Nancy N. RueAllia Zobel NolanLois Walfrid Johnson et - The Beauty of Believing. 365 Devotions That Will Change Your Life

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Check out www.faithgirlz.com

ZONDERKIDZ

The Beauty of Believing

Copyright 2014 by Tasha Douglas, Mona Hodgson, Kristi Holl, Lois Walfrid Johnson, Allia Zobel Nolan, Nancy Rue

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zonderkidz, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

ePub Edition August 2014: ISBN 978-0-310-73618-9

Content from:

My Beautiful Daughter: 978-0-310-72643-2 Copyright 2012 by Tasha Douglas

Real Girls of the Bible: 978-0-310-73018-7 Copyright 2008 by Mona Hodgson

Chick Chat: 978-0-310-71143-8 Copyright 2006 by Kristi Holl

Girlz Rock: 978-0-310-70899-5 Copyright 2005 by Kristi Holl

No Boys Allowed: 978-0-310-70718-9 Copyright 2004 by Michelle Medlock Adamscopyright/ Kristi Hollauthor

Shine On, Girl: 978-0-310-71144-5 Copyright 2006 by Kristi Holl

Girl Talk: 978-0-310-71449-1 Copyright 2009 by Lois Walfrid Johnson

Whatever: 978-0-310-72534-3 Copyright 2012 by Allia Zobel Nolan

That Is So Me: 978-0-310-71475-0 Copyright 2010 by Nancy Rue

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from The Amplified Bible Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV is [are] taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design: Cindy Davis

Cover photography or illustration: Don Davis Photography

Interior design: David Conn

Table of Contents

Section I
Growing Seeds of Faith: Let Your Christ-Light Shine

Section II
Gods Promises: True Beauty

Section III
Finding Strength in Hard Times: A Beautiful Masterpiece

Section IV
God Speaks to Us: Making Choices That Inspire Inner Beauty and Outward Faith

Section V
A Helping Body of Believers: Believing... It Transforms You

Section VI
The Beauty of Believing

I ve never been what you would call model material. I wasnt voted Homecoming Queen or named Cutest for my high school yearbook. In fact, in middle school I probably wouldve been chosen Most Awkward if theyd had that category! And you know what? It was hard to be the tallest, the one with the most pimples, the one with the haircut most likely to be laughed about when all the Very Cool Girls were gathered in the bathroom. Nobody ever used Nancy and beauty in the same sentence, unless it was to say I wasnt one.

About grade nine, I started accepting that I wasnt headed for the Miss America Pageant, and I decided that the one thing I had going for me was being able to make people laugh. Since people like to laugh, they liked me. Then I discovered that I just automatically encouraged people and helped them see the good in themselves, so I did that more. Pretty soon, people who had problems (even the Very Cool Girls) were coming to me to vent. Eventually, I thought less and less about how not-so-cute I was next to the VCGs.

I didnt realize while all that was happening that God was behind it, that the changes in me were happening because I believed. I was simply showing the beauty within. My life pretty much revolved around the church and I prayed every day and hung out with other believing kids. But it still didnt occur to me until years later that it was all Gods doing. I had the beauty of believing and I didnt even know it.

If I had known it, I could have avoided some mistakes, like sneaking the makeup my mom said I couldnt wear and hurting two really nice guys by secretly dating both of them at the same time because they both said I was cute (seventeen can be a very clueless age, just so you know). If Id been even closer to God, I would have been aware that the beauty of Christs light shining through is better than mascara and compliments. I hope what youre about to read will teach you the same thing.