did acquire it then hon, but that's not really important. Because although I'm quite sure He was with you then and in control of everything, you didn't know that yet and didn't know you could talk to Him and get answers from Him. You didn't even know about Him, much less know Him personally, and now you do! So please don't equate that experience with what death is like, because death is nothing like that hon. You know, I often hear people ask "why did God take so and so?" and I always want to say, "God didn't take them, He was receiving them!" As excited as we are to see our Lord, we need to know that Jesus is just as excited for us to see Him and to be able to give us a physical hug finally, as we are! As we die, we close our eyes to this physical world, which up till then is all we've been able to see with our eyes, and we open them a fraction of a second later to see everything! We will finally see both the physical and spiritual realms and most of all we will finally, "see" our Lord. When we close our eyes, knowing in faith that the Lord is with us, we will open them to be rewarded with the sight that all He promised was and is indeed true and He really IS with us! I can't wait to see what I know to be true!
Hebrews 11:1 —Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. *
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please comment so we can grow in faith together and edify each other.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.