Two Trees

[Chad]

Two Trees - January 16, 2006

God doesn't look on the outside, He looks in the heart
Recently, well past the holiday season, I saw two Christmas trees on the Ponte Vedra beach. One was a traditional evergreen, decorated with a shell, placed on the top of the tree where we usually put the star.

The other tree looked like a skeleton. It had just the woody structure of a trunk and limbs. It was entirely decorated with shells on every branch. Two completely different looks, each beautiful in the eyes of the children who constructed them.

I am so thankful that God created me to be singular and unique. It does not matter to Him if I am a traditional or slightly unconventional dresser, if my speech is the King's English or some colloquial twang, or even if I worship in some mighty cathedral or sitting quietly on the beach, contemplating Him and the majesty of His creation. My physical make-up and the manner in which I adorn myself is immaterial to God and I know I am beautiful and pure in His sight. He created me and washed me in the precious blood shed by His son, Jesus. He feels the same towards you, too. God tells us this over and over again in the Bible.

Contributed by Marion Smith

 

[charity777]

Amen Brother...

It's a shame to this day still men are trying to ACT holy and religious-little do they know it's nought. God told Samuel this 1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said unto Samuel, LOOK NOT ON HIS COUNTENANCE, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD SEETH NOT AS MAN SEETH; FOR MEN LOOKETH ON THE OUTWARD APPEARENCE, BUT THE LORD LOOKETH ON THE HEART kjv.

 

[jiggyfly]

Amen!!!

Matthew 23:25&16
25 “How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! 26*Blind Pharisees! First wash the inside of the cup, and then the outside will become clean, too.

Luke 18:9-14
9*Then Jesus told this story to some who had great self-confidence and scorned everyone else: 10*“Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a dishonest tax collector. 11*The proud Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially like that tax collector over there! For I never cheat, I don’t sin, I don’t commit adultery, 12*I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
13*“But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ 14*I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For the proud will be humbled, but the humble will be honored.”