The Devotional - A Look at the Book #698

The Devotional – A Look at the Book 698

Ever notice the aftermath of a happy moment? Many times these moments have a following of sadness even depression. God's Servant is the LORD... Notice Isaiah 42:1-4 and Matthew 12:18-21. Are you a bruised or broken reed in this world today. Let Jesus be your joy and comfort.

I have met a few people in my life who will not crack a smile, some have been friends but mostly not. The primary reason they do not become friends is because I will go out of my way to try and make them laugh out loud; you know since they won't smile they do not laugh either.

I work with two such individuals and recently I needed to go to a auto dealership of another manufacturer to get a part. When the technician open the box (the non-smiler is he), the object in the box looked like a nineteen sixties "pot pipe" Thats all I needed to make a comment about the tech smoking pot on the job. He must have been thinking the same thing. He smiled and for the first time in six months I saw the smile. I felt the victory... mission accomplished.

Here is the rub! All of us have issues in life, none of us are exempt from those experiences that have the power to dump us overboard into the angry seas of life. Most folks will overcome these issues in time, but almost always there are deep or heavy ladened side effects. These do not go away and when something happens to remind us of our past issues the side effect will short circuit the event so that the full impact is diverted.

Yesterday in a serious conversation with another individual we were discussing the gospel, the individual; my neighbor is not saved but he was hearing, with interest about Jesus, His death and His ressurrection. As we talked I would notice that he was allowing the short circuits of his life to divert the full impact of the LORD's message.

I asked him to stop and let the full impact of God's love work through his past life and for the first time in ten years I saw the "man" next door. I also learned something... we see people everyday, but do we really see them, or do we see who they want us to see? What we see in most people, we do not like; but God sees them differently. He sees the man or the woman whose soul is crying to be filled with God's peace and mercy.

Here is what I learned; we who know Jesus personally need to see the people around us as God sees them; even as seen through the eyes of men like Ezeliel, Isaiah, James and Paul. Each of these men have made statements that show you and me how to sincerely share the Love of God, notice: Isaiah 43:1-5; Ezekiel 18:19-32; Romans 10:1-13 and James 4:7-10.