Beholding beauty beckons you beyond the bounds of botched behaviors and bummed out beliefs, into the peace of God. Skin-deep beauty is cosmetic, but beauty from deep within is character-based.
If beauty was rare it would be continually cherished, but because it saturates the world we often neglect to savor it.
Beauty is perceived in the soul, it’s not just seen with the eyes. When beauty is seen with the eyes it pleases; when perceived in the heart it transforms.
To misperceive something and falsely believe it’s true is to deceive yourself. Always ask: Am I seeing things correctly?
Thoughts and feelings about God are fine, but they can never replace being consciously perceptive of God and interacting with Him. An encounter with the risen Jesus is worth 1,000 sermons. An ongoing relationship with Him is priceless!
To believe in God, pray, read the Bible, and go to church and yet be unaware of God’s presence in your life, is faith short-circuited. The best face lift (and faith lift) comes from open heart surgery. When Christ transforms the heart a person’s face begins to shine.
Repentance isn’t just to change behavior. It’s to change the way you see–to “behold the Lamb of God” and see from His perspective rather than from your own.
Community requires caring, open, heart-felt interaction. Without that a group of people is just a crowd or an audience.