Consume me from the inside out Lord

"A glad heart makes a cheerful face" -Proverbs 15:13

A glad heart (inside) makes a cheerful face (outside).

So much of the time we believe that in order to change the inside, we must change the outside first. -ex. makeovers, plastic surgery, make-up, weight loss, hair cut/color, tan skin etc. We have been tricked into thinking that if we could fix these things on the outside that it would result in long lasting inner happiness and satisfaction. For example, we might think things like "oh if I would just loose twenty pounds, then I will have more confidence and wont struggle with the things that I do now."

The world is all about extreme makeovers home edition and people edition, what not to wear, my super sweet sixteens, beauty pageants, ALL which focus on a renovation of the outside. From the magazines on the checkout isle at the grocery store to the one liners on the beauty products, this illusion of guaranteed happiness from superficial things is all around us. Its interesting to me, because most beauty pageants advertise bringing confidence to girls of all ages through cakey makeup, tan skin, perfect teeth, slim bodies, and beautiful gowns.

The kingdom of the world says, "do all of this and it will bring you this promised confidence".

When I would see pictures of girls in beauty pageants or fashion shows I would immediately start comparing myself to them. Before long, my mind would be in the jail of insecurity utterly dissatisfied with who I was, and I would have a long mental list of all the things I could do to change who I was to become like the image or person that I saw.

We need to recognize the captive mindset that this is and look at what our Heavenly Father says about our image and confidence.

The kingdom of God says, no no. Your confidence comes from knowing who you are in me. Something that you don't have to put on, make tanner, make whiter, or hairspray on you. It's solely rooted in knowing who you are in me and walking in that identity.

May your soul be at rest knowing your identity is in Christ. Recognizing that there is nothing that you can do to make that identity worth more and nothing to make that identity worth less. Your identity rests in Him, you are His.  He holds you at the apple of eye. (Zechariah 2:8) He sees you as fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14) You are made in the image after the God that spoke and light existed (Genesis 1:27).

So everyday may we choose to live in this identity, allowing the God of the universe to consume us first from the inside, so it overflows to the outside.

Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. - Psalm 34:5