"But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his outward appearance or at his stature, because I have rejected him (i.e. "cute" doesn't cut it); for God does not see as man sees, for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.
-1 Samuel 16:7
God saw the heart of David's brother, and He was not pleased. We are not told why, merely that God rejected him. He chose David instead, a man famous in scripture for his love of God.
It is the heart that matters, all else is extraneous. Proverbs 4:23 says to guard it, for out of it flow the streams of life. If your heart is polluted, so is the rest of you. If your heart is self-focused, so will be everything else you do. Very simple, but it cannot be overstated, I/we tend to forget so easily.
Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
- Matthew 6:21
Is Christ my treasure? If He is, everything else falls into place, if not, well . . . . . . . that's idolatry , plain and simple (Exodus 20:3 "no other gods before Me", and Exodus 34:14 "you shall not worship any other god").
God demands first place in our hearts.
Nothing less will do.
But He is a God of grace and mercy (beautiful words!). In Ezekiel 11:19 He promises to "give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them"; He will "remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh."
Hearts that beat and pulsate with passion, empathy, joy, and sorrow. Hearts that are free to love, hearts that long to worship, hearts that are redeemed.
He will not leave us to to fight alone when it comes to our hearts, rather God promises that "the peace, which passes all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:7). This promise immediately precedes the oft quoted "guide" for purity, "Finally, bretheren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things."
He will help, but we must still be vigilant ("Is that movie really worthy of praise?").
God sees our hearts as no one else can. He knows our strengths, our weaknesses, our passions and our failings. And HE STILL LOVES US. Nothing can wreck that.
". . . neither death, not life, nor angels, nor demons, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
- Romans 8:38-39
Considering all this, "we love, because He first loved us."
- 1 John 4:19
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