Pure in heart…those words petrified me when I first read them. I was already disqualified in my mind, and I began to wonder how or if I would be able to see God.

This is what legalism and wrong religious mindsets cause in us. Panic, anxiety, the feeling that everything is dependent on whether or not I can get my stuff together for God.

However, the truth is that God is not telling us we need to do this alone or that it is all up to us to figure out how to have a pure heart. He has given us His word. I would like to examine a few scriptures as we work through this Beatitude.

Psalm 24:3-6; Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His Holy Place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication fomr the God of His salvation. Such is the generation of those who sek Him, who seek Your face, O God of jacob.

1 Peter 1:22; Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, ferverently love one another from the heart

In these scriptures, we see that those who seek God and who live in truth and obedience are living pure in heart. Those who allow God to be Lord of their lives in every way, rejecting idols and false gods, loving one another with God’s love, are living pure in heart. God’s priority is our hearts!

Those who seek God and walk with Him have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings convictions to those things in our lives, the wrong thoughts, selfish motives, and fleshly desires. When we bring those to Jesus with a repentant heart, He cleanses us and helps us renew our minds, exchanging our desires for His.

Anything in our lives can become little gods or idols. I believe one of the enemy’s tactics is to keep us busy so we don’t stop, rest, and be still with Jesus. Stopping, resting, and being still allows us to put our full attention on God. This enables Him to reveal what and who we are placing before Him. When we are busy all the time, we can miss the things He is trying to say and what He is showing us. This is a challenging flesh-dying transformation.

How are you making time to stop and be still with Jesus? How are you intentionally putting your minds on HIm and keeping your spiritual ears open to hearing Him?

What it is not:

Matthew 23:25-28; Woe, to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisees, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside they are full of dead men’s bones and uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

We can not be cleansed from the outside in, only from the inside out.

We can not perform, put on a show, or just look the part. Living pure in heart goes much deeper and is a genuine heart change and transformation, not a temporary one.

How does this heart change happen?

James 4:8; Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners, purify your hearts you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be tuned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

We draw near to God. We invite Him to speak to our hearts and show us where we have sinned in our lives. We stop treating our sin lightly or as though it isn’t a big deal, but we grieve over our sin. We humble ourselves in repentance before the Lord. When we do this, He will forgive us, cleanse us, and exalt us.

Philippians 4:8; Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable. whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

We need to keep our minds in the right place and on the right things. There are countless things around us that can distract our minds. Information is overflowing in every direction. There are terrible news reports everywhere and visuals around us that can send us to the wrong place in our minds if we let them. There are people with whom we don’t get along. Jealousy, envy, bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness abound. This verse reminds us to bring our minds back to things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and of good repute. To keep our minds and thoughts on things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

This is intentional work.

Romans 12:1-2; Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good, acceptable and perfect.

When we live a life of full surrender to God, with our whole selves offered up to Him, we are living pure in heart. When we allow ourselves to be transformed by Him and to live with His wisdom and discernment in our lives, so we may live fully for Him, in the plans and purposes He has given for our lives, we are living pure in heart.

There is FREEDOM!

Heavenly Father, I pray that we will let go of any legalistic and religious habits or way of living we have taken on like the Pharisees, and have cleaned only the outside of our cups. I pray that you would help us draw near to You, surrender, and give ourselves to You fully. Help us to do the intentional work it takes to keep our minds in the right places and to have repentant hearts. Transform us from the inside out, Lord, that we might see You fully and clearly, so others will see You in and through us. In Jesus’ Name!