Totally Naked and Unashamed

No More Hiding While seeking the Lord, I asked God why He wanted me to expose myself like this. He whispered in His still small voice, “Genesis 2:25, “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” This is not a social media post or what people want to hear. My husband, Tim, and I are both unashamed! God has delivered our marriage. To God be all the glory! Favor is not fair! You may be saying, “How has this chick who came from nothing, with no education, been given the opportunity to write this book?” My response to that question is; do not allow the events in your life story to define you and put a period at the end of one sentence or moment in your life. Allow God to put His commas, conjunctions, questions marks, and periods where He would like. It is not over until God says it is over. What are You Willing to do to Love You First? You cannot even get to a relationship before loving you first. If you try this, you will only change partners without changing the behavior - this is suicide. If you want something different, you have to do something different. I say these things to myself daily: you are beautiful, you deserve to be happy, you are an original – do not try to be a duplicate of anyone else. Michele is fabulous. Why? Because I love me first. Are you willing to pay a price or be the price that is paid? Love cost Jesus his life, what are you willing to pay to love yourself? Change your behavior, change your mind and change your life. If you love yourself, today is the day that you die to yourself. De-Glamorize Do not get stuck on what you look like. There are many beautiful woman and handsome men in the world. How many times have we seen someone glamorous, appearing fabulous but so sad and depressed? We often hear about stories on the television show “Unsung.” This show is about people who have did great things but received little or no recognition for their work. Let us discuss how to make ourselves look awesome in our appearance but in the end, it really does not matter. Our beauty, if not tamed, is like a loaded 9MM gun which is deadly if it goes off. Let us disarm the weapon of vain beauty. First, we must make sure it is on safety mode at all times unless it is going to be fired. Check to make sure there are no rounds in the chamber. Next, take it off the safety mode and hold the button down to open slide the chamber back. Once the barrel has been removed the pin can be taken out. Let us take the poison out of vain beauty. Hollywood makes sin look fun and glamorous. Again, I remind you that sin produces death. I believed the lie that I had to weigh 135 pounds. I also believed that I had to have long hair and perfectly manicured nails. I thought I had to be ready for the runway at all times. The billboards always appear flawless but what you and I do not see are the touchups that are made to those photos. God stripped my thinking and showed me that trying to keep up with Hollywood was actually weighing me down. He stripped my thinking that sin was fun and glamorous. There is nothing pretty about a foundation built on glamour. If your life is not built on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ, it will crack and peel. These are some of the thoughts that He stripped away: All Made Up Now that we have this made up face. What do you see in the mirror? What is looking back at you? Do you identify with this person? Occasionally, I have had my face “beat” professionally by friends when attending special events. They would explain what they are putting on me and why. Once they were finished, they would pass me a mirror and ask me how I liked the look. I do not really wear a lot of makeup, so I had to get use to the look. If they applied too much, I would ask them to take some of it off. On Saturday’s I would sleep pretty and wear the makeup to church on Sunday. I wanted that same look because that was how “fantasy” Barbie looked when she awoke. That was my problem, it was all about the glam look. As a woman I knew what to put on and what to take off. Now as a woman of God He has taught me how not to cover up my blemishes. He has taught me that beauty is more on the inside than the outside. She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. (Proverbs 31:25) This is how God clothes us! There is no designer like the Lord! I am a fashion model for the Lord, and I wear my garment wherever I go. I am light and refuse to be darkness. There is no money or bribe that can cause me to turn my garment of praise in for the spirit of heaviness (see Isaiah 61:3). We can walk the red carpet and the runway for Jesus. You do not have to be involved in a scandal or build an empire to show the world that you are glamorous! I am fearfully and wonderfully made (see Psalm 139). We are in the world, but I refuse to be of it any longer. No More Hiding While seeking the Lord, I asked God why He wanted me to expose myself like this. He whispered in His still small voice, “Genesis 2:25, “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” This is not a social media post or what people want to hear. My husband, Tim, and I are both unashamed! God has delivered our marriage. To God be all the glory! Favor is not fair! You may be saying, “How has this chick who came from nothing, with no education, been given the opportunity to write this book?” My response to that question is; do not allow the events in your life story to define you and put a period at the end of one sentence or moment in your life. Allow God to put His commas, conjunctions, questions marks, and periods where He would like. It is not over until God says it is over. What are You Willing to do to Love You First? You cannot even get to a relationship before loving you first. If you try this, you will only change partners without changing the behavior - this is suicide. If you want something different, you have to do something different. I say these things to myself daily: you are beautiful, you deserve to be happy, you are an original – do not try to be a duplicate of anyone else. Michele is fabulous. Why? Because I love me first. Are you willing to pay a price or be the price that is paid? Love cost Jesus his life, what are you willing to pay to love yourself? Change your behavior, change your mind and change your life. If you love yourself, today is the day that you die to yourself. De-Glamorize Do not get stuck on what you look like. There are many beautiful woman and handsome men in the world. How many times have we seen someone glamorous, appearing fabulous but so sad and depressed? We often hear about stories on the television show “Unsung.” This show is about people who have did great things but received little or no recognition for their work. Let us discuss how to make ourselves look awesome in our appearance but in the end, it really does not matter. Our beauty, if not tamed, is like a loaded 9MM gun which is deadly if it goes off. Let us disarm the weapon of vain beauty. First, we must make sure it is on safety mode at all times unless it is going to be fired. Check to make sure there are no rounds in the chamber. Next, take it off the safety mode and hold the button down to open slide the chamber back. Once the barrel has been removed the pin can be taken out. Let us take the poison out of vain beauty. Hollywood makes sin look fun and glamorous. Again, I remind you that sin produces death. I believed the lie that I had to weigh 135 pounds. I also believed that I had to have long hair and perfectly manicured nails. I thought I had to be ready for the runway at all times. The billboards always appear flawless but what you and I do not see are the touchups that are made to those photos.