On the Outside

 

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’”

I Samuel 16:7 (NIV)

 

 “In just a few moments we will talk with three members of the sexiest congregation in NYC,” the morning talk show host shared with the viewing audience. Huh?

 

The young men and women interviewed were very polite, well-dressed, personable and attractive as they explained that the New York City church they attended – the “sexy church” as it was called – was being promoted to appeal to good looking young professionals who want to worship with those who are just like they are: similar careers, good looking, dressed in the very latest styles, with “like-minded values.”

 

They shared that the sermons were tailored to their age group (18 to 34) and fit into their lifestyle as young professionals. And it was evidently working because the Sunday evening service was always packed, they smiled.

 

They did not share their faith during the interview but I found myself wondering if I would be welcome at their church. I don’t fit any of the criteria that seem to be encouraged to be a part of that congregation.

 

In I Samuel 16:7, the prophet Samuel is told by the Lord to select a man from among the sons of Jesse to replace Saul as king over Israel. I suspect that Samuel had a “king must have” list: tall, good looking, stands out in a crowd, dressed in the latest style of tunic, a professional warrior.

  

But every time Samuel saw one of Jesse’s sons and thought he looked the part, God said no. Seven sons came before Samuel and each time God’s answer remained the same. Samuel was looking at their physical appearance but God was not. Samuel was gently reminded “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

 

And with that statement, David came in from tending the sheep and Samuel received a tap on the shoulder and confirmation from God that “he is the one.” (vs. 12) Samuel probably was thinking “are you sure, God?” but he immediately anointed David as the next king – not because of how he looked or because of his profession but because God knew his heart.

 

How thankful I am that Jesus does not use the criteria of physical attractiveness or career choice or clothing style to determine if we can live with Him eternally. He simply looks at our hearts to see if we really want to be His. He is looking for a repentant heart and a longing for forgiveness and mercy along with a desire to live for Him and share Him with everyone we meet.

 

Man’s acceptance – even at church – may be determined by how we look on the outside. But God’s acceptance – the only one that really counts – is a matter of the heart.

 

Father, thank you for loving me and knowing my desire to live for you. I praise you for not choosing me based on the world’s standards. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

 

R.A.P. it up . . .

 

 

Reflect

• Have you ever believed that someone would be just right for a job/position simply based on how they looked?

 

Apply

• Make two columns in your journal and title them “world” and “Christ.” List

everything the world says is important in the first column and Scriptures that        describe what is important to God in the second column.

 

• Now journal which column is most important to you and why. If you need to change the importance of one over the other, go to the Lord in prayer and share your heart.

 

Power

• I Samuel 16:7 (NIV) “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’”

 

• Isaiah 53:2 (NIV) “He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.”

 

• Matthew 11:28 (NIV) “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Like A Child

 

“And he said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little

 children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’”

Matthew 18:3 (NIV)

 

We could all see it coming. My son-in-law had only seconds before said “Nothing good is going to come from this” as we all watched through the window while seven year old Jude built a ramp out of boards and a card table and then ran to get his bike.

 

Oh, he had a helmet on but that did nothing to protect the rest of his body as he raced up the makeshift ramp and immediately fell off the side. He hopped up and gave us all a thumbs up but quickly grabbed his left wrist.

 

His mom and dad immediately checked him out but he reassured them that he was just fine and his wrist only hurt a little. However the next day, the wrist hurt even more and he was unable to move it without a quick intake of breath and a grimace of pain.

 

I volunteered to take him to the doctor since both parents were working. I was not at all surprised that, after an examination, the doctor wrote an order for an x-ray.

 

 Jude was very concerned about what the outcome might be. “I start flag football on Saturday, Grandma,” he said. I’ve waited all my life (7 years) to play football and if it’s broken, I can’t play!”

 

I took him by his unhurt hand as we walked into the hospital to the x-ray department. “Jude, God knows that you have waited to play football ‘all your life.’ Maybe it’s just a sprain or it’s jammed. I am going to pray right this minute that it’s not broken.”

 

He glanced up at me. “You are just NOW praying, Grandma? I’ve been praying since I fell on it yesterday.” Ouch.

 

When did I forget that I needed to become like a little child before my Father as Matthew 18:3 says? I confess that I worried about his arm. I pictured the worst that could be wrong, like a major fracture and surgery. But I did not pray about it until I heard the fear in my grandson’s voice that his wrist might be broken.

 

How about you? When faced with a situation that could possibly have a bad outcome, do you pray immediately like Jude did? Or do you worry, become anxious and picture the worst BEFORE you think to pray – like I did?

 

“Become like little children.” That’s my encouragement for all of us. When something happens, right then is the time to pray. Not as an afterthought. Not if all else fails. Nope. Pray immediately. Our faithful Father hears and He answers.

 

The great news from the doctor was that Jude did not have a break; his wrist was jammed and would quickly heal. As we climbed in my car, I turned around to see Jude, hands together and eyes looking upward as he thanked the Lord for His answer.

 

Lord, please help me to be like this little child Jude.

 

Father, I desire to be as a little child and trust you completely with everything in my life. May I always react first with prayer. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

 

 

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

• What is your immediate response to a tough situation?

 

• Do you panic or do you pray?

Apply

• Journal situations or problems you have had for the last month and beside each one write your first response: prayer or panic.

 

• If you wrote “panic” beside any of them, determine whether or not that helped resolve the situation. Then decide that your first response from now on will be prayer.

 

Power

• Matthew 18:3 (NIV) “And he said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’”

 

• Philippians 4:6 (NIV) “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

 

• Matthew 19:14 (NIV) “Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

 

The Heart Test

 

 

“Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.”

Deuteronomy 8:2 (NIV)

 

Evidently the pressure in my neck that radiated into my jaw was not treated as casually by my doctor as it was by me. An EKG showed the possibility of a heart attack so within a few hours of those test results, I found myself in a large hospital with strangers asking me personal questions in an attempt to pinpoint exactly what could be developing within my heart.

 

            “Do you work out? How often? Tell me your diet. What do you eat in any given week? Do you smoke?” For what seemed like hours the questions continued. Then suddenly I was left alone to contemplate what had just happened and what was next. Eventually it was decided that the only way to be 100% positive about what was going on was to have a heart catheterization.

 

Within 10 minutes of agreeing to that test, I was moved down a hall and into a lab. The physician was able to thread a catheter through an artery and see exactly what was going on in my heart and whether or not there was any blockage or other problem. Thankfully there was not and I was given the “all clear” to resume my usual activities.

 

In Deuteronomy 8:2 Moses is talking about a different kind of heart test. He is reminding the Israelite people of God’s decision to allow them to wander for forty years in the desert. It wasn’t because God didn’t care about them but rather because He DID care.

 

God tested them because He wanted them to decide whether or not their hearts would hold on to His promises and trust His leadership of their lives. Their desert experience would either cause them to be obedient, bow humbly before God and totally have faith in Him or they would fall away from Him and His commandments.

 

What about you? Has the Lord been performing a heart test on you? Have you felt as though you were in a desert place and wondered why you were there and what was going to happen next? Maybe a child has turned from the Lord and left home. Perhaps you have been laid off from your job or your business is not prospering like it was.

 

Please know that the Lord is right beside you as you have your “heart test.” He may have bigger plans for your life than you are aware of and this may be a time of learning complete obedience and trust in His plan for you. Trust the Ultimate Physician to know what is best for you as He performs your Heart Test.

 

Father, please help me to have complete faith in you as you lead me through my heart experience in the desert. I trust you at all times. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

 

R.A.P. it up . . .

 

Reflect

• Have you ever felt like you were alone in a desert with life falling apart around you?

 

• Have you considered that perhaps the Lord was allowing you to be there to learn to trust Him?

 

Apply

• Keep a journal of your desert experiences for the next month.

 

• Beside each entry, write down how you feel the Lord is directing that experience to help you to grow and trust Him in all situations. Use Scripture references.

 

Power

• Deuteronomy 8:2 (NIV) “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.”

 

• I Peter 1:7 (NIV) “These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

 

• Deuteronomy 8:5 (NIV) “Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.”

 

 

 

 

Do You Know A Mrs. Wallace?

 

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of

the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’”

Matthew 25:40 (NIV)

 

Her name was Mrs. Wallace. Just saying the name and I immediately picture a petite lady with light gray, extremely short, naturally curly hair. She had a sweet smile accompanied with jack-in-the-box teeth that needed no prompting to pop in and out of her mouth at a moment’s notice.

 

I can almost smell the talcum powder that did little to mask the scent of one who bathes weekly. We kids always knew it would be there – and almost always was – when our mother picked her up on Saturday mornings to take her to town with us.

 

We complained every time Mother told us we would be picking up Mrs. Wallace. “Why does she have to go with us?” “She smells funny.” “Her socks are always down around her ankles.” “Doesn’t she have someone in her family who can take her to town?” “What if our friends see us with her?”

 

My mother would always respond to our questions with the same answers. “She is going with us because she has no one close by to take her. How will she get groceries? This is a good opportunity for you to get to know Mrs. Wallace. She is a very kind lady. How can I tell her that my children don’t want her to go with them? Imagine how hurt she would be!” And then she would quietly say “Listen to how you are talking about her. What if people were talking about YOU like that.”

 

And so for one more trip to town, we would sit in the back seat and watch her and wonder . . . why she didn’t bathe more often, why her socks continued to rest around her ankles, what kept her teeth from separating completely from her mouth and falling on the floor of the car.

 

But something happened during one of those car rides: we began to realize what our mother was doing. She was putting God’s love into action. She was taking care of Mrs. Wallace, a widow, as if she was HER mother!  We saw that our mother was living what she believed. The teaching that Jesus was sharing in Matthew 25:34-40 was not something she took lightly.

 

In that Scripture, Jesus was speaking to the righteous and blessing them for giving Him food and drink, for clothing Him, for taking care of Him when He was sick and for visiting Him in prison.

 

When they question Him as to exactly when they did those acts specifically for Jesus, He replies in verse 40: “. . . I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”  

 

My mother was showing us that when “the least of these” needed help, we should be willing to step in and show our Father’s love without complaining and without asking anything in return. Her unselfishness in being willing to put Christ’s love into action was a lesson we never forgot

 

What are we doing to show our children how to be Jesus to those around us? Could it be that there is a Mrs. Wallace in our neighborhoods or where we work? The best way for our children to learn Christ’s unselfish love for others is to see it reflected in our acts of kindness toward “the least of these” around us.

 

Father, please help me to never cease to look around me for those who need your loving touch in the very simple everyday things. Help me to always remember that people will learn about you by watching me. May I be a mirror of your love and compassion. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

 

R.A.P. it up . . .

 

Reflect

• Is there a Mrs. Wallace in your family or neighborhood?
• Do you need a “vision check” so that you see them through the eyes of Jesus?
• What lessons are you conveying to your children when it comes to taking care of widows and others in need?

 

Apply

• Find out the birthdays of the older neighbors in your community or at church who may not have any family living close by. Help your children to design coupons for (a) “a meal brought to your home;” (b) “a shopping trip;” (c) “a tea party time” (and you provide the tea and cookies). Pass out the coupons to each person and check back every couple of days to see if a date has been decided on to use the coupon.
• Pray with your children concerning the salvation of each person who accepted a coupon. Have them write a note of encouragement to each person.

 

Power

• Matthew 25:40 (NIV) “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’”
• Philippians 2:4 (NIV) “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
• Proverbs 22:6 (NIV) “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”