Jesus said "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" Matthew 5:8. The scriptures have a lot to say about the heart. Solomon the wisest man to live outside of Jesus Christ said "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life" Proverbs 4:23. We are commanded to love God with all our heart. The heart of the physical body is the central focus of our physical health. It is vital to have a healthy heart if we are going to live a fruitful, productive life. The heart that the Bible refers to is our spiritual heart or the central focus for our spiritual health. This is why Solomon stated the most important thing in life in having wisdom is the guarding of our heart. Guarding our motivations, actions and thought life is at the core of guarding our heart. Let us not deceive ourselves in thinking that we have pure motives while our actions are contrary to good, healthy Christian living. As well do not deceive ourselves if our actions are good but we have a corrupted thought life. The prophet Jeremiah addressed this issue "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? "I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve." Jeremiah 17:9-10. Therefore how to I examine my heart? How can I have the assurance that I have a pure heart? The answer to this question may surprise some but if one will heed this they can prevent having a deceitful heart. First, make sure I am in proper standing is God, that all my sins are forgiven through Jesus Christ the only Savior and Lord of all life. Second, examine the heart by what you are doing with your time, talents and money. Jesus said "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" Matthew 6:21. Understanding our treasure is basically understanding what is important and in what am I putting my trust. I examine this area by what I am actually doing and not on what I say I want to do. Some people say that God is number one in their life but they rarely attend church, do not tithe, do not read their Bible consistently, do not pray often and are ungrateful people. By their actions it is clear that God is not number one though they have convinced themselves that is the case. A careful self examination before God would clear us this misunderstanding. I want to see God, I want you to see God. Jesus said that if I and you are pure in heart we will see God. Let us take the words of Jesus seriously and do whatever we need to do in order to be pure of heart.
May the Lord bless you and keep you in His love.
Pastor John
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