Throwback Tuesday - Wearing Blinders - Martin Wiles

Wearing Blinders

When worn properly, they prevent me from noticing what God desires I see. 

As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores. Luke 16:21 NLT

I first noticed them when I was a young boy attending town Christmas parades. As the horse-drawn floats and carriages meandered by, the horses sported blinders to remove their peripheral view. At the time, it made no sense to me. Why would the owners not want their horses to see in a certain direction? Later I learned it was for the safety of the crowd and the one riding the horse or driving the carriage. Read more...

Tell us your story about wearing blinders. 

Tweetables: Are blinders keeping you from seeing what you need to see? 

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Flashback Friday - Seeing Others as God Does - Martin Wiles

Seeing Others as God Does

The LORD forbid that I should do this to my lord the king. I shouldn’t attack the LORD’s anointed one, for the LORD himself has chosen him. I Samuel 24:6 NLT

What I see is often not what God observes. 

Recently I was messaged on Facebook by a student I taught 22 years ago…a student who seemed to have no liking for me but who now was informing me I had been her favorite teacher. Her contact started me wondering about other students I had taught who were now adults and old enough to have families of their own. So I began searching Facebook for the names I could remember. I discovered a number of former students. When I clicked on their profiles, I was amazed. The ones that appeared unmotivated and rebellious when I taught them had turned out alright after all. They were married and had children. Some owned their own businesses. Others had followed and achieved their dreams. My search’s findings reminded me that I don’t often see the full picture, nor do I normally see as God does. Read more...

Tell us how you keep from judging others. 

Tweetable: How do you look at others? 

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Don’t Judge the Cover - Martin Wiles

You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. Matthew 12:34 NLT

Their appearance and actions gave them away—or so I thought.

I knew the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” but I found myself doing it anyway. My wife and I, along with another couple, had had our camping trip interrupted by a strong line of thunderstorms that dumped inches of rain on our campsite. We decided to take a trip to a nearby town and eat lunch at a little pizza joint we had tried before.

As we waited on our pizza, six burly-looking young men walked to the back table, a few tables behind us. I thought This should be an interesting lunch. By their dress, I judged them as some type of workers who made their living outside. Although early in the day, their clothes were filthy, as were their boots. Before they sat, they all slipped out the back door for a smoke. Not your church-going type of guys, I mused.

After a few moments, they came back in and slid into their booth. When their salads arrived, they began eating. But wait. I heard a blessing. And then to top it off, after they finished their salads and before their pizza arrived, one guy slipped out a Bible and began a Bible study. The others listened intently and joined in the discussion.

When the waitress arrived with their pizza, she said, “You guys just made my day.” I had misjudged them because of their appearance and initial actions. But they were not what they appeared to be at all. They loved God and desired to serve Him.

Jesus reminded the religious leaders—who, on the other hand, had all the appearances of being religious people—that heart matters come out. Their hypocrisy showed, but among these six rough-looking guys, love for God showed.

Appearances are important … sometime. But they have nothing to do with whether or not God accepts us. He judges the heart. Our actions should demonstrate love for Him, dependence upon Him, and obedience to Him, but sometimes others can misunderstand our actions or take our words out of context. God knows the real reason behind our actions and words. And God’s judgment is the only one that counts.

Don’t judge others unjustly. Remember, God is the only one who can see the heart of the matter.

Prayer: Father, may our hearts be pure before You so others might see You through us.

Tweetable: Are you guilty of judging others by their appearance? 

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Appearances Aren’t Everything - Martin Wiles

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 NLT

As we passed them, I judged their life story.

Traffic backed up as we chugged down the rural highway after leaving church. I peeked around the cars to determine the problem. A moped loaded with two people. Why didn’t they pull over and let the traffic by? 

When an opportunity came, all cars passed. I glanced at the couple as we drove by. A scraggly-looking man covered in tattoos. The woman looked about the same. To be honest, several things scampered through my mind that shouldn’t have. They’re probably riding this because they lost their driver’s license for DUI. After all, don’t they call those things liquor cycles? Probably gone to get some more now. I bet they’re high on meth. Bet they don’t work either. 

Samuel had a case of judging too. When God instructed him to go to Jesse’s house and anoint one of his sons as the next king of Israel, he immediately selected Eliab. His outward appearance impressed Samuel. Surely, God wanted him. But He didn’t. God wanted the little shepherd boy who wasn’t originally among the mix of sons under consideration.

Appearances are inconsequential to God. They often aren’t to me—or others—but they are to God. Brand name clothes and shoes, fancy jewelry, mind-numbing tattoos, a new hairdo, and any other number of outward things have the potential to set me apart from others. The trouble is, none of these things affect my inside. And God inspects there to see if I qualify for His work.

David was only a shepherd boy on the outside—a dirty job to be sure—but on the inside, even as a teenager, he had a heart that longed after spiritual things. God desired this in the man who would lead the nation.

Outward appearances are sometimes important, but they are never more important than my inward appearance. The only way to make it spotless is to trust Christ as my Savior and let His blood wash away my sins. Then I’m beautiful—if not to others, to Him. My new nature puts my heart in the right place, which will help me stop making hasty judgments about others whose outward appearance isn’t what I think it should be. 

Don’t let someone’s outward appearance blind you to what they may look like on the inside.

Tweetable: Do you accept or reject based on appearances?

Prayer: Father, enable us to look at others the way You look at us: with love, compassion, and grace. 

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Throwback Tuesday - Judged - Martin Wiles

Judged

“Most times you can't hear 'em talk, Other times you can. All the same old clichés, ‘Is that a woman or a man?’" 

In Bob Segar’s song, “Turn the Page,” he talks about the pain of stardom and life on the road. Among them the caustic remarks by some who thought his appearance lacked character. So they poked fun and judged.

I’ve felt the pain too. Sometimes personally and at other times for someone else. Divorced, tattooed, unpaid debts, repossessions, living together, addictions, long hair, married too many times, unkempt appearance, not a churchgoer, mixed marriage, mixed children. All messages shouting “These aren’t our kind of people.” Sadly, they frequently come from Christians—the last people on earth who should spout them. Read more...

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