May 11th, 1963 “Inner Beauty” Late Mr. N. Daniel

Psalm 45:11

I was reading the story of Esther. She was a Jewish girl. The Jews were brought up under many restrictions and discipline. The Jews were a beautiful people. The king desires beauty. What is that beauty? He desires the beauty of the inner life. VS.13 'The kings daughter is all glorious within; her clothing is of wrought gold.' As I study the word more and more I wonder whether there is that real beauty in me that pleases the Lord. How many drawbacks I find! It is good to live among God's children; you constantly find that your beauty is not up to the mark. When Esther appeared before the king, the king desired to have her. She had inner beauty. She had faith also; so she wrought a great salvation for the people of God in those lands. The people of God were as captives and she delivered them.

Today Christian people have come to a place where the devil wants to destroy them. They' want money, power and so on, but they do not care for character. You cannot build a nation without character. Your habits may be good but it is not this true beauty or inner beauty which can be imparted to others. The early missionaries who came to India wanted to give character to our people through education. It is not easy to inculcate a proper sense of values among other people and the growing generation. God is looking for inner beauty. God can give us natural beauty but it does not produce results of great value. God may give us talents but they cannot produce what God is looking for. Talented musicians find it hard to maintain good character. We hardly find character among them. They are fed on flattery and are led into living a loose life.

The king's daughters have a beauty. There is a beauty which God has given us. We have to maintain that. Somehow or other such men and women who are able to hold this precious God-given beauty are marked among men. Do not look for the appreciation of people. They may not appreciate you first. Every Christian suffers first but in the long run they will come to honour.

I read about a missionary in Japan. They brought him up in such a way that he chose to be a missionary. The parents happily let him go. Does this happen in India? A missionary is a man who has real heroism. How many of us are willing to face difficulties? The Indian mind has not got a real spiritual outlook yet. After two centuries of Christianity, if we do not have such an outlook, it makes me very sad. Without a team-spirit we cannot serve Christ. Let us not be satisfied with what we have. There is an inner beauty! How I fall short of His standards! When we wait on God many revelations will be given us. First of all God will show us ourselves. Even one evil thought will mar this beauty. The king wants you in His palace. Great missionaries, as they did their work, became filled with this inner beauty. Do you evaluate your life according to the money you can make? A tree should not be evaluated by its fire-wood value. Does your life produce good fruit? We must win India for Christ and drive out idolatry. Do you believe it is possible? One day your prayers will be answered. Idolatry produces only sin, wickedness and false standards. God has made us to be born in India so that we may lift India. The king’s daughter is dressed in another way. She is all glorious within. As we walk about, let us breathe out the Spirit of God.