“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7

It is easy for human beings to be deceived by the external appearance of things. This was what the people of Israel experienced with Saul who, despite being the tallest and most attractive among them, felt he was the smallest and most insignificant. His profound insecurity affected his leadership. God warned Samuel to prevent him from choosing the wrong king to succeed Saul. When he went to Jesse’s house and gathered the family, the one who with human eyes appeared to be the best candidate was rejected by God, and the one who was not even considered by the rest of the house, was the one chosen by God.

David’s father and brothers thought that David had a second-class job, because he was in charge of his father’s sheep. However, God considered it the best place for spiritual training. And to the prophet, He said, “Do not feel moved by those things that are extraordinary for them; they are impressed by external appearance, but I look into the heart, and that person of a right heart was not invited to this ceremony.” Nobody in David’s family thought that the smallest one was the person that God had chosen to reign over the whole nation of Israel. All of them were stunned by the words of the prophet, who said, “We will eat no food until David comes here with us.” Immediately after the young man had come, God said to Samuel that David was the chosen one and that he had to anoint him. From that day, the Holy Spirit was manifested in David’s life. Everything happened so fast that there was no time for the family to think. God chose David because he had turned his heart to Him like no one else had. He was so pleased with him that He gave him the anointing of the Spirit of God through the prophet Samuel.

David always had a good attitude in everything he did, and he never thought that looking after his father’s few lambs was something insignificant:

• He took advantage of his spare time to grow in his relationship with God.

• He developed his musical talent, which later made him become one of the greatest psalmists in Israel.

• He strengthened his faith by learning how to always depend on God.

• He learned the principles of war while defending the sheep when wild animals attacked; this is what helped him to defeat Goliath.

The Lord Jesus taught that private prayer will be rewarded in public. This happened with David; his faithfulness to the responsibility that his father had given him was extraordinarily rewarded in public.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Some months ago I was dealing with home credits for the business I currently work with. They called me to the president’s office to appoint me to follow a private procedure, a credit for a very important magistrate. I was arranging the forms for this woman when suddenly, she addressed me in a discouraging tone. It was so discouraging that it made no sense to go on with the procedure. ‘Can I help you?’ I said. Her answer was, ‘It is a personal matter, my son has been kidnapped. A classmate in the university deceived him and took him and I have not heard from him. Only on a few occasions have they let me know that he is still alive. To make things worse, he has a light physical handicap.’

“I knew that it was an enormous opportunity to tell this woman about Jesus. In my mind, I said a prayer with all of my soul to ask the Lord to guide me to give her some encouraging words. I shared a little about the meaning of the blood of Jesus, its’ power and purpose, and I declared that God would free her son. I also wrote her a note and my phone number. With eyes full of tears, she took the paper and hugged me with gratitude. A few days later, a phone call came in. I felt suddenly nervous when I recognized her voice. It was impossible to forget it. She asked me if I knew with whom I was speaking, and I replied that of course I did. ‘I have someone here who wants to meet you; my son.’ On that day I understood like never before the importance of evangelizing and the power of the blood of Jesus.” (Paola Mora)

TODAY’S DECLARATION
“You were pleased with me and chose me to serve You. God, I will not let you down.”

Today’s post is an excerpt from Pastor Cesar Castellanos’ book, Declarations of Power for 365 Days of the Year: Volume Four.

TODAY’S BIBLE READING

• Old Testament: Lamentations 1; Song of Songs 6
• New Testament: John 6:60-71; 1 Peter 4:1-11