"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."(Matthew 5:8 NIV)
- Do you want to see God?
- That should be the goal of every Christian...to see Him...to experience His presence.
- But that doesn't just mean "Someday" when you die.
- You can see Him active and alive now.
- The key is having a pure heart.
- The key to all of His blessings and to seeing Him now is a pure Heart.
- A heart that is not cynical
- A heart that is not bitter.
- A heart that is not full of anger, or jealousy, pride, etc.
- Matthew 5:8 in the Amplified version reads like this, "Blessed (happy, enviably fortunate, and spiritually prosperous--possessing the happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His grace, regardless of their outward conditions) are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!"
- If you want to prosper, and experience God's favor, then you must have a pure heart.
- Your heart is the most important thing to God.
- He didn't create you to follow a bunch of rules.
- He created you for relationship, but you can't have that relationship and truly know Him unless your heart is pure.
- Actually, having a pure heart is the key to all of the beatitudes listed in Matthew 5.
- You can't be poor in spirit without having a pure heart.
- You can't be truly humble without having a pure heart.
- You won't realize your need for God without a pure heart.
- You won't be merciful without a pure heart.
- You won't hunger and thirst for righteousness without a pure heart.
- You will never recognize your need for Him without a pure heart.
- That's the key!
- In James 1:21 it says, "So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls."
- In other words, get rid of anything that contaminates your heart.
- Get rid of anything that pulls you away from God.
- May our prayer be like David's in Psalm 139: 23-24, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
- Allow God to search you.
- Allow Him to reveal any bitterness or pride.
- Allow him to show any offense that you have been holding onto.
- Allow him to reveal jealousy.
- Then take the time to confess it and remove it.
- Don't hold onto anything that keeps you from seeing God.
- It's not worth it.
- I pray that you see God working all around you and in you, today!
- Have a great Weekend!