we forget to work on the beautiful that God gave US......

Good morning and happy Thursday, I pray your day is going well and that you are feeling full of faith, and hope this morning...

As I awoke this morning, I felt joyful and happy, I awoke feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, I must really have slept soundly and without enough pain to wake me....HOW I love mornings such as this....Praising the Lord for blessing me with happy bones this morning!!! The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and the birds are singing, the bitter chill is out of the air and I am ready to do some porch sitting:) 

As I was praying this morning I prayed for all of the people who have awakened this morning displaced from their homes, I prayed for all the ones in Boston and Texas who are dealing with horrific injury, I prayed for all the ones who arose this morning only to realize that the loss of their loved ones is real and not a dream...I prayed for all of the first responders who have fought tirelessly to begin cleaning up the mess, who no doubt have had nightmares of the damage they have seen....I asked God to take ahold of our nation, to come and wrap our country in his arms and give us a sense of stability and protection....We are at a crossroads here and really need for him to come and stand us straight again, HE has been pushed and shoved so many times that he is now standing off to the side feeling unwelcome and unwanted...WE have got to pray him back in, WE have got to take a stand and stop the mania that is progressing and progressing here on our lands...Father God please shield us from harm, protect us for the heinous acts of violence, cover our lands with your robes of protection and give us peace, and calm. In the name of Jesus Christ I ask for mercy, favor, and blessings. Amen

After my long and intense prayer, my sobbing, my begging, and my fervor....I then sat and had my chat with Heavenly Father for guidance, as to the discussion I would have this morning....the thought that really came into my heart and laid heavy there was our self image, our lack of self confidence and our willingness to show our bodies to attract the attention of others...

God made each of us in his image, YES he gave us differences in our noses, our hair, our eyes, our mouths, our body types,....etc, but still we are in his image, some of us have problems with weight, some of us are short, some are tall, but we are all human beings, we are all beautiful in our own way. I watched a video earlier about a forensic artist who sat behind a screen from a person and had them describe themselves as he drew their pictures, then he had another person who knew the one being drawn describe them and he drew another picture, each of the pictures showed the basic frame of the person but the self portrait was not nearly as pretty as the one the friend was describing..I think we are so very hard on ourselves, we have an idea of what we think is beautiful and we want so badly to have those same traits that we forget to work on the beautiful that God gave us....How many times do you throw a baseball cap on to have to keep from doing your hair when going out? YES women and men alike...How many times do you run to the market in your jammie pants and an oversized shirt, how many times do you not take care of your appearance when going out into the public but still you sit and admire the women and men who do take the time to pride themselves on their appearance? IF you want to be like the ones you admire, take the time to make yourself up....take the time to tend to yourself and then get out there and be what you admire. How many times do we sit and eat junk and then complain that we are overweight? WE have got to take ahold of ourselves and quit wishing we were the ones we admire, we need to look in the mirror and admire ourselves.. How many times do you see women going overboard with their appearance, especially when it come to skimpy clothes, showing all almost all they have to attract the eye of another? How many times do we see all but the nipples on a woman in public, how short can shorts really get before they are considered panties? How sheer can an outfit be before we consider it lingerie? There is a time and a place to wear revealing clothes but that time is not in public ever....God gave you treasure chests that are yours, only to be given to your soul mate, only to be given when you are in a committed relationship, if you have to use these treasures to catch the eye of a would be suitor....there is a problem...Why would a man respect you, why would he want to take you home to meet his family when you are flaunting yourself around for the world to see your treasures...LETS look at the positives and make them even more positive and lets that the negatives and spit shine them into positives....SELF CONFIDENCE does not involve sharing your "treasures" with everyone out there just to get noticed, if you cannot get noticed just for the beautiful YOU that you are, you evidently are not in the right crowd of people....So take those far from chaste clothes off, cover yourself a bit more, take off that cap and style your hair, put on your face and get out there and let your light shine...YOU are you , YOU are the beauty that GOD created and YOU are amazing...heaven made and heaven sent.....Don't try to be what someone else is, learn to love yourself and be the best you can be!

A Prayer For Self-Esteem

Written by Germaine Copeland  

  

Father, I come to Your throne room in order to receive help for my self-image. You created me in Your image and likeness, and that means so much to me. I know that You always love me. I know You didn't just carelessly or thoughtlessly throw me together.

You made me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it.

Because I am Your workmanship, Your handicraft, made for good works, I ask You to help me to view myself from Your perspective. Help me to realize my strengths. Open my eyes to the strengths, abilities, and talents that You have placed inside of me. Give me grace to find the good that is in me.

Help me to be appreciative of who I am, instead of critical of who I am not.

Although the world places importance on physical appearance, Father, I know that You judge men's hearts. You are interested in a pure heart and a humble spirit. I know that I am very valuable to You.

Knowing that I am chosen makes me feel special. Thank You for choosing me before the foundation of the world. I acknowledge You, God, as my Father, and thank You that I am Your child.

Help me to set my affections on things above rather than on things of the world. Help me to mature in my relationship with You and to develop into the happy, joyful, strong Christian that I have the potential to be.

In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.