I've had this
post rambling thought in my head for a few weeks now. Today, I guess it became even clearer to me.Now, before I get started, there are people out there that cringe at the beginning of my stories but thankfully for them I talk faster than I type, so this won't be quite as painful;) So this thought came to me one day as I was getting ready(read putting makeup on) and I realized that I don't like for my girls to see me doing that. Why? Well, I want them to focus on the" inner" beauty. I want them to see the value in themselves through the blood of Christ. Not the praise of man.I don't want them to think that that's something that they need to do. I have a couple of friends that don't really wear makeup and they look lovely. And yet I continue to ''get ready", it's a habit I suppose. I've been wearing makeup since I was 12...oh my...that's a long time if you're counting! As a girl of 12 I wanted to look older, as a woman of 40 I want to look younger. And so it goes. But I realized that it goes so much deeper than that. Think of the descriptions for make up....concealer, cover up, full coverage, "spackle" if you will. Some of these could be interchangeable with deceit. Really, that's what it is. But underneath, the wrinkles are still there right along with the age spots. And sometimes the "cover up" actually makes it worse, sometimes we and others can see the flaws and wrinkles all the more clearly. Not what we had hoped for, huh?Now, some of you are thinking, "I don't wear makeup", "I don't fuss with my appearance", "I don't care what others think", "what you see is what you get",well, before you think that this doesn't apply to you, there are more ways than one to make ourselves look better. Vanity and deceit sometimes walk together. We all "wear makeup". What about those "fake" smiles that we plaster on? What about that "little white lie"? What about the gossip, does it make you feel better about yourself? Do others think better of you? We've been doing this since the garden, remember when Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves? They couldn't cover their sin anymore that you or I can. God made their coverings. It took a sacrifice. We could be here for a while.....I'll move on.
So, today we had an issue of a "cover up". Yes, someone had made a "mess" of things at some point and tried to cover it up. They didn't want to get in trouble but decided to take care of it themselves(read bigger mess). Well, I was frustrated and disappointed to say the least. So, I sent my beloved a text and ask for prayer. Oh, that we would do this more often. What a blessing to have my husband go to the Lord in prayer for me. I had to confront the issue and at the same time convey a message of love. HARD for me to do. Then my ramblings came together some more. I'm guilty of the same cover ups and so are you. We make a mess of things(read sin) and try to take care of it ourselves and end up with a bigger mess. Sin breeds sin. So, where did this conversation take us? It took us to the Cross. Praise be to God for Christ! For His "covering". Only Him, only Him.
I just realized that I haven't even gotten to the title, maybe my typing skills are improving. I think you can figure out where I was going with that:)
Thankful for Christ....
In Him,
Sandy
HEY go from strength to strength. There are various renderings of these words, but all of them contain the idea of progress.
Our own good
translation of the authorized version is enough for us this morning.
"They go from strength to strength." That is, they grow stronger and
stronger. Usually, if we are walking, we go from strength to weakness;
we start fresh and in good order for our journey, but by-and-by the road
is rough, and the sun is hot, we sit down by the wayside, and then
again painfully pursue our weary way. But the Christian pilgrim having
obtained fresh supplies of grace, is as vigorous after years of toilsome
travel and struggle as when he first set out. He may not be quite so
elate and buoyant, nor perhaps quite so hot and hasty in his zeal as he
once was, but he is much stronger in all that constitutes real power,
and travels, if more slowly, far more surely. Some gray-haired veterans
have been as firm in their grasp of truth, and as zealous in diffusing
it, as they were in their younger days; but, alas, it must be confessed
it is often otherwise, for the love of many waxes cold and iniquity
abounds, but this is their own sin and not the fault of the promise
which still holds good: "The youths shall faint and be weary, and the
young men shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall
renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they
shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint." Fretful
spirits sit down and trouble themselves about the future. "Alas!" say
they, "we go from affliction to affliction." Very true, O thou of little
faith, but then thou goest from strength to strength also. Thou shalt
never find a bundle of affliction which has not bound up in the midst of
it sufficient grace. God will give the strength of ripe manhood with
the burden allotted to full-grown shoulders.
Y soul
begin this wintry month with thy God. The cold snows and the piercing
winds all remind thee that He keeps His covenant with day and night, and
tend to assure thee that He will also keep that glorious covenant which
He has made with thee in the person of Christ Jesus. He who is true to
His Word in the revolutions of the seasons of this poor sin-polluted
world, will not prove unfaithful in His dealings with His own
well-beloved Son.
