LOOK BETTER, FEEL GOOD!

This was the theme we chose for our afternoon of beauty, rest and relaxation. As a woman, I firmly believe that if one makes the effort to look good for the day, she will feel good. The good feeling radiates out to ones countenance. To those who did not make it, I am sharing our devotional and pictures of that fun afternoon at Marie's beautiful home.

"Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.' Proverbs 31:30 Some may have heard about the little boy who asked his mother why she was putting on cold cream. She replied that she was making herself beautiful. When she went to take off the cold cream, the little boy wanted to know what was the matter. Was she giving up? That little boy misunderstood the concept of the art of becoming beautiful. Sometimes, we as Christian women misunderstand God's concept of becoming beautiful in Christ.

There is nothing wrong with working on our outward beauty in itself. We are children of the King, so why not look the part? We should always do our best and look our best but many times we forget about the inside and the way we project ourselves. Perhaps, sometimes we just concentrate only on one feature or area of our Christian life but not the whole and our beauty in Christ becomes skewed.

Being beautiful in Christ involves more than just the outside or just one part of us. Our verse says, "..a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised." That is the beauty that transcends time and doesn't fade away.

One thing about beauty that we all know as women is that it is a daily thing. In other words we have to keep ourselves up. If we let ourselves go, what happens? We're not quite so beautiful anymore, are we? It is the same with being beautiful in Christ. We have to constantly work at it. Here are some things to help us improve our beauty in Christ.

CLEANSER. In order to make ourselves beautiful, we have to first cleanse ourselves from all unwanted impurities. Our cleansing agent works through our confession and God's forgiveness.(1 John 1:9)

MOISTURIZER. Having compassion can be a good moisturizer. When we start seeing others and their needs instead of our own it can really soften us.

WRINKLE CREAM. If we want to smooth out those wrinkles, how about applying a meek and quiet spirit? (1 Peter 3:4) FOUNDATION. We need to start with a good foundation and what is better than the Word of God? If we have the Word of God in our hearts daily, the rest of our spiritual make-up can be easily applied. (Psalms 119:11)

EYE MAKEUP. To keeep our eyes shining the brightest we need to guard then from seeing things that are not fitting of a beautiful woman in Christ. (1 Corinthians 6:19)

LIPSTICK. To make the face complete, don't forget your lips. Apply lipstick in the shade of "Pleasantness' daily for best results. (Proverbs 16:24 says, 'Pleasant words are as honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones.

BLUSH. The blush we apply should be God's love radiating through us. (Romans 5:5) HAND LOTION. We don't want our hands to become dry, ugly and brittle so we need to apply some generosity and good deeds. "Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. Proverbs 31:31 FOOT THERAPY. Sometimes when we overlook our feet they get calloused and rough so we need to get them going in the right direction. Take your feet only to places that Christ would approve. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 "Abstain from all appearance of evil."

Thank you Marie, for letting us use your lovely home for this afternoon of beauty, rest and relaxation. So, ladies, DON'T FORGET YOUR UPKEEP! (From A Beautiful Woman in Christ by Julia Bettencourt)