“—-the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”–1 Samuel 16:7   A man was strolling down the beach when he came upon a cave. He ventured inside and stumbled upon a canvas bag filled with many hardened clay balls. It looked as if someone had rolled the clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn’t look like much, but the man took the bag anyway and headed out of the cave. As he strolled along the beach, he threw the clay balls, one-by-one, into the ocean as far as he could. He continued this for some time until he accidentally dropped one on the ground and it cracked open on a rock. To his amazement, a precious stone was hidden inside! The man began breaking open the remaining 20 clay balls left in his bag and found similar treasures in each one. Then it struck him. He had just thrown more than 50 clay balls into the ocean. He could have had thousands of dollars more in treasure, but he threw them all away because they didn’t look to be of much value. This is the same way we treat people sometimes. We look at the rough exterior and decide it doesn’t look like much, so we discount them and toss them aside. We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful, stylish, well-known, or wealthy. As believers, we must take time to get to know people, regardless of appearance. If we do this, then the clay will begin to break away revealing a brilliant gem inside. May we never find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in unattractive bits of clay. May we always see others as Jesus does. (From Senior Living) Ask God to reveal the beauty inside others and show you those people the way He sees them

Direct my footsteps according to Your Word;
let no sin rule over me.” Psalm 119:133

This is a prayer which should always be on our lips.
We should get our direction from God, not once in
our life only, when we first give ourselves to Him;
not at the opening of each day only, as we go forth
to the day’s task; not merely at the beginning of
each new piece of work or of each fresh task-but
every moment, for each step.

That is what “walking with God” means.

We may make this so real, that we shall look up
into God’s face continually, asking, “What next,
dear Lord? What shall I do now? Which course
shall I take today? How shall I do this duty?”

If we can but have God’s guidance and help for
the little short steps-we need not fear for the
long miles-the great stretches of road. If each
step is of His directing-the long miles will be
paths of His choosing. ——————By J.R.Millier, 1890

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.–Romans 8:28

One afternoon, a teenage girl joined her mother in the kitchen. The young lady began explaining to her mom everything that was wrong with her life-she had failed an algebra test, her boyfriend broke up with her, and she just found out her best friend would be moving away soon.

All the while, the mother was baking a cake as the young girl talked. Finally, the girl’s mother interrupted to ask if she wanted a snack. The daughter replied, “Absolutely! I love your cakes!”

“Here…have some cooking oil,” her mother offered.

“Yuck!” the girl responded. “That’s gross.”

“Well, how about a couple of raw eggs?” asked the mother.

“Gross, mom!” was the girl’s response.

“How about a cup of flour or a teaspoon of baking soda?” the mother then offered.

“Mom, those are all disgusting!” the girl said. “I don’t want those things for snacks.”

After a long pause, her mother finally said, “Dear, all these things seem bad by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!”

God works the same way in the lives of believers. Not everything in life is a piece of cake. Sometimes tragedy or hardship strikes and leaves you wondering, “What did I do to deserve this?” or “Why did God do this to me?” Many times we wonder why He would even let us go through such difficulties.

However, what we oftentimes don’t realize is that when God puts all these things in His order, they always work for good! We must simply trust Him that each of life’s events, combined by His hands, will turn out to be something deliciously wonderful!

Thank God for the good and bad “ingredients” He allows to come into your life. Thank Him for working all things together for your good and His glory.—-from Senior Living

“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.” Mark 11:22

I ask some Christians, “How are you doing?” They say, “Okay under the circumstances.” How did you ever get there?

Circumstances are like a mattress. You’re supposed to be on it, not under it. Under the circumstances, you suffocate; on them you rest pretty well.

The only way you can run the race is to take your eyes off things or people around you and look unto Jesus. He’s the author of the race. He’s the goal to which you run. If you look unto Jesus to supply your every need for the race, you’ll find faith growing in your heart and in your life. You see, it’s not great faith in God; it is faith in a great God. (Adrian Rogers)

For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers—.Acts 13:36   What a great testimony–he “served his own generation by the will of God.” It doesn’t say, he ruled his generation, but that he “served.” Although a king, David is pictured here as a servant. The word “served” means “an under-oarsman”. It is a nautical term used to describe one who rows under the authority of another, one who is subordinate. David realized that true greatness is not measured by how many servants you have, but by how many you serve. He was more concerned about giving than getting.   This is a man we should emulate. He served “his own generation”. That’s exactly what we all should do, and really that’s all we can do. We can’t change the past and we can’t control the future, but we can choose to serve in the present. Doing so will have a positive affect on the future. A lot of folks talk about what is wrong with this generation, when in reality they are what’s wrong with it! This generation is the product of the last generation. We are seeing a reflection of ourself, it just gets a little worse as time passes.To change the next generation we have to start with this one.   David made a difference in his generation and the one that followed. We should do the same. Our presence in this world should impact others for the good. Someday you will die and they will bury your body, but your influnce, for good or bad, will live on. Like an unseen hand, it will reach out from the grave and touch others. Let it be a hand that helps rather than hinders. Why not get started today?