by Bro. R. Williams
inquiry@realisticimaginations.com
http://www.realisticimaginations.com/

When you look at yourself what do you see? What is it about what you see in the mirror that makes you happy? Is it the curve of your nose or the way God has finely crafted your eyes. I think if we take time to be encouraged by the special and unique way God has crafted all of us we can just smile. We come to understand that there is no one onthe face of this earth that is exactly like you. I am unique.

I believe many people are unhappy with who they are in life. If you look at T.V or magazines you see millions of people around the world who suffer from...I don like how God has made for me. I have a big nose. My eyebrows are too thick. My lips are too big. My butt is too small. I too Fat. I so skinny. All of these arrogant perceptions places us in a category of hating ourselves for the way we are and coveting an image that was not designed for us. You were designed in love, every last one of us. He has made each person according to purpose and position. Some are born to be football players: bulky and braun. Some are born scientists: inquisitive and loners. An example of a person that understands the uniqueness on which we were created was David. David states, "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well." (Psalms 139:14)Looks does not gurantee you will get the job you always wanted. Looks does not guarantee that you will find the right husband/wife. Looks does not mean everything in your life will be joyful and easy to walk through. We have, as a world, come so far from the identities of success. There are third world countires who are happy to have refreshing water to drink. There are certain cultures that still have to boil their water over a fire for bathwater for their child. There are tons of economic hardships that have suffered for decades. Copmared to america, who is coined the most powerful country. Looks are for a picture however, they are not a continual testimony of where you are and where you are going.
Did you know that when Jesus was resurrected he still bore the same scars as he had before he died. Yet he conquered death and Hades. In Isaiah 53, it comments that he was not something we should desire. Not a comely form, at all. That the Apostle Paul, yet a powerful speaker and revelator, was a short man who did not have much hair on his head. His hands and body were scarred. Once bitten by a snake and his back bore scars from 39 lashes he received five times.
What was the travel like back in the day? During that time the feet of people back in the day were either worn or heavily callused. A majority of the distances they went to they traveled by foot, donkey, camel, or horse. There wasn a gas station every 2 miles. If they traveled by animal they had to feed and water it. The places they went to according to the animal they traveled upon had to have the correct resources to replenish it. The climate that they were in also affected the outcome of the distance as well. So a camel back in the past would be compared to a hybrid for us now. So even if you had a date or family. It not like it was plush seating with a visor mirror to make sure your make up was good. There were not heated seats and a defroster in case it was foggy in some areas. It was the back of a animal. There shoes were not Air max 920 with memory foam insoles. They wore scandals. They didn have Rocawear or Sean john. Levi or south pole jeans. The greatest prophet born of a woman wore camel skin and ate locusts (John the Baptist.) A decent meal for us would include: meat, vegetable, bread, desert, and drink. These people did according to what they had. However, they were content in what they were given to perform that in which they needed to do. No matter how they looked.
So does an image REALLY matter?

So what does matter? Looking like you have money - But being in debt!Having a lot in your possession but, not a lot paid for?Spending so much on your look - Yet, you a bitter and depressed person?Wasting your gift of love, purity, and commitment with someone that is not your wife/husband. Would you rather prefer an affirmation of your outer beauty or a respect for the inner person.This leads to a statement God tries to prove to us:
What really counts the most is who you are. You were born a child of God, therefore, your character must represent that of which you were born. Just as an elephant can jump in the air and fly. Neither can a person who is a heir of all life live in participation with darkness. (Internally or Externally.)
A child of God does not because he is not. Where does the division line draw within a person of whom is God or not? It not the skin that is the standard for requirement, it is what is in the heart.: (Galatians 5:19-21.)
Sexual Immorality - Sex outside or before marriage physically and mentally (Adultery by the eyes)
Impurity - a defiled heart, sinful thoughts
Depravity - Corrupted state of being
Idolatry - Any place, person, or object you believe in that not God
Sorcery - use of Magic or demons; manipulation, control, seduction
Hostilities - opposition or resistance to an idea, plan, project, etc. Acts of warfare
Strife - a quarrel, struggle, or clash: Competition or rivalry
Jealousy - resentment against a rival, a person enjoying success or advantage; suspicion
Outburst of Anger - Impatience, Pinned up
Frustration, Passivity, Arrogance, PrideSelfish rivalries - Competition; Pride
Dissensions - strong disagreement; a contention or quarrel; discord
Factions - Conflict within an organization or nation; internal ; minority within larger group
Envying - a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another advantages, success, possessions, etc.
Murder - To kill someone
Drunkenness - intoxicated; drunk
Carousing - to drink deeply and frequently.
The spirit of the Lord, through Paul, gives us instruction that these things keep us from stability in our lives. Which is, the Lord Jesus Christ operating through us daily. Every time we give way to something on the list above. It is like we are throwing blankets, quilts, paint, and dust all over the brightness of his (Jesus) being inside of our hearts. Jesus can come out of you and do signs and wonders through you, if you don do the work to let him out of you. As Paul says "I die daily" (1 Corinthians 15:31). What does this mean? Every day in the ancient cities of Greece that we read about in history. Paul, a sent vessel of the Lord, had to deal with the issues and predicaments just like we do: Prostitutes, pimps, psychics, ignorance, prideful people, politicians, crooks, and just plain ol Satan. So what you go through in life daily. Is nothing new under the boat...predicaments weren specifically invented for you. It a cycle that all of God people must go through to overcome. Yet a world that presses against you from every side is not defeated by your natural anger, physical stregnth, or money. Its subjected by your peace, endurance, and love till it is under your dominion. This is the Jesus who conquered this world and resides in you...who overcame the world with his love. Therefore, it is no way we can become who we are called to be in God without taking off our costume to fit in with the world. The living world without God is death.