.
The Heart of
a Child
.
Author
Francine Herrington, Florida
.
Francine’s
Book available here
HAVE YOU LOOKED AT YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR LATELY?
Scripture: “But when the Pharisees heard
that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then
one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 Jesus
said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great
commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law
and the Prophets.” Matthew 22: 34-40
Defining love Scripture: 1
Corinthians 13: 4-8 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy;
love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave
rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6
does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all
things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Scripture: Therefore, as the elect of God,
holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness,
longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one
another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you,
so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love,
which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in
your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your
hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all
in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Colossians 3:12-17
Definition of a mirror: Something that
faithfully reflects or gives a true picture of something else.
Have you looked in God’s mirror lately? What really counts in His eyes is
your heart. Your actions and motives are what His mirror will reflect
back to you. It’s not the wrapping such as clothes, hats and makeup that
counts. It’s what’s inside the package that matters. You may say that you
love everyone but be aware that
love means nothing without action.
Parable of Lazarus Luke 16:19-31 There was a certain rich man, which was
clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate,
full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which
fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his
sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was
carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was
buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments,
and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he
cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may
dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in
this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime
receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is
comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this,
between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass
from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from
thence. 27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that
thou wouldest send him to my father's house: 28 For I have five
brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of
torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let
them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from
the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Do you see yourself in this parable? What if a raggedy person approached
you telling you that he is hungry? He gives every indication that
he’s a drug addict. What would you do? I learnt that it is better
for me to offer him food, could be a meal from McDonalds than giving him money
because I know where that would go. Going back to my question, would you
offer him a meal and would you take the time to get it for him if this is what
he wants. If he refuses then it’s not your problem.
There are so many stories in the Bible where God
caused a person to look in the mirror. For example take a look at David
and Bathsheba. You can find this story recorded in 2nd Samuel. David
yearned to be with Bathsheba and his ungodly desire caused the death of her
husband. He tried to hide his actions from God until he was confronted by
Nathan who made him look at himself in the mirror. His punishment was the
loss of his newborn son. If you think that God will not see your hidden
sin then be aware that the time will come when He will confront you with a
mirror designed just for you.
There’s also the story of the woman caught up in
adultery found in John 8: The teachers and the Pharisees tested Jesus by
bringing the woman before Jesus. They reminded Him that in the Law Moses
commanded them that the woman should be stoned. Jesus bent down and
started to write with His finger. In other words He put a mirror in front
of them showing them who they really were. He showed them their hearts
and as you know, they began to leave one at a time. The Bible says that
the older ones went first. I wonder if it was because they had more to
hide.
Do we ever judge people and condemn them
ignoring our faults? Do we need the Holy Spirit to confront us with a
mirror?
why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy
brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? how wilt
thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and,
behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out
the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the
mote out of thy brother's eye. Matthew 7:3-5
This message is for all of us! We need to
stop taking pleasure in informing people about the wrong that others do or have
done. It’s not easy to do when we’ve been hurt but it is possible to let
it go because we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us and He will make
possible what we can’t do. He will give us the joy of forgiveness.
Let’s ask Him to help us to remember something positive about the one who has
hurt us.
Acts 5: 1-11 Tells the story of Sapphira and
Ananias. I’m sure that you’ve read that story before. This couple
sold a possession and lied. They kept part of it and gave the rest to the
apostles. Actually they had a right to keep a portion of their possession
however they tried to make themselves greater than they actually were.
This lie cause their death which proves that God will not tolerate hypocrites.
Have we ever tried to be more than what we
are? Are we hungry for attention that doesn’t belong to us? Are we
trying to take God’s glory by inflating our ego? God doesn’t play!
The Holy Spirit is leading me to speak about
Samson and Delilah. Their story can be found in the book of Judges
Samson became angry when his wife was given to someone else and did a lot of
damage.
Chapter15:16 tells us that He boasted of his strength and said. "With
a donkey's jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey's jawbone I have
killed a thousand men."
Chapter 16 relates his attraction and
entanglement with Delilah who lured him into giving his secret of power and
strength away. This caused him to fall into the Philistines’ hands and
become blind. He revolted against God and paid the price. Sampson had to
lose his eyesight in order to see himself in the mirror which caused him to
repent. Thank God for He is so good! He gave Sampson another chance
and therefore many more Philistines, who were the enemy died.
Delilah can be a man or a woman. Do you
have a Delilah in your life? Will it take a trial such as what happened
to Sampson to make you aware of what you are doing? Let me tell you the story
of the day I met my Delilah.
Minister Francine Herrington © 8/2010
