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He Calls Us Beautiful

West Region Womans Retreat - April 25-27th, 2014




Every little girl, young woman and older woman desires to be beautiful.
We all, too soon, come to believe we are not.
We are bombarded by magazines, commercials, and t.v. shows telling us how we need
to dress, lose weight, put on make up etc.
In Canada alone we spend about 5.3 billion dollars a year on beauty care
-that does not include plastic surgeries etc.
We buy concealer to hide our blemishes, foundation to even out our skin, blush to give
our cheeks some colour, mascara to make our eyelashes longer, and if that doesnt
work well enough we buy fake eyelashes, and the list goes on.

Facebook - selfie

Isaiah 61:1-3 ...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of
gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his
splendor.

BEAUTY FOR ASHES

Luke 7:36-50 - The Sinful Woman
Simon - did not greet Jesus with a kiss
- did not wash his feet
- Said If this man were a prophet he would know ... She is a
sinner
- Felt he was worthy to be in Jesus presence
- he obviously did not think of himself as a a sinner or at
least not as bad as this woman

Sinful Woman - lived a sinful life in that town
- know by everyone in town
- She learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisees house
- she planned to be there
- She was probably already there waiting for Jesus to arrive
- from the time I entered she has not stopped kissing my feet.

What motivated her to do such a thing??? - To risk the shame, embarasement,
judgement, the condemnation. To walk into a room of religious leaders and wash Jesus
feet?

Could you imagine doing that? OR Would you be more like Simon??

I would be Simon! - My nature is to be so self righteous.
I grew up in a Christian home. I never rebelled, and never did anything Bad.


He Calls Us Beautiful
West Region Womans Retreat - April 25-27th, 2014


Just like Simon I looked real good on the outside and didnt want anyone to know what
was really in my heart. In fact, I didnt even want to acknowledge the sin in my heart.

The Sinful Womans sin was so obvious to her and to others that she had no where to
turn but to Jesus. She knew He was the only one who would love her and accept her
for who she was.

Maybe you can relate to both -> When you first found Jesus, maybe you were like the
sinful woman with no one to turn to but God. Your sins were obvious to you and to
others. But you changed a lot of those things, and now, years later, you are more like
Simon, feeling pretty good about yourself and hiding whats really in your heart.

Genesis 3:1-13 - Where Are You

- God has always wanted a relationship with us
- He had a great relationship with Adam and Eve. He walked and talked with them in
the garden
- Why did they hide (shame and guilt)
- they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves - Did they really think that would
be adequate.
God asks, Where are you?
- He knew where they were
- He knew what theyd done
- He even knew they were going to eat of the fruit before they ate it
- AND He already had a plan in place to make it possible for them to still have a
relationship with Him.

We are just like Adam and Eve. All of us have done things were sorry we did, said
things we wish we hadnt, and made choices we are still paying the consequences for
today.
All of us have experienced sham and guilt.
AND all of us hide.
We hide behind the bushes of Relationships, Alcohol, Drugs, Our Jobs, Exercise,
Hobbies, Sex, Shopping, Television, Food, OR Whatever makes us feel GOOD, so we
dont have to think about the shame and pain.

And then we sew fig leaves together trying to cover ourselves up so no one sees who
we REALLY are:
- Good deeds
- Community Service
- Go to Church
- Pray
- Read our Bibles
- Compare ourselves to others

He Calls Us Beautiful
West Region Womans Retreat - April 25-27th, 2014

- Gossip
- Criticalness
- Blame - our husbands, our children, our co-workers, our boss, our homones (PMS-
Postpone my Sin), Im tired, Im stressed, this medication Im on
Those things dont make us who we are or make us do the things we do - they just
expose whats in our heart.

The worst Ive ever had was with my sister - She told some people at school If you
really knew her,you wouldnt like her
I was SO angry!!!
That was my biggest fear. If they really knew me, they wouldnt like me.
Barb knew me for who I really was.
She had experienced my jealousy, envy, my hatred, my arrogance, my impatience, my
self righteousness.

I didnt want to be exposed for who I really was because I didnt even like who I was and
I had no idea how to change it.
So I hid behind doing the things we just talked about.

The sad thing was I was alone. The deep relationships I wanted so badly I couldnt
have because I wouldnt get REAL with anyone.

God says Where Are You? Stop hiding. Get real with me. I already know what youve
done, I knew you were going to do it before you did it and Ive already taken care of it.
Give me your ashes and Ill crown you with Beauty. Ill give you Joy in the place of
mourning.
The Sinful Woman came with Ashes and left them at Jesus feet and walked out
crowned with beauty.
She walked in mourning and left with Joy.


GARMENTS OF PRAISE

JOHN 20:10-16 - Mary Magdelene
- Her whole world had just been turned upside down
- Jesus had cast 7 demons out of her
- He loved her for who she was
- She was full of gratitude - she followed Jesus and supported him, she stayed near
the cross when the disciples fled
- He was her Saviour, Messiah, her hope, her friend, and now He was dead
- In her mind that was not supposed to happen
She goes to the tomb and hes not there. Can you imagine the despair?
Things are not turning out the way she expected

Why Are You Crying?

He Calls Us Beautiful
West Region Womans Retreat - April 25-27th, 2014

Can you relate? - Why are you Crying?
Is it your marriage?, your children, your finances, your health, your job
Is it something you want so badly but it just doesnt seem to be working out? - a
husband, a baby, a new job, a relationship...

Sometimes there is nothing we can do but stand there and cry, like Mary.
But sometimes we want to take control - we know what we want, how it should be and
we will do anything to make it happen even if it means hurting people, lying, stretching
the truth, Whatever it takes!
We get manipulative, disrespectful, self centered, impatient, unloving

Lets look at Mary again
She stood there in her despair crying and Jesus was standing right behind her.
She didnt even recognize him.
Her problem was solved - Jesus was alive, Hed conquered death.
Sometimes we cant see Jesus working in our lives because we are too busy figuring
out how we are going to work it out ourselves.

Sometimes I need God to say, Brenda!! Be still and know that I AM GOD
Phil. 4:7 - Peace that transcends all understanding

Isaiah 61:3 - Garments of praise for a spirit of despair.

OAKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

The Oak Tree
- One of the most common trees in Israel
- tall evergreen tree or shrub
- can reach a height of 15 meters
- trunk - diameter of 2 meters
- crown - diameter of 30 meters
- age - up to 850 years
- some call it King of the tree
- prophets used it as a metaphor for power and might
- used for carving statues and as a place for idol worship
- known for its great strength and hardness making it resistant to insects and fungal
attacks
- used to make furniture, flooring, barrels for wine, oars etc.

Galatians 5:22
The fruit of the spirit - no law against these
2 Corinthians 3:17-18
being transformed - not something we are doing to ourselves
- we cant take credit for it
-

He Calls Us Beautiful
West Region Womans Retreat - April 25-27th, 2014

- My Story - not open, not real, not relatable - two years later was asked to share
about openness because they said it was my strength
- I dont know when or how it changed - Not something I could take credit for. God
did the transforming

Isaiah 61:3
- Give me your ashes and I will Crown you with Beauty
- Bring me your mourning and Ill give you Joy
- Ill take your despair and clothe you with Garments of Praise
And you will be called Oaks of Righteousness planted by me for the Display of My
Splendor.

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