How To WAKE UP TO THE AWE-STRUCK "WONDER" OF BEAUTY

 God is saying, “Wake up, Sleeping Beauty, wake up!” Like Sleeping Beauty, we have been poisoned by the lies of the “ugly one” and we have fallen asleep. The Prince of Beauty and Wonder is approaching us and desires to kiss us, in hope that we will “wake up.” Being that he is in love with us, he desires for us to wake up to  “beauty.” Most importantly, to the beauty of who He is, the beauty that surrounds us, and to the beauty that we have the capacity to create. There is a longing within him to captivate us with beauty so that it will delight us and fill us with wonder. Beauty leads to wonder and wonder leads to glory. Glory leads to wisdom, revelation, understanding, and awe. All of it leads to the praise and worship of the Majestic One. The One seated on the Throne. The One who is Fierce Radiance, and Dazzling Glory. The One True God.

Colossians 1:16-17 says:
for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible … all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (RSVCE, emphasis added) 

​The Master Creator started with a blank palette. First, he had to see what this masterpiece would look like within himself. As the creative thought exploded in his mind, he saw exactly what he wanted to produce. That’s why all things were created “in him.” He then spoke it all into existence, as he released his breath through the sound of his voice. Everything came into being “through him.” God spoke and through his breath and the sound of his voice the formless wasteland took form. The more beauty he created, the more his excitement grew in the hope that all of it would delight his children and keep them in a constant state of wonder that would always draw them back to himself. This is why the scripture tells us that it was “for him.” In fact, he even planted the ache for beauty deep within our souls. We all, whether we know it or not, have an insatiable longing for our true home, Heaven, which is the fulfillment of all beauty and wonder. Everything on earth is merely a shadow of what is already perfect in heaven. Our mortal bodies cannot withstand the splendor and radiance of it all, so God in his goodness, gave us a taste here on earth. He encourages us in Philippians 4:8 to think about whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, excellent and worthy of praise. The Merriam-Webster defines “think” as - to have in mind, to reflect on, to call to mind, center one’s thoughts on, etc. We must have an active and enthusiastic participation in the process of seeking beauty and wonder. The good news is, that we don’t have to go very far to find it because it’s all around us. What is required is a desire and willingness to “wake up” to it. In order to become fully awake, we must allow the Prince to kiss us and to kiss him back. With this kiss, a love affair beings and a relationship develops. From this union, we become co-creators with the living God.
I will break this down in the next few posts. I have also invited Kim Engel to bring her delicious insights into this series. For now, I invite you to make an intentional choice to “wake up” to the beauty around you and to set out to create beauty in your home and your work space. Kim and I share some insights and different ways that you can do that in the video below. 

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Let’s pray:
Jesus, Prince of Beauty and Wonder, I invite You to come close and to kiss me. I want to WAKE UP. Amen 

Become intentional about seeking and creating beauty.
First, notice one beautiful thing a day and point it out to someone or comment to yourself about it. 
Second, create beauty in your home or work space.

Intentionally seeking beauty,
​Ivonne