“A man looks at the face, but the Lord looks at the heart.” — 1 Samuel 16:7
To reduce food waste, a supermarket chain in Singapore is selling slightly damaged fruits and vegetables at lower prices. Over the course of a year, this initiative made it possible to save more than 771,000 kg of products that would previously have been thrown away due to non-compliance with aesthetic standards. Buyers quickly realized that the appearance with certain flaws does not affect the taste and nutritional value. What is outside does not always determine what is inside.
The prophet Samuel learned a similar lesson when he was sent by God to anoint the next king of Israel (1 Sam. 16:1). Seeing Eliava, Jesse’s firstborn, Samuel thought that he was the chosen one. However, God said: “Do not look at his face and at the height of his stature… for a man looks at the face, but the Lord looks at the heart” (v. 7). Of Jesse’s eight sons, God chose the youngest, David, who tended his father’s sheep (v. 11), to become the next king.
God is more concerned with our hearts than with outward signs—the school we attended, how much we earn, or how much we volunteer. Jesus taught His disciples to focus on purifying their hearts from selfish and evil thoughts, because “what comes out of a person defiles a person” (Mark 7:20). So, just as Samuel learned not to pay attention to outward appearances, so we, with God’s help, examine our hearts, our thoughts and intentions in everything we do.
When have you done a “good deed” for the wrong reasons? How to be sure of the purity of your heart?
Dear God, please help me to do only what glorifies You.
Author: Jasmin Goh
“I will rejoice in Your decrees, I will not forget Your words.” — Psalm 118:16
My husband and I organized a student group and gave each participant a Bible. “God will use these priceless gifts to change your life,” I said. That evening, several students decided to read the Gospel of John together. We continued to encourage the group to read the scriptures at home and also taught them during our weekly meetings. More than ten years later, I met one of the members of our group. “I still use the Bible you gave me back then,” she said. I saw confirmation of this in her faith-filled life.
God empowers His people to go beyond reading, quoting and memorizing. He gives us the opportunity to keep our path “pure” in order to live according to the Scriptures (Ps. 118:9). God wants us to seek and obey Him as He uses His unchanging truth to free us from sin and change us (vv. 10-11). We can ask God every day to help us know Him and understand what He says in the Bible (vv. 12-13).
Realizing the valuelessness of a pious way of life, we can “rejoice” in God’s instructions, “like a great estate” (vv. 14-15), and sing with the psalmist: “I will rejoice in Your decrees, I will not forget Your words” (v. 16). By asking the Holy Spirit to empower us, we can enjoy every moment spent in prayerful Bible reading that changes our lives.
How do you invest in scripture study? How can enjoying biblical texts change your view of God’s call to obey Him?
Loving God, please help me to rejoice in the precious words of Scripture as You give me the strength to submit to Your wisdom and authority in my life.
Author: Sosheel Dixon
“And you will rejoice before the Lord, your God, seven days.” — Leviticus 23:40
We set up camp right under the stars, with nothing separating us from the boundless West African sky. A tent is not needed in the dry season. However, fire is crucial. “Never let the fire go out,” Dad warned, prodding the logs with a stick. Fire kept wild animals at bay. God’s creatures are beautiful, but you would never want a leopard or snake wandering around your camp.
Dad was a missionary in the northern part of Ghana and had a real talent for turning everything into a teaching moment. The camp was no exception.
God also used camping as a teaching moment for His people. Once a year, for a whole week, the Israelites had to live in tents, for the construction of which they took “palm branches and branches of many-leaved trees and poplars” (Lev. 23:40). The purpose was twofold. “Every native in Israel will sit in groups, so that your generations will know that I made the children of Israel sit in groups when I brought them out of the land of Egypt” (vv. 42-43). However, the event was also supposed to be festive. “And you will rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days” (v. 40).
God instituted a weeklong journey for the Israelites as a joyful way to remember His goodness. We easily forget the meaning behind our holidays. Our holidays can be a joyful reminder of the character of a loving God. He also created fun.
What is your favorite holiday and why? How does celebrating it remind you of God’s goodness?
Heavenly Father, thank you for the joy that You have invested in Your creation and in Your holidays.
Author: Tim Gustavson
“That we may be truthful in love, and grow in Him in everything, and He is the Head, Christ.” — Ephesians 4:15
Andrew Card was the chief of staff of US President George W. Bush. In an interview about his role at the White House, he said, “In every staff member’s office is a framed statement of purpose: ‘We serve to support the president.’ But that doesn’t mean we serve to please the president or win his favor. Rather, we serve to tell him what he needs to know to do his job effectively.” This job is about managing the United States of America.
In many of our roles and relationships, we begin to please people, instead of building each other up in unity, which the Apostle Paul often called for: “And He, therefore, appointed some to be apostles, some to be prophets, and some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare the saints for the work of service for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all reach the unity of the faith” (Eph. 4:11-13). In verses 15-16, Paul exposed our tendency to please people. He emphasized that these gifts should be expressed through truthfulness in love, which “makes the growth of the body to build itself up with love.”
As Christians, we serve people to build them up and fulfill God’s purposes. Whether we please others or not, we please God as He works through us to create unity in His Church.
Who are you serving to please? How can God’s presence guide your speech?
Dear God, I want to please You by speaking the truth in love to my brothers and sisters.
Author: Eliza Morgan
“I will turn the wilderness into a lake of water, and the dry land into springs.” — Isaiah 41:18
After the devastating hurricane “Katrina” in 2005, the gradual reconstruction of New Orleans began. One of the hardest hit areas was the Lower Ninth Ward, where residents were without access to basic resources for years after the hurricane. Burnell Cotlon also made efforts to change this. In November 2014, he opened the first grocery store in this county. “When I bought the building, everyone thought I was crazy,” Cotlon recalls. But “the very first client cried because she… thought that life would never return to this area.” Kotlon’s mother said that her son “saw something that I didn’t see. And I’m glad that he … took this chance.”
God enabled the prophet Isaiah to see an unexpected future in the face of desolation. Seeing that “the poor and needy seek water, but there is none” (Isaiah 41:17), God promised: “I will turn the wilderness into a lake of water, and the dry land into springs” (v. 18). When, instead of hunger and thirst, His people will experience prosperity again, they will understand that “the Lord’s hand has done this” (v. 20).
God is the Author of restoration and is working to create a future in which “the creation itself will be freed from the bondage of corruption” (Rom. 8:21). If we trust in God’s goodness, He helps us see a future full of hope.
When have you witnessed recovery from destruction? How can you be a part of God’s restoration work?
God, please help me to bear witness with my life to the hope found in You and to the future You give.
Author: Monica La Rose
“I don’t stop thanking you for you, and I remember you in my prayers.” — Ephesians 1:16
They didn’t think that Jorn, the tenant who worked the land, would be able to achieve much. However, despite his poor eyesight and other physical limitations, he devoted himself to the people in his village in Norway, praying at night when the pain kept him awake. In prayer, he went from house to house, naming each person individually, even children whom he did not yet know. People loved him for his gentle nature and turned to him for wisdom and advice. Even if he couldn’t help them practically, people still felt blessed to receive his love. When Jorn died, his funeral was the largest in the history of this community, even though he had no family. His prayers bore fruits that he could not even imagine.
This humble man followed the example of the apostle Paul, who loved those he served and prayed for them even while in prison. He wrote to the Ephesians while in prison in Rome and prayed that God would give them the “Spirit of wisdom and revelation” and that He would “enlighten” the eyes of their hearts (Eph. 1:17-18). Paul wanted them to know Jesus and live in love and unity through the power of the Spirit.
Jorn and Apostle Paul faithfully prayed to God for those they loved and served. May they be examples for us to follow in how we love and serve others today.
Do you know someone who is a gentle prayer warrior? How does this person reflect the heart of Christ?
Lord Jesus, You served others and put their needs first. Please help me to love and serve You with joy every day.
By Amy Buescher Pye
“He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.” — 1 Corinthians 1:31
James Morris was once called an “ignorant layman with a hot heart”, but God used him to lead Augustus Toplady to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. Toplady, the author of the well-known Christian hymn “This Gracious Rock”, described Morris’s sermon as he heard it: “It is amazing that I … drew near to God … among a small group of believers gathered in a barn, and through the ministry of one who could barely speak his own name. It is certainly the work of the Lord’s hands, and it is amazing.”
God does do amazing things in the most unexpected places and through those we may think of as “unqualified” or just ordinary people. In the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul reminds us: “Look, brothers, at your called, that few are wise according to the flesh, few are strong, few are noble” (1 Cor. 1:26). Although the Corinthian believers were ordinary citizens, by God’s grace they did not lack gifts and usefulness (see v. 7). And God, who knows how to put boasters in their place (vv. 27-29), acted among them and through them.
Do you consider yourself “normal” or even think that you are worse than others? Don’t bother. If you are with the Lord and want Him to work through you, that is enough. Let the words: “God, use me!” sound more often in your prayer.
Who comes to mind when you think of those whom God has used effectively? What can you do to shift your focus from what you have or don’t have to what God can do through you?
Heavenly Father, forgive me for focusing more on myself than on You. Use me in Your holy service.
Author: Arthur Jackson
“For His mercy has not ended, it is new every morning.” — Lamentations 3:22-23
For three years, Susan didn’t buy anything for herself, except for basic necessities. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected my friend’s income and she has switched to a frugal lifestyle. “One day, while cleaning the apartment, I noticed how shabby and faded my things looked, – she shared. – It was then that I began to miss new things, the feeling of freshness and excitement. Everything around seemed dim and seemed to hint that there was nothing to look forward to in the future.”
Unexpectedly, Susan found encouragement in the book of Lamentations of Jeremiah, which the prophet wrote after the fall of Jerusalem. In it, Jeremiah describes the unhealed wound of grief that the prophet himself and his people suffered. However, in the midst of the despair of sorrow lies a reliable ground for hope – God’s love. “For His mercy does not end, it is new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22-23).
Susan realized that God’s deep love is constantly breaking out every day. When circumstances make us feel like we have nothing left to hope for, we can remember God’s faithfulness and expect His provision. We can confidently hope in God, knowing that our hope will never be in vain (vv. 24-25) because it is based on His steadfast love and mercy.
“God’s love is my ‘something new’ every day,” says Susan, “and I can look forward with hope.”
When did you think your circumstances were hopeless? How does the promise of God’s unfailing love give you hope?
Dear God, thank you that each day brings with it your steadfast love.
Author: Karen Huang
“I will send you to Pharaoh, and bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” — Exodus 3:10
Two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln freed enslaved people and the Confederacy surrendered, the state of Texas still did not recognize the freedom of enslaved people. So, on June 19, 1865, Union Army General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and demanded that all slaves be freed. Imagine the shock and joy when the shackles fell and those in slavery heard the proclamation of freedom.
God sees the oppressed, and He will eventually proclaim freedom to those burdened by injustice. This is the same truth as it was in the time of Moses. God appeared to him in the burning bush with an urgent message: “I have truly seen the trouble of My people in Egypt” (Ex. 3:7). The Lord not only saw Egypt’s cruelty towards Israel, He also planned to do something: “I have come down to deliver him… and to bring him out of this land to a good and wide Land” (v. 8). He intended to proclaim Israel’s freedom, and Moses was to become His “mouthpiece.” “I will send you to Pharaoh, and bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt” (v. 10).
Although God’s timing may not come as quickly as we hope, one day He will free us from all slavery and injustice. He gives hope and liberation to all the oppressed.
Have you seen how God helps the oppressed? How does He invite you to join His work?
Dear God, there is so much oppression in the history of our world that it is easy to despair. Please help me to remain focused on Your purpose to proclaim freedom.
Author: Wynn Collier
“When you reap your harvest in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, you do not return to take it – it will be for the stranger, the orphan and the widow.” — Deuteronomy 24:19
Several years ago, our church was asked to take in refugees who were fleeing their country after a violent change in political leadership. Whole families came with only a small bag of belongings. Several families from our church opened their homes to the refugees, including those who had little free space.
Their hospitality reminds us of God’s commandment given to the Israelites when they entered the Promised Land (Deut. 24:19-21). Being farmers, they understood the importance of the harvest, which was necessary to survive until the next year. Therefore, God’s command: “when you reap your harvest in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, you do not return to take it, it will be for the stranger, the orphan and the widow” (v. 19), is a call to trust God. The Israelites were to practice generosity, not when they knew they had enough, but when they gave from the heart.
The manifestation of such generosity was also a reminder that the Israelites themselves were slaves in Egypt (vv. 18, 22). They were once oppressed and destitute, but God’s mercy freed them from slavery.
Christians are also called to be generous. The Apostle Paul reminds us: “[Christ], being rich, became poor for your sake, that you might become rich through his poverty” (2 Cor. 8:9). We give because He gave to us.
Did someone help you in times of trouble? How will you help others by relying on God’s provision?
Dear Father, please open my eyes to the needs of the disadvantaged in my community.
Author: Matthew Lucas
