Living Outside the Lines: It's Time to Discover the Beauty in Being You!

By Yvonne Jones

This four week daily devotional prompts for a reflection on the current cultural lifestyle of the modern woman. Topics such as beauty, relationships, careers, self-esteem, and more, are broken down into weekly themes designed to address the new ideas that have emerged from these categories. Author Yvonne Jones calls us towards reevaluating the way in which we are going as women; questioning if we are making progress or unknowingly moving in the wrong direction. These daily truths serve to guide the young women in what can be a confusing generation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973647829

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Copyright © 2019 Yvonne Jones.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-4781-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4782-9 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/15/2019

Contents

Introduction

Possessions Day 1 Investing In Your Character

Possessions Day 2 Leave Doubt and Grab Trust

Possessions Day 3 Building Everlasting Treasure

Possessions Day 4 All Want Is Not Greed, But All Gain Is Not Equal

Possessions Day 5 Adding to or Devaluing Our Lives

Possessions Day 6 Your Time Is Your Treasure

Possessions Day 7 Weekly Reflection

Beauty Intro

Beauty Day 1 Knowledgeable Fear

Beauty Day 2 Go With God’s Guidance

Beauty Day 3 Your Splendor Is In Your Speech

Beauty Day 4 Social Standards Are Not Always Suitable

Beauty Day 5 Pretty Purposeful

Beauty Day 6 Pretty Purposeful Devotion

Beauty Day 7 Weekly Reflection

Self Esteem Intro

Self Esteem Day 1 God’s Great View of You

Esteem Day 2 Disappointments & Accomplishments

Relationships Day 3 Drop Your Mindset And Grab Christ’s Character

Relationships Day 4 Drop Your Mindset and Grab Christ’s Character Part 2

Relationships Day 6 What’s the Intention Behind Your Actions?

Self Esteem/ Relationships Day 7 Weekly Reflection

Careers and Equality Intro

Careers and Equality Day 1 Pursuing Your Passions

Careers/Equality Day 2 When Your Life Doesn’t Look Like Your Promise

Careers/Equality Day 3 Having the Heart of God

Careers/Equality Day 4 What Life’s All About

Careers and Equality Day 5 Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better

Careers and Equality Day 6

Careers and Equality Day 7 Weekly Reflection

I

dedicate this book to every beautiful woman in this world. Let us continue to grow and strengthen one another as we pursue Christ-like love and character.

To my Heavenly Father. Thank you for continually showing me how much you love me. All that I have ever done is because and through you. Your kind gentle words have given me daily strength to persevere past my fears and advance into the future that you have for me. There will never be enough words to express all that you are and continue to be. I offer everything that I do to glorify, honor, and praise your name now and forever.

I thank God for my loving Grandparents Jill and William Finnegan who have supported loved and cared for me through this journey. Your kindness and patience have never been forgotten or overlooked. I appreciate all that you have done and recognize how thoroughly blessed I am to have you in my life. Finally, I thank God for my parents Ronald and Elizabeth Jones. Although mine and my sibling’s upbringing was not perfect, I am forever grateful to have been given parents that instilled the importance of a relationship with Christ into our lives. I am thankful to have grown up in a family surrounded by love and God. Although my relationship with Christ began many years later, I do believe that the fundamental truths laid in my heart were through my parents and other significant individuals involved in my upbringing.

Introduction

Thank you for taking with me this journey to a better understanding of yourself. Our days can become so hectic and busy that we forget to take the time to reflect and evaluate who we are, what we have been doing, and where we are going in life. Self -reflection needs to be done daily and in many different ways. Whether meeting a friend for coffee, going to church, talking to God and reading His Word, or perhaps writing out our feelings, addressing what we are going through is vital to improving our daily lives and the lives of those around us.

This book is my light to you. It is all of the lessons that I have learned over many years. God has brought me through so much and taught me a copious amount of lessons that apply to many women these days. This devotional is not meant to condemn or put anyone down but to encourage each one of us to reflect and see if, and where, we can improve. These devotions God and I have created are all about how we look at ourselves and the actions we take or do not take, because of these beliefs.

In many cases, we limit ourselves; we stifle who we were made to be and ultimately put ourselves in a box by believing there is only one way we should live. We become carbon copies of everyone else who, just like us, is trying to find fulfillment in the way we are told to. The title of this devotional says it all. As Christian women, it is unwise to follow after the ideas, beliefs, and morals this world has increasingly forced upon us, but rather step outside of these metaphorical lines and live in the standards that God has laid out for us. It can be difficult for each of us to understand who we are when the world is telling us who we should be. I want you to discover the beauty of being yourself, the beauty in who God created you to be, and the enormous amount of joy and freedom that goes along with it.

This month, we are going to cover some significant areas in which we can easily get caught up in. We will include our possessions, beauty, self-esteem, relationships, careers, and equality. As we go through these daily devotions, there will be questions for you to reflect on at the end of each one. I find it best to have a designated notebook to write down your answers, questions, and how you may be feeling throughout these four weeks. I am so excited to start this journey with you.

Possessions Day 1

Investing In Your Character

We all know the feeling; walking past those sparkling glass windows and seeing an outfit that looks as if it were made just for us. We stop, stare, and wonder just how much it will cost. We then peek behind the large mannequin to see aisles upon aisles of clothing that we’ve been eyeing online or while flipping through magazines. In many ways, it feels as if we need to add that new shirt to our ever-growing pile of clothes we wear once and are never seen again.

Materialistic items are funny like that. To us, we can never have enough. But to our lives, closets, wallets, and most importantly, God, we most certainly can. The ever-present anthem of the world today is the more, the merrier, the bigger, the better, etc. The problem with phrases like these is that they scream all or nothing. If you don’t have everything or the latest of everything, then you don’t have anything. If you don’t have rows of shoes, closets about to burst, stacks of makeup, and the latest camera to capture all of it on, then you need an upgrade. Possessions can control how we think about ourselves and others. We are told they are a sign of wealth, beauty, and ultimately worth.

Let’s look at a woman in the Bible who gave away the most valuable possession she had for something that was priceless.

Reading — Luke 7:36–-47 (NIV)

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, He went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind Him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume on