Matthew 5:8 (KJV) Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
“So what are your plans for the day?”
Those words rang in my ears early in the morning as my beautiful wife patiently waited for the answer. “Huh? I uh…. hadn’t thought about it.” Now in my defense it was 5:15 am and I was in the shower trying to wash the sleepy from my mind. But that question started the thinking process and led me to this meditation. Do we make plans to be with God during the day?
So often we start our day and begin the business of this life. We spend time grooming our bodies, feeding our bodies, talking with our spouse, loving the children, and organizing our work, but do we purposefully plan our communion with the Father? If being pure in heart corresponds to having a “single eye”, we must cultivate our relationship with Jesus. That means loving Him on purpose and with purpose.
There are many things competing for our time and affections. We cannot take for granted that our love will just prosper. In recent years there have been many proponents of “date nights” with your spouse. This is a perfect example of loving on purpose. Smart couples will not relegate their relationship to just one night a week but will schedule time every day to actively seek the heart of their love. Then that couple must defend that time against the thieves that try to steal their attention and affections.
So it is with Jesus. He is never turned away from us. But far too often “He stands at the door and knocks.” We have not defended our time with Him. Life and all its urgent needs have distracted us from the lover of our souls and we have allowed the love that once burned in our hearts to grow cold. We still love Him we just don’t have time for Him and we find ourselves empty.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall be filled. Today, let’s make that something we do on purpose.
Showing posts with label purity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label purity. Show all posts
Friday, September 20, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Is Not Life More
Is Not Life More
Matthew 5:8 (KJV) Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
You are looking at this screen through one of the wonders of creation, the eye. Your eye is a remarkable testimony to our Creator where millions of light sensitive cells translate the reflection of light from objects around you into information that your brain can then process into a conceptual image giving you the ability to see. Who taught you how to see? How did you mind and eye work out these wondrous things? We take our vision for granted because for most of us it has always been there.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:22, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye by single, your whole body shall be full of light.”
In Christ’s day it was common belief that light was emitted from the eye, enabling one to see. Jesus contradicts this foolish notion and describes the eye as receiving light. What we look at fills our body. We must open our eyes to receive the light in order to receive understanding. This basic lesson in how the eye works accentuates the spiritual ignorance of man. In pride man believes that the universe revolves around him. Only a few hundred years ago man believed that the sun and the stars revolved around the earth. We want to believe that all things were created just for us and that life and its deepest meanings center around our lives, our burdens, our grief, our love. We set ourselves up to be the reason for life.
It’s not about you! That is as simple as truth can be told. We cannot receive the truth of God when we allow pride to swallow up everything around us in an attempt to be the purpose of creation. It is about God! At the center of the Universe God sits in His splendor. All things were created by Him and for Him. Without God nothing was created. The battle between good and evil is really about that truth. Satan said, “I will ascend above the clouds, I will be as God.”
Purity of heart begins with understanding this truth. It’s not about me. “My eyes were made to walk in His footsteps. My body is the temple of the Lord.” Jesus speaks light into darkness in Matthew 6:22, but He is taking us to verse 24.
“No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than meat, and the body than raiment?”
Today, I want you to look up from this computer screen and see beyond the walls, the grass, the trees, the sky, the stars above and ponder the question Jesus asked,
“Is not life more…”
Matthew 5:8 (KJV) Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
You are looking at this screen through one of the wonders of creation, the eye. Your eye is a remarkable testimony to our Creator where millions of light sensitive cells translate the reflection of light from objects around you into information that your brain can then process into a conceptual image giving you the ability to see. Who taught you how to see? How did you mind and eye work out these wondrous things? We take our vision for granted because for most of us it has always been there.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:22, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye by single, your whole body shall be full of light.”
In Christ’s day it was common belief that light was emitted from the eye, enabling one to see. Jesus contradicts this foolish notion and describes the eye as receiving light. What we look at fills our body. We must open our eyes to receive the light in order to receive understanding. This basic lesson in how the eye works accentuates the spiritual ignorance of man. In pride man believes that the universe revolves around him. Only a few hundred years ago man believed that the sun and the stars revolved around the earth. We want to believe that all things were created just for us and that life and its deepest meanings center around our lives, our burdens, our grief, our love. We set ourselves up to be the reason for life.
It’s not about you! That is as simple as truth can be told. We cannot receive the truth of God when we allow pride to swallow up everything around us in an attempt to be the purpose of creation. It is about God! At the center of the Universe God sits in His splendor. All things were created by Him and for Him. Without God nothing was created. The battle between good and evil is really about that truth. Satan said, “I will ascend above the clouds, I will be as God.”
Purity of heart begins with understanding this truth. It’s not about me. “My eyes were made to walk in His footsteps. My body is the temple of the Lord.” Jesus speaks light into darkness in Matthew 6:22, but He is taking us to verse 24.
“No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than meat, and the body than raiment?”
Today, I want you to look up from this computer screen and see beyond the walls, the grass, the trees, the sky, the stars above and ponder the question Jesus asked,
“Is not life more…”
Monday, September 16, 2013
Can You See It?
Matthew 5:8 (KJV) Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
I have often found myself laying on the ground crying out to God. Most often my prayer is “I want to know you.” “I want to see your glory.” “Teach me your ways.” I have heard these same prayers by many souls that gathered in our prayer meetings around the altars of the church. The heart that has tasted God’s love and grace can never be satisfied. Once we know God we must have more! This beatitude helps us to find the way to know Him more.
The pure in heart shall see God. Some would think that this is a reference to physically seeing God, perhaps when He calls us to Heaven but there is another meaning as well. Have you ever had someone explain a complicated equation to you but no matter how hard you tried you just couldn’t see it. We often say that when we comprehend a subject we see it, meaning that we understand it clearly. What if Jesus is telling us that to fully comprehend the depth of God we must purify our heart?
My eyes have never seen Jesus but my heart has seen Him time and time again. He reveals Himself to me in the depths of my spirit and I find understanding of the hidden things of God. It is with the heart man believes God and it is with the heart that we can know Him. We might say that the heart is the eye of the soul. Join me this week as we explore what a pure heart means and how we can find a greater vision of Jesus.
I have often found myself laying on the ground crying out to God. Most often my prayer is “I want to know you.” “I want to see your glory.” “Teach me your ways.” I have heard these same prayers by many souls that gathered in our prayer meetings around the altars of the church. The heart that has tasted God’s love and grace can never be satisfied. Once we know God we must have more! This beatitude helps us to find the way to know Him more.
The pure in heart shall see God. Some would think that this is a reference to physically seeing God, perhaps when He calls us to Heaven but there is another meaning as well. Have you ever had someone explain a complicated equation to you but no matter how hard you tried you just couldn’t see it. We often say that when we comprehend a subject we see it, meaning that we understand it clearly. What if Jesus is telling us that to fully comprehend the depth of God we must purify our heart?
My eyes have never seen Jesus but my heart has seen Him time and time again. He reveals Himself to me in the depths of my spirit and I find understanding of the hidden things of God. It is with the heart man believes God and it is with the heart that we can know Him. We might say that the heart is the eye of the soul. Join me this week as we explore what a pure heart means and how we can find a greater vision of Jesus.
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