Pastor’s Desk June 29th

Scripture Passage:  “As in water face answers to face, so the heart of man to man.”  Proverbs 27:19     “Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.”  Proverbs 27:19     THE MESSAGE

Dear Friends,

     They say the eyes are the window to the soul.  You can let your hair grow, or cut it off, and your appearance will change.  You can shave every day, or grow a beard, and some will not recognize you.  You can wear a different style of glasses or change your eye color with contact lenses and people will perceive you in an entirely different way.  You can have plastic surgery and totally change your physical characteristics, even to the point of being unrecognizable.  I think there are two things that can be altered but can never be changed – your eyes and your smile.  Often when people are describing a child they will say, “She looks like her daddy through the eyes.”  Or they will say, “What a beautiful smile, he looks just like his mother.”  The reason I believe this is both the eyes and the smile are a true reflection of the heart.
 
 

     Just as the moon has no light of its own, only a reflection of the light of the sun, so the face has no light of its own, only a reflection of the heart.  Have you ever sat and watched the face of someone who is unaware they are being profiled.  They may have been laughing and cutting up only moments before, but become withdrawn and pensive when the spotlight of public scrutiny fades away.  The sadness of the heart becomes the face of reality when the mask of hypocrisy is taken away.  You can only pretend for so long.  Eventually the “real” you will emerge and your true feelings will manifest themselves by the expression on your face. I often say, “Who are you when you go home and shut the door behind you?”  “Who are you when no one is looking?”  Reputation is what people believe you to be, but integrity and character is what God knows.  To have a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face when no one is watching is a true litmus test for the condition of the heart. 

     There is nothing wrong with going through times of sadness. Sadness is a normal emotional response to trauma, disappointment, and death.  There is something wrong with being sad all the time.  There needs to be moments of happiness and expressions of joy to stimulate the heart back into action.  Without that, the soul just withers and dies.  We need that relief and so does our family.  So if you have any happiness and joy in your heart, please tell your face.  The world which lives in darkness is dying to see a reflection of the “The Son.”   As the children’s song says, “If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will really show it, if you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.” 

 

In Christ, Pastor Johnny

 


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