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All Beautiful
YSWA Women's Meeting: Beautiful In His Eyes (8 Dec 2007)
By Denise Ng
The Women’s Meeting took off on a fun, light-hearted note. By the time the doors opened, the 6th Floor Foyer had been delightfully set up. The décor was completely feminine - there were bouquets of white roses in full bloom, while the tabletops were scattered with pretty pink, gold and silver sequins. Even the lounge area had been transformed into a Fashion Gallery! I especially loved the little leaflets I found there. They were beautifully illustrated and contained tips on fashion and makeup, which made them a really fun read!
We were also treated to an awesome dinner. Strangely, just after dinner ended, two brave men wandered over after Men’s Meeting to poke curiously about the foyer. They observed the décor, studied our Fashion Gallery and helped themselves to the deserted buffet line. And they were caught in action on Coach Maddy’s camera! They amused me no end when they looked incomprehensibly at each other and shook their heads resignedly, as if to say, “Women are so strange! Why go to all this bother decorating?”
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The 6th Floor Foyer had been set up with a
completely feminine décor. |
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Pauline encouraged the ladies to give weight to what
God says about them instead of listening to the world. |
I, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed the ultra-feminine ambience at the Foyer, not to mention the excellent Door Gift (YSL Makeover here I come!). I was also ravenous for the Lord and for Him to radically transform my life. And we know that He never disappoints but exceeds our wildest expectations. Praise God for the gift of Pauline. She surprised and touched me when she opened by sharing her own insecurities and fears with us, as well as heartfelt personal anecdotes that encouraged us and revealed to us the grace of God in action in her life. The honesty and wisdom in her sharing ministered to us tremendously.
As women, we have believed worldly lies that make us pin our worth to things outside of Christ. It starts at first with receiving a lie. Then as we meditate on the lie, we begin to accept it as truth. The subsequent feeling of ‘missing the mark’ in these areas that we think gives us our value can often become a crushing weight of shame and condemnation. However, we are not meant to live according to the opinions of the world! As the light of God’s Word illuminated these areas of wrong believing, we began to be lifted up and set free. Pauline encouraged us to give weight to what God says about us instead of listening to the world. To win us and redeem us, Jesus had given up His own life. He loved us when there was nothing in us to love, and made our lives precious by the price He paid.
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Another area that Pauline touched on was on our perception of beauty. One of the most ardent desires in a woman is to be beautiful, inside and out. Yet many times we look into the mirror and are sorely disappointed. She reminded us that it is time to turn our gazes away from our natural appearances and look into the mirror of the Word. God has said that as Jesus is, so are we in this world. Jesus is all things lovely and all things beautiful. Likewise, so are we. We have been made in the image of an arresting, alluring and magnificent God; furthermore, a woman who knows how to rest her full weight on Jesus becomes attractive. She becomes a woman of substance. In beholding Jesus, beauty becomes supernatural.
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"A woman who knows how to rest her full weight on Jesus becomes attractive."
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Jesus is all things lovely and all things beautiful. Likewise, so are we. |
This Women’s Meeting was a wonderful time of ministering. I experienced such a tangible presence… It felt as if we had been enveloped in the strong and tender love of our Father. I believe that God had irreversibly imprinted the image of His deep love onto our hearts. And we received more than we could have imagined.
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