Love is the Way to Beauty

The Bible says that God is Love, and the person who does not love does not know God (1 John 5:7).  The beginning of love is self-love. God loves Himself because you cannot be that which you are not, and you cannot give what you do not possess. God is love; therefore, God loves God.  I am an expression of God’s love. God made me in His image and in His likeness (Genesis 1). Thus, I am love. Whether I express this love or not is up to me.  This is why the scriptures says that the person who does not love does not know God ( 1 John 5:7). Furthermore, the person who does not love does not know her or himself spiritually.  Darkness covers the person’s mind.

The Bible states  that the gospel is hidden to people who are not in Christ because the spirit of this age has darkened the minds of those who do not believe in Christ, so that they lack the ability to understand the message about Christ that reveals the truth of Christ, “who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

The book of Matthew states in 13:14-15 that "In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah
“You will be ever hearing but never understanding;  you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.”"

In the book of Ephesians 4:17-19, the Apostle Paul writes,
“So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.”

Indulging in sensuality will dull the spiritual senses.  If I choose to feed a sensual habit more than my spiritual habit, the sensual habit becomes the dominant habit.  For example, if I choose to watch television 5 to 12 hours a day instead of studying materials that will increase my spiritual knowledge for the same amount of time then television watching is my dominant habit.

From this television habit, I may develop a couple of mind altering conditions.  The first condition switches my thoughts from active engagement thinking to passive acceptance thinking.  In active engagement thinking, I am able to think logically, analytically, and come to my own conclusions about information presented.  In contrast, passive acceptance thinking alters my mind to a type of meditative state where I easily accept suggestions without analysis during the time that I am watching television.  During this time, my mind is continually hit with suggestions from various interest groups such as advertisers, politicians, and the program’s writers, producers, and directors.  Even after I stop watching television, my mind may remain in a suggestive state for a period and vulnerable to suggestions.

Once again, the Bible states  that the gospel is hidden to individuals who do not believe in Christ because the spirit of this age has darkened their minds so that they lack the ability to understand the message and truth about Christ, “who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

I must renew my mind daily with the Word of God to counteract the suggestions that I receive from watching television and other electronic devices multiple hours a day.  Meditation in the word of God, and actually reading printed, paper books engages the mind and may break the suggestive condition placed on it by watching television and other electronic devices many hours daily.

God is love, and I am love.  I intend to love myself to the fullest by keeping my mind open to the Spirit of God and closed to the spirit of this age.  A mind open to God’s love is a mind open to the all the mysteries of God that are hidden in Christ (Colossians 2:2).  Beauty is a mystery hidden in Christ.

References

Chris M. Carmichael . (May 17, 2007). Your Brain Waves Change When You Watch TV -Low Alpha Waves Can Lead to "Mind Fog". In Yahoo Voices. Retrieved July 30, 2012, from http://voices.yahoo.com/your-brain-waves-change-watch-tv-low-alpha-349221.html?cat=25.

Robert Kubey and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi . (n.d.). Television Addiction--A Growing Problem. In All About Life's Challenges. Retrieved July 30, 2012, from http://www.allaboutlifechallenges.org/television-addiction.htm.

Bibliography

Visconte, Eve. "What Is TV Addiction? Symptoms and Cures for Television Addiction." In Psychology @ Suite 101. Suite101.com Media Inc, 27 May 2010. Web. 30 July 2012. <http://suite101.com/article/tv-addiction-a218525.>.

Free Beauty Samples

The Lord says to taste and see that He is good in Psalms 34:8.  The Lord gives away free samples.  In John 5:1, Jesus went to a pool, where “a great number of disabled people used to lay—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.”  Jesus asked an individual who had a chronic illness for nearly four decades a direct question, “Do you want to get well?”  Instead of saying yes, the individual told his story of woe.  In verse 8, Jesus continued to be direct with him by commanding him to, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” “At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked” (John 5:9).

Sometimes I act like this man.  Jesus offers me a free sample, but I cannot see it because I am caught up in my immediate circumstance.  I can only see one way out of it, and that way is blocked.  When, actually, there are numerous ways out of a situation that I have not considered.  This makes me like one of the disabled people at the pool who are “blind, lame, and paralyzed” (John 5:1).  Jesus dealt with the man’s disability by commanding him to “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk” (John 5:8).  I must get up and pick up the circumstance that I have been lying in and walk.  I must walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).  I cannot allow outward expressions to control my actions because I understand the Law of Cause and Effect.

I am the cause of all effects in my life through my own thinking; therefore, I must change how I think to change outward effects.   Jesus changed the way the man thought about his circumstance through a command.  I can change my circumstances by commanding myself to think in a positive way about all situations.  In Philippians 4:8, the Spirit of the Lord through the Apostle Paul says to think on whatever is true, noble, right, pure….  What is true, noble, right, and pure?  What I have faith in.  What I believe God has done for me without doubt.  The Spirit of the Lord speaks to me again about my thinking in the following scriptures:

2 Corinthians 10:4-6
4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6

The power of God in the word of God that I speak to myself destroys mental strongholds, which are those points of view, reasoning, and pretentious fronts that I use to dismiss the knowledge of God in my mind.  I must control these thoughts and cast them down and replace them with the true knowledge of God.  The true knowledge of God is what I believe and what I see.

John 15:7-8
New International Version

7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

When I bear allot of fruit, my Heavenly Father is glorified and pleased with me.  God wants me to take as many free samples as I need.  God wants me to try it before I buy it—that is, God wants me to experience His Goodness as many times as I need to by actually doing what the word says and not just listening to the word, and thereby cheating myself of God’s power and glory (James 1:22).

Free beauty samples are not only offered by God, but free samples are available at cosmetics’ counters.  I request free makeup samples because I have sensitive skin, and I definitely want to try it before I commit to buying any product that goes on my skin or eyes.  Cosmetic’s companies are aware that many women want to try the makeup or skin care product out first for various reasons, so they supply stores with samples.  Try a sample first.  When it works for you, them purchase the product.

Created Elegance and Beauty

I am the creator of my outside expression—that is, I create my own beautiful elegance and fashion, and adorn myself with the jewelry of the heart which includes worship of God, wisdom, intelligence, and other virtues spoken of in Proverbs 31.  The spiritual tools that I use to create a powerful and harmonious spirit include the word of God, spiritual books, and training in the ways of God.

The tools that I use to create a beautiful outer expression include cleansing creams, foundations, eye and lip liners, and other make-up products. These products enhance my natural beauty and elegance, and allow me to combine bright and cool colors such as black, red, blue, orange, green, and white with fashion jewelry to create my own style and flair. Make-up products can be an expensive purchase if I am a novice buyer and shop when I am hungry.

When I first started purchasing make-up, there was allot, and I didn’t know which brand or brands were the best choice for me.  I walked around and looked at the samples on the counter.  I wasn’t excited about using sample make-up that allot of strangers had stuck their fingers in or put on their lips.  Moreover, I did not want to spend allot of money on make-up that I did not need, so I thought that purchasing a whole line of make-up from the same manufacturer was good.  It was good alright—good and expensive.  This is  shopping when hungry—having a strong need to make a change immediately no matter what the cost.

I really wanted to change my look, but I had not done any research about make-up.  I did not want to spend allot of money, but I did.  I was an eager shopper with no real knowledge, which made me vulnerable to product suggestions especially after I received a professional make-over at the make-up counter.  I wanted everything that was put on my face because I looked good; however, when I got home, things were different.

I loved the look that I had at the store, but I was not able to duplicate that look.  It took a while for me to gain the experience and knowledge to apply the make-up just right.  In time, the experience and knowledge that I gained not only helped me in applying make-up but in acquiring free samples to try before I made a purchase.

The Internal Practice of Beauty


Beauty is an internal practice that has an external viewing, which begins in the way that I think about myself.  My thoughts are always on display, and if I am thinking that I am beautiful, smart, lovable, compassionate, and generous, those thoughts will illuminate my whole personality and show up in the way that I present myself daily.  From my make-up and jewelry to the fashions and perfumes that I wear, the internal beauty is always there.  Therefore, I should begin my beauty regiment in the morning or evening with an internal cleanser--that is, I need to make sure that my thoughts are positive about me at all times.  Yes, I know that this may be challenging at times, but thinking good thoughts about one's self is the most important task in life. The Bible says that I am what I think.  Therefore, I must think good about myself so that I will have the good and pass the good thoughts and deeds on to others.

How can anyone be good to someone else when she or he cannot be good to his or herself?  What happens when a person is depressed or hurt?  Doesn't the person negatively charge the atmosphere without saying a word?  I am living radiation; the energy of my thoughts and feelings move continuously through the universe.  The universe is in God, and I am in God; thus, my thoughts travel through the universe.  I make sure that good thoughts about myself travel to the end of the universe and back.  

I am good to myself.  I talk to myself daily about just how good.  I say words like God loves me, I love me, I'm beautiful, I'm smart, I'm a winner, and I don't care about the current thing that I see right now; eventually, I will have the new thing that I see, want, and believe because I persist.  I am faithful to me, my words, and the good in me.  This good begins with God, and God only has good plans for me.  I stay in agreement with God, and God empowers me in staying internally beautiful. Once the daily internal beautification process is complete, the external process begins.