Women Competing with Other Women Spells DISASTER

If you’re not familiar with the book of Esther stop reading this blog and give it a read and then come back to this blog.

Esther was a young woman who was in a competition, but she wasn’t competitive.  She was forced to live in a system and a society where she was competing for the heart of the king.  Even in scripture Esther is recorded as not wanting to be in the position she was placed in.  She didn’t want to be there, she didn’t want to compete and tried to live as normal of a life as possible while experiencing life within the walls of the kingdom.  Eventually Esther does meet the king and he favors her above all women.  He chooses her for his wife and the competition is over.

Do you think those other women were jealous of each other during this time?  The Bible doesn’t say exactly, but in my experience if there is an atmosphere of competition then there is jealousy.  Our society today is nothing BUT competition.  We live in a system that confronts us with competitive situations daily and for women that can spell D*I*S*A*S*T*E*R when we choose to participate in competition.

What situation do you find yourself in?

•       You and another woman are competing with one another
•       You are competing with another woman but she won’t compete with you
•       Another woman is competing with you but you won’t compete with her

Esther wasn’t competing; she took on the attitude that if God wants to promote her then she was there for that specific time and place to be used by God for His purposes.  I believe that is the call on all of our lives.  That God promotes and elevates each one of us at a specific time for a specific purpose.  Esther wasn’t promoted to queen just to show the world how beautiful she was, even though she is noted for her beauty.  Esther wasn’t promoted to queen because she was better than everyone else.  Esther WAS promoted as queen to seek the favor of the king so that he might save her people, the Jews.  It was a political move spiritually.  If this is the call for all of us, to be used for a specific time and purpose, to make a difference in this world; to attack the kingdom of darkness in strategic political attacks, then why would any of us women want to compete?  We should be standing by one another, cheering each other on for each success.  Each time a woman you know is elevated and promoted we should share in their joy realizing that God is positioning her for a political attack on the enemy.  When we become jealous of each other, what we’re really doing is working against what God has planned for each one of us.  We are tearing apart the strategic plan making it unsuccessful in defeating our enemy, the devil.

¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)

Instead of tearing apart God’s plan for each one of us, let’s tear apart what spells D*I*S*A*S*T*E*R, stop competing with the women around us and start building up one another spelling a much needed word; S*I*S*T*E*R.  When we drop the DIA from the word DISASTER what we are really dropping is a word that is defined in the dictionary as a prefix meaning: apart.  Let’s all make the choice today to not separate and pull apart one another through competition but embrace each other as SISTERS in the Lord.

If you are experiencing a situation where someone is competing with you, have you decided not to compete with them?  In what ways are you not competing with them? Have you ever experience a friendship with another woman that started as competition then changed to sisterhood in the Lord? –Please share your story to encourage others.

The Beauty of a Woman Inside & Out: Beauty Secrets from the Bible

My Beautiful Sister Who is Beautiful Inside and Out

Christiana Aguilera got it right when she sang, “You are beautiful, no matter what they say.”  God made all of us beautiful.  Ecclesiastes 3:11 says ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time.  EVERYTHING. (That includes you and I)  –Isn’t that exciting? The God of the universe calls US beautiful!  So why don’t we always see ourselves that way?

   I asked the Lord to give me a personal story of when I have felt insecure about who I am and the beauty He created me to be and as I waited, I had about a zillion memories come to mind.  But the one I want to tell you about is one that I think every woman can relate to. 

  Back in 2006 my husband had landed a large account and we were invited to go to the corporate party in Bellevue.  I was so nervous, not really knowing what to expect and of course I had to go shopping for a new outfit because suddenly everything I had in my closet was old. –Nobody else ever does that right? .... So I’m at the mall, looking at every store, not finding anything (Because that’s just how it is when you need to find an outfit, they all just aren’t good enough) I finally find this cute top and skirt and decide to go with that.

  So we’re headed to the event and I’m feeling pretty confident in the way I look.  My hair was lookin’ good, my make-up was on, and I had on a new outfit.  I felt beautiful.  That is until I got off of the elevator and walked into the conference room.  I had never seen so many physically beautiful people in one room in my life!  Suddenly I felt like I had on the most boring outfit ever and when I checked myself out in the mirror in the ladies room next to the other women, I felt like I wanted to just hide.  They were so externally beautiful and my view of myself at that moment was that I was not.  I was believing the lie that I was NOT beautiful, but average.  While all the while I’m sure God was trying to yell to me, “Hey Tasha!  Remember you are beautiful, I’ve made you beautiful!”  -I just couldn’t hear Him with the loud voice insecurity that I was carrying.

Insecurity.  That’s one of the Beauty Secrets that we need to know about.  It functions like some really UGLY sunglasses that block our view of who we really are.

  Do you think that the women in the Bible ever wore UGLY sunglasses of insecurity?   You know those women in the Old Testament wore a lot of things both UGLY and Beautiful just like we do today.  In fact, you might not realize it, but the matriarchs of Christianity had struggles just like us.  They weren’t perfect. –Isn’t that great news?  The Bible says that we are to model ourselves after the holy women of the past.

1 Peter 3:3-5 (New International Readers Version)

 ³ Braiding your hair doesn't make you beautiful. Wearing gold jewelry or fine clothes doesn't make you beautiful. ⁴Instead, your beauty comes from inside you. It is the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. Beauty like that doesn't fade away. God places great value on it.

 ⁵ This is how the holy women of the past used to make themselves beautiful. They put their hope in God. And they followed the lead of their own husbands.

  Who were those holy women?  They were the women who were married to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob   –Anyone remember their wives names?  They were Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel.  I want to look at just two of these women; Sarah and Rebekah.

  In my book “Path of the Blessing,” you’ll learn about a few of the choices they made that determined their path in life and how beauty played a part on that path.  –I’m talking external AND internal beauty.  So if God says in His word that we are to look to these women and follow their example, then we should do that!

  In Part 1 Chapter 2 of my book, “Path of the Blessing” we see how Abraham’s wife, Sarah, Sarai at the time, experiences how beauty brings about blessings from God. 

Here's an excerpt from my book:

      Now we’ve come to a situation in Abram’s life that dispels any misconception that he was “perfect.”  There was a famine and he and his wife Sarai went to Egypt because Egypt always had more than enough food.  While there he lied to Pharaoh and said that Sarai was his sister. 

   The Pharaoh believed his little lie and because of Sarai’s beauty, Pharaoh gave him wealth.  Pharaoh was so taken with her beauty that he was going to make Sarai one of his wives, so he blessed Abram with abundant wealth.

(So the Pharaoh found out that Sarai was Abraham’s wife and let her go and the Pharaoh sent them on their way with everything they had)

Let’s look at the situation that Abram and Sarai just walked out of in Egypt.  They received favor from men, especially Pharaoh and they received and acquired abundant wealth.  These blessings were not attained by lying, but a direct result of Sarai’s beauty.  Sarai’s beauty is a blessing that came from the Lord. So we can attribute every blessing that Abram received in Egypt as from the Lord.  It had nothing to do with Pharaoh or lying. Nevertheless, Abram kept on walking on his path of blessing, slipping a little but still moving forward.  

  So what we see here is that Sarah was so beautiful even the Egyptians desired her for her beauty.  Do you think that the Egyptians saw her internal beauty at first?  -I don’t think so.  I think it was her external beauty.  –But remember at this point, Sarah and Abraham were not very wealthy.  Their wealth was in livestock and not jewelry.  So Sarah had a beauty that didn’t necessarily require the enhancements that we have today.  She was beautiful all on her own.

  Let’s look at Rebekah.  In Part 2 Chapter 1 of  “Path of the Blessing” we see how Abraham’s chief servant adorned Rebekah with gold:

  The chief servant gave Rebekah gifts and asked who she is.  The gifts were a gold nose ring and two gold bracelets. 

   Rebekah ran and told her family about what was going on and her brother Lehman ran out to meet the man at the spring. “As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister's arm, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring.  ‘Come, you who are blessed by the Lord,’ he said.” 

(Wow! Now this time God was blessing Rebekah with a gold nose ring and gold bracelets; enhancing her beauty! AND do you know what happens next?)

   After hearing the whole story, Rebekah's family agreed that this is from the Lord.  They then said to take her and go and let her become the wife of the servant’s master. When Abraham's servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. (Praising God)  Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and clothes and gave them to Rebekah.  He also brought out costly gifts to her brother and her mother. 

  God blessed Rebekah with gold and silver jewelry and clothes to enhance her beauty.  –Are you getting a picture of how we are to be beautiful like these women? Which one do you model your beauty after; who do you relate to, Sarai or Rebekah?

So in one case, beauty resulted in blessings and in the other, blessings resulted in increased beauty.  –Ah Ha!  Another Beauty Secret!  When we walk on the path of the blessing we become more beautiful!

  So I ask you to think about what is stopping you from walking on that path; from realizing your own beauty?

Sometimes we don’t recognize the beauty that we are because of the UGLY we’ve layered on top.  –What do I mean?  Well since I’m a fan of fashion, think of yourself; your beautiful self as who you are right now.  Then we tend to cover that beauty up with UGLY fashion.

-Like the UGLY sunglasses of Insecurity

-The UGLY scarf of Gossip

-The UGLY jacket of Lying and Deceit

-The UGLY hat of Jealousy

-The UGLY handbag of Unforgiveness

And the list goes on…

  Have you ever known anyone that is beautiful until you get to know them?  Then you start to see the UGLY that’s all over them.  Have you noticed how this UGLY can really weigh a person down?  It’s much harder to be the person that I’m supposed to be if I’m being restrained by all of this UGLY!

So what can we do about this all of this UGLY? The Bible has a solution.  In fact it’s another Beauty Secret.  It’s better than any beauty treatment you can find.  –Oh and it’s free! –Even better right?

Hebrews 12:1-3

 ¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

  Fixing our eyes on Jesus and throwing all of that UGLY off reveals the true beauty that you are.  Jesus is the ONLY one that can help us start the process of revealing more and more of the beauty within.

What is the Beauty that you are? Who were you created to be? –Start the process by inviting Jesus to be the Lord of your life and if you already are in a relationship with Jesus, then start by getting alone and just ask Him to reveal the UGLY in your life and let the Beauty Treatments of refining begin!

If you've realized the love that God has for you and how He views you as beautiful, then share about it in the comments below!  *You can also check out pictures from this talk I held as a Women's Event at my website: www.pathoftheblessing.com

Trend Report: The Designer Collection

What’s in style this season and every season for your soul?  Only the latest most fashionable clothing line ever created by The Designer himself.  If you don’t know who this famous Designer is, you might want to know him.  His name is Jesus, God, Holy Spirit and he is the absolute best. 

In my last blog, I talked about how there was a person who wasn’t allowed into the party because he wasn’t wearing the right clothes.  So today, I want to expand on the clothing line that God has for us to wear.  I absolutely LOVE shopping and so when I go out shopping I am always looking for designer labels marked down to fantastic prices (Don’t tell anyone, but I am a secret bargain shopper!).    One of the best things about the Designer’s clothing line in the Bible is it’s FREE for all who decide to follow him as their Lord and Savior. 

What does this Designer collection look like?  Well, the Bible says in Proverbs 31:25 (NIV) that the wife of noble character, “She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.”  In Luke 24:49 (NIV) the scripture says that you will be “…clothed with power from on high.” Then in Romans 13:14 (NIV) the key piece that brings the whole line together, making it totally original,  “Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”  Then again in Galatians 3:26,27 (NIV) “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”  You’ll find in Colossians 3:12 (NIV) more of the Designer’s clothing line, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Finally in 1 Peter 5:5 (NIV) the last mention of the final piece, “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another….”  (Wow, Humility must be one of the “Must Have” pieces of the collection, considering it was mentioned twice)

The Designer collection: Strength, Dignity, Power, Relationship with Jesus, Compassion, Kindness, Humility, Gentleness, and Patience.

So what are you wearing this season?  Are you wearing the Designer Collection?  Check it out for yourself, try it on and see how it fits; I’m sure once people see what you’re wearing, they will want to know where they can get it for themselves.

Have you been wearing the Designer Collection and getting noticed?  How have you inspired others toward relationship with God?

"Where My Party People At?"

Maybe you know this song by Nelly featuring Fergie?  It’s one of my favorites and it is my ringtone I set for my friends who are my “Party People.”  But there is another group of “Party People” that are also my friends and I am always looking for more to include in on the party.  In fact, this party that I am going to is a party to end all parties, it is going to have the absolute best food, with everyone wearing the most stylish clothes and everyone should be talking about it (if they aren’t already)! …You have gotten the invite haven’t you? …well, maybe no one has told you yet, but you are invited….let me tell you a little more about it….

In Matthew 22:1-14 Jesus talks about what the kingdom of heaven is like.  He compares it to a wedding banquet, or a wedding reception.  I like to call it a party. 

The king is having a major wedding reception to celebrate his son’s wedding.  So he invited a group of people, but they refused the invitation.  When the king sent his servants to tell them that everything is ready for them (the best food that you could possibly imagine), and to just come to the party, they ignored the invite!  The people just kept on with their everyday activities; working at their job everyday, facebooking, driving their kids to their endless activities and so on.  Some of the people even abused the servants who were delivering the message of the invitation and some were murdered. 

The people, who were refusing the invite, just didn’t pay any attention to what the servant was saying and the ones that paid attention decided they were offended and wanted the message to stop being delivered to the point of killing the servants.

Well, of course this made the king mad, so he decided that he would destroy those murderers and the place that they lived.  The king then told the servants to open the invitation up to everyone.  He told his servants to go out and stand on the street corners, telling everyone about this fabulous party and that they are all invited.  Every single person was invited this time, not just a select group. So they found all the people both good and bad and invited them to come into the wedding hall to wait for the party to start. The hall is a place of gathering together, but not the place where the party really was happening, no, that is just into the next room.  Everyone was waiting, waiting for the king, the host of the party, to open the doors for the party people to come in and get this party started! 

Just as the king came in to the hall, he noticed a man there who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for the party.  The king called out to the man, “Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?”  The man was speechless.  He was totally caught off guard.  He thought he was dressed properly, he thought he was prepared for the party just like all of the other invitees.  The king then told the attendants to kick the man out of the party outside of the palace walls while everyone else went in to the party of a lifetime.

So there it is, the party that everyone should be talking about.  So what about those wedding clothes???  I for one don’t want to get kicked out of the party right before it starts! Galatians 3:27 (NIV) “for all of you who were baptized into Christ, have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Baptized simply means to be fully immersed.  As long as you are fully into relationship with Jesus Christ, then you are wearing the proper wedding clothes.  –and believe me, I’m sure this type of clothing is the most fashionable clothing you will ever wear.

The man in the parable obviously thought he didn’t need a relationship with Jesus to enter into the party.  Most likely he thought he could get in by wearing what ever he wanted; by his own way of salvation.  What could that “own way” look like?  I believe it is simply by believing that there is another way to God besides through relationship with Jesus. 

The party I am going to, I hope, is the same party you are going to.  “Where my party people at?” is what I am asking now, so who’s going to party with me for eternity?  Are you going to be there?  Do your friends know that you are going and do they know that they are invited too?  So next time you hear that song, “Where My Party People At?”, I hope you think of the upcoming party and pass along the invite to everyone that will listen.