“The Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
"People look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart." - 1 Samuel 16:7.
The Bible far more regularly speaks of God's Spirit living in the hearts of believers, such as in Romans 5:5 where it states that “God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
A clean heart is essential to a right relationship with God. So how can our heart be pure, if we are sinful (Mark 7:21-23)? The answer is that God cleanses our hearts when we repent and turn to Him. He washes away our sin and gives us a new heart - one that is full of His love and desire to please Him.
The God of all comfort keeps watch over your weeping. He gathers up all your tears and puts them in his bottle (Psalm 56:8). Like a mother sitting beside her child's sickbed, God marks every sigh of discomfort and pain.
Even before God became man, it's clear throughout the Old Testament that God feels sorrow, even weeps for the crushing blows of His people. Psalm 34:18 promises us that “the Lord is close to the brokenhearted.” How can you be close to someone who is brokenhearted and not feel their pain?
"The righteous call to the LORD, and he listens; he rescues them from all their troubles. The LORD is near to those who are discouraged; he saves those who have lost all hope."
He who gave us a new heart can be trusted to protect it (Ezekiel 36:26). [Tweet “The Lord, through his Word, is the guard, shield, and protector of our hearts.”] Our tender new hearts are not guaranteed protection from wounds; not even Jesus was kept from that.
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.
Did you know that you can literally TOUCH THE HEART OF GOD by showing God's love in a practical way to someone in need? This is something we all need to pray about today. “God, help me see a need and meet it.
The Christ in us, who is living in us, being formed in us, making His home in our hearts, and who is our hope of glory, will be revealed from within us.
I receive your forgiveness and ask you to take your rightful place in my life as my Savior and Lord. Come reign in my heart, fill me with your love and your life, and help me to become a person who is truly loving—a person like you. Restore me, Jesus. Live in me.
We Are Precious and Honored in His Eyes. In Isaiah 43:4, it says, “Since you are precious and honored in my sight and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.” In God's eyes, we are precious and honored.
1 Samuel 16:7 New American Standard Bible - NASB 1995 (NASB1995) But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Hiding God's word in your heart will foster spiritual growth by guarding against those things that hurt you and displease God. I love the words of the Psalmist when he said, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
Take, for example, Romans 10:9-10—“if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
He wants our hearts in order to Exchange them
In exchange God offers us a heart that is clean, true, tender and warm. Notice he does not offer to patch up the old heart (2 Corinthians 5:17). If you have not done so, will you give Him your old heart and let Him give you His new one?
We want to be pure in heart. Consequently, the Christian sees prayer as not just a means of communication with God, but, as well, conformity to Christ. We may indeed present all of our wants and needs to God, as well as all due praise and honor, but we must also be mindful that God wants us holy and righteous.
John 1:11 says, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” And so He wept. This broke His heart, and it still does. Unbelief and rejection breaks God's heart, because He knows the consequences.
Just as God saw and heard the Hebrew's cry, He hears yours, too. He is aware of your affliction and suffering. Each tear we cry has meaning to our Father God. He keeps track of all our sorrows just as carefully as if He were gathering each tear and placing it in a bottle for His remembrance.
Crying to God is not childish. It is a proof of our trust and utter dependence on God, Who is able to assuage our predicament. When hope is hopeless and there is no one to help, CRYING IN FAITH to God is consequential. Psalm 34:6 “THIS POOR MAN CRIED, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.”
On the one hand, the cross arises from the absence of God. At the climax of Jesus' crucifixion, he cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46; cf.
Does God see me and my pain? The answer is certainly yes (see Deuteronomy 31:6 and Matthew 28:20).