March 7
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8
In the past, I had many goals of what I wanted to accomplish for the Lord. I had seemingly unlimited ideas of what could be done and how I could further the kingdom of God. I wanted to see many people come to Christ, I had been to India several times and saw the unlimited opportunities to expand the kingdom of God there, and I had numerous ideas for businesses that could help raise funds to support those goals. But as I get older, and time and opportunity slip by, I see that the greater problem is within my own heart. I began to realize that I had placed the vast majority of the emphasis on goals and accomplishments, fruit bearing so to speak, and for a very good and eternal cause no less, but I had neglected the need to focus on my own heart. I was thinking broadly rather than deeply. I wanted to run and fly and was not so much interested in just walking and not at all interested in waiting. This I believe was a major mistake in my thinking and direction.
Now, I have two primary goals for the remainder of my life: to be pure and pleasing to the Lord. Pure in all thoughts, words, deeds, and intentions of the heart. Completely pure and blameless at all times. No evil whatsoever. Obedient in all things and pleasing to Him. Humble. Righteous. Truth in the innermost being. No sin. Abiding in Christ. Fellowshipping continually with the Lord. Desiring to know His will and do it with diligence. Filled with the Spirit. Praying without ceasing. Giving no offense unless it is for the cause of Christ and His word. Unimpeachable integrity.
Every day I try to remember to ask the Lord that He would make me pure and pleasing and remove every hurtful way from me (Psalm 139:23-24). I try to pray daily for this and for the Lord to remove all sin and every impure thought from me, to give me humility of mind and truth in the innermost being. The prayer for purity refers to the heart. I want a pure heart before the Lord. I see clearly that none of this comes from me and that I can generate none if it on my own. I seek Christ’s righteousness and integrity and purity in me. It is all a gift from Him and is all based on what Jesus already did for me. Praise God!
How about you? Do you value a pure heart and mind above all else? Do you want more than anything to be like Jesus? Would you rather have a pure heart and continual fellowship with the Spirit or great success and all your problems solved? In the past I did not value Him and His righteousness nearly as much as I should have. I was askew and off kilter. It was not until God took me to the woodshed so to speak and taught me some difficult lessons that I began to value Him and fellowship with Him more than anything. I began to value Christ and His righteousness more than serving Him and doing things for Him. I always wanted to be pleasing to Him, but now I see that that is more based on who I am on a minute by minute basis than what I accomplish for Him in this life. Is see the importance of every sin being eliminated from my life as a higher priority for me than serving the Lord in this way or that.
Tomorrow we will continue our discussion of purity of heart and talk about the problem of evil thoughts.