Part 6 - Blessed are the pure in heart
The heart. ..
It’s a funny thing isn't it?
In 2014, Selina Gomez made a hit song that repeatedly reminded us that the heat wants, what the heart wants.
Which Emily Dickinsin wrote in the late 1800s saying, “The heart wants what it wants - or else it does not care.”
Both of these writers are saying the same thing. The heart uncontrollably wants whatever it wants.
Think about this, the heart is the only organ that doesn’t ever completely rest. We have a resting heart beat, but we cannot afford the moment for it to completely shut down. If it does, we are in massive trouble. The heart must keep going.
This is the same with the spiritual heart.
It is always in motion. I believe this is the way God designed it. He wanted our heart to always long for something, or else it would never have the opportunity to long for him. We were made to chase after him.
But here is the main problem with the heart. If we don’t control it . . . it will control us. See, the heart is the center of our being. It causes us to long for things, or to want things to change. Our heart controls us more than we ever realize.
It’s why you make impulsive decisions. Your heart is actually faster than your brain. So you make a decision based on what you want, without ever letting it have the opportunity to help you really see what you want. It’s why there is such a thing as buyers remorse. It’s why most people have a day of reckoning when the first payment to something is due. Deep down in their heart, they reasoned that they needed something, when in reality, they only wanted it. But the heart was to powerful to let them slow down and reason.
Sir Isaac Newton said it this way in one of his laws of physics - An object in motion tends to stay in motion, until reacted upon by an unbalanced force. This is his first law of motion. Little did he know, he was also describing the spiritual heart. It will always stay in motion. But where it goes either is impulsively controlled, or directed by an equal force.
In the history of the Israelites, there is moment that we all quote out of context in a super detrimental way. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
That is always such an inspirational verse. Until you learn the context. The Israelites had not only rejected God, but had refused to return to him after the warning of the prophets. They were stubborn and heard hearted. So God wanted to remind them that he had plans for them. And the only way to do this properly, was to allow them the result of their own heart’s rebellion. He told them this as he was sending them into captivity in Babylon. They were about to become captives to the land of idolatry and self consumption, because they were no longer interested in chasing after God’s heart. So, he was letting them become captive to the kingdom of Babylon - a kingdom only concerned with building a name for themselves. But the very next verse explains it all. Listen to this
“For I know the plans I have for you,” Declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
God was showing them that they had allowed their hearts to bring them to a place they never should have been. They allowed their hearts to control them and lead them away from the heart of God. So, the only way to get their attention, was to let them become captives. This captivity would put such pressure and oppression on them, that it would cause them to look for God again. And, he says, when the result of this becomes them redirecting all of their heart to him - then they would find HIm.
See, our heart is always trying to lead us to whatever it wants.
And like we’ve said about sin, that means it leads us to things that aren’t right for us, but look so good. Let’s put this into practical terms for a moment. How many of you made new year resolutions? You know there is something that you want to change, and you want to see a “better you” so you commit to making this change. Yet a few weeks into it, your heart is complaining and begrudging the fact that you ever decided to start down this path.
And so you thought you would get healthier, but those tacos are calling you. And your heart really believes you need 5 tacos instead of 3. Or you see that Graham Central Station Ice Cream from Handles ice cream shop in Newport, and you can’t help yourself. . . . Oh, that was a little personal there. . . The heart screams for these things. And you have to fight hard to get away from them. . .
So what do you do?
Well, you train yourself. You have to work at directing your heart, so that your heart does’t direct you. This means engaging your mind with your heart. It requires stopping and questioning your decisions, BEFORE you make them. The only way to truly control you heart, is through constant training and dedication to making the right decisions.
But here is the problem. We don’t do those type of decisions long enough for us to get them into our heart. So we mentally want to get healthier, so we try to eat right. But that takes a long practice and a lot of self control to not give into the hearts desire for Ice Cream.
And to be fair, this isn’t just a health thing. You can say the same with your sex life. Maybe you are in a relationship where you say, “I don’t want to give into them again, I want to do things right.” Yet you have set no guardrails and no way of keeping your heart in check so that you don’t follow the same pattern you have walked down.
Or you desperately want to save money so that you can save for a future and take care of living properly, yet you walk around with your debit card on your phone so that you can tap to pay without ever thinking about what you just spent.
Ok, not take this to the context of Jesus’s sermon on the mount as he continues on. He says in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
Whoa! Jesus just hit us with a bomb!
Pure in heart. . . What does that even mean?
The word Pure here is the Greek word katharos - meaning free from corrupt desire, from sin and guilt, blameless, innocent, unstained with the guilt of anything.
That’s huge! Because he isn’t talking about you, he is talking about your heart. See, we can be forgiven of our sins and made new every day. But the heart will continue leading us wherever it is pointed. So if we have not stopped to align our heart with the heart of God, it will lead us away from him.
So God let the Israelites go into captivity so they could learn to direct their heart. And when they pointed it after God, it began to find him.
And now Jesus says, that if you are pure in heart, you too will see God.
HOW?
What do we do?
There are so many things trying to get your attention. Every day you see things, hear things, think things, that are influenced by social and cultural norms instead of by the heart of God. You can’t control those things. You will drive down the road and see a billboard for something you don’t need. You will see an ad come across your phone that causes your mind to wander, or your thoughts to pervert. You can’t control those things.
But what you CAN control - is the frequency by which those enter your heart.
If you are trying to train your heart to long for God, yet you spend 5 times the amount of time on netflix as you do studying scripture, which do you think is directing your heart more?
If you want the presence of God, but spend most of your day filling your ears with music that is opposed to glorifying God, what do you think the message is that your heart is hearing?
If you spend more time dreaming about what things you want and how you will get them, than you do time praying about what God would want and how you can please him, what do you think your heart is going to pursue?
See, here is the rub. I’ve said from the beginning of this series that Jesus isn’t calling us to DO more, he is calling us to BE. But this step requires something of you. If you are going to have a PURE HEART, it starts with you doing the work to guard your heart. It is why King Solomon observed life and realized his own demise. He says in Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
See, the heart wants what the heart wants. It’s actually how God designed it. Set it in motion in the proper directions and it will actually begin to lead you. And the promise of Jesus is that blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
When you find a way to make your heart long for God, it will actually lead you to him. This is a practice of taking it from mindful duty, to heartfelt longing. And you do that by placing the proper influences in your life.
Find time to read the word
Set aside time to practice the art of contemplation and reflection
Do spiritual and emotional inventory in order to be real with how you are feeling.
Pray, not just for a quick second in order to thank God for you meal, or to ask him to help you with something, but pray and ask God to align your heart with his.
Fast! We’ve made the Christian art of fasting all about getting answers from God for something specific we are walking through. But what about fasting just to get closer to God and to know him more.
Here is a big one - stop watching shows that contradict a pure heart. I know some of you will be turned off by this, but if there is nudity in it - you don’t need to see it! I was at a church this past weekend that I actually loved. But the pastor mentioned a show that I bet at least half of you have seen, that I know has nudity in it. How do I know? ? ? BECAUSE IT SAYS AT THE TOP OF THE SCREEN BEFORE IT STARTS PLAYING! Kristi and I make it a habit that we will not even explore a show that has that word written at the top! Why? Because we want to guard our heart, and allow it the chance to be pure.
See, if you want a pure heart, set up the guardrails to allow your heart the chance to be pure.
Because the beauty is, if you can get your heart to the spot of being pure - it will want what it wants - which will be God. And then, you will see him!
So here is the practice.
Start by doing inventory of your life.
What things are in your life that keep your heart from having the chance to be pure?
What things have you allowed in that should be removed all together?
Don’t just get rid of those things from your life. Fill that space with a practice that will help you pursue the heart of God. Train your heart to be PURE! Then, you will see God!
And as you do, you will be able to know what you believe, and why you believe it to be true.
But for now, I love you, and as you pursue purity of heart, may God bless you!
