The Beauty of Holiness

A man looks at a woman, shakes his head, looks her up and down and grunts as he bites his lip and says, "Ooh girl, you are SO sexy!" (In case you didn't know, that is supposed to pass as a compliment.) Sexy, huh? A woman should be flattered? Why? There is a sexual desire in his heart that is in him that is being met by something he sees. Don't be fooled. Don't be flattered. It's not hard to be sexy to someone who is swimming in lust. One in lust, be it male or female, is like a dog. He or she will indiscriminately lie down with whatever comes by.

I received a phone message one day. There was a deep baritone voice that said very sincerely, "Thank you so much for last night..." I thought, "what in the world? This must be a prank from one of my silly friends." Then, he continued seriously, "I really appreciate your praying for me." Then I remembered. He had called the night before and God led me to pray for him. I'm sure he didn't realize how he sounded. He was just being appreciative. It's an awesome thing for a great time "last night" to have been about prayer. Mmmm, pure. If you don't understand or are unfamiliar with jazz music, you may not appreciate the genius of a prolific jazz artist. If you don't know anything about modern art, you can at best, only look at a piece and say, "ooh, pretty." You can not appreciate it. If you don't have holiness at work in you, you can't appreciate the holiness that God has worked inside of someone else. Now, some may think that's corny, but when a man can rave about your integrity, when he just can't stop thinking about your graciousness, when he is taken by your steadfast commitment to the things of God, it doesn't just speak of you. An ability to articulate an appreciation of the beauty of holiness speaks of a DESIRE for holiness in the heart of the beholder. Now THAT will get a sister's attention.

Don't Go Changin'

"Just the Way You Are" by Billy Joel

Don't go changing, to try and please me
You never let me down before
Don't imagine you're too familiar
And I don't see you anymore
I wouldn't leave you in times of trouble
We never could have come this far
I took the good times, I'll take the bad times
I'll take you just the way you are

Don't go trying some new fashion
Don't change the color of your hair
You always have my unspoken passion
Although I might not seem to care

I don't want clever conversation
I never want to work that hard
I just want someone that I can talk to
I want you just the way you are.

I need to know that you will always be
The same old someone that I knew
What will it take 'till you believe in me
The way that I believe in you.

I said I love you, and that's forever
And this I promise from the heart
I could not love you any better
I love you just the way you are.

Only in Christ can one know true love. However, that sweet, sweet song provides an example of how our love of others should look.
In the way of encouragement: There ARE people who will love you for who you are, the way that you are. I'm not just talking about Mr. or Ms. Right. I mean friends, family, etc. What you see as a liability, may be an asset. You know, one man's trash is another man's treasure. I was told for years that I would have to learn to be quiet when I got married, because "no man would want to hear all of that talking." Recently, I met a brother who commented that he really ENJOYS hearing me talk. He wasn't mackin'. He wasn't trying to impress me. I'm sure he had no idea about what a blessing his comment was. Just ask Sally Field. It's an incredible feeling to realize that "They like me. They really like me!!" We all know women who detest certain aspects of their physique. I have several male friends who think that those despised figure "flaws" are actually their wife's BEST asset. The same is true of most of our areas of insecurity. Of course, there is a balance. Some of our less-loved issues that we excuse by saying, "That's just me" are actually rooted in sin-- physically in overeating or spiritually in pride. However, I'm learning that although sin issues must be dealt with, personality traits that are not sin-linked need only be tempered. Who knows, someone may love you more for it.

Maiden voyage!

Captain's log-- or should I say, BLOG 7/16/2006.
Wow. My first blog. Wow. This is my forum. No profanity. No vulgarity. Come on, why mess up a nice place like this with trash like that? I just want to share my thoughts with you on world issues, my life, spiritual issues, stuff... I believe that I have a great deal of insight from which you could benefit. No, I'm not overestimating my importance. I just believe that there is a lot of information in my head and potential in my spirit that should be shared with the world. Hey, at least you are listening. Some things may be funny. Some deeply spiritual. Some may even be personal-- we'll see. All of it is coming from my heart.