Sleeping Beauty

April 2021

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornments, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or beautiful clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”

1 Peter 3:3-4 (NIV)

Like in the fairytale story, Sleeping Beauty, the evil villain tricks the princess, causes her to prick her finger, and puts her into a deep sleep. This story can relate to our lives in many ways, spiritually and physically. The evil of this world wants to trick us and put us into a deep sleep, so we can not see our destiny.

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

1 Peter 5:8 (ESV)

We need to allow our Prince Charming, Jesus, to awake us by His kiss. As we awaken, our beauty shows from the inside out. Outward appearance fades, but the inward beauty is eternal. We must see ourselves the way God sees us.

As the Prince awakened Sleeping Beauty, the evil one continued to attack. Living happily ever after is just a fairytale, but if you let Jesus slay the dragons in your life daily, you will walk in peace. Allow Prince Jesus to kiss you every day and wake up the sleeping parts of your soul to see the beauty in each day.

– Victorie Huff

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A religious spirit will never allow us to see ourselves or others in a proper context. Seeing through the view of religion is like wearing foggy glasses. In Matthew 23 (NLT), Jesus calls religious people “Blind fools.” When a religious spirit is operating, truth can not be seen. The truth of who we truly are in Christ (children of the King) can never be fully understood until it is removed.

“‘What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.’” Matthew 23:27-28 NLT

Jesus is awaking and calling forth a bride to arise and stand in her rightful place; to see herself worthy of His love. If we see through a foggy lens, we are not able to see ourselves worthy of His lavish love and attention. Therefore, we take the chance of missing our Prince when He comes. A religious spirit will never allow us to recognize the Prince of Peace when He shows up, even if He is standing right in front of us. Religion killed Jesus and we must not allow it to seperate us from His true love and affection. We must know our Prince intimately and be able to see Him clearly when He comes.

“...And He will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 NLT

A religious spirit is like the spindle from the movie, Sleeping Beauty. Just as princess Aurora pricked her finger on a spindle, causing everyone in the kingdom to drift into a deep slumber, so religion causes one’s self to slowly fall into a trance–suffocating its victim by putting them blindly to sleep. Believing the lies of this spirit lulls one to sleep in the depths of their soul, only seeing what it allows and developing a belief system based on it’s lies.

“‘When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth…’”

John 16:13 NLT

Religion is the spindle and believing the lies causes us not to see Jesus, the Prince. If one caves into the fantasy of religion, by not seeing truth, they take the chance of missing Jesus–the real Him. I encourage you to ask the Lord to reveal and remove any blinders that have hindered you from seeing the truth of who He says you are and His true love for you. Jesus is coming to awaken many with His kiss and I for one don’t want to miss His arrival.

– Bethany Huff

Prayer: Lord, Please wake my sleeping soul with Your kiss. Help me to see myself as You see me. I am a child of the King—beautiful in every way. Create in me a pure heart, so I do not hurt You by seeing myself unworthy. I am worthy of Your love.