“Blessed are the pure in heart,
For THEY shall see God.”
Matthew 5:8
Purity is the precursor to joy. It is the atmosphere of heaven, the spring from which the waters of salvation flow. Purity of heart is the fruit of discipleship. The human heart seeks joy; it is the inherent longing of every soul. Man was created for joy by the Creator of all good things.
With the fall, man’s passion became twisted, self-centered, and lustful. In the denial of God, joy eludes the grasping nature of fallen man. That which man was created for is lost by their renunciation of God.
“In Your presence is fullness of joy…”
Psalm 16:11 (LITV)
True joy does not come from activity or location. It is the uncontaminated air of His heavenly Presence.
Purity of heart will determine our growth in God.
“Then laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil words, as newborn babes desire the pure soul-nourishing milk, that you may grow by it.”
1 Peter 2:1-2 (LITV)
Salvation is much more than forgiveness of sins. True salvation progressively delivers us FROM our sins. To be forgiven while holding fast to the hideous sins of a fallen nature will prevent my growth and enjoyment of Him; such is the folly of religion.
“She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus,
For He will save His people FROM their sins.”
Matthew 1:21 (ESV)
Forgiveness and Joy
The saints of old knew the secret of His Presence and ordered their lives accordingly. They discovered that the joy of prayer and communion with Him was predicated on their forgiveness of others.
“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.”
Mark 11:25 (NKJV)
It is the joy of His Presence that presses every true child of God to pursue purity. Wherever there is the hope of seeing Him, there will be a corresponding desire for purity.
“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
1 John 3:2-3 (NKJV)
King David knew from personal experience that it was only by walking in God’s ways that he would dwell in God’s presence and know the “fullness of joy.”
“You will make Me know the way of life.
In Your presence is fullness of joys…”
Psalm 16:11 (LITV)
“Simplicity and purity are the two wings by which a man is
lifted above all earthly things. Simplicity is in the intention
— purity in the affection. Simplicity tends to God,
— purity apprehends and tastes Him.”
Thomas A Kempis
“Blessed are the pure in heart,
For THEY shall see God.”
The Longing of Life Series:
The Longing of Life (LINK)
The Longing of Life – His Invitation (LINK)
The Longing of Life – Choices (LINK)
Brian Troxel
Yes, Amen to the Amen of our ardently affectionate Abba Almighty (Rev. 3:14)! Continue coming, our Savior God, our Bridegroom King Jesus. We love Your appearing, and to You are greatly glad and gloriously grateful that through our graced hearts’ eyes of faith functioning by love, we behold the boundless beauty and beneficence of Yourself who is the limitless largess of love.
By beholding You, our All-Magnificent Obsession and Forever First Love, we, becoming like You, our spirits shine supernal as light in You, our liberating Lover Lord, Yourself our progress, our joy, our magnanimous ministry. As by adoringly abiding, thus in supraconscious union, giving ourselves to You, in intensely intimate, celestial communion, from glory to glory, we ceaselessly conform to Your character to that perfect day. Our Bright and Morning Star, You mercifully are for each morning, and our Dayspring from on High, You munificently are through every day, as we surrender to Your superscendent splendor in the singularity and verity of devotion to You, our transcendent Treasure, our exceeding great Reward, our heavenly Inheritance everlasting. And we, ourselves, are Your inheritance everlasting.
We deeply delight that You are the One, the exclusive excellence of egress from this earth, even while in these earthen vessels, to experience the exhaustless ecstasies of eternal enjoyment, by the actuality of Your Spirit of supernaturality, who is the purity, the passion, the power of our endless lives, which love nothing in all creation can separate us from.
Galatians 5:6 AMP
For [if we are] in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but only faith activated and expressed and working through love.
2 Corinthians 3:18 AMP
18 And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 13:13 AMP
And now there remain: faith [abiding trust in God and His promises], hope [confident expectation of eternal salvation], love [unselfish love for others growing out of God’s love for me], these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of these is love.
1 John 4:8, 16, 17 AMP
8 The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.]
16 We have come to know [by personal observation and experience], and have believed [with deep, consistent faith] the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides continually in him.
17 In this [union and fellowship with Him], love is completed and perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him]; because as He is, so are we in this world.
Ephesians 1:18-19 AMP
18 And [I pray] that the eyes of your heart [the very center and core of your being] may be enlightened [flooded with light by the Holy Spirit], so that you will know and cherish the hope [the divine guarantee, the confident expectation] to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints (God’s people),
19 and [so that you will begin to know] what the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His [active, spiritual] power is in us who believe.
Romans 8:38-39 AMP
For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.