The place we unconsciously strive toward is what ancient philosophers of habit called our telos—our goal, our end. But the telos we live toward is not something that we primarily know or believe or think about; rather, our telos is what we want, what we long for, what we crave. James Smith
Scripture
God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.
Application
God loves people who are pure in heart and He promises that they will see Him.
The word pure (in Greek, katharos) means clean, not dirty or stained. To be pure in heart means to be forgiven or righteous To be pure in heart does not mean that we never sin or that we never think about bad things or that our thoughts are always focused on the Lord. You can be pure in heart even though you struggle with sin and temptation, You just need to confess it to the Lord and ask Him to forgive you.
The person who is pure in heart knows how to walk in God’s ways even when they are sometimes sidetracked by sin, The compass in their heart always points them back to the Lord.
The promise for these people is that they will see God. If your heart’s desire is to see God, you will want nothing other than that.
My desire is that, each day I grow closer in my relationship with the Lord. And that in this way, I will see Him more clearly. And when I get to heaven, I will see Him in all His glory with unveiled eyes.
Prayer
Lord, please make me pure in heart so that I can see you. Amen.
A nice ride along Culgoora Road this morning. #cycling #narrabri #Biketooter
But Augustine also notes the alternative: since our hearts are made to find their end in God, we will experience a besetting anxiety and restlessness when we try to love substitutes. To be human is to have a heart. You can’t not love. James Smith
Scripture
“God blesses those who are merciful for they will be shown mercy.”
Application
Those who show mercy- forgiveness, grace, no record-keeping, they will receive God’s mercy.
Over and over, Jesus. emphasised that if we want to receive God’s forgiveness, we must also be people who forgive.
It is there in the Lord’s Prayer. — Forgive us as we forgive others. It is in the warning about judging other people. –do not judge or you yourself will be judged. It is there also in the salvation of Zacchaeus.
This is not to say that God’s grace is in any way dependent on what we do. We do not show mercy in the hope that God will be merciful to us. God is not transactional.
No, those who truly receive God’s forgiveness and have had an encounter with the Holy Spirit will themselves become people of mercy.
Genuine conversion results in conversion of relationships, so that revenge gives way to mercy.
We don’t forgive to buy God’s forgiveness. We forgive because we have been forgiven.
This raises an interesting question. What about people who do not know Jesus, but they live lives of mercy towards others?
At the risk of being branded a heretic. I think that some people like that will be in God’s kingdom. They have instinctively grasped what it means to be forgiven and they will receive God’s mercy on the day of judgement.
Prayer
Lord, please show me areas of my life where I need to show more mercy. Thank you for your forgiveness through Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour. Amen.
A splendid spring morning in Narrabri. A quick ride to Jacks Creek and Gun Club Roads #cycling #Narrabri #Biketooter
New Life Narrabri 