… the clearer you’ll see Him in your life!
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5: 8
Only the pure in heart – they, and they alone, will see God. So the question is… What does pure of heart mean? In order to understand what a “pure” heart is, we need to first identify what Jesus means by “the heart.” In scripture, the heart is almost always identified as the foundation or the seat of our inner person. It’s the source of where everything in our mind flows from. It’s essentially the center of our personality… the center of our being… our inner man. The problem is that all of us are born with fallen hearts, and this is the issue of life. It’s our root problem…
“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6: 5
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” Jeremiah 17: 9
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51: 10
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Proverbs 4: 23
“For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.” Matthew 12: 34-35
“But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to his deeds.”
OK, what about a pure heart? To make things interesting – in the Greek language, pure was often referred to as a cleansing, especially with metals, removing the impurities or any foreign elements that would “corrupt” the metal. Like metal, aren’t we being tried by fire to remove all of the dross and impurities in our lives? A pure heart requires a change of heart, a cleansing that can only be given by God at salvation; He gives us an uncompromising devotion to Jesus Christ. It’s not that we have a perfect pure heart – none of us do, but that we have a desire to be single-minded of Christ…
“I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. I want to do what is good, but I don’t (again, look at Paul’s desire). I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind.” Romans 7: 15, 19, 21-23
“I delight to do your will, O my God. And your law is within my heart.” Psalm 40:8
“Joyful are those who obey His laws and search for Him with all their hearts.” Psalm 119: 2
“I have tried hard to find you—don’t let me wander from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. (my natural inclination is to wander from your commands, so your word is in my heart!)” Psalm 119: 11
David messed up and failed so often, but God said he was a man after His heart.
“… For they shall see God.” I believe the latter part of this Beatitude speaks of NOW and the future. Even while on this earth we are separated from Him, we see with the eyes of faith… we see The Living God on the pages of scripture. As true believers, we also see God in creation, trials, mundane and ordinary events, etc… He’s everywhere we look! And here’s a awesome truth… If we couldn’t see Him, we couldn’t persevere! Amen?
“It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the One who is invisible.” Hebrews 11: 27
