Is Your Heart Pure?
What do you think about when you hear the word pure?
Do you picture a tall glass of crystal clear water? A freshly washed load of white sheets? Or maybe someone who’s morally wholesome and good?
In the sixth of the beatitudes—a series of promises Jesus made about God’s Kingdom—Jesus said this:
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
Matthew 5:8 NIVThe word “pure” means clean or blameless, free from corruption or contamination, purified by fire, or unstained by guilt. None of us can truly be pure on our own—despite our best efforts.
Before Jesus showed up, the highest ranking Levitical priests were charged with ministering and mediating in the holiest spaces (inside the tabernacle in the wilderness and, later, the temple in Jerusalem)—where God’s presence dwelled on earth. But even they had to be purified over and over again.
Now, because of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice on the cross, He has paved the way for us. His blood covered our sins, and when we accept the sacrifice, He makes us pure. Now and forever, we can “come boldly to the throne of our gracious God,” where we can find mercy and grace when we need it most (Hebrews 4:16). Now, our bodies are the modern-day temples where God’s Spirit has chosen to dwell.
Being pure of heart is not about being perfect, but trusting in Jesus to purify our souls.
As Isaiah once prophesied…
“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”
Isaiah 1:18 NLT
Category: Scripture
From the Holy Bible
Merciful God
Every day that we breathe and walk the earth, whether our condition is healthy or not, God is in control. Every day is a new day to serve God and ask for His guidance on what He wants to accomplish through us this day. And every day is a new day to be thankful that we have not been totally destroyed because of our own selfishness and sins. Grace keeps us but mercy continues to reach out and not allow us to be destroyed.
God is always just and righteous and would be righteous in judging and destroying all of us.
The Bible Study Tools online has a good description of God’s mercy and grace:
May we never forget that every breath we take and every step we take is because God is merciful to us and has provided Jesus to save us from our sins so that we do not face His merited wrath.
Godly Wisdom
Where do we find Godly wisdom? In His Word, of course. So, with that thought, here is a potpourri of verses that I read and meditated on this morning. These are in no particular order except as I read them in my devotionals this morning. They all spoke to me in different ways. Which one, if any, speaks most to your heart?
Do you have a favorite verse that speaks to your heart and resonates within your soul? Please share it in the comments.
Note that all illustrations above were created by me on Canva. I usually use the YouVersion Bible App and its designs but it was down this morning, so I created my own. Glory to God for His Word that gives me comfort, intelligence and all I need to face a new day!
When Not If
God’s Word is clear that we will have troubles in this life. Jesus even says so:
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.””
John 16:33 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.16.33.NLT
God does not lie and he says that we will have trials and sorrows. That hardly seems right, does it? We turn our hearts over to God and we still face trials. Pondering on this fact got me to thinking and reading Scriptures about the trials we face.
As a student of languages, I notice things like conjunctions. In this verse, “when” is a conjunction, drawing all of the thoughts of the verse together. I noticed right away that this verse does not use the conjunction “if.” If would be more comforting for me, implying that I may or may not pass through rivers (troubles), and I may or may not walk through fire. But God’s prophet Isaiah used the word when and that says just what it means. We will indeed walk through rivers, be overwhelmed by them (like we’re drowning in a sea of troubles) and we will walk through fire. But in order to get comfort from this verse, one has to read the entire verse carefully. Yes, troubles will come, but God will be with us. The waters will not be able to overwhelm us although they will indeed try to do so. Finally, when we walk through the fire, we won’t be burned by it or consumed within its flames. God’s promise is that even though we will have troubles, He will be with us and take care of us.
Why, then, do we have troubles and trials if God is going to take care of us in them? Why doesn’t He just take them away?
Every time we face a new trial, a new overwhelming problem, if you will, that gives God the opportunity to do a new thing in our lives. His ultimate purpose is to help us to be more like Him. He is the one who shows us the new pathway to take and gives us water to drink in the desert. We may not like where we are or the trials that we face, but we can trust God to bring us through to the other side and that we will learn from them and be more like Him once we overcome. God’s plan is not to make life easy for us, but instead He plans to use life’s lessons to make us more like Him, bearing the fruits of the Spirit and able to climb the next mountain more easily.
I am still studying the Book of Job in my devotional every day and a quotation from Tina Wilson’s book STEP INTO SCRIPTURE resonated with me this morning and made me think deeply about its meaning and its application in my life.
This quotation is from Day 9 of Tina Wilson’s devotional, STEP INTO SCRIPTURE. Think about it. If Job had not been found faithful, Satan may have left him alone and he would not have lost all that he had. Makes you think, doesn’t it?
Once again, we have the dilemma of trusting God through the troubles or turning away from Him in bitterness and anger.
God has a plan and it’s a good one. We just have to trust Him to carry us through all of the troubles that it takes to get to the end of His plan for us. Ultimately, His love wins and so do we, if we persevere and don’t give up!
Suffering and Affliction
No one likes to talk about suffering and few know really what affliction is. According to the online dictionary, affliction is a condition of pain, suffering and distress. I want to add that the pain doesn’t have to be physical; it can also be mental or emotional pain. Whatever it is that we are going through, I sincerely believe that God can use it to teach us about others and about ourselves.
God comforts us when we are in the midst of our suffering, but why would He do that? God’s desire for us is that we get closer to Him, lean into Him during our times of hardship. That way, when we see other suffering, we are more likely to recognize what they are going through and be able to reach out a helping hand and an open heart to them. God’s plan for us is fellowship, with Him and with one another. Unfortunately, many of us don’t want to admit our need for others until there is a crisis that we are facing. Then, we reach out. I hope that we reach out to God first and then to other people, but that depends on how close your relationship to God is. Do you trust Him to help you through the suffering or do you sit back and whine and blame Him for it?
For example, it’s difficult to really comfort someone who has just lost a parent without having suffered that loss yourself. Yes, you can say the right words and give the hugs, but the real understanding comes from having gone through it and come out on the other side. The important thing is to be there, ready and willing to help carry the burden until the load gets lighter. Having been there, you will be more likely to notice when the other person needs you desperately, even when it’s the middle of the night. I am not saying that you cannot be compassionate unless you have suffered yourself. What I believe is that you see the event with different eyes if you have experienced it.
Does God want us to suffer? No, because He is a loving Father. Sometimes our suffering is due to our own bad choices. Sometimes, it’s because sin is in the world and Satan is wreaking all of the havoc that he can since his time is short. Whatever the reason, God doesn’t cause the suffering but He will use it to teach us how to be patient, how to persevere, how to trust Him; in short, God uses suffering to help us to be more like Him if we are willing to put ourselves into His capable and loving hands. Then, after we have come through whatever it is, God can use us to help others. No one likes suffering and affliction. There isn’t a long line with people clamoring, “Yeah, sign me up!” But since we are well aware that it’s going to happen, we might as well have our hearts ready to lean on God and to go through it to the other side, with our eyes open to the opportunity that God may present just because of our suffering.
Everyday Is A Good Day to Praise the Lord!
Christian Praise and Worship Songs with Lyrics
Just enjoying a praise day and hope that you are, too! Have a blessed day in the Lord!
When Adversity Happens
What is our normal reaction when things go wrong? I don’t know about you, but I usually withdraw and question God’s sovereignty. Both are the incorrect approach to adversity. I am currently in an online Bible study with the women at my church, using the Chronological Bible and the book by Tina Wilson entitled STEP INTO SCRIPTURE. We are only on Day 6 of this amazing study and I am already learning so much about God and about myself. Here is what I took away from today’s lesson.
This is a key verse in Job as he struggles with all of his misery and his friends blame his adversity on his own sin. Job’s reply is that he will still hope in God. I want that to be my heart’s cry when the thunder rolls and the mountains quake, but I’m not there yet. Just knowing that Job could have his eyes and heart fixed on God gives me hope that when the time comes, I will be able to say the same thing. The point is not that Job is blaming God for his troubles, but He knows that God knows what is happening to him and he recognizes God’s sovereignty over all.
This is the book that we are using and a quotation from today’s study. God isn’t angry with us when things go wrong, nor has He turned His back on us and is ignoring us. He is watching over us and seeing how we react to our troubles. Will our faith grow stronger as we turn to Him or will we turn away? Obviously, God loves us and wants our faith to grow as we mature into all that we can be for Him. Jesus was committed enough to go to the cross for us. His faith is the model for the kind of faith we should have when we face any kind of trials or challenges in our lives.
I highly recommend this Bible study, especially if you are doing it with a group, but it can be done individually as well. Here is a link to get the book if you are interested. It is free on Kindle Unlimited if you have that resource.
I am thoroughly enjoying the insight that I am learning from this book as it delves deeply into the Scripture and explores what is happening in the heart of the author as well as how we can and should respond. I hope that you will check it out.
Let me know what you think. Does adversity build faith or tear it down? How difficult is it for you to trust in God in the hard times?
Fortitude from God’s Word
I start each morning with devotionals and reading the Bible. And each day, God gives me new insight into His Word and tells me truths that He wants me to learn from it. Today, He spoke to me about being encouraged, strengthened by His Word.
Grace and peace only come from God and His Son. We can pretend to find peace in other things, activities or people that distract us from the challenges of life. But the real peace and the real grace come only from God and those are what we need to face whatever happens each day.
Jesus’s death on the cross was not an accident or a coincidental happenstance. It was planned by God from the beginning, because our Father knew that we would need a rescuer from this evil world. We live in times that are exceedingly evil, but I am sure that the Roman Christians, the Greek Christians, and Daniel and his friends in Babylon felt the same way. We can only be rescued from the evil around us if we keep our eyes fixed on our Savior. Looking at all of the evil around us only has a tendency to discourage us from moving forward, but when we call on Jesus, then our focus is right where it should be, on the narrow path to salvation instead of the wide road to hell.
No matter what is going on around us, we can still offer praise to God. He has not and will not change and He is fulfilling His purpose for us.
God is our strength each day and our salvation at all times, even when we are facing troubles. I know with every part of me that nothing will happen to me today that God and I cannot handle together. He is as close to me as my next prayer, and He is close to you, too, if you want Him to be.
Be Fruitful and Multiply
One of the first things God told Adam and Eve was to “be fruitful and multiply.” I have always taken that to mean physically produce more children and populate the earth. This morning in my devotional, my eyes were opened to a spiritual meaning, also.
God repeated this command to Noah when he disembarked from the ark and came out on dry land, a totally clean earth with all of the sin wiped out.
Again, this certainly does mean populate the earth. But I think it also means to tell the new people that are born about God.
I wasn’t in the Garden of Eden with Adam, nor was I on the ark with Noah. But because of these ancestors of all of us, we exist. Physically, we have life. What about spiritual life?
In the Great Commission that Jesus gave to His disciples just before He ascended to the Father, he did not say “be fruitful and multiply.” Instead, He applied God’s truth to the spiritual and told the disciples to go and make other disciples. How does one do that? By telling them about Jesus! By giving God the glory for all that He did through Jesus. God has not changed His word because God does not lie or change. He has, however, expanded on it. When we go out and tell others about Jesus, we are being fruitful and we are multiplying. We are adding souls to the Kingdom of God and more people who are ready and willing to give Him the glory. Having three children, I did the physical part of “being fruitful and multiplying.” But how many spiritual sons and daughters have been added to God’s Kingdom because of seeds that I have sown? I don’t really know because I am not always there for the harvest. God didn’t say to make sure you stick around for the harvest, but He did say to make disciples. To me, that means to lead people to the truth of the Gospel and then to establish them in God’s Word.
Thus, once again, God has enlightened me to more truth in His Word than I realized was there. Being fruitful is not just giving birth physically. It can also mean being fruitful and telling others about Jesus. If each one tells one, and they in turn tell others, there is the multiplication factor. God’s plan all along has been for His Kingdom to expand, for all to come to the knowledge of the Lord. We have His command and we are expected to act on it!
A Prayer for Today and Maybe Everyday
Authors have written books about the day after 9-11. Presidents have made speeches. Congress has passed resolutions. But I have done nothing on the day after one of the worst days in the history of the United States. This morning I was feeling kind of out of sorts, not really discouraged, but just not feeling as though I had done much for the survivors, the people left behind. Then, in Dr. Denison’s Forum this morning, was this song that is also a prayer. I share it with you in the hope that you will join me in praying it, today and everyday that you remember. You don’t have to remember the words, but I hope that the heart of the message will touch you deeply in your soul, where you long to make a difference.
God of the Poor Lyrics by Graham A. Kendrick
Beauty for brokenness
Hope for despair
Lord, in your suffering
This is our prayer
Bread for the children
Justice, joy, peace
Sunrise to sunset
Your kingdom increase!
Shelter for fragile lives
Cures for their ills
Work for the craftsman
Trade for their skills
Land for the dispossessed
Rights for the weak
Voices to plead the cause
Of those who can’t speak
Friend of the weak
Give us compassion we pray
Melt our cold hearts
Let tears fall like rain
Come, change our love
From a spark to a flame
Refuge from cruel wars
Havens from fear
Cities for sanctuary
Freedoms to share
Peace to the killing-fields
Scorched earth to green
Christ for the bitterness
His cross for the pain
Friend of the weak
Give us compassion we pray
Melt our cold hearts
Let tears fall like rain
Come, change our love
From a spark to a flame
Rest for the ravaged earth
Oceans and streams
Plundered and poisoned
Our future, our dreams
Lord, end our madness
Carelessness, greed
Make us content with
The things that we need
Friend of the weak
Give us compassion we pray
Melt our cold hearts
Let tears fall like rain
Come, change our love
From a spark to a flame
Lighten our darkness
Breathe on this flame
Until your justice
Burns brightly again
Until the nations
Learn of your ways
Seek your salvation
And bring you their praise
Friend of the weak
Give us compassion we pray
Melt our cold hearts
Let tears fall like rain
Come, change our love
From a spark to a flame
Friend of the weak
Give us compassion we pray
Melt our cold hearts
Let tears fall like rain
Come, change our love
From a spark to a flame
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Graham A. Kendrick
God of the Poor (Beauty for Brokenness) lyrics © Make Way Music
Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner 