Forever Working From the Inside Out
Good Morning Friends,
God is always at work around us in both life and death as part of the choosing and refusing…of sowing and reaping. But it is in the reflection on the seed of our personal relationships that I think we best come to know the reigning power of God, as love assures and encourages our heart always and Forever Working From the Inside Out.
Scripture: The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life. “Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
John 5:19-24 (NRSV)
The Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts.
1 Chronicles 28:9 (KJV)
The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” Samuel did what the LORD commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is now before the LORD.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen any of these.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.
1 Samuel 16:1-13 (NRSV)
Message: God looks at the core of a man in considering how to deploy His servants. God looks on the inside not just the surface. The deeper beauty is that God brings purpose even to nameless nobodies. Friends, in God’s purpose is great power. That is why as Christians we should always desire to succeed but not according to the world’s standard but by God’s. Succeeding by God’s standard requires an inward transformation and persistence of not only seeking God but in finding and knowing God’s will then doing it in His presence. Friends, consider what scripture teaches us about standing by our conviction strong and true. We are never to quit. There is a deeper intelligence behind life, a supernatural wisdom and guidance that can unleash a limitless creative power. Welcome to the space of joy and majesty where miracles happen in the presence of grace. Like a seed it sprouts from the inside, dying as a seed, and then connecting to a larger unfolding of life.
Pray we have a relationship with God. Pray we receive from Jesus’s Spirit and by faith a repentant and forgiven heart. Pray we have relationships of restoration and righteousness. Pray we realize we are changed from the inside out. Pray we consider how God chooses. Pray we know not just about God but also how God connects this understanding to the heart of His purposes. Pray that at our core is a prayer that seeks the Lord with all our heart. Pray we seek His will. Pray we seek His face. Pray we seek his love. Pray we seek His pleasure. Pray we seek His grace. Pray we have endurance sufficient to succeed in a way that honors God and His revealed purpose in our life. Pray we produce good fruit.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 