In the sermon on the Mount, Jesus shared some secrets with His disciples and one of those secrets He shared with them is the secret to seeing God. He said in Matthew 5 verse 8 that blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. The focal phrases for me in this profound sentence of our Lord Jesus Christ are: “pure in heart”, and “see God”
What does it mean to be pure in heart?
I strongly believe that it starts with the things we allow into our hearts, continues with the things we allow to stay in our hearts, and ends with the actions we take propelled by these things that have filled our hearts. Furthermore, purity doesn’t start and end with only sexual purity, it encompasses honoring God with the entirety of our beings and bodies. Jesus Christ gives us some insight in Matthew 15 into maintaining purity inside and outside of our lives. He tells His disciples and the Pharisees that it isn’t exactly the things we put in our mouths that defile us but the things we spurr out of our mouths. Apostle Peter asked Jesus Christ the question that may be on your mind right now-“What does Jesus Christ mean by defilement is caused by the things we allow to spurr out of our mouth”. I love Jesus Christ, He goes ahead to explain to Peter in Matthew 15:18 -20 that the words we speak come from our hearts and so do evil thoughts such as murder, immorality, lying, and so on spurr from the heart.
Therefore, dear brother and sister in Christ who are constantly fixated on honoring God with our sexuality, let us not forget to honor God in our thoughts and actions as well. I completely understand that times may come when unspeakable thoughts may pop up in our hearts and minds. Nonetheless, it is our responsibility to take authority over such thoughts and put them under the subjection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not give them any breathing space! Those thoughts such as jealousy, envy, immorality, and the like put them under the subjection of Jesus Christ while we allow only things that are true, noble, admirable, and pure to linger in our hearts – Philippians 4:8‘
And what is all the fuss about striving for Purity?
Our God is a Holy God and only those with clean hands can access His throne of Grace, only the pure in heart shall see God. My recent understanding of this scripture is that those who are pure in heart shall see God not just on judgment day, not just in heaven after death but also see God in their day-to-day activities and interactions. Purity means to unclog our lives of sin, unclog our lives of those things that impede our vision and understanding of our good God. When those impurities are taken out, it is very easy to see God in our everyday lives. To see God doesn’t have to be a grand encounter where the heavens stand still or the skies fall. Apostle Paul is a living testimony of what it means to see God in our everyday lives. For a good part of Apostle Paul’s life, he was locked up in prison yet He saw the Lord, the Lord opened His understanding to mysteries of the kingdom and He poured it all out in His letters to the churches.
I remember vividly on my birthday -March 13 2021 when I laid in bed all day hoping in my heart that the Lord would take me home because I did not have the strength to keep going. I had my cell phone turned off all day only for me to turn it on sometime in the evening and I get a call from my pastor. He passed the phone to his wife who spoke to me and of course, wished and prayed for me. Only for her to ask me a question, she asked me about the very thing that was bothering me. It was so unexpected because I had not mentioned it to her. At that moment, I saw God! I saw God’s love for me through that simple question. That simple question strengthened me to get out of bed and walk out of my room to get me a red velvet cake. Oh! How beautiful it is to see God in our everyday lives!
As I wrap up this blog post, dear believers in Christ be reminded to honor God in your thoughts and actions. Take action to unclog your hearts and minds of those things that impede your purity which could stop you from seeing God. And to you who haven’t said yes to Jesus Christ yet, I extend this invitation to you today. Only the Blood of Jesus can wash us clean and make us white as snow, only the Holy Spirit can empower us to live pure lives. All of this starts with saying to Jesus Christ today.