Spiritual Vision Through Personal Purity

March 26th, 2015 by Dave Leave a reply »

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. —Matthew 5:8

Purity is not innocence— it is much more than that. Purity is the result of continued spiritual harmony with God. We have to grow in purity. Our life with God may be right and our inner purity unblemished, yet occasionally our outer life may become spotted and stained. God intentionally does not protect us from this possibility, because this is the way we recognize the necessity of maintaining our spiritual vision through personal purity. If the outer level of our spiritual life with God is impaired to the slightest degree, we must put everything else aside until we make it right. Remember that spiritual vision depends on our character— it is “the pure in heart” who “see God.”

God makes us pure by an act of His sovereign grace, but we still have something that we must carefully watch. It is through our bodily life coming in contact with other people and other points of view that we tend to become tarnished. Not only must our “inner sanctuary” be kept right with God, but also the “outer courts” must be brought into perfect harmony with the purity God gives us through His grace. Our spiritual vision and understanding is immediately blurred when our “outer court” is stained. If we want to maintain personal intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ, it will mean refusing to do or even think certain things. And some things that are acceptable for others will become unacceptable for us.

A practical help in keeping your personal purity unblemished in your relations with other people is to begin to see them as God does. Say to yourself, “That man or that woman is perfect in Christ Jesus! That friend or that relative is perfect in Christ Jesus!”

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March 26 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Dear Lord, being and or keeping myself pure seems like an unattainable goal.  Sometimes I feel like my Christian life is two steps forward and three steps backward.  When my pride or selfish wants and needs get in the way, I can make choices that have more to do with making me look or feel good.  I can rationalize and otherwise obfuscate my responsibilities and Christian discipline. How can I be certain that I am growing in purity when it seems like I am always behind the curve in that area?

And God says…”First of all you must always see yourself as I see you; as a child of God, perfect in every way, as the result of the sacrifice of Christ Jesus.  And instead of looking at your blemishes, or working hard on more and more discipline, trust that I will mold and shape you in and to my likeness.”

“Remember, purity is the result of being in continued harmony with Me.  And when you are in harmony, or when (as you say) you are connected with Me, you are being transformed.  And as this transformation is being accomplished you will find that you no longer have to struggle to make the right choices. Over time, the blemishes disappear and you find that right choices are the only choices you are able to make.  Acknowledge me in all your ways and I will make your paths straight.  Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will provide everything else you need in your life, including your transformation and purity. Your role is to surrender, be connected, curious, expectant and obedient.  Delight yourself in the Lord, and I will give you the desires of your heart.”

 

Journal DJR
Good Morning, Lord,

Today Oswald Chambers gives the practical advice of looking at others and trying to see them through your eyes … perfect in Christ. This is a useful tool, but perhaps even more important and primary is to look at ourselves and see ourselves through your eyes … perfect in Christ. Seeing ourselves this way frees us from the bondage of guilt and allows us to see others that way also. We have been so used to “human motivations” (guilt management, comparing against others or checklists, etc) that we are left with the question, “how then shall we deal with the remaining sin that we see in our lives?” or why try to get better if we’re already perfect in Christ? Especially if we dont feel like it.

You are right. Human motivation will fail at perfecting you in Christ. But remember, My ways are higher than your ways. My thoughts are different and higher than your thoughts. If you strive for perfection with guilt management and checking off checklists, you will get tired and disappointed in your lack of perfection. On the other hand if you rely on my completed work and hold your remaining imperfections in a stress free “open palm”… and stay connected daily with me … I will give you the motivation and ability to leave those imperfections behind. Stressing to be better won’t make you better. It will actually hold you back because when you’re stressing, you’re not hearing or seeing.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Matt 11:28

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