Masquerade

I want to introduce you to an extremely talented and wise young woman. She is a friend of the family, and a college student using her gifts for the Lord. She posted these notes on Facebook, and I asked her if I could share them. Can you feel her passion? I remember having some of these thoughts in my younger years, and I didn't face half of the junk they have to face now. Can we take the time to encourage her generation?

- Masquerade -

Can anyone hear me? Can anyone see past this mask I wear? This perfect disguise that hides my pain. Is there not one who will ask the hard questions? Is there not one who will stick it through with me? Who are these people who say they are my friends? Do they really care beyond the clothes I wear or the way I do my hair? Slowly my heart is suffocating, waiting for someone to save me, to reach out, to see my pain. Why can’t they hear me? How is it possible that I can feel so alone when surrounded by so many people? My heart is crying out in desperation. Does anybody see me? Does anybody love me? Can’t anybody see past this mask I put on to hide the pain? Am I the only one who feels this way? Certainly I can’t be. I am so afraid.

I am not like the others. They want me to dress like them, to act like them, to talk like them. But that isn’t me. I don’t want to wear their clothes or play their games, but I do anyways. They say they care about me, but I know they don’t. The pressure to fit in is everywhere, taunting and pushing me. I don’t want to, but I have to. So I dress like them, act like them, and talk like them, to try and fit in. I keep the real me locked inside. What if they don’t like me? What if they think I am a freak? Where will I go then? So I tell myself it is better to hide. Every day I wear my mask to hide the pain. And I ask ‘will someone see past this charade today? Will someone care enough to see the pain in my eyes?’ I am so afraid.

This is the cry of my generation. Who will save us? Who will be brave enough to reach out and answer our cries? What are you going to do about it? I am asking you to fight for us. We are worth it, even though most of us don’t believe that. Help us make a stand. Help me save my generation.

~~~A week or so later, Jessica wrote:~~~

So this wednesday night after youth God told me to write this down. It is His reply to what I wrote in Masquerade. How cool is that??!! God is totally moving!! How are you going to let Him use you in this revolution? RISE UP!

My Beloved,

I hear your cries; I see the pain in your eyes. I am here to tell you that I love you. In your darkest hour when you feel completely abandoned, I am there, waiting for you to cry out to Me. I will save you. I will never leave you. You can trust Me. I am God and you are My creation. There are no words to express the love I have for you. I have been waiting for this moment. I long to share My love with you. You are so beautiful to Me. I have heard your cries and I am answering them. Do not be afraid, for I am here. Let Me take away your pain. Give Me your burden. My heart longs to see your smile and to feel your love for Me. There is so much I want to give you. All you have to do is say ‘Yes. Yes, I will love You’ and I will take it from there.

It is time to take off the mask. I have made you for such a time as this. Do not be afraid. You were made to stand out; to be a light in the darkness. Go now and prepare your hearts. I will send them to you and you will lead them to Me. Show them My love. Tell them I am waiting for them; that I have heard their cries and I am longing to answer them. All they have to do is reach out to Me and I will be there waiting with My arms open. It will not be easy, but do not give up hope. Nothing is impossible for Me.

- God

Wowzer. It just doesn't get more powerful than this, friends.

In the Key of HE,

"All Wired Up," for Women, Part 1

I remember as little girls, my cousin and I used to go through my aunt's closet and get dressed up. With thick, heavy clogs we clomped and clanked on the wooden floors of her upstairs apartment (to which I greatly apologize to those who lived downstairs).

With daughters and nieces of my own now, I find great delight in watching them do the same. It's a precious and innocent thing.

Sometimes I wonder, being the analytical thinker I am: Why did we play dress-up when we were little?

1. Is it that we wanted to feel like a beautiful princess?
2. Did we want to be like our mommies or aunties?
3. Did we hope to be rich and famous one day?
4. Is it that we were ready to be a grown-up and tired of being a kid?
5. Was it an effective way to get attention?


The deeper questions loom in our adulthood:

1. Do we realize we are beautiful to the King?
2. Do we try to be someone we're not?
3. Are we content with the purposes God has given us to live out?
4. Do we forget we're the grown-up and continually work to feel young again?
5. Do we strive to get extra attention from others?

Contrasting questions, but ones we need to regularly ask ourselves as women.

So today, the answers to questions 1 from both points of view. YES, we want to feel like a beautiful princes, and YES, we are beautiful to the King.

Psalm 45:11 says,
"The king is enthralled by your beauty;
honor him, for he is your lord."

Before you think I'm taking this verse out of context, please know that I've done a great deal of research on it. According to many smart people who study these matters (i.e. Wycliffe, C.S. Lewis, etc), the whole chapter of Psalm 45 has a double meaning. One meaning for those before Jesus came to earth and another meaning for those after He came. I agree with them that for us now, verses 2-9 describe Jesus, the King of kings, and verses 10-15 describe the Church, believing Christians.

Because of our righteousness in Christ, we are beautiful princesses to the King. Let's honor HIm with it. Don't believe the lies that come from within you or from others that you are less than what you are. Truly--the Creator is not capable of making a mistake. So pull your best stuff out of your heart's closet, clothe yourself with Christ in you and worship your King today.



Dressin' up Cousins

"...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor."
Isaiah 61:3

***One interesting reference for Psalm 45 can be found by clicking here: http://www.easyenglish.info/psalms/psalm045-taw.htm It's great stuff!