Two new women walk into your Bible study. You don't know them. They found your Bible study through your church website. Both women are totally different. One woman is tall, skinny with wavy blonde hair, flawless skin and the curves of a model. She is dressed in the finest clothes without a wrinkle, topped with the most exquisite jewelry. Her nails are perfectly painted and her outfit is accented by her perfect tan. The second woman looks drastically different. She's shorter, dressed clean and modest but comfortable, walking in with her worn tennis shoes. Her hair is thrown back in a ponytail with stray hairs sticking up everywhere. She wears no make up, no jewelry and she did paint hair nails weeks ago, but now they are chipped something terrible. She has a farmer's tan accented with wrinkles and freckles.
What is your first impression of these two women as they walk through the door, before you speak to them? Which one are you more drawn to? What determined your draw to that person? What were you seeing? "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'" ~ I Samuel 16:7 Even Samuel, a devoted man of God, looked at the outer appearance of men while waiting for God to show him who He had chosen as king. By nature, we are judgemental. We look at a person and make our minds up, right there. Often we don't even give them a chance. How much better would our world be if we looked at people they way God looks at them? What if we took the time to see their heart and not just their physical appearance? It would change us for the better, I'm sure. I have loved learning about David and who he was. In our reading over the past few weeks, we have seen great things that David did, and as we continue our study of II Samuel, we will see many of his mistakes as well. But, what has stuck out most to me in our reading, is not what David did, but what God saw in David. We get a glimpse of how God sees us: his creations, his masterpieces, by how He sees David. God delights in our beauty, but He looks right past the physical to see our hearts. To know who we really are. After Saul's disobedience, we know that God rejected him and had already replaced him with someone else. "But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of His people, because you have not kept the Lord's command." ~I Samuel 13:14 "The Lord has sought out a man after His own heart." What does this look like? Being a person after God's own heart? I think we have seen the answer as we have read about David these past weeks. Let's look at how Scripture describes David and his reactions through many of the chapters we have studied. When God sent Samuel to Jesse to anoint the next king from his eight sons, Samuel went through each son until finally finding the one God had picked. "...And the Lord said, 'This is the one; anoint him.'" ~ I Samuel 16:12 "...And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on." ~ I Samuel 16:13 Even the people of Israel knew God was with David. As they told Saul about David and his beautiful harp playing, they had much more to say about him. "...Not only that - he is a brave warrior, a man of war, and has good judgement. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the Lord is with him." ~I Samuel 16:18 *David had a relationship with God. God was with him, and others could see it. When no one else had the courage to face Goliath, David didn't hesitate. "The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine! Saul finally consented. 'All right, go ahead,' he said, 'And may the Lord be with you!" ~ I Samuel 17:37 "David replied to the Philistine, 'You come to me with a sword, spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven's Armies - the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know there is a God in Israel! And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues His people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord's battle, and He will give you to us!" ~ I Samuel 17:45-47 *David trusted God. He didn't just trust God with his own life, he was completely confident in God's control over all of Israel. "One day news came to David that the Philistines were at Keilah stealing grain from the threshing floors. David asked the Lord, 'Should I go and attack them?' 'Yes, go and save Keilah,' the Lord told him." ~I Samuel 23:1-2 "So David asked the Lord again, and again the Lord replied, 'Go down to Keilah, for I will help you conquer the Philistines.'" ~I Samuel 23:4 "Then David prayed, 'O, Lord, God of Israel, I have heard that Saul is planning to come and destroy Keilah because I am here. Will the leaders of Keilah betray me to him? And will Saul actually come as I have heard? O Lord, God of Israel, please tell me.' And the Lord said, 'He will come.' Again David asked, 'Will the leaders of Keilah betray me and my men to Saul?' And the Lord replied, 'Yes, they will betray you.' " ~ I Samuel 23:10-12 * David sought God's advice and guidance before making a decision. Most of the time, he didn't just ask once, he would ask again for reassurance in knowing God's direction. When David and his men were hiding in a cave that Saul came into for privacy, David had the perfect opportunity to kill Saul. At his men's urging, David went forward and cut the hem of Saul's robe, but something stirred within him. "But then David's conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul's robe. 'The Lord knows I shouldn't have done that to my lord the king,' he said to his men. 'The Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king and attack the Lord's anointed one, for the Lord Himself has chosen him.' " ~ I Samuel 24:5-6 *David listened to his convictions and chose to obey the Lord instead of falling into temptation. "May the Lord judge between us. Perhaps the Lord will punish you for what you are trying to do to me, but I will never harm you. As that old proverb says, 'From evil people come evil deeds.' So you can be sure I will never harm you. Who is the king of Israel trying to catch anyway? Should he spend his time chasing one who is as worthless as a dead dog or a single flea? May the Lord therefore judge which of us is right and punish the guilty one. He is my advocate, and He will rescue me from your power!" ~ I Samuel 24:12-15 *By human thoughts, David had a right to try to punish Saul for chasing him and wanting to kill him. David was even given several chances to act out of revenge, but he chose not to. Instead, David left judgement and punishment to God. He let God handle his battles. As we finished I Samuel, time and time again we saw David seek the Lord, trust God and find his strength in God alone. What a picture of depending fully on God! Through every trial and struggle, David leaned on God. Oh, he made mistakes along the way, but each time he came back to God and repented. I want to be a woman after God's own heart. I know I won't be perfect, I know I'll mess up and fall short on a daily basis, but I want to strive to live fully for God and be obedient to His Word and His calling on my life. I want to keep God's commands, I want a close intimate relationship with God, I want to trust Him with everything, I want to seek His direction and guidance in all decisions of my life, I want to listen to the Holy Spirit as He convicts me for my sin, I want to let God be the judge of those who have hurt, betrayed or sinned against me. I want God to be in total control of my life, so that when others see me, they see HIM. I'm a long way from this. In fact, I am heavy with conviction of this very thing. Pray with me this week, that each of us will seek God more, trust Him completely, and follow His direction for our lives. Let's become "Women After God's Own Heart". Keep reading His Word! Joyfully His, Andrea
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For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. " AuthorHi! I'm Andrea, wife to my handsome hubby, homeschooling mama to my 7 amazing blessings, and daughter of the King of kings. I am so glad you have stopped by my little piece of the web. My prayer is that the Lord will use this blog to encourage you in your personal, daily walk with Christ. Archives
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