Wine and Beauty

According to the writer of Esther, King Ahasuerus’ quests choose the type of cup and the amount of wine they consumed at the banquet.  King Ahasuerus placed no restrictions on wine consumption; in fact, quests drank in accordance with the law; quests were not ordered or forced to drink the wine in their cups (Esther 1:8).

Cups hold liquids, and the golden cups represent the enlightened consciousness of each individual drinker.  The liquid or wine in the cup symbolizes the Spirit of God, and God does not force His Spirit on anyone.  The Gospel of John says, "that as many as received Him, He gave the power to become the Sons of God" (John 1:12).

According to Luke 22:17, the Bible states “And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He said, Take this, and divide and distribute it among yourselves;” The cup contained wine which symbolizes the blood of Jesus Christ, and the blood symbolizes life—the Life of Christ, eternal life (John 17:2-3).  Therefore, each disciple who willingly drank from the cup symbolically accepted the life of Christ.  This spiritual principle is illustrated by King Ahasuerus and his quests.  Quests were invited to the banquet and given freedom to drink wine with no limitation.  Another Biblical example of this principle is located in Genesis 2:15-17.  God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden and told him that he could eat as much as he wanted from any tree in the garden except for one.  In the last book of the Bible, the Holy Spirit invites all people to “come and take and drink the Water of Life, without cost” (Revelation 22:17).

The Water of Life changes me spiritually.  When I drink the Water of Life, I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord.  I trust in Him and all of His ways, and the ways of the Lord that I make active in my life makes me beautiful.  “Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;” (Psalms 34:5 NLT).  Moreover, Ecclesiastes says “How wonderful to be wise, to analyze and interpret things. Wisdom lights up a person’s face, softening its harshness” (Ecclesiastes 8:1).

The Bible says not to get drunk on physical wine, but a person should be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).  King Ahasuerus demonstrated this admonition (Esther 1:10).  On the 7th day of the banquet, the king was in an introspective state, and the wine he consumed, his communion with the Spirit of God, filled King Ahasuerus with spiritual joy, and in this high spiritual state, he wanted to show everyone at the banquet his wife’s beauty—that is, the feminine side of his nature--the hidden power within.

The hidden power within or the feminine principle establishes beauty and peace within a person through the Spirit of God.  Under Christ’s spiritual influence, the hidden power of the heart progressively raises consciousness to heights of majesty and glory as exemplified by King Ahasuerus (Esther 1:1-8). The hidden power of the heart elevates beauty to a place of admirable excellence and compelling attractiveness.  This type of beauty is available to everyone in Christ Jesus.

Beauty Produces Fruit

The Book of Esther shows the mind of an individual who possesses the mental consciousness to produce the beautiful and excellent.  King Ahasuerus produced a wondrous and impressive empire.  He spent six-months showing his rulers the splendor and beauty of his kingdom (Esther1:4).  The beauty and essence of his deep spiritual intelligence and understanding are displayed in the banquet that he prepared for everyone present in the capital city of Shushan (Esther 1:5).  The seven day time frame for the banquet demonstrates King Ahasuerus’ intuitive and deep reflective nature.  Moreover, the palace garden symbolizes King Ahasuerus spiritual state in which he produces divine ideas which his sub-consciousness transforms into the objective world—abundant fruit.  The hanging tapestries in the garden represent the depth of his spiritual understanding. The furniture and the flooring that King Ahasuerus and his quests sat and stood upon symbolize the spiritual foundation of truth.

Truth is beauty.  God is truth and beauty.  Therefore, the beginning of beauty is God consciousness. My mental state determines the level of beauty that I produce in my life.  My ideal conception of beautiful must be internalized in my sub-consciousness to be externalized in my outer or objective world.  Those thoughts that I mediate on that produce within me the highest degree of pleasure transmute by the power of God within me into physical qualities, people, circumstances, situations, and any other objective representation of my subjective or internal mental consciousness.  God gives me exactly what I ask for in prayer—those deep inner thoughts, attitudes, and ideals.

Bible References

Luke 17:21

Exodus 26:1

1 Chronicles 27

Exodus 39:27

Matthew 17:2

Psalm 31:5

Hebrews 6:18

John 1:14, 14:6

Psalm 27:4

Isaiah 45:17

Beauty and Harmony

The book of Esther illuminates my mind on the inner and outer forms of beauty.  The prophetic writer opens the book revealing the spiritual nature and beauty of King Ahasuerus and his administration.  King Ahasuerus ruler ship over 127 provinces symbolizes the majesty of unity, the Infinite One out of which all things flow.  In the capital city of Shushan, King Ahasuerus undergoes change and transition as he completes one cycle of life and enters a new and exhilarating beginning.  Before his present cycle closes, King Ahasuerus brings all of his rulers and nobles to the capital city to see and experience the wealth and luxuriousness of his magnificent empire for six-months, 180 days (Esther 1:4 NIT).

After six-months, King Ahasuerus served a seven-day banquet in the courtyard of the palace garden to everyone who was in the capital city of Shushan at that time.  The decorations of the courtyard included blue and white curtains made from fine cotton linen, which were tied by cords of fine purple linen to silver rings on marble columns. Opulent couches made of gold and silver were placed in the courtyard, which was paved with white marble, red mosaic glass, dazzling mother-of-pearl, and shimmering blue turquoise (Esther 1:6 GNT).

Quests were served wine in cups made of gold, and each person received only as much as he desired (Esther 1:8). King Ahasuerus’ mood was joyous because he consumed allot of wine, and he wanted to show-off the beauty and crown of his queen, Vashti. Therefore, King Ahasuerus sent two groups of seven men, seven high-ranking officials and seven eunuchs’s to deliver the command to Queen Vashti, and then accompany Queen Vashti to the banquet as King Ahasuerus commanded.

Queen Vashti said no.  She refused to obey the command of the King and come to the banquet; thereby, not allowing the King’s rulers and people to look upon and admire her beauty and presence.  Queen Vashti refused to show the successful marriage between her and King Ahasuerus--that is, a harmonious consciousness and sub-consciousness.

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.