Daily Devotional For Friday, August 30, 2024

Yeah – it is Fantastic Friday and you are hours from the weekend for some needed rest, relaxation and recovery. We have been looking at the greatest and most famous sermon ever – Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount, found in Matthew 5, 6, 7. Currently, we are wrapping up our look at The Beatitudes. We are on Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (NASB). So the big question is: how do we live a life of purity so that we see God?

To answer this question we have to go back to the basics of discipleship. Whatever God asks us to do, He gives the ability, desire and power to do it and this includes purity of heart. Throughout history, some have advocated that the path to purity was monasticism – living a life alone from the worries, cares, distractions and temptations of the world. This choice has never proved successful because no matter where we are and the conditions or circumstances we live in, the devil knows where we are vulnerable. Many have found choosing monasticism only increased their vulnerability and temptability to sin and be impure. 

Another view is that when God saves us, He automatically and miraculously eradicates not only our sin, but our sin nature due to His grace. There is nothing in Scripture which supports this. The problem with purity is not just being pure, but our nature to sin. Therefore, we cannot go anywhere and escape our vulnerability to be impure. 

Being “pure in heart” is not about goodness. Consider this below:

“In 1888 Friedrich Nietzsche wrote a very anti-Christian book quite creatively titled The Anti-Christ. In it he asks and answers questions such as this:

Question: “What is more harmful than any vice?” Answer: “Active sympathy for the ill-constituted and weak—Christianity.” Nietzsche defined good as “all that heightens the feeling of power, the will to power, power itself in man,” and he defined bad as “all that proceeds from weakness–Christianity” (Source: John R. Stott, The Message of the Sermon On The Mount, pp. 54-55). 

“As wrong as this philosopher (Friedrich Nietzsche) was about what constitutes good and bad, he was right about the unique features of Jesus Christ and His teachings. What the first four beatitudes have in common is that they all point out our spiritual weakness” (Source: Dougas Sean O’Donnell, Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth, edited by R. K. Hughes, p. 110).

It is our weakness to obtain purity that drives us to do what is necessary to get it so that we see God. But as I said, whatever God demands from us, He provides for us the power and ability to do it. So, how can we live a pure life? These four points were drawn from years of teaching a discipleship course called Masterlife and from – John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 207).

1. First, we have to admit we cannot do this on our own with the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.  consider what Proverbs 20:9 says, “Who can say, I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin””? (NASB). What is the obvious answer? – No one. It is the reality of Jeremiah 13:23a, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the leopard his spots? . . .” (NASB). We can only be pure if we recognize and admit we are impure, sinful, and too weak to do it on our own. 
2. Second, we must be living in God’s Word. You cannot grow your relationship to Jesus Christ apart from God’s Word. Consider the verses:

• Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (NASB). 
• Psalm 119:9, “How can a young man keep his way pure?

By keeping it according to Your word” (NASB). 

Psalm 119:11-16, “Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You. (12) Blessed are You, O Lord; Teach me Your statutes. (13) With my lips I have told of All the ordinances of Your mouth. (14) I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches. (15) I will meditate on Your precepts And regard Your ways. (16) I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word” (NASB).

• 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; (17) so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (NASB).

3.  Third, we must be directed and committed to the Holy Spirit guiding us, convicting us and directly us. Look at Galatians 5:16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (NASB).

4. Fourth, we must be people who pray by faith. I don’t mean just saying grace at meal times as a ritual or routine. I mean having extended times of prayer as Jesus did. Look at:

•  Ephesians 6:18, “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints” (NASB). 
• Luke 18:1, “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart” (NASB).
• 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing” (NASB).
• Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (NASB).

If we are honest, our prayer should be David’s prayer in Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me” (NASB). So, let’s wrap this up. The phrase in Matthew 5:8, “ . . .  they will see God” is what is called in Greek a future indicative tense in the middle voice. A literal translation would be: “They will be continuously seeing God for themselves.“ Who? – only the pure in heart.

Purity of heart cleanses us so that we will continuously see God with our new spiritual eyes. Look at these verses:

• Moses wanted to see God. Look at Exodus 22:18, “Then Moses said, I pray You, show me Your glory!’” (NASB).
• David wanted to see God. Look at Psalm 42:1, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God” (NASB).
• Job wanted to see God. Look at Job 42:5, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You” (NASB).

There are things that blind us from seeing God. Sin, self-centeredness, pride, lack of knowledge of God’s Word, refusing to listen to the Holy Spirit, neglecting fellowship and worship with other believers and disciples, unbelief, doubt, refusing to share our faith, and etc. There are no shortcuts to seeing God.

Questions To Consider

1. How desperate would you say you are to see God? What is the evidence of this? 
2. If you haven’t seen God with your spiritual eyes, what reasons would you give and why?
3. How committed are you to purity in every area of your life – not just in areas of morality and sexuality. 
4. Looking over the four ways that help us see God listed above, which one(s) do you need to focus on more to see God and why?

Scripture To Meditate On: Psalm 42:1, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God” (NASB).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, please help me to get disciplined in pursuing a life of purity so that I can see You with my spiritual eyes. Jesus, I don’t always do what I should do to be pure in heart. Jesus, please forgive me when i prefer seeing other things other than You. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside–Pastor Kelly