The Beauty Blog, M.D.

Image source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141030041559-33038416-how-to-be-a-digital-superstar-and-the-skills-you-re-gonna-need John the Baptist put words into the attitude that every believer should maintain: in every situation, we must defer to Jesus. It's tragic when the world looks at us and sees only us. Instead of our being the supporting actors and Jesus being the star, we often get the roles reversed. But Jesus is more than a supporting actor, and we are not rightfully stars. Everyday, repeat John's words: He must become greater, I must become less.- Chris Tiegreen

I am standing in  the middle of a sand storm. No cover, no shield. The wind swirls in huge waves around me. It is howling in my ears and pounding me at my back. It is pressing me at all sides. The sand is everywhere, scratching my face, inside my clothes, my shoes. It's massive weight has blocked out the sun, engulfing me in darkness. It pierces my eyes and keeps them from opening. I am pushed to the ground, feeling a sense of dread that it may slowly fill my lungs. I know that the sun is out there, but I cannot see it. I don't know how long before it ends, or if I have the strength to endure it. In the middle of a sand storm. Crying, confused, anguished, determined.  Clinging on a single solid rock. The  Lord  is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.  Psalm 18:2 Image source: http://www.vizrt.com/news/newsgrid/35339/Sand_storm_potential_forecasts_with_StormGe

THE GOD WHO WOUNDS Source: The One Year: Worship the King by Chris Tiegreen READ: Job 5:17-19; 6:1-4 Have you suffered wounds from God? We'd prefer never to know pain at His hands, but the Bible gives us no such promise. What we are promised is comforting, but much less relaxing than what we'd like to hear. We want a god who will always give us what we want and never give us hard lessons. We want to be conformed to the image of Jesus without the chisel that shapes us. But God's hand, though always good, isn't always easy. He takes us not only through joys and comfort, but also pain. We could just ask our Living Lord. That sacred head once wounded has a testimony for us: Those who worship God yet live in the world will be traumatized by the contradictions between the two. Count on it. And it isn't just an unfortunate dynamic; the God we worship has ordained it. Whether for correction or for character, its' from Him. Is that unsettling? Don

A lot of things grieve my heart lately, in a good way. Is that even possible? I see it in a good way because the things that grieve us are the ones that I know that we have to pray for. They are the burdens placed by God to force us on our knees and pray. One of those things is bench christianity. Church sitting your way through life reflects a lack of hunger, as I now realized. I realize this because I went through it, maybe not totally out of it, but recently God has been telling me to get off my butt. This brings me to this one of my recent devotionals. Still by Chris Tiegreen The One Year Worship the King. Don't stop until you reach the bottom: ( I didn't type the whole devotional, just my favorite parts) A Godly Hunger Read: John 4: 24-28 How do we honor God? One of the best ways is to breathe His desires and to crave His will. There aren't too many of us in His body who do that consistently ( Claire: GUILTY! ); it isn't very natural and it doesn&