Between Fake and Authentic: a Lost Identity
By Roula El Azzi
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14
As a woman living in the Middle East in a country called Lebanon, I can say it is very challenging to stay simple and natural. Plastic surgeries have invaded our society and the media has had a big role in promoting it. Today, our society is suffering from fake beauty, fake identity, and loss of confidence in God who wonderfully and fearfully created each one of us.
The beauty of the woman has always been considered an important measure of her worth in society. As a woman, this made me always wonder “what if I am not physically beautiful according to the fake criteria of beauty?” I wanted to stay natural and simple without relying on heavy make-up, plastic surgery, or clothes that do not reflect my personality.
For several years, my label was “the girl with the big teeth”. It hurt, but I persisted in fixing my dental issues without changing my authentic identity. Even when in desperate moments I tried to copy others in following the latest trends and fashions and failed, the question of what authentic beauty that amazes the soul and create a lasting print of uniqueness in life is has always been on my mind. I asked myself this up until the day my soul met the one who loved me unconditionally; “Jesus”.
Experiencing Jesus was a turning point in my life, and yet I kept struggling with my physical appearance for several years until one day, I was on my knees praying and crying to the Lord: Please Lord let me see myself through your eyes only, not mine, not the eyes of the people around me, not the society’s, ONLY through your eyes! Suddenly, I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, peace and calmness filled my heart… I stopped weeping, stood on my feet and looked at the mirror… In that very moment I felt like I was out of time and space, as if I was looking at another person, a beautiful charming woman full of life. I touched my face in wonder, asking in a loud voice: “Roula is that really you?! Wow!” I saw myself as the most beautiful woman I have ever met! Since then, I understood that my identity is in Jesus Christ, and that nothing in this world can make me more beautiful than how He sees me.
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 1Peter 3:4
How does a woman living according to God’s call live in the modern world and remain an influence to others, a role model to follow who is not affected by the world? By wearing the righteousness of God and not the latest trends of the world, by reading the word of God and not the words of labels, by hearing the voice of God and not the voice of bullying, by knowing who she is in Christ and not in the opinions of the world. Jesus saved us and gave us eternal life, He gave us power over all of the plans Satan has prepared to destroy our peace and joy in the Lord. His precious blood shed on the cross is our worth, Let’s rejoice in Him!
I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10
Satan’s goal is to destroy the holy image of the woman. He works on making her out as a commodity for sexual lust, a tool for seduction and a shopping robot. We all, as women of God, have at times fallen into this trap, but our Lord did not leave us without guidance. He gave us His words as a lamp to our feet and His Holy Spirit to guide us in every step.
We all have an invitation today to remember our identity in Christ, to embrace His love, and accept ourselves as He created us.
His light is shining upon our lives, revealing the truth and unmasking Satan’s lies. His voice is calling; let us wake up to our true mission, a mission to make life, to speak life, and to give life to whoever needs it. To be the bride of the groom, loved unconditionally, cherished and honored, while remembering His words: You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you. Song of Songs 4:7
The Reality of Spiritual Substances
God is the God of manifestations, he simply is. He wants to reveal himself to you clearly so you can enjoy his tangible love, goodness, mercy, salvation, protection and all the good things he has in store for you. God’s glory is he who is and what he has and he poured it all over you in Christ! It can’t get any better.
A couple of days ago I met by a divine appointment a group of amazing believers, two sisters and one brother in the Lord. They came from a different country for a few days and I had the privilege and the honor to spend some time with them. We shared lots of God stuff in my country and theirs. We were both so blessed to hear what God is doing among his church and we were celebrating that! One of the dear ladies called Lin opened her heart and shared with us her many amazing precious God encounters and oh boy how blessed and excited I was to hear it. I was amazed and surprised by the simplistic childlike faith she has and how the Lord lands on her kind of faith with signs and wonders! She brought with her many things and photos that backed up her beautiful genuine stories and I had the opportunity to witness it all. She showed my friend and me different colored perfect gemstones (as examined by a gemologist) that fell from heaven on many occasion and each gem has a beautiful story that speaks about our good good heavenly Father. I saw Angel’s feathers’ photos, oil from heaven, heavenly bread with chunks of gold and other cool stuff. I kept wowing with each story and was definitely caught by the thrill of seeing tangibly these good gifts from dad not to mention that I felt the anointing and the presence of God on some items!
Later after they left back to their country, I was thanking God for this opportunity to meet them and pondering the amazing things my ears and my eyes experienced closely. Then as simple as this is, the Holy Spirit interrupted my excitement in his kindness and corrected a major thing in my heart. He prioritized it all to me once and forever.
What I saw was so awesome and with a big YES you must remain open for God’s signs and wonders and we want to see visibly his glory and blessings. I want God to invade all my dimensions, the invisible and the visible. But remember that in Christ, you are a SPIRIT being of light and God wants your thrill to be first in the spiritual because this is who you are FOREVER! The spirit world for you must be your main focus before anything else. You are a spirit, with a soul living in a body. Yes, God loves to see your smile and joy when you receive his gifts in the physical realm but he wants you to be excited to spiritual realities first, to the invisible king and kingdom within you. We tend to think that if it is touchable then it is tangible and we get frustrated if we don’t experience glory in our mortal fleshly senses. But my friend let me adjust you as Holy Spirit did for me if it is spiritual it is also TANGIBLE and more real and remaining (Matthew 6:19-21).
God wants you to believe that what he gives you as spiritual things and substances is tangible and real. The experience of it may be different from the physical and the natural because you are operating in another dimension a supernatural one but it is real and tangible for him so it must be for you! The presence of the invisible Holy Spirit with you is something spiritual and he will never become flesh like Jesus, he will stay your invisible helper. But being invisible doesn’t mean he is not a real person around you. Holy Spirit is real and tangible and not believing this is a dishonor of Jesus’ promise when he said he would send the helper to be with you forever and lead you into all truth and he did.
In Christ, you are a spirit first so making the spiritual your priority is important but press in to see God’s glory in other dimensions as well. We want God to fill everything but first the spiritual.
Final note: After Holy Spirit met me and adjusted my excitement, I lifted my hands to heaven and asked my heavenly dad to give me a gemstone because he is no respecter of men, he favors faith, not people. I was sitting on my bed and I was waiting on him after I requested that from him and it is up to him to give it or not, you can’t force him. Then I saw in a faint image in my mind a blue gemstone dropped on my bed, it was not in the physical realm (the lowest realm) but in the spiritual. So by faith and with so much innocence and simplicity, I stretched my hand to grab it, although, in the seen dimension my hand is empty, yet I believed I was holding a blue gem in the spiritual. BECAUSE I honor the spiritual first and it is tangible for me. I can say I have a gemstone from heaven from a different perspective :} and it is up to you to believe it or not.
Toni Francis