This week we are going to be looking at 1 John 3: 1-10. This passage has some really powerful and important words for us to hear. Today we’ll continue to look at the World in Front of the Text of … Continue reading
The next two days we will look at the last of the Ten Commandments, Number Ten, as found in Exodus 20:17: You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, … Continue reading
Over the next few weeks in our Rooted in Christ Study, we’ll be looking at some of the favorite passages from our staff at St. Matthew’s UMC. These are some of the parts of the Bible to mean to most … Continue reading
Today’s reading is Romans 2: 16-29 Many of Paul’s day who were of the Jewish tradition said that they could not possibly be sinful, for they were circumcised. If they were circumcised and had this external marking upon them, this showed … Continue reading
Everything starts somewhere. What’s the old saying, a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. That is true for good things. Life changes. New routines. New events in your life. Sometimes the hardest part of change, good change … Continue reading
Several of today’s texts center in on the notion of God choosing someone unlikely to fulfill His task. I was taken by 1 Samuel 16: 6-13:
6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.’ 7But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’ 8Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, ‘Neither has the Lord chosen this one.’ 9Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, ‘Neither has the Lord chosen this one.’ 10Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The Lord has not chosen any of these.’ 11Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Are all your sons here?’ And he said, ‘There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.’ And Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.’ 12He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, ‘Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.’ 13Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.
In this passage, God is leading Samuel to anoint the next king of Israel. Because of Saul’s unfaithfulness, there was a need for a new king. Samuel was being led by the spirit to go and find the next leader. And is led to Bethlehem. Led to Jesse and to his sons.
And now he has to listen to God to discern who would be the one to be king.
But look what God tells him before all this starts – do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
It doesn’t matter how they look, how tall or strong or powerful they are. What matters is this. Where is their heart? Becuase it is is the heart that in the end determines the actions.
If the heart is with God, the actions will be.
God doesn’t judge by what is outside, He judges by what is inside.
Because what is on the inside determines everything. My favorite football players have always been the little guys. The small, fast players, that have no business being out there with they giants. You can measure height and speed and strength. But you can’t measure heart. There are these plays that may not “look” like they will be great.
But you can’t judge the heart.
You may not feel like you can do great things for God. There may be too many things, in your mind, standing in your way. You may not look the part.
That doesn’t matter. Where is your heart? Where is your desire? Where is your dream? If God has called you to it, if God has placed it upon you, you can do it. His approval is the approval that you need.
So today, let’s know that if God has called us, that’s all that matters. It’s a matter of the heart. And let’s be careful how we judge others. Let’s not make the same mistake of looking only at the outside; let’s remember what really counts, the heart.
As your heart goes, so goes your life. If your heart is His, then you can do whatever it is that God is calling you to!
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One of the things that it is important to do when reading the Bible is to understand the context of a verse or a passage before taking it and running with it. What does that mean?
The best way that we can make sense of verses in the Bible is to look at verses that are around it. As we look at verses that are around certain passages in the Bible, we can understand those passages.
What does that even mean? Let me show you. One of the passages of the Bible that can most often misunderstood is a passage from our reading today, Psalm 37: 4, where it says this: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Boom, Ole Miss is winning the national title next year. That would make my heart happy.
See, I’m pretty sure that is not what that passage is talking about. This passage is not saying that God’s only purpose is to make us happy and grant us wishes. So then, what is it saying? Let’s look at the context and read this passage. Listen to Psalm 37: 1-4:
Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb.
Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Trust in the Lord. Do good. Befriend faithfulness. And even part of that passage, delight yourself in the Lord. And, He will give you the desires of your heart.
God will give you the desires of your heart when (and this is the key) when He has changed your heart. God will give us our hearts desire when His spirit has changes our hearts desire.
This verse is not about us getting what we “want.” This verse is about God changing us. God making us more like Himself. God growing us. And when God has changed our heart, our hearts will long for Him. And when our hearts long for Him, we will only be satisfied with Him.
See that’s the problem sometimes. CS Lewis said that we are far too easily pleased. We settle for less than the absolute best. What is the absolute best? God.
He desires to give us Himself.
And in truth, that should be our hearts desire. Because nothing else will satisfy our hearts. But Him.
Today, He will give us our hearts desire. But first He wants to change our heart. And we that happens, we will see that the only thing that can truly give us life is not the stuff of this world.
But Him.
Today, may we delight our hearts in God. And in that, may we find all that we seek.
Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones, and you thought our app, you can now watch our worship services from Asbury too!
One of the things that I love about the Christian faith is this. Actions start with the heart. What is on the outside starts with what is on the inside.
Our hearts shape our actions.
If you want to “act” right, you need to “get” right. For what is done/thought/believed in the heart will show it’s self in our actions.
Listen what is said this morning in Deuteronomy 30:4-6:
If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
In Deuteronomy God is giving the law for the second time. In this book, He is giving the law to the children of Israelites that left Egypt. The parents had disobeyed God, and because of that, they were not allowed into the promised land.
Now, the children are getting ready to cross the Jordan River and take possession of the land. But before, God gives them the Law. And tells them that there will come a time when God will not just mark them outwardly, but He will circumcise their hearts.
He will change their hearts. And when their hearts are changed, it will change their actions, it will change their lives. It will start from the inside. And what starts on the inside will change the outside.
We are an inside out religion. What happens on the inside changes the outside.
So, if your actions are not what you’d like them to be, or what God would like them to be, let me ask you a question. How’s your heart?
If He has your heart, He will have your actions. That’s the way that it works.
Today, for our lives, our families, our everything, how is your heart. Your heart will determine your actions. In that, that’s the way it flows.
Today, may God make our hearts in new. And in that, may we live the life of grace that He wants us to live!
Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.
God wants good things for you. He really does. God wants what is best for you. Really.
God wants to give you, in your life, the good things that are going to bless you and make your life better and more whole.
God longs to do these things for you.
Listen to what Jesus tells us in Luke 12:32-34 today:
“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
He says that it’s the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom. That’s pretty cool. It’s God’s good pleasure to this for us. It’s His desire. It’s His will. He wants to give us the kingdom.
But, before we run too far with this, let’s think about what that means. Look at what it says in verse 34. Where our treasure is, there will be our heart.
God wants to give us the kingdom. He wants to give us good things. But first, He wants to change our hearts.
Because what happens is that when He changes our hearts, we want different things. The reason that God will give us the kingdom, after He changes our hearts, is because at that point, what we want is what He wants.
So, today, what is your heart’s desire? Is it God? Is it His kingdom? Is it His life? If so, then today, you will be satisfied. Today, you will find life.
Is your heart’s desire something else. Then you can seek it and find it. But without God as the center of it, the center of your heart and life, you won’t be truly happy.
Today, God wants to change you heart and give you what you truly desire, and truly need.
Him. And His life.
Today, and each day, may God be our hearts desire.
Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.
What does the Lord look for? What does He value in our lives? What matters? What’s important.
We see in this passage the Lord tell Samuel, don’t look at the outward, don’t look at the height of a person or their appearance, look at the heart. Look at the inside. Listen to what 1 Samuel 16:6-7 says:
When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Today, you are going to have a lot of people come into your life. You are going to have a lot of people in your life today. You are going to have conversations with many different people.
At work, at school, at Wal Mart, wherever.
How do you see them? What are you looking at? What are you looking for? What do you see?
The Lord looks at the inside. The Lord looks at the heart. The Lord is not guided by what is on the outside, but what is on the inside.
What about us? What do we look at? What do we look for? What do we see?
Do we judge others for their outward looks? Or do we look inside? Do we look at the heart? Do we look at what truly matters?
This text tells us how God looks at us. And it raises the question, how do we look at others?
Today, how will we?
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