I have come before the King dressed in filthy rags. I have believed the lies spoken over me, come into agreement with them, and sinned by doing so.. I took those lies and made them my idols. I bowed down in submission to them and put them in a place of high honor over me. I believed and worshipped things that were false. I made myself captive to those false things. I worshipped gods other than the God who loves and created me. I believed the "gods" who said I was of no value or worth, that I would never amount to anything; the ones that told me I didn't matter, that I was stupid, unworthy, and incapable of doing anything right. The ones that said I would be better off dead than alive. My heart hurt. It hurt too much to bear anymore pain. And, so, I began building a fortress around my heart to keep the invading enemy of pain away. I became afraid of pain. Afraid to get "too close". Afraid of intimacy. Afraid my heart would be broken and crushed and torn into a million little pieces and blown away like chaff in the wind till there was nothing left.
I didn't realize when I began worshipping my idols and building my fortress that they were built and founded on something that was false. They were founded on lies from the Father of Lies. And I came into agreement with them. I was too young and naive to be able to differentiate between lies and truth. I didn't know they were lies. I thought they were truth. I was deceived. Lied to. My garments became filthy with the lies I believed and the sin that resulted. I wore those filthy rags everywhere. When I was hungry I ate ashes and drank my own tears.
But now my King and Redeemer has come. He has come to rescue me. To release me from captivity. He's here to destroy the idols that were created to look so much like me. He's here to break down the gates, destroy the fortress, and expose the foundation of lies it was built on. He's here to whisper truth in my ears. He comes with rich garments in order to exchange them for my filthy, old rags. He comes with oil of myrrh, perfumes, and cosmetics -- beauty treatments that will make me beautiful, captivating, and pleasing to Him. Beauty treatments that will wash away the filth and make me as a sweet-smelling perfume.
What are these beauty treatments? They are those things that God, my King, and Jesus, my Redeemer, speak over me. They are truth. These truths will make me beautiful, captivating, and pleasing to them as I soak myself in them and let them permeate my being. God's truths spoken over me are what give me worth.
Listen! He invites me to come and dine with Him. To sit at His Banquet Table and feast on meat, new wine, the Bread of Life; on sweet and tasty things. He invites me to experience all He has to offer. And look! There is His banner over me!
Come, lets get started.
