You are Beautiful and Priceless

Too often the message we hear is one of disdain and disapproval. We hear words that imply we’re not good enough in beauty, intelligence, or behavior. We experience judgment instead of grace, condemnation instead of mercy, and anger instead of mercy and compassion. Beloved, the accusations against your heart are not God’s. His heart is so tender toward each one of us, filled with incredible love, joy, and forgiveness as well as delight in simply who we are: who He created us to be.

Psalm 139:14 says we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” by the same God who flung the stars into space and created the majesty of mountains and oceans.

Isaiah 62:3-4 declares, “You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no longer be termed Forsaken…for the Lord delights in you.”

Furthermore, Zephaniah 3:15, 17 radiates the passion of our Daddy God for us, “The Lord has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst. You shall see disaster no more…The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

For anyone struggling to believe God’s delight in you today, below are the lyrics to several powerful songs about your worth, value, and beauty. Don’t listen to the accusations and condemnation of the enemy. Saturate yourself in the joy of Jesus in who He made you today, Beloved. 

·         1GN - Guard Your Heart

·         From the album UNITE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_xZtdlYlMw

In the middle of this crazy messed up world we live in
Surrounded by voices pressuring us to give in
Believe me, I get it
I know you wanna fit in
Everybody's telling you
What you're missing
But don't listen to anything but the truth

Know your worth ‘cause you are priceless
More than gold, more than diamonds
Be the light inside the dark
Keep your faith and guard your heart
It's where life, it's where love is
Every beat has a purpose
It holds everything you are
Above all else
Guard your heart
Your heart
Your heart
Your heart
Guard your heart

Maybe you feel all alone like something's missing
And all of your friends have found their prince charming
Believe me, I get it
You're so tempted
To settle or give up on love
But it's in God's timing
You can't rush it, don't believe you are not enough

I'm not saying to build a wall
Just to trust that God won't let you fall
I'm not saying to build a wall
Just to trust that God's in control of it all

·         FOR KING & COUNTRY - Priceless

From the album Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPgSrMOTnqM

Mirror mirror
Mirror on the wall
Telling those lies
Pointing out your flaws
That isn't who you are
That isn't who you are
It might be hard to hear
But let me tell you dear
If you could see what I can see
I know you would believe
That isn't who you are
There's more to who you are

So when it's late
You're wide awake
Too much to take
Don't you dare forget
That in the pain
You can be brave
Hear me say

(Chorus)

I see you dressed in white
Every wrong made right
I see a rose in bloom
At the sight of you
Oh so priceless
Irreplaceable
Unmistakable
Incomparable
Darling it's beautiful
I see it all in you
Oh so priceless

No matter what you've heard
This is what you're worth
More than all the money all the diamonds & pearls
Oh this is who you are
Yeah this is who you are

So when it's late
You're wide awake
Too much to take
Don't you dare forget
That in the pain
You can be brave
Hear me say

(Chorus)

I see you dressed in white
Every wrong made right
I see a rose in bloom
At the sight of you
Oh so priceless
Irreplaceable
Unmistakable
Incomparable
Darling it's beautiful
I see it all in you
Oh so priceless

Sisters
We can start again
Give honor till the end
Love we can start again
Brothers
We can start again
Give honor till the end
Yeah we can start again

(Chorus)

I see you dressed in white
Every wrong made right
I see a rose in bloom
At the sight of you
Oh so priceless
Irreplaceable
Unmistakable
Incomparable
Darling it's beautiful
I see it all in you
Oh so priceless

I see you dressed in white
Every wrong made right
I see a rose in bloom
At the sight of you
I see you dressed in white
Every wrong made right
I see a rose in bloom
At the sight of you
We can start again

I see you dressed in white
Every wrong made right
I see a rose in bloom
At the sight of you
I see you dressed in white
Every wrong made right
Oh so priceless

VERIDIA - Furious Love

From the album Inseparable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts_osvAzEhA

He said that I would never be
A silhouette that he would want
I shifted shape and recreated me
The girl I was, I soon forgot
A love like that won't last long
So suddenly it all goes wrong
When beauty starts to fade

But you say I am beautiful
I don't need the world's approval
Only you madly pursue me
And jealously tell me
I am worthy of
Furious love

With all you have and all you are
Your universe was incomplete
In a sea of silver stars
Still the sky was dark
And so you dreamed of me
A love like that is all I want
I don't ever have to be what I am not
God, I love the way

You say I am beautiful
I don't need the world's approval
Only you madly pursue me
And jealously tell me
I am worthy of
Furious love

Your passion is a fire
An all consuming fire
I can't get enough
Furious love

You say I am beautiful
I don't need the world's approval
Only you madly pursue me
And jealously tell me
I am worthy of
Furious love

Your passion is a fire
An all consuming fire
I can't get enough
Furious love

Your passion is a fire
And all consuming fire
I can't get enough
Furious love

Seed and Soil

"Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God." ~II Corinthians 9:10-11

I'm so thankful for the breakthroughs God gives us in our perspectives and thought-processes. Often, I don't even realize that I'm thinking the wrong way. I only know that I'm struggling with doing the right thing. Usually my struggle revolves around the realization that I've stopped reaching out to people because I've become fearful of rejection again.


Each time the Holy Spirit puts His finger on this issue, He exposes another layer of misunderstanding about His heart and His ways. Recently, I had once again begun withdrawing then emotionally whipping myself for failure. God reminded me that He doesn't expect me to be like other people in the way I reach out, minister, and give, but I didn't experience breakthrough until He highlighted the parable of the sower and the seed to me (Matthew 13:3-8, 18-23).


I had recently heard a sermon on this passage at church, and the Holy Spirit began to speak to me. First, He reminded me that the seed represents more than just evangelistic words but the total heart of God. The seed represents every act of love, every gift of faith, every word flowing from Father's heart. He said, "Giving time, energy, and resources where there is a need is seed. Your writing is seed. Extending friendship is seed. Patience and mercy is seed. Worship and prayer are seed. And, of course, telling people about Jesus is seed."


As I continued to struggle, not with a desire to obey but with how obedience looked for me as the unique individual God made me, the Holy Spirit spoke again. He knew exactly where to put His finger to free me of the condemnation I was feeling, releasing me to step out in faith again. He said:


"You are not responsible for the soil of other people's hearts, Daughter. Only for scattering the seed. The sower in the Word took no account of the state of the soil. He didn't attempt to assess if the seed would grow. He simply threw it liberally all around, everywhere he walked. He tossed the seed and let it fall in every type of soil. And he let God bring the results.


"Scatter the seed and don't look back. Don't hole up to see whether the seeds are growing or to judge yourself by the result of your labor. I don't judge you by other people's soil. Their soil doesn't determine the quality of the seed. You scatter good seed when you store up My word and truth in your heart, when you soak in the love and power of My Presence. I judge you only by your own soil.


"You stop to asses if there's fruit in others' lives and flail your own. But I'm not that way. I see the sower and I see the soil. I see where you've tossed out seed, and I'm not calling you to make it grow. Toss and keep walking. Toss and don't look back. Toss out the seed as you keep going forward in your daily activities and the opportunities I place before you.


"Store up the seed of My love and word in your heart and let it grow within you so that it will always produce in abundance and you'll have more than enough to share. Toss and do not fear."

~Your Daddy God





My Protector

God is an awesome Protector! I’m so thankful He’s my Abba Daddy.

When I first became single again, a vast world of possibilities opened up to me or so I thought. I was free from negativity, criticism, and oppression, and I inhaled the fresh air of freedom with joy and gladness. Accompanying my joy, a deep longing to experience a kind, giving relationship bloomed inside me. I had a vault full of treasure to share and I longed to find a gentle, loving man to give it to.

My joy and motherly instincts attracted attention. A divorced man with two kids asked me to coffee. I suggested we meet at a park instead. He called me on the phone and my heart ached to mother his children and have my own home to care for again. Because I always seek to give grace, I brushed off the somewhat demeaning and arrogant way he talked to others. I told myself his jokes weren’t meant to be harsh. After each conversation, however, I felt a warning that his beliefs weren’t quite in line with Scripture. Attached to his kids, I kept downplaying the growing unease I felt. I offered to babysit his children, but God stepped in. He brought me into contact with people who told me a little more of this man’s background and his children’s strange behaviors. Torn between feeling judgmental and sick to my stomach when he talked about Sophia, a so-called Biblical member of the Trinity, I experienced a demonic attack. I knew exactly where the spirit had come from. A meeting with a new friend confirmed all the suspicions I had been trying to explain away. The man was into witchcraft and even boasted of being able to make his daughter fall asleep on command. I told the man I couldn’t hang out with him anymore because he did not have the same spirit as me. That week, he left the church.

God knows how difficult it’s been for me to learn to heed His still, quiet voice immediately. Attending college at the same time as me, an older man shared his story about a horrible war zone experience and his resulting PTSD and drug use. Clean and sober, he was determined to help others defeat addictions, for which I greatly admired him. I began praying for him and had received several visions of seeing him transformed by the love of Jesus. A year later, he and I ended up in the same class together. His eyes sparkled whenever he talked, his manner showed kindness, and he suggested getting together. I was excited to share the hope of Jesus, and overcame my usual reticence, giving him a music CD and my phone number. He said he’d call me, but as he shared a story about a former girlfriend, the Lord flashed the word “player” across my mind. I wanted to ignore it, but as he waved my number, I said, “I make friends with many kinds of people.” He didn’t call me. I started to feel really bad about the way I had phrased my boundary. I found his number in the phone book and called it, but the Lord already knew: the number was disconnected. As I threw away the paper I’d written it on, instantly it flashed into a condom. I prayed and prayed, listening to the man in class, watching his words and actions take on an aggressive manner around me. He was so strong on my heart, I pushed past his coldness and gave him a book on the Father’s heart. Daddy God wrapped my heart in His love, but the man’s warm, twinkling eyes were building a deeper attraction in me. I begged God for a clear answer, and God answered my prayer. I came to school at an unusual time and saw a woman with her hand on his thigh. She was enough of a friend and espousing Christian that later I asked her about his moral values. She laughed as she admitted he had slept with every willing girl on campus as well as her. Later they married, and I thanked God for forewarning and protecting me.

These incidents as well as others have solidified in me the necessity of heeding the gentle prompting of the Holy Spirit. God knows the spirit and nature of a person and reveals the truth when we ask.

Although I based on the title of my first book, Love that is Blind, on a 4Him song about the basics of life, I know now that Love is not blind. Our Father God sees clearly, forgives continually, and empowers us with the ability to change. That’s grace! He also puts up firm boundaries for our protection, warning us not to seek unity with someone who pursues worldly lusts.

Our Abba Daddy desires to protect us from toxicity, especially in romantic relationships. He desires marriage to be a fountain of blessing for a lifetime, but that can happen only when both partners live in surrender to Him.

Beloved

I whispered your name today, but you didn’t hear Me.

Do you hear Me now as towering, concrete walls stare down at you? Grocery bags weight your hands, and your heart sags with despair. Masses of Asian pedestrians surround you, yet you’ve never felt so alone.

Curious, dark brown eyes linger on you—a foreigner in their vast land. Your soul cries out. Why can’t I be happy here? Why hasn’t God made me into the missionary I’m supposed to be?

Pain latches onto My heart. “Oh, Beloved, I don’t want you to be someone different from who you are.”

Your eyebrows twitch together. Did you hear Me?

A gray-haired man hobbles close and spits out a stream of berry juice, splattering your shoes.

You wince as if I struck you.

“No, Beloved! I will never lash out at you. When I wound, it’s to heal, just like a doctor who cuts in order to take out the cancer then knits muscle and skin back together.”

But you don’t let My words penetrate as you renew your grip on runaway emotions and sacks of perishables.

You step onto a dirty street curb. Cars stream by. Horns screech and tires swerve as you weave your way through the city’s unrelenting traffic. Sweat creeps under your armpits from the island’s polluted humidity. You’re so close to paradise, yet so far. You’ve seen what others come to enjoy—the crystal beaches, sparkling sea, and ornate five-star hotels. Wealthy Asians and vacationing Westerners lounge in comfort while you struggle to climb seven flights of unforgiving, spit-stained steps to the bare apartment you try to call home.

You reach your steel door then lean against it a moment. A grimace of pain shoots across your face. The pain inside bubbles to the surface, like boiling water that can’t leave a hot stove.

The Lord didn’t send me here to make me happy. He wants me to make a difference.

 “No, Beloved, that’s not what I want.”

You jam your key into the lock, scared of connecting, frightened of what I’ll ask. You rush into the apartment and slam the door, but I enter with you.

You shove groceries into cupboards and dump fruit onto a glass table, but the flurry of activity doesn’t last. You’re too tired. Too defeated.

Your shoulders slump, and you bow your head. You walk to the westward balcony and lower yourself to the cool floor. As dusk settles over the smog-coated city, you gaze out at blinking neon lights and ache for diamonds in a velvet sky.

Passion for you—just you—burns within My heart, and I gentle My voice. “I miss you, Beloved. Will you spend time with Me?”

Anguish and longing surge inside you, but fear snatches away your sense of My presence. You jump to your feet and rush from the balcony, chased by a cacophony of accusing voices.

You’re a failure. He’s not happy with you. Run away. Hide.

You awaken your computer then stare at its fluorescent screen. You press keys, trying to breathe life into the story you’ve created, but I obscure the sentences.

“No more escaping into fiction, Beloved. You’re hurting far too much. These stories can’t give you the love that you crave.”

Tears spill down your cheeks, and finally distress overrides the risk of conversing. You whisper, breath soft as feather-down, “Jesus, I’m so sorry. I know you want me here to tell these people how much you love them, but I’m just pretending to have Your joy and love inside. Just take me to Heaven now. I’m of no more use to You.”

My heart breaks open, pouring rain onto barren ground. “Oh, My darling child, there’s nothing further from the truth. I’m not angry with you or scornful of you or disappointed. I’m not the harsh taskmaster you thought you had to serve. I love you, and I will always take care of you.”

You lift your head, and hope sparks in your eyes like dawn in an iridescent sky. “Really, Jesus?”

My heart sings. “Yes, Beloved. Really.”

Let It Go...

"Let it go. Let it go. Can't hold it back anymore. Let it go. Let it go. Turn away and slam the door. I don't care what they're going to say. Let the storm rage on. The cold never bothered me anyway."


This chorus from "Let It Go", the award-winning song in Frozen, strikes a chord deep inside of me. Elsa's ordeal is so well-portrayed that we ache with her, and the ache resurrects a longing deep inside for us to truly be free.


Let it go...


Jesus promised we would be free in Him. Free from everything Elsa longed to escape: fear, pain, other people's condemnation, the name 'monster'. Don't you ache to be free of the cruel names people have called you? Free from the fear that they're true? Free from the pain of hurting others. From the fear that we'll hurt and be hurt again.


Let it go...


The Apostle Paul said in II Corinthians 3:17, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." He tells us that liberty is meant to be used not for vice but for love. The movie Frozen carries this theme through to the end: the antidote to fear is love (I John 4:18). The power not to hurt others is found in the ability to bless. Can we bless even when others have imprisoned us, shamed us, judged us, been vindictive toward us? Ana's sacrifice brought Elsa freedom, and so does Jesus' sacrifice for us. His love conquered death. He showed us the better way. And He did it through the shedding of His own innocent blood on our behalf.


Let it go...


Do we hold onto what we want others to think of us? Or do we accept what Jesus already says about us? We're chosen, forgiven, beloved, set free. Let it go...


Let's not be one with wind and snow but with the Prince of Peace, King Jesus. Let's give Him our hearts and surrender all our life to Him. He won't disappoint us or fail us. He embraces us just as we are...just as He made us to be. He covers our failures and washes away our stains. Don't you know? He's made us for more than this world can offer...He made us for Himself.


Beloved, let it go.... Let it go... Let's believe Him and stand in Him today. Nothing can steal His love away. The Psalmist shouted in triumph that Jesus is the refuge, the hiding place, the secret place, where the storms can't touch. Elsa thought isolation was her haven of peace, but she discovered that she couldn't live separate from her people. Neither can we. Beloved, Jesus is our Cleft of Safety today.