OUR DAILY BREAD             Sunday, April 2, 1995
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READ:  1 Samuel 16:1-13

             THE HEART OF THE MATTER

    "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the
              Lord looks at the heart."

                        -- 1 Samuel 16:7

How often are we guilty of leaving God out of our decision-
making?  Sometimes when we're faced with a choice, the right
answer may seem obvious to us and those around us.  But if
we fail to ask the Lord to help us get to the heart of the
matter, we might jump to a wrong conclusion.

That's what Samuel did when he set out to anoint Israel's
next king.  When he was Eliab, Jesse's oldest son, Samuel
was sure he had his man.  Wrong!  In fact, God chose the
least likely of Jesse's sons, the youthful David.  He was
a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22), but Samuel saw
only the outward appearance.

Including God in decision-making is a vital principle
for churches too.  When seeking a new pastor or someone
to lead a church ministry, we're tempted to look only at
externals.  We're concerned with such things as speaking
skills, friendliness, and ability to inspire -- and we
should be.  But if we haven't asked God to get us past
appearances to the heart, we haven't looked deep enough.
We can't read hearts, but the Lord can.  He knows when
someone is closely following Him.

As you make your decisions today, be sure to include God.

                                        -- David C. Egner

        Not mine -- not mine the choice,
         In things both great and small,
         Be Thou my Guide, my Strength,
             My Wisdom, and my All.

                                -- Bonar

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             THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
--------------------------------------------
     If you don't want to end in failure,
          be sure to begin with God.

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THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  1 Kings 11-13

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Our Daily Bread, Copyright 1995, used by permission of Radio Bible Class,
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Our Daily Bread, having originated from his distribution to the 
Conservative Christian Discussion List. This copy was written permission 
from RBC.

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