November 14, 2017 A WORTHY AND OBTAINABLE GOAL
1 Timothy 1:5 “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”
2 Corinthians 7:1 “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”
Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
We live in a world where it seems that corruption and impurity is the norm. Even within the community of professing believers we find that the same impurity and corruption of the world has made inroads into the church. A basic truth is that evil resides in the heart of man when man does not know God as Savior. Genesis 6:5, Jeremiah 17:9. The good news of the gospel is that the admonitions to be pure in heart is not a command that is impossible to fulfill, but is something that every believer can see become a reality. When one is born into the family of God, God gives him a new heart, a new spirit, and a new mind. Living as this new creation that He has made us, does not happen automatically, but is something that demands our participation. The new heart that God has put in us is pure, and when we live according to our new heart, our thoughts and our actions are pure. We find many scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, where God deals with the heart of man, and indeed, life is lived according to the heart as seen in Luke 6:45: “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.” The condition of our heart is a priority to God and should be our priority as well. In Jeremiah 17:19 God said: “I the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.” There is nothing that could compare to living with pure motives, a pure heart, rightly related to God and others, knowing God’s forgiveness, and knowing that we belong to God. You might say that that picture of life on planet earth is a ‘pipe dream’, but it is actually the very life that God has made available to us and a life that He desires we live. The good news-the great news-is that no matter what our past may be, and no matter our present circumstance may be, we can experience the life just described. It all begins with being honest with ourselves and with God, confessing our faults and sins and turning from them (repentance) and then receiving God’s forgiveness and cleansing. Also, a crucial ingredient in the process of gaining a pure heart is to read the word of God with the goal of learning of our new identity as a child of God. God is looking for those who have a heart that wants to know Him, and we can be sure that He will respond to the one who desires and seeks Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us “For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” When He is our chief desire and our heart is turned to Him, and when we work with Him as He works in us, the Holy Spirit will lead us in the path that God has for us, and all that God has for us is pure and perfect. In a very real sense, it is God’s desire and plan for us to become like Him-our Father. Let us refuse to believe the lies that tell us that we are just humans who are sinful that cannot be like God and let us cleanse ourselves of anything that is not in keeping with who we are-sons and daughters of God who have been made new.
Romans 6:4: “Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Blessings,
Buddy
RSS Feed