Guest Devotional - Chrissy Mayer

What are some of your favorite beauty regimens?

Painting your nails?

Getting perfectly shaped eyebrows?

Coloring your hair?

Getting a good tan?

Ever known anyone who just seemed to glow a little more than others when they walk into a room?

Were you dying to know her secret?

I know a girl like this. Everytime I see her, she just seems to lighten the room. Always wearing a big smile. Even when she isn't beaming ear to ear, her face still reads content and grateful. She is one of the few people I have spoken to and felt as if she was truly hanging on to every word I said. She can find the positive in any situation and does it without you wanting to 'trip a sister' to bring her back down to reality. She is genuine, but most importantly she understands the power of a good foundation! Every morning she chooses to put on a face of gratitude. No matter how big or small, girlfriend chooses to STOP and RELISH in EACH of God's blessings throughout each day. Like a child on Christmas Day, she too approaches the day with such an eagerness and grateful heart.

In her most recent book, "Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy", Nancy Leigh DeMoss says,

"I would go so far as to say that there is nothing more becoming in a child of God than a grateful spirit. By the same token, there is probably nothing that makes a person more unattractive than the absence of a grateful spirit."


Gratitude. The most beautiful thing a woman can choose to include in her beauty regimen. This is how I want others to see me. But … how? How does a woman like you or me get a grateful heart change? It's not like we can just buy a thankful spirit in the cosmetic aisle at Wal-Mart. This is going to require a bit more work than your average one-time makeup application.

How do we maintain a grateful heart when faced with the challenging situations and challenging people that some of us are forced to deal with on a daily basis?

WE MUST DEVELOP A GRATEFUL REFLEX: ‘give thanks in all things' ... Therefore, if we can't be grateful for where He has us today we will not be able to be grateful for where He leads tomorrow.

DeMoss also says, "The grateful heart that springs forth in joy is not acquired in a moment; it is the fruit of a thousand choices. It is a Godly habit and pattern that over time becomes a new muscle in our spiritual makeup." She continues, "The only people who can sustain a consistent flow of thanksgiving between them and God are those who know who, what, and where they'd be if He hadn't intervened and saved them from themselves."

How long has it been since you thought about who, what, and where you'd be if Jesus hadn't pursued you, loved you, chosen you, forgiven you, and given you His Spirit?

Maybe you don't have what you want today. Or you have what you don't want. Either way, are you whining or worshiping? What beauty regimen are you practicing today?