by Lucy | May 21, 2010 | emotions |
The Proverbs 31 lady:
Is she a true beauty? Am I?
Are you?
CONFESSION: The description of the Proverbs 31 lady disturbs me. She seems too perfect, too polished, just another unattainable standard. I don’t want to be her, I want to hurt her, maybe knock her on her bottom with one of those spinning karate kicks you’ve seen in a Chuck Norris flick. Wow! It felt good to admit that.
Thankfully, the Proverbs 31 lady doesn’t exist.Theologians agree “she” is a poetic description of what a man would like to see in a wife. Admirable, yes.Should we beat ourselves up if we don’t compare?
No.
To discern the difference between outer beauty and inner beauty, let’s do a little word study.
Outer beauty:
In verse 30, we read, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting.”The Hebrew word for beauty here is yophiy, and it means “beautiful as to outward appearance.” And it is “fleeting.”
Ain’t that the truth? In my cosmetics bag, I have concealer for minimize wrinkles, foundation to even my complexion, blush to pink my cheeks and eyebrow pencil to fill in gaps.
Gray hair? I prefer to call these strands “platinum.” They blend nicely with the blond.
Ha!
Inner beauty:
A few verses earlier, the noun hadar describes how the Proverbs 31 woman is “clothed”: with splendor and honor, strength and beauty. This beauty is godliness.She “laughs without fear of the future” and “shall rejoice in time to come.”
Her inner beauty shines Jesus! Look at these New Testament verses.
Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of your sinful nature. Romans 13:14
As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12
All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble.” 2 Peter 5:5b
Now scoot back to Proverbs 31:30. I purposely skipped the second half of the verse, so we could talk about it now. In its entirety, it reads, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” In this context, the word “fear” means to revere, to honor, to adore.
Did you get this? Her belief is her beauty. So is yours.
You can write it as a simple equation:
BELIEF = INNER BEAUTY
I think I’m beginning to like the Proverb 31 lady.
Sure, she sews her clothes and I don’t.She invests in real estate. Not me.She gardens. No green thumb here.She wakes up before dawn and cooks breakfast for the family.I’m sleeping.So much of what she does, I don’t do.
One thing we have in common: We love the Lord.
That’s all that really matters.
You Are Precious!
by Lucy | Feb 26, 2010 | biblical counseling
What gives the teaching of Jesus its power? What distinguishes it from the teachings of the Koran, Buddha, New Age, or anything else?
The risen Christ does.
Believing in the risen Christ is radical.
Yep, radical.
A guy bops back to life, hangs with his buddies, broils fish on the beach for breakfast, and believes he is who he says he is: the Way, the Truth, the Life.
What guts! What glory!
What a gamble.
A gamble? To believe God is who he says he is means that you are who God says you are. . .and most of us women have trouble accepting that we are beautiful princesses now. Tough to believe, but
true
true
true.
Our Lord is the King of Kings. He has conquered death. Past tense! And yet. . .our enemy wants you to think Jesus is still in the tomb.
Not!
Our risen Christ has rescued us from the dungeons of despair and has clothed us beautifully.
Radical. Real. And risen.
Thank you, King Jesus.
Question: What interferes with your belief in the risen Jesus?
by Lucy | Jun 4, 2009 | biblical counseling |
. . .AND KNOWS your needs. In fact, he promises to give you everything you need. He’s a walking/talking/
thinking/breathing God-man of generosity.
So what about the crazy economy? Some people have lost their homes or jobs; others their 401Ks (or at least a big chunk). Gone are the once-a-month fancy dinners for most people as well as yearly vacations.
The apparent disconnect of generous Jesus and rinky-dink household budgets may have you wondering, “What’s up with that, Lord? Didn’t you feed thousands with two fish and five loaves? Didn’t you heal (for free and with no co-pay!) a paralyzed man, a woman with chronic bleeding, ten lepers and many more folks?”
Yes, yes and yes. “So what about me? Will you meet my needs?”you ask.
Good question. It deserves an answer.
I am completely convinced that Jesus will meet your needs too, because he says he will and he does not lie. Lying is the specialty of the evil one. The Bible identifies him as the father of lies. However, the Lord may not meet your needs the way you think he should. He is far more interested in your spiritual needs than your physical ones.
In crazy times (and all times) the real question is, “Do I believe Jesus?”
Well, do you? Do I?
Do I believe him not only for paying my sin debt on the cross but also for working out every detail of life?
I used to think he was too busy to care about me.
I was wrong.
He cared enough to walk with me through the valley of depression. Years of depression.
And anxiety.
Then I left the valley. Something had died finally.
What?
My unbelief. Don’t get me wrong — I was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ — but I didn’t believe him moment by moment. Salvation but no joy. Yuck.
Then I changed. Rather God changed me.
What happened to me reminds me of the story in the Bible about the desperate father whose son had a demon. As the boy convulsed, foaming at the mouth, the dad pleaded, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
Jesus answered, “All things are possible for one who believes.”
I love this next part.
The dad cried out “I believe; help my unbelief!” His statement shows that he wanted to believe yet struggled deeply. How do you think Jesus answered his prayer? I think Jesus helped him believe; it’s his way.
He saw the man’s real need.
He is able.
He cares.
What do you believe?
You Are Loved, Lucy
