Equal Opportunity Beauty

The following is a feature article in the January/February edition of Reflections magazine available from Ladies Ministries.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY BEAUTY

Have you ever wondered what it means to be “fearfully” made? Surely the message of this verse is not that people are frightful, although this is sometimes the case when I roll out of the sheets with a bodacious case of “bed head.” While each of us would do well to greet a hairbrush in the morning, what this verse indicates is that God’s creation – you and me – should be held in awe and inspire praise!

Being wonderfully made means (drum roll, please) we are made wonderfully! The wonder of our “divine design” should arouse genuine admiration — feelings of pleasure and approval. We’re not talking about egocentric self-love, but the satisfaction that comes from knowing we bear the fingerprints of God! The works of God are marvelous. That includes you and me: each of us a one-of-a-kind Master-piece.

Ladies, Scripture declares it! Jesus made you and me awesome, wonderful and marvelous! We may not always appreciate the beauty in the reflection we see in our mirrors, but shouldn’t we agree with God’s appraisal? He likes what He made; and after all, true beauty is in the eye of the Creator.

Pretty in Perspective

Now, here's a really awe-inspiring concept! No matter what you and I look like on the outside, we each have the same equal opportunity to be beautiful people.

Peter taught Christian ladies to refrain from the outer adornment and decoration techniques practiced in their culture. Instead they should pursue the inner, unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit (I Peter 3:3-4). Unfading beauty cannot be based on physical attributes. No matter how we look today, if we keep breathing long enough, gravity and time will have their way on our skin, hair and other features.

Timeless beauty is based on virtue and is the antithesis of the youthful ideal promoted in our culture. Inner beauty improves with age and experience. It’s possible to be a more beautiful person at 60 than you were at 16.

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised" (Proverbs 31:30, NIV). The desire for outward attractiveness comes naturally in our human packaging, but it's clear God places a higher value on character than attractiveness.

In The Message, Eugene Peterson paraphrased Peter’s counsel to women with unsaved husbands. He assured them they would be “captivated” by their lives of “holy beauty” (I Peter 3:1-4, MSG). I like that – holy beauty that captivates others! He went on to say, “Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in.”

Continuing with Peter’s writings: "For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear” (I Peter 3:5-6, NIV).

Sarah was physically attractive. Her beauty so concerned her husband he lied about their relationship to protect his life. Sarah wasn't perfect. She made mistakes and even laughed at God's promise, but Peter wrote that her obedience and respect made her beautiful.   

If we are Sarah's daughters, we will do as she did: 1) what is right, and 2) not give way to fear. It seems much of the driving force behind "becoming beautiful" or maintaining a youthful appearance is based in fear – a fear that we aren't good enough or might lose our “edge.” My sisters, let’s do what's right and not give in to fears that stem from deep-rooted needs for security fostered by a ravenous multi-billion dollar beauty industry.

Be Pretty

You have probably heard your mom say, “Pretty is as pretty does” or its companion clause, “Don’t act ugly!” Our conduct affects the perception of beauty we transmit to others. It’s a fact that outer beauty draws attention, but character captures and keeps admiration and affection. A person of beautiful character brings beauty to her world.

We may never measure up to the standards of beauty promoted in our culture, but in addition to being the awesome, wonderful, marvelous creations God made us to be, we can choose to be radiant. “Those who look to him are radiant” (Psalm 34:5, NIV). God’s Spirit in us brings a glow that no cosmetic can compete with, and purity is as pretty as pretty can be. If we treasure the beautiful Word of God in our inner selves, we will radiate beauty outwardly! Listen and glisten! “The splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect” (Ezekiel 16:14, NIV).

One final consideration I leave with you. Was Jesus beautiful? It’s written in Isaiah 53:2, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” God could have created the most magnificent body for Himself, but according to the Word, Jesus was an average looking person.

When He was arrested and beaten beyond recognition, Jesus was less than lovely to look upon, but He was never more beautiful. As we put our faith in God and follow Jesus’ footsteps in humility, we will gain a beauty that is far more than the sum of our physical parts. Obedience is always beautiful. True beauty shines form a Christ-like heart!

Chipper: You Can't Take That Away From Me

Chipper met us at the dining room door for treats almost every day. My children delighted in feeding the fat little fur-ball. Several times I caught my one-year-old son “holding hands” with the red squirrel through the glass door wall — as Chipper’s little paw reached inward and Charles’ pudgy toddler hand pressed against the glass.

My husband’s spinal column had collapsed about six months before Chipper began his visits. Pete had been home on disability since that time, and Chipper brightened otherwise dull days. Our family gathered to watch when Chipper scurried to the door, perched on his haunches with front paws folded, and peeked in at us with reserved yet amazing boldness. Then, quick as a wink, he snatched the cracker, chip or old bagel and rushed it off to the top of a big rock or up a tree to dine in privacy.

Chipper received his name from my husband who dubbed him after a feeding frenzy on a bag of Better Maid potato chips. Some days he arrived before we were out of bed, evidenced by tiny tracks in the snow on the flagstone patio. We regretted the times we missed the little fellow.

One day, as I sipped a cup of coffee between the squirrel’s breakfast courses, I smiled and thought about the many blessings I had received in my life. I thought about Chipper and how he had everything he needed provided by God through His creation. Chipper didn’t need the morsels we gave him, but they were treats for him in the cold winter months, and our family took pleasure in giving them to him and watching him nibble away.

My musings came to a halt, and my smile quickly faded when a huge black bird, almost as big as our plump furried friend, landed on the patio beside him. The bird seemed to make no threatening gestures or sounds, yet Chipper darted into a bush, hid his cracker and ran away. The bird pecked around in the snow, shuffled over to the shrubs and snatched Chipper’s treat. He ate it with gusto, and I became angry as I watched through the glass.

How dare that unwelcome, uninvited ugly black bird take what did not belong to him!

In a flash, my thoughts turned again to God’s blessings…how He “daily loadeth us with benefits”…and how our enemy comes to steal them. I wondered how God feels when He sees blessings He’s given to His children stolen away.

I don’t know that Chipper had to forfeit his cracker to the old, black bird; but he put it down . . . and the bird took it for himself. 

Perhaps my thoughts seem like apples and oranges, but the scene that played outside the glass door gave me pause and made me consider for myself how easily I "drop" my blessings. Whether a real or perceived threat, or just a simple distraction of life, I am determined to hold on — hold on to the blessings I’ve received. 

Each day I hope to remember to choose to keep them fresh in my mind so there will be no opportunity for the enemy to deceive or distract me — to rob me of what it pleased God to give me. I will keep my blessings — among them: forgiveness, peace, truth, love and joy — and nothing will separate me from my gifts because I’ve chosen to lay them down.

Like the old Shirley Caeser song says, "This joy I have, the world didn't give it to me, and the world can't take it away!" Click on the link to hear it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFr9U-o3GKM

This past week was amazing! My husband and I were blessed to participate in The Summons in Washington DC. On behalf of the National Day of Prayer, we joined people from several organizations who gathered to pray for our nation.

While there, exactly 300 people (a modern-day Gideon's army) contacted their state's government officials/offices in the House and Senate -- giving them gifts of appreciation for their service and offering to pray with them. We also conducted solemn assemblies near the Washington Monument and in front of the Capitol building at the Upper Senate Park. In addition to scheduled activities, we prayer walked around DC and visited Mt. Vernon, the Pentagon, and enjoyed a private tour of the Capitol.

A couple of highlights: 

My husband and I finished our assignments in the House Office Building and had a couple of hours of free time. We walked to the Museum of American History and joined the tail end of a tour. The last stop inside was the Star Spangled Banner exhibit. I was so moved in the darkened room that housed this national treasure that after we exited I told my husband, "We have to go back. I just want to sit on the bench and pray."

What impacted me was the sight of the very standard that flew during a time of great strife. Our nation had been compromised by enemy forces. Yet through the night, the flag, the nation's banner still waved . . . bringing joy to those who saw it at dawn's early light. They knew they were winning when their banner remained raised.

As the set-apart nation of God, we Christians have a banner of our own. The Lord is our banner (Exodus 17:15)! And He is still in sight! Though the nation is compromised . . . though the night is dark and long . . . our banner of love still waves! And banners mark victory!

Seated in the Star Spangled Banner exhibit, I was encouraged, but at the same time felt a heaviness. I was thanking God for His righteous banner still waving in our world, while I was also compelled to pray, "Don't give up on America, Jesus!" Even in the Church, our "land" has been compromised -- the teachings of our Lord watered down, the consecrations of His people lacking. I began to pray:

Don't give up on us, dear Jesus! I see You! I want to be Your righteous bride! There is still in me both flaws and flesh . . . and in our nation, America has her flaws and failures . . . but don't give up on America! Don't give up on Your people!

It's not over yet!

One word spoken by a presenter at the conference was that in the biblical record when God was "finished" with a nation, prayer ceased. In America, God's people are still praying! Doesn't that encourage you? There is so much prayer going up it seems God just can't be "done" with our nation yet!

On Guard?

One more thing worth sharing from the conference was something I learned on the Pentagon tour. Coincidentally, in conjunction with this story, the "Old Guard" was having a convention at the same hotel hosting our event.

Since 1937 the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier has been guarded by a member of the Old Guard 24 hours a day -- regardless of weather, threat of terrorist attack or other factors. "Walking the mat" is a privilege attained by few elite soldiers. 

While touring the Pentagon, our guide (a member of the military) told us the badge bestowed on those who guard the Tomb is a rare honor, and the only badge that can be taken away due to the conduct of the soldier after receiving it. The example he gave was that if a member of the Old Guard, even after his term of service was complete, dishonored himself by receiving a DUI, he could be stripped of his award.

With that in mind, the conduct of the guards must be impeccable, especially while on duty. Our guide at the Pentagon told us that during Hurricane Irene a call was sent out for handcuffs to be delivered to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The thought was the conduct of the guard was inappropriate, but what was discovered when the handcuffs were delivered was that the guard on duty wanted to cuff himself to the rail so that if he was to perish in the hurricane his body would not be washed away.

I have no documentation of the story other than that it was told to me by a military officer on duty at the Pentagon during an official tour; but that, my friend, is dedication! That is commitment to service! I commend the members of the Guard for their diligence and sacrifice! 

As tears pooled in my eyes at the telling of this story, my thoughts turned again to the Church. The members of the Old Guard are willing to suffer to the point of their own harm to honor deceased soldiers they don't even know. What are you and I willing to sacrifice for our God? For those living among us? For our future generations?

Let's keep praying! Let's keep believing! Let's keep working while we have the opportunity! Stand for righteousness -- it's greater than "Old Glory!" It's God's glory; and it's my prayer the Lord reveals Himself yet again in a great revival in our hearts, our nation, our world!  

Speaking at the Summons General Session

Regardless of the results of the upcoming elections, our nation will still need prayer! Be on guard! Stay on your watch! Stand your ground! I believe our prayers and our commitments to live righteously unto the Lord in our generation can make a difference! Amen and amen!

I hope you enjoy some of the pictures! If you're on facebook, here's a link to our singing "Amazing Grace" in the rotunda of our Capitol: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=4661082646469

Blessings!

Leading "Amazing Grace" in the Capitol Rotunda

The Wagners Prayer Walking the Capitol Grounds

With Senator Louie Gohmert of Texas

With Mrs. Shirley Dobson, NDPTF Chair

With Sue Stoltz, Midwest  National Area Leader

With Vonette Bright, NDPTF Founder

With many of the Midwest NDPTF
Team

After prayer with Rep. Hansen Clarke's staff

At the first prayer event at the new MLK memorial

With Bishop Harry Jackson of High Impact Leadership Coalition

With Mr. & Mrs. Dave Butts of Harvest Prayer Ministries

Why a National Day of Prayer?

Lori Wagner, Michigan State NDP Coordinator

Americans are privileged to live in one of the richest nations in the world, yet a question cries out to be answered: Has America lost her true treasure? Are her families intact? Her children secure? Are sacred principles of integrity, loyalty and the sanctity of human life respected and protected?

Most of us would agree, America is in need of prayer.

Prayer has been a vital component of our national heritage. The first official call sounded in 1775, when the Continental Congress requested prayers for wisdom to form our government. President Lincoln proclaimed a day of “humiliation, fasting, and prayer.” In 1952, Congress unanimously voted on a joint resolution that established an annual day of prayer, later amended to secure the date on the first Thursday of every May.

National Days of Prayer are more than significant activities in our nation’s history; they are critical to our future. They are days set aside to remember our rich heritage—and like our founding fathers, humbly seek God’s wisdom, guidance and grace.

Thursday, May 3, will mark the 61st annual observance. Thousands of events with millions of expected participants are being planned across the nation with a unifying theme, “One Nation Under God,” supported by Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”

In Lansing, a noon event will take place on the steps in front of the State Capitol Building. For one hour, legislators, community leaders, children, and men and women of all ages, walks of life and Christian denominations will stop their usual activities and gather to ask God’s blessing and protection upon our nation.

The public is invited. For more information, including confirmed participants and sponsorship opportunities, as well as a link to find other events, visit www.ndpmi.blogspot.com. You may also contact Lori Wagner at (248) 909-5735

Oh My Darlin, Valentine!

If you have a couple of minutes, I hope you'll click on the link below to read my newest article:

"Oh my darlin', Valentine"

Blessings!

A New Article . . .

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted here, but I thought I would take a moment to share a link to an article I was asked to write for a wonderful blog.

It's How to Have a Joy-Filled Christmas ~

Check it out at: www.likeabubblingbrook.com

Celebrate Wormanhood

Published in the May/June 2011 Reflections magazine

All men are worms (Job 25:6). It’s a lowly station, but there’s no denying this Scriptural classification includes you and me. With that in mind, ladies, for the duration of this article, we shall call ourselves wormen, a linguistic blend of women and worm, as we examine lessons from the sisterhood of wiggling worms.

LESSON 1: You are a cherished creation of God.

Everything God makes is good (Genesis 1:31), and most of His creation agrees. Look at Anna the earthworm. She thinks her segments are sweet and her shape is totally tubular. Fluffy is fine for Wanda the woolly bear worm; while Sally silkworm thinks her fibers are fabulous. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For wormen, the most important Beholder is our Creator!

You are the worm in the apple of God’s eye. He keeps you “as the apple of His eye” (Deuteronomy 32:10). The word translated apple means “pupil” or “little man of the eye.” God has His eye on you. He looks beyond your present worminess and sees His lovely Bride. You, precious worman, are the reflection in God’s adoring eye.

LESSON 2: Accept yourself; God does.

God made us one by one. He spoke creation into existence, but reached into dirt with divine fingers to fashion mankind. Since then He has wonderfully “knit” individuals in their mothers’ wombs (Psalm 139:13-14, NIV).

God knew you and I would never be perfect, still He made us. You may not be Wonder Worman, but God made you wonderful! As you mature and grow in God, work in harmony with the talents and passions you discover within. Thank God for your “haves” and don’t focus on “have nots.” Utilize and develop your gifts and abilities to their potential.

Once wormen understand we have unique purposes in God’s Kingdom, we can live more fulfilled, peaceful lives. I’m not talking about ignoring our flaws and limitations, but when it comes to the unchangeable (species, bone structure, artistic ability, etc.), we can choose to make the best of what God has provided. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so should you.

LESSON 3: There’s no comparison.

Most of my growing up years I wanted to be someone else. My older sister was beautiful, talented, and skinny to boot. Then there was Rhonda, the gorgeous cheerleader with the perfect hair and porcelain complexion. Every boy in Lone Oak High would have done back flips down the hallway to get her attention. Oh, to be like the beautiful people . . .

It’s human nature to compare, even as adults, but it’s not wise (2 Corinthians 10:12). God made us to be one-of-a-kinds—originals (Ephesians 2:10). He could have used a heavenly press to shoot people out in identical shapes and sizes in uniform color and flavor, but He likes variety; so He made you.

Live your life to the fullest. You won’t be a happy “you” if you’re trying to be someone else. In the times you feel dissatisfied, remind yourself that you are God’s unique creation. He loves you, is with you, and is for you!  If others make you feel lower than a worm’s belly, learn to live above their opinions and under God’s. 

LESSON 4: Be your redeemed self.

Spending time and energy trying to be something or someone we’re not can damage relationships with God and others. Be your redeemed self (not your carnal self). See the beauty of God’s handiwork at every stage of development in your life. Thankfully, God isn’t finished working on us; but that doesn’t mean he’s finished with us. You are who you are, and God knows you and loves you unconditionally each step along your journey. You can be real with Him and others—not a fake, plastic worman.

If there are broken things in your life that need healing, allow God access to work in those areas. At the same time, don’t make them your primary focus. Rejoice in what God has already done and His promises for the future. When you mess up, and we all mess up, don’t give up—get up!

Each person has external and internal triggers that can send them spiraling downward if they’re not careful. Jesus came to set captives free, and if you’ve been held captive by past hurts or your own thoughts about yourself, God wants you to truly overcome and walk in victory!

LESSON 5: Indulge in wormatherapy.

Among worms, one might be considered more attractive than another. I’ve never seen a Miss Invertebrate pageant, and confess I am no judge of their cylindrical, non-appendaged beauty. Worm beauty treatments seem a bit far-fetched, but there are some things we wormen can do to feel better about ourselves should we become discouraged.

Encourage yourself in the Word. Receive the Word of God as a personal message from Jesus to you. As the song Beautiful declares: “You are treasured. You are sacred. You are His. You’re beautiful.”

Focus on the eternal. There’s no goodness in any flesh—super-models to maggots (Romans 7:8). Instead of focusing on the outer person, concentrate on beautifying the inner person. Wear things like honor and integrity—virtues that outlast outerwear, including flesh, which will all become worm food should the Lord delay His return

Spend time with God. If you feel unbeautiful, there's nothing like fellowship with a beautiful God to make you feel special--to give you a radiant countenance and joyful smile that beautifies like nothing else. In His presence we exchange all we are for all He is; and we get to wear a bit of His glory, as well. Audrey Hepburn knew this secret, "Happy girls are the prettiest." Being in relationship with Jesus makes people happy, and happy girls are pretty girls--not a hollow pretty, but a true, eternal glorious beauty that comes from God. Since we have to be worms, let's be glow worms and light up our world.