It's the inside He's looking at.....

I Samuel 16:7: "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 sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.'

How many of us wouldn't stand a chance if the Lord based our salvation on our outward appearance or how many of us don't stand a chance because we are beautiful on the inside and ugly in our hearts. I know I wouldn't stand a chance if my salvation and God's love for me was based on outward appearance but I praise God that He is forever purging this ugliness out of my heart and making me clean from the inside out.

A few days ago, I was at the gym and received a recipe from the manager, Melinda, for some "healthy" cookies. This morning I mixed the cookies up in preparation for my small group gathering tonight.....they looked like this huge clump of brown mush and didn't look much different after I baked them. My son came home from work about the time that the first batch was completed and I was complaining about the appearance of the cookies as he popped the third one in his mouth. He said, "See mom, that's the problem with people....appearance is so deceiving because these are awesome." Then he said, "Now, go write a post about that!"

Life is like this isn't it! How many of us have made first impressions based on appearance or social stature only to be greatly deceived later? God is challenging me lately to love as He loves regardless of what these eyes of mine can see!