Good day sisters!
Well time certainly goes by very quickly and we are now in the middle month of the year. And for some that means wintertime and others summer.
Praise God for His promises.
"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."
Genesis 8:22
"But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."
2 Peter 3:7
May we sister be found in Christ if we see that day. And at all times daily living for the Lord first. We know not when shall be our last time here. And how very much we have been given for those who have been bought with the precious blood of Christ. It is a priceless gift!
This verse came to mind today from something another sister shared...
"For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."
Isaiah 53:2-3
And I was thinking about that. Jesus Christ our perfect Example was not beautiful and all that in the outward to look upon. Indeed man looks upon such things in his pride and vanity. And for many women it is a huge part of their own lives, obsession in how they look. And sadly also for many women who claim Christ's name too. They have believed the lie that they have to be beautiful and look good to have any value.
"For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."
John 12:43
We see here that our adornment, sisters, should be of the heart.
"Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price."
1 Peter 3:3-4
A meek and quiet spirit which is not corruptible like the outward is. Let us not underestimate that as it says it is of great price to God. And isn't He who we are looking to please and obey because we love Him?
And from this one we see that good works and shamfacedness should go along with our biblical clothing and self-control as our adornment.
"In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works."
1 Timothy 2:9-10
But what we see everywhere today is rebellion and pride in this area. It all goes along with loving the praise and favour of man more than God too. Women want to be accepted for what they look like rather than to first please God and have internal beauty of the heart which produces good works. A heart that has been made new by the Spirit. What better thing is there than to be acceptable to our heavenly Father as one of His daughters washed in the blood of His Son?
"Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates."
Proverbs 31:30-31
As a sister shared this verse with me today...
And it could also apply here on what the world esteems which is pride in the outward appearance which is an abomination to God. Pride, that dreadful sin in all hearts, that must be crucified in us sisters. Of course it causes all kinds of sin but this one in women and their appearance is one of them.
So as we come to see how we are to walk in Christ, we throw away any outward adorning (jewelery, makeup, adorned clothing) of our past. And that includes the pride and rebellion of not wanting to wear a headcovering too (of which I had to repent of). It all becomes worthless in the eyes of a godly woman who has her affections set on things above and wants to please her Lord more than any thing.
And instead we work on the heart and cultivating all those things that are to be a part of our lives; kindness, love, mercy, joy, peace, quietness, patience, gentleness, forgiveness, meekness, purity, shamefacedness, grace, soberness, tender-heartedness, and much more.
All this also goes along with walking in the Spirit and not the flesh. Our flesh may not be 'satisfied' with how we 'look' but our outsides, our looks, and our earthly bodies are all going to decay and return back to dust soon. Nothing can make that beautiful then! Again we are to be living for the eternal and what will last not that which is vain and passes away.
So let us sisters who have been made new on the inside of the heart through the gospel and are women who fear God strive to get our hearts right on this matter and keep them that way and obey the Lord who has commanded how we live.
May it be the Lord that is glorified in our lives and not ourselves.
"He must increase, but I must decrease."
John 3:30
It also goes along with being lowly and humble too of which we know we are to be serving the Lord and others.
We know this life is short and fleeting. If we are truly in Christ walking in all His ways then we will be preparing and striving to walk worthy of God and ready for eternity.
"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
2 Corinthians 5:1-10
So those are just some thoughts that came to me today and so I share them here.
And I share a couple scripture pictures from a kind sister too...
