God Looks At The Heart

Greetings to all, thank God that we have made it through another week with the help of the Lord. As we enter the weekend, may we all show the love of God to those whom we encounter. May each of us be safe and feel His favor upon our lives. Amen

Despite what others may think of us, we must never think of ourselves as unqualified to serve God and those who He places in our lives. When we judge ourselves and others, we most times will get it wrong. I have two stories from the bible of people misjudging:

We are all familiar with how God chose David to be the next king. He sent his servant Samuel to Jesse's house to anoint the future king from his many sons. From the first pick, God had to step in and tell Samuel that looks are not everything, don't be impressed with looks because He "looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

And when it came to David, certainly little ruddy David was not the one. So they thought!

The other not so familiar story where the people judged someone without even knowing who he was.

Please take note of (verse 4,6) in the following scripture when Paul and others were shipped wrecked on the island of Malta while on their way to Rome.

Acts 28:1-6 (GW)

1 When we were safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta.

2 The people who lived on the island were unusually kind to us. They made a fire and welcomed all of us around it because of the rain and the cold.

3 Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire. The heat forced a poisonous snake out of the brushwood. The snake bit Paul's hand and wouldn't let go. 4 When the people who lived on the island saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, "This man must be a murderer! He may have escaped from the sea, but justice won't let him live."

5 Paul shook the snake into the fire and wasn't harmed.

6 The people were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after they had waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

The people on the island were quick to judge Paul when he got bit by a snake, but their opinions also quickly changed when they saw that he survived. Paul later prayed for and healed by the laying on of hands, converting the islanders to Christianity.

In our lives and ministries, the people who God has chosen to come will not always come to us in the way that we expect or want!

We must be careful; the one we disrespect, overlook, or disqualify may be the one God has sent to change or save our lives.

Lesson: We must not be so quick to misjudge others. We must not be so concerned about our outer appearance or others' outward appearance that we lose focus on maintaining our spiritual heart condition; since God only looks at the heart.