August 22-23

'But the Lord said, “Do no look at his appearance....for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” - 1 Samuel 16:7 “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” - Genesis 1:27

Frustration, despair, and a feeling of hopelessness are part of so many people's lives today. They long for peaceful contentment, while nothing within them smiles, yet outwardly, their public face tells a very different story.

“Most of us have better sight than insight,” writes Charles Swindoll. He says, “There's nothing wrong with our vision; it's perspective that throws us the curve. And that is especially true when it comes to people. We tend to see only the obvious, but overlook the significant. We focus on the surface while we fail to sense what is deep down.” (Living on the Ragged Edge, 2004).

As humans, we often forget who God made us, and others, to be. Look carefully at the first chapter in the Bible, and you will see that every other creature was created “according to his kind” - but not us – not human beings - we were made after the “image of God.” I can't pretend to know everything this phrase means, but of one thing I am sure; if we are made “in the image of God,” we are important, we are top-drawer merchandise – there's no higher “image.”

We may be awe-struck by the mountains, astonished at the stars and oceans, and our planet's incredible variety of plants and animals, but none of these compare to the wonder that is us. The very image of God. To this day, every child is born into the world with God's image intact, and therefore worthy of great respect. When we look at each other, let us use our insight, not just our sight.

Today's song is a good old classic - “Revive us Again” - Selah. Click the picture to listen. 

     Housekeeping details for you

     The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.

     A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here