But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
Samuel was commanded to go to Jesse and annoint the one God had chosen to be king. The one he thought must be God's choice was NOT the one. And neither were Jesse's sons until the youngest -- who was a shepherd -- was brought to Samuel ... a kind of Cinderella story, I think.
Yesterday I saw someone I hadn't seen in some while. She asked how I am. I said, "OK." She looked at me. "Just OK? You usually are smiling and happy. What's wrong?"
So I know I am naturally inclined to have a happy and contented heart. The problem is less me than I thought. The kind words were the balm my spirit needed. I am encouraged. I am uplifted and set on my feet. As everything around me continues the cycles that lead us all, propel us forward, I am gaining my strength and vision again so I might achieve those goals the Lord God has for me because he knows my heart. He judges my heart.
And to my friends and followers who might not hold the same beliefs as I do, please do not be offended by this series of blogs of the heart. I am on a journey to define the heart and this is the most logical place for me to start.
(c)2014 Cathy Thomas Brownfield. All Rights Reserved.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
At the Heart of It: Do I have a heart?
Do I have a heart? What kind of heart do I have?
I copied down from a concordance all of the biblical references to the word 'heart.' I'm going to chew on these for a while. There are a lot of them. Today I am looking at Exodus 23:9.
Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.
At first I thought this didn't apply to the term 'heart.' But, really it does. When I feel with my heart I see from where I came and I understand that everyone desires the same things, like safety and security. Everyone wants to be accepted, connected, loved. When I treat everyone the same ... Caucasian, African-American, Chinese, Hispanic are mostly our population that I am aware of ... I have a happy heart. I feel good, not because I have been kind to someone but because I want them to treat me with acceptance and respect, too. I am desirous of a united community that has common ground.
It stings when I am in a store and someone different than me snubs me. It's like they have made themselves at home in my house but they want to take it from me. I want to be hospitable, but how can I with an enemy who would slit my throat and take what I have WORKED for?
Nobody has given my husband and me anything. We have WORKED to earn it. Nothing we have was an ENTITLEMENT. It was not given to us. Sometimes we have paid a high price, not dollars and cents necessarily, to get what we have. In fact, there have been times when we were denied food stamps. All I wanted was food stamps to feed my children. And I was turned away. We have always paid taxes to support those programs, but I was turned away in our hours of need!
Do I have a heart? Yes. What kind of heart do I have? I have a generous heart, but I also matter. Your rights stop where my rights begin. But all well behaved children are taught to share.
(c) 2014 Cathy Brownfield. All Rights Reserved.
For permission to reprint, contact the author.
I copied down from a concordance all of the biblical references to the word 'heart.' I'm going to chew on these for a while. There are a lot of them. Today I am looking at Exodus 23:9.
Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.
At first I thought this didn't apply to the term 'heart.' But, really it does. When I feel with my heart I see from where I came and I understand that everyone desires the same things, like safety and security. Everyone wants to be accepted, connected, loved. When I treat everyone the same ... Caucasian, African-American, Chinese, Hispanic are mostly our population that I am aware of ... I have a happy heart. I feel good, not because I have been kind to someone but because I want them to treat me with acceptance and respect, too. I am desirous of a united community that has common ground.
It stings when I am in a store and someone different than me snubs me. It's like they have made themselves at home in my house but they want to take it from me. I want to be hospitable, but how can I with an enemy who would slit my throat and take what I have WORKED for?
Nobody has given my husband and me anything. We have WORKED to earn it. Nothing we have was an ENTITLEMENT. It was not given to us. Sometimes we have paid a high price, not dollars and cents necessarily, to get what we have. In fact, there have been times when we were denied food stamps. All I wanted was food stamps to feed my children. And I was turned away. We have always paid taxes to support those programs, but I was turned away in our hours of need!
Do I have a heart? Yes. What kind of heart do I have? I have a generous heart, but I also matter. Your rights stop where my rights begin. But all well behaved children are taught to share.
(c) 2014 Cathy Brownfield. All Rights Reserved.
For permission to reprint, contact the author.
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