In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8 Wow! Can you imagine seeing the magnificent God who created everything good and beautiful that you love? Seeing Him would…fill our eyes with the greatest vision we could ever behold; allow us to experience the greatest love we have ever imagined; and produce a joy that leaves us speechless!
Does this seem to be the experience of most Christians you know?
It’s pretty obvious from the dissatisfaction, anxiety, anger, bitterness, hate, etc., that surrounds us today, that not too many people are experiencing the wonder, love and joy that God created us to enjoy. So what’s the disconnect? Well, we need to remember that we can ONLY meet God—on HIS terms.
We can’t meet with the President of the United States on OUR terms. We can’t meet with our favorite professional athlete or movie star on OUR terms. What makes us think we can meet with God, who created everything, runs everything, and owns everything…on OUR terms?
So…what are GOD’s terms?
Well, the Bible is clear that God is completely holy and righteous (John 17:11, 25). Thus, to SEE Him we must be made holy and righteous too. But we have a problem, because according to the Bible,
There is NONE righteous, no, not one.
Romans 3:10
In fact, it’s worse than that! By GOD’s standard of holiness, even our self-defined “righteousness” is as “FILTHY rags.” (Isaiah 64:6)
But God is also love. He KNEW from the beginning that even our BEST good works—weren’t good enough. So the Holy Trinity had a rescue plan. Jesus came to reconcile us to Himself. When we accept His gift of salvation, He gives our soul and spirit HIS righteousness! The Bible proclaims:
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV
Isn’t that amazing??? So if being born again reconciles us with God in the righteousness of Christ, why don’t we see many Christians overflowing with the evidence that they are living in His presence? That is, why isn’t HIS—love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, gentleness, etc., pouring out of us? My friend, while we will one day see God face to face, must we wait until our body dies—to see manifestations of God? When Jesus said the “pure in heart” would see God, He didn’t specify that it would be “someday.”
Perhaps the key lies in understanding what Jesus meant by “pure in heart.“
The Greek word for “pure” in this passage is “katharos” and it means to be “clean, blameless, or unstained by guilt.” Purity comes by getting rid of impurity or pruning away that which is rotten. For example, in Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist said that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire; and Malachi the Prophet described the Messiah as a “refiner’s fire” in Malachi 3:2.
In John 14:1-17 Jesus described the purity in born again believers as branches which are attached to Him (the vine.) He said the branches must be pruned in order to produce fruit. The Greek word for “heart” is “kardeeah” and in this context likely refers to the seat of our greatest desires or passions.
Thus, while “pure in heart” definitely refers to our born again soul and spirit; it also follows that to be “pure in heart” also means to have a singleness of mind toward God. In other words, GOD is the greatest passion of a pure heart. When others look at our heart it is so transparent that what they see IN US are the fruits of God’s Spirit. The pure heart has an uncompromising desire to please God in all things. The pure heart desires for God to refine and get rid of the dross of sin. The pure heart desires God’s presence more than the fleeting pleasures of the flesh or temptations of the world.
The more we allow God to purify our heart, the closer we get to Him and the more we see Him everywhere we look. One of my favorite daily prayers is from Psalms:
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10 KJV
One day we will see God AS HE IS; yet since His Spirit lives within us, we may also live in the very real and present experience of His presence. The more we desire to live in purity, the greater we see Him all around us.
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
1 John 3:2-3
What a glorious gift we have been given to be able to see God! I don’t want to miss even one day, do you???
We would love to hear your thoughts about this devotional. Did God speak to you or challenge your daily walk with him? Or is there a topic that you would like Kimberly to cover or expound on? Please share with us in the comments below.
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