God Knows the Heart

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you, to be still and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN: "He told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: ‘Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.’
 “Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, ‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’”
Jesus commented, “This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face, but if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.” (Luke 18:9-14)

CONSIDER: One of the best reasons not to judge is in understanding that we can't even judge ourselves. Only God knows the human heart. Many times we put on a good show for everybody else. . . but we can't fool God.  Our sins of omission are many, even if we are not conscious of our many times that we are unkind. Maybe not even unkind but just uncaring. "We don't always say what we mean or mean what we say. And sometimes what we say is not what is heard."

SO WHAT:  Do we really know ourselves in any depth? Only God sees and knows the depths of our hearts. Sometimes we talk a better talk than we walk. But sometimes when we think less of ourselves, God may know that we walk a better walk than we talk.  Whatever we think, do or say, God knows the truth. God knows our hearts like no one else. So lets not think that we can say one thing and do something else or think one way but act another. God knows the truth of who we really are. Others may misunderstand your intentions, judge your words or find fault. . . but God knows that you are learning and trying to be all God has created you to be.

• Take time today for self-examination.
• Be honest with yourself, do you try to hide your truest self?
• How can you trust God and become who God has made you to be?

PRAYER:  Dear God, forgive me, a sinner. Help me to see myself through your eyes and to act like a child of God today. Show me what you see in me and teach me to be that person. Amen