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"Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8 NIV).
The sixth beatitude already! While this series has been a great deal of work for me and I've spent many more hours than I had planned exploring the Beatitudes, I have learned a great deal! Not only have I learned more about Jesus and His message, I have learned things about myself. Some of them were rather distressing while others were cause for great joy. How about you? Where are you in your walk? How blessed is your life?
Each of these beatitudes is a challenge for me! This one may be one of the most convicting and yet it is one that spurs us on to achieve this special blessing! To see God--not only when we get to heaven but here--in this lifetime--is an unimaginable joy and blessing to receive!
How do we acquire a "pure heart"? First we need to admit that our hearts are not pure at all! That's a hard truth sometimes, especially if we have been working to rid ourselves of thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes that are not like those of Christ. Remember though, that perfection is not possible for humans, so our striving for purity of heart and soul is the best we can do for now.
So we admit we are not pure in order to begin the journey to purity. God looks at our heart when He sees us, so we want it to be presentable and clean when He gazes upon us. That is a comfort though, as well, because we know that God does not judge us as the world does. He sees the true you and the real me; He sees beyond the roles we play and the way we dress and the car we drive and the amount of money in our bank account. Whew!
Since we are unable to be pure of our own volition, God must cleanse us of all evil and sin in our thoughts, words, actions, and desires. How will he do that? In Ezekiel we read, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws" (Ezekiel 36:26-27 NIV).
What does it mean to be "pure of heart?" It means that we will not act out of a bad motive. Instead we will always act with purity of rightness within us."Uncorrupted inwardly, the pure in heart will act toward others without corruption, since it would not occur to such a person to cheat a friend or steal from a stranger or tell a lie." (Hoover Institution)
Jesus' categories in the Sermon on the Mount have a common thread: His description of those who are "blessed." Certainly it's good to be blessed, and we can find favor in any of the groups described in the Beatitudes. However, the activity level required to qualify for membership in each of them progressively increased from one category to the next. In other words, "The "poor in spirit" are indeed "blessed," but that does not mean one would emulate the poor in spirit or seek spiritual impoverishment for oneself if one is capable of doing more, first for oneself, then with others. While "theirs is the kingdom of heaven" in the case of "the poor in spirit" . . . that doesn't mean we have no basis for preferring to join one category over the other if we are fortunate enough to have a choice." (Hoover Institution)
In the Hoover Institution Policy Review - What the Beatitudes Teach, the author suggests there will be worldly repercussions for those who exemplify qualities that are the opposite of those listed in the Beatitudes. Those who maintain a sense of superiority will live in a world governed by persecution, not by justice. Those who are contemptuous of those who mourn will find themselves unmourned and those who fail to be merciful will live their lives in fear of a world in which no mercy will be shown them.
The world of these "bad" people is the very world against which Jesus spoke, and which he sought to turn on its ear. According to His explanation of how to live a life worthy of heaven, even those who currently live lives counter to the blessedness He promises the opportunity to embrace His teachings and turn toward that blessedness is offered.
What does it mean to be God's Wonder Woman with a pure heart? This is perhaps the most provocative question thus far! For me, it means I don't automatically think ill of someone who acts or reacts to others in a certain way. It also challenges me to lovingly, willingly and graciously put myself below and behind others.
As I have often said, this does not mean we are to be a doormat or allow ourselves to be abused or harmed. Rather having a pure heart means that everything we do and think and say is as if the words, actions and thoughts were those of Christ.
In the world Jesus talks about, there is no room for evil, for suffering, for mourning or persecution. In a 'blessed' world each of us acts and reacts to others with a pure heart, motivated completely and singularly by goodness and love. It sounds implausible given the overwhelming level of prejudice, hatred, persecution, fear and sin rampant in our world today.
Those of us who hope in the promise of heaven, though, imagine just such a world as we strive to be one of the blessed followers of Jesus Christ.
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"Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8 NIV).
The sixth beatitude already! While this series has been a great deal of work for me and I've spent many more hours than I had planned exploring the Beatitudes, I have learned a great deal! Not only have I learned more about Jesus and His message, I have learned things about myself. Some of them were rather distressing while others were cause for great joy. How about you? Where are you in your walk? How blessed is your life?
Each of these beatitudes is a challenge for me! This one may be one of the most convicting and yet it is one that spurs us on to achieve this special blessing! To see God--not only when we get to heaven but here--in this lifetime--is an unimaginable joy and blessing to receive!
So we admit we are not pure in order to begin the journey to purity. God looks at our heart when He sees us, so we want it to be presentable and clean when He gazes upon us. That is a comfort though, as well, because we know that God does not judge us as the world does. He sees the true you and the real me; He sees beyond the roles we play and the way we dress and the car we drive and the amount of money in our bank account. Whew!
Since we are unable to be pure of our own volition, God must cleanse us of all evil and sin in our thoughts, words, actions, and desires. How will he do that? In Ezekiel we read, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws" (Ezekiel 36:26-27 NIV).
What does it mean to be "pure of heart?" It means that we will not act out of a bad motive. Instead we will always act with purity of rightness within us."Uncorrupted inwardly, the pure in heart will act toward others without corruption, since it would not occur to such a person to cheat a friend or steal from a stranger or tell a lie." (Hoover Institution)
Jesus' categories in the Sermon on the Mount have a common thread: His description of those who are "blessed." Certainly it's good to be blessed, and we can find favor in any of the groups described in the Beatitudes. However, the activity level required to qualify for membership in each of them progressively increased from one category to the next. In other words, "The "poor in spirit" are indeed "blessed," but that does not mean one would emulate the poor in spirit or seek spiritual impoverishment for oneself if one is capable of doing more, first for oneself, then with others. While "theirs is the kingdom of heaven" in the case of "the poor in spirit" . . . that doesn't mean we have no basis for preferring to join one category over the other if we are fortunate enough to have a choice." (Hoover Institution)
The world of these "bad" people is the very world against which Jesus spoke, and which he sought to turn on its ear. According to His explanation of how to live a life worthy of heaven, even those who currently live lives counter to the blessedness He promises the opportunity to embrace His teachings and turn toward that blessedness is offered.
What does it mean to be God's Wonder Woman with a pure heart? This is perhaps the most provocative question thus far! For me, it means I don't automatically think ill of someone who acts or reacts to others in a certain way. It also challenges me to lovingly, willingly and graciously put myself below and behind others.
As I have often said, this does not mean we are to be a doormat or allow ourselves to be abused or harmed. Rather having a pure heart means that everything we do and think and say is as if the words, actions and thoughts were those of Christ.
In the world Jesus talks about, there is no room for evil, for suffering, for mourning or persecution. In a 'blessed' world each of us acts and reacts to others with a pure heart, motivated completely and singularly by goodness and love. It sounds implausible given the overwhelming level of prejudice, hatred, persecution, fear and sin rampant in our world today.
Those of us who hope in the promise of heaven, though, imagine just such a world as we strive to be one of the blessed followers of Jesus Christ.