The deceptiveness of charm- meant to sway you. Meant to lean on your feelings only, feelings that can deceive you.
Martin Luther, "Feelings come and feelings go and feelings are deceiving. My anchor is the Word of God, naught else is worth believing.
Charm is the power of arousing admiration. It is to control or achieve by as if by magic.
Salesmen use this. When people are trying to dupe you into buying something or scam you they will use it. Children can use it with parents, even students with teachers.
The consequences of being charmed:
*You are deceived.
*You get a load of things that looked sweet and end up turning bitter.
*You may to live a lifetime with bad choices.
*Regrets will come
*Your will is overruled by your emotions. This is not good.
The fleetingness of beauty.
We get old and the scripture addresses that.There are benefits of getting old but youthful beauty is not among them. In fact we need to hear the message of this verse more than ever, more than most people.
Ponce DeLeon searched in Florida for the Fountain of Youth. Beauty and Youthful Looks are fleeting.
Fleeting- a vapor or breath. Here one moment and gone in another.
So what do we do? We look to the Word of God.
Luke 21:33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
1 John 2:17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
The Word of God is continually urging us to pay more attention to our souls than our bodies, more care of our inner being than our outer, more about how God views us (the heart) than how others view us (the outer shell)
On this Mother's Day...
A Woman Who Fears the LORD...
"Dad I am gettimg old..."
1. There is a message for the women in this verse.
Sarah
1 Peter 3:3-6 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. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
Don't spend excessive amounts of time on improving the outer person.
It is within that true beauty and self worth reside.
* Don't fall for the make yourself look young again nonsense.
* Value what the LORD values.
*Self worth comes froma close walk with the LORD.
Obedience to Him, a quiet and gentle spirit...
*Hope in the LORD.
2. There is something we all need to hear in our relationships to others.
Watch out for charming people.
They are all around us.
Charming people:
Manipulate.
Tell us things we want to hear even if we know they are exaggerating.
Have an agenda and it is not our best interests.
Be careful not to be taken in.
This calls for discernment.
We ask God for it.
We study and receieve Wisdom from His Word.
Don't use charm. It is of the flesh. Let the Spirit persuade people.
3. There is something we need to hear on how we view ourselves and how the LORD views us!
In a time of anti aging creams and all this stuff which is built on deceit, we must remember that the LORD looks on the heart.
David's oldest brother charmed Samuel.
1 Samuel 16:6-7 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things men look at. Man look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Look at how quickly Samuel was charmed by Eliab. His height (Saul was a tall man) and his appearance. He looked like a king. phenomenon, spectacle.
The LORD was telling Samuel, "Do not regard his charming appearance. That is not what I look at. You need to stop being taken in by what looks good or sounds good. Jesus, help Your church today! Help the young people today! Help us all today!
Since God looks at the heart we need to heed this verse:
Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart,for everything you do flows from it.
Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Proverbs 4:23 Guard your heart above all else,for it determines the course of your life.
Let's pray for each other in these matters.
Let's give thanks for the Moms who loved us and raised us.
Let's pray for young families today. It is a challenge to raise children these days.
Let's give ourselves attention to our hearts and souls.
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