Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Tuesday, February 3, Matthew 5:8

"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." (KJV)

Out of all the Beatitudes, if one reads this, they must realize that, if left with their heart the way it is, they will never see God. Anyone who tells me that their heart is pure, has just proved it is impure by lying to me.

A heart, left to itself, will never be pure. It is a heart "made" pure that will see God. 1 John 3 talks about purity. It begins with the great promise:

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is."

With this assurance he then says: "And everyone who thus hope in him purifies himself as he is pure." (1-3)

Then, as he does throughout this letter, reveals to us how we can tell whether or not we actually are His children. For His children abide in Him. Those who think they are godly and do not live with the mindset of dependence upon God are fooling themselves.

True believers know this. One sure way a believer knows that he is not abiding in Christ is when he begins to try to manufacture good works to make up for the sins he has committed. The peace that comes from abiding in Him begins to dry up.

But God will never leave His children there. He will allow them to dangle on the vine for a while sometimes, but the Holy Spirit within them will reveal their sinfulness and bring them to repentance.

A believer has been given a new heart. He has been born again, a new creation. And that heart abhors anything that is not of God. When one yields to temptation he will sense that aversion eventually.

One who has not been given a heart made pure by the love of Christ never senses this. Their purity is a means to their self-centered ends. A heart made pure by God is not "self" centered, but "God" centered. And it is never content without Christ as the center.

The key to remain there is to "seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." (Colossians 3:1b) We "set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth." (3:2)

That's because we know "that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out." (Romans 7:18) For the fleshly heart is impure. And when believers try to manufacture their own good works to "impress God", they are only fooling themselves.

According to Ephesians 2:10, "we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (NIV). And understanding that the old man is useless, we live in "the new creation", which loves God with all our soul, mind and heart. And because we know that we cannot do anything without the strength of the Vine, we rest, and work when God works.

And God is working in us to make us pure and holy in His sight. It is a lifelong work. And progress, as Dr. Snoeberger reminded us, is usually measured in decades, not in days. And even then, we will never become completely pure until we see Him face to face. In the meantime, we "work the works of God", as Jesus described in John 6:29 "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

And "we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is."

Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

Memory Helps

"Blessed are the pure in heart:
for they shall see God." (KJV)

For me, I picture that big hand of God touching my sinful heart, and making it completely pure with a cross (which for me represents Christ) in it. That way I can see God.

My "memory character" for verses 8 is always my friend "Vi in a V-8". Vi can only mean 8, since the F or V sound = 8 in the phonetic alphabet, vowels fillers. She's driving me upon a big green Mat, where the hand of God touches our hearts, making them pure and helping us to see God.