Monday Morning Memo: Heart Cleaning Part 2

Last week we began looking at the beatitude in Matthew 5:8, which reads, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”  The Message states it this way, “You’re blessed when you get your inside world – your mind and heart – put right.  Then you can see God in the outside world.”  We ended by asking ourselves if we really want God to see and know our heart.  He does, whether we like it or not, but what are we doing to make sure our heart is clean and fully devoted to Him?  Are we ready and willing to pray David’s prayer, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”?

So how can we maintain a pure heart as we go through our days?  By ourselves, it is impossible, but what is impossible for us is possible for God!  With Him living in us and His Spirit controlling us, we can have a heart that is pleasing to Him.

One of the most primary ways we can develop a pure heart is by spending time in the Word of God.  As the psalmist said, “How can a young man keep his way pure?  By living according to your word” (Psalm 119:9) and then in Psalm 119:11, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”   If we are struggling with having a pure heart, we need to check how much time we are spending reading the Bible.

 

Another way to maintain a pure heart is through fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ, because it helps to be accountable to one another.  Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10,”Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:  If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”  The author of Hebrews tells us in 10:24, “Let us consider how we can spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”  If you aren’t spending time with other believers, I highly encourage you to make it a priority.

 

Third, we can train our heart for pure living by serving our Jesus.  The more we serve Him, the more devoted we become and the more we will want to make sure our heart is pleasing to Him.

 

The end of this beatitude, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”, gives me chills!  When our time on this earth is over, those who have faithfully served Him as their Lord and Savior will see Him face to face for all of eternity.  I John 3:2 reads, “We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is”.

 

What an amazing promise!  Spending eternity with our Jesus is what we should look forward to…beyond college degrees, beyond climbing the corporate ladder or even beyond a secured retirement.  Seeing Him face to face will make our focus of having a pure heart all worthwhile!  

Monday Morning Memo: Heart Cleaning Part I

Today’s beatitude is the most central and significant of all the Beatitudes mentioned in this fifth chapter of Matthew. Because of this, we will look at it in two parts, one today and then we will conclude it next week.

 

Matthew 5:8 says: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”  The Message states it this way:  "You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.”

 

This beatitude is so central to our behavior because you can’t be poor in spirit without having a pure heart. You can’t mourn for the things that displease God without having a pure heart. You can’t be meek, you can’t hunger and thirst for righteousness, you can’t be merciful, you can’t be a peacemaker or be prepared to withstand persecution for the name of Christ without having a pure heart. Actually, this is one of the most central principles of the Christian life that we see in the whole Bible. The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.

 

Unfortunately, we are usually more careful to keep everything clean that is seen by others and forget about the things that only God can see. If my hands are muddy, nobody wants to shake hands with me, so I better keep them clean. If I am wearing a dirty shirt, there is a good chance you would give more attention to my shirt and not hear what I am saying. We want to keep up appearances before others, but we forget about keeping pure before God.

 

This is why Jesus gave such a harsh rebuke to the scribes and Pharisees, who thought of themselves as the purest of all people. They were extremely careful to keep their outward appearance clean before men, but they didn’t worry about their relationship with God. Jesus told them: “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too (Matthew 23:25-26). 

 

Explaining this to the disciples, He said in Matthew 15:19-20: “For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.”  

 

This is the impure heart.

 

1 Chronicles 28:9 says, “And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”

 

That is why David’s prayer in Psalm 139:23-24 was, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” 

 

There are moral laws that man can break but God cannot. Do you know there are certain things I can do that God can’t? I can lie. I can commit adultery. I can cheat. I can steal. But God can’t break these moral laws, nor can He ignore them when we break them. We are usually careful to observe the local laws set by our government because we have immediate consequences, but many times, we ignore the moral laws that have far more serious consequences. Having a pure heart means keeping God’s moral laws.

 

The interesting thing is that when we think of adultery, we think of it in the physical sense, having a sexual relation outside of marriage. The Bible does talk about this kind of adultery and certainly prohibits it. However, the Bible talks about spiritual adultery far more than physical adultery. There is a whole book written to deal with the issue of the spiritual adultery of the people of God, the book of Hosea. There are also many other chapters in the Old Testament that deal with the same subject.

 

In the New Testament, Jesus said you can’t worship God and money. So, when we devote our hearts to anything other than the cause of God, we commit spiritual adultery. As James said in James 4:4 & 8: 4) “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.”  8) “Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.”

 

Both the Old and New Testaments say, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’. This is the first and the greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38; also Deuteronomy 6:5).

 

This is a pure heart in the spiritual sense.

 

The question is, do we really want God to see and know our heart?  He does, whether we like it or not, but what are we doing to make sure our heart is clean and fully devoted to Him?  Are we ready and willing to pray David’s prayer, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”?  If we aren’t, then maybe we should spend this next week asking God to give us the courage to pray this prayer, expecting God to do a heart-cleaning within us for His glory!

 

Until next week…  

Monday Morning Memo: Do We Really Care?

I think today’s Beatitude may be one that many of us think we are living out, but if we were truly honest, we would realize we have a ways to go to fulfill it.  In Matthew 5:7 we read, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”  The version The Message states it this way: “You’re blessed when you care.  At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.”

 

I think most of us believe we care about others, but maybe we need to analyze whether or not we really care like Jesus demonstrated for us.  We read in Ephesians 5:1-2 (The Message), “Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents.  Mostly what God does is love you.  Keep company with him and learn a life of love.  Observe how Christ loved us.  His love was not cautious but extravagant.  He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us.  Love like that.” 

 

These verses tell us that just like children imitate their parents, we should imitate Christ.  His great love for us led Him to sacrifice himself so we might live.  Our love for others should be the same kind – a love which goes beyond affection to self-sacrificing service.  In other words, we need to show true mercy. 

 

To have mercy for someone is to go the extra mile for him or her.  It’s not caring for them because you know you will get something in return.  And it’s not just having pity for someone.  I believe we can have pity for someone but not really care about them.  Pity doesn’t require any action…mercy does.

 

One definition of mercy is “compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.”  In other words, if you have someone in your life who you really do have reason to punish for what they have done to you, but you show them compassion or forgiveness, that is being merciful.  Jesus could have denied mercy to those who crucified Him, but He forgave them and asked God to forgive them.  That mercy filtered down to us, as we were the reason He hung on that cross.

 

This is where showing mercy can become really difficult.  Since we are to imitate Christ, we are to also show mercy and concern for those who we could just as easily hurt…maybe because they hurt us first.  It isn’t easy though to show mercy to someone who has seriously wronged us, is it?  Our first thought is usually revenge, but God tells us to be merciful.  If we are going to look like our Jesus, we need to be willing to show mercy by forgiving the person who has wronged us…even though that tends to go against the grain.  Now it may be necessary for there to be some sort of punishment or restitution from the person who wronged us, but we can still forgive them.

 

Preventing suffering is another means of showing mercy.  When we donate to the Red Cross, our church or other charitable organizations, we are showing mercy.  When we hand a bottle of cold water to someone who needs it, we are showing mercy.  Any way we can help…fits the description.  The best way to show mercy is to act.  Even the words “I forgive you” requires action on our part…we really must forgive and not store it up for later use.

 

There are other mental things we need to watch out for if we truly want to show mercy.  The first is not to feel like we’re somehow the better person.  Any “holier than thou” reaction negates the good done by our actions.

 

Secondly, we need to avoid announcing our good deeds.  Jesus called out the Pharisees for this, and the same holds true for us.  Telling about how we’ve been feeding, clothing or otherwise helping those in need makes us look good in the eyes of others.  If that is our goal, it may be the only reward we receive.

 

Unfortunately, mercy is only easy if the other person is doing it.  When it comes down to you and me, it gets a lot harder.  But it can be done, as it was done for us.

 

We need to remind ourselves from time to time that the Beatitudes represent signs of those who are truly Christ’s disciples.  So, if we genuinely want to be a devoted follower of His, we need to be willing to show mercy.  Only then will we be care-full.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!  Peter Marshall once said, “May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.”  Many have sacrificed so that we can experience our independence…but we need to be willing to continue standing up for what is right and true…according to God’s Word…if we are going to be able to keep this freedom.  

Please join me in living out Philippians 4:8:  “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

Monday Morning Memo: How Hungry Are You?

We are in the fourth week of looking at the Beatitudes which are found in Matthew 5.  Each of these beatitudes tell us how to be blessed.  “Blessed” means more than happiness.  These beatitudes don’t promise laughter, pleasure or earthly prosperity.  To Jesus, “blessed” means having hope and joy, independent of outward circumstances.  To find hope and joy, which is the deepest form of happiness, we need to follow Jesus no matter what the cost. 

 

Hopefully, as we look at a beatitude each week, it will help us to understand how we can experience this hope and joy that Jesus speaks of…regardless of what is happening around us.  Yes, even when our world seems unhinged.

 

This week we are exploring the fourth beatitude and I will share it from the New International version of the Bible…and then from the version The Message…which puts it in today’s language.

 

Matthew 5:6 in the NIV reads: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

The Message reads:  "You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.”

I don’t know about you, but when I am really hungry, nothing much gets in my way of finding something to eat.  I have heard people make the comment that they were just too busy that day to eat.  I’ve never said that.  I’ve had days in my life when I’ve had an extremely crazy schedule from morning until night…but I’ve always made sure I found the time to eat...and not just once in a day but all three meals!

I think this beatitude is telling us that it should be the same way with spending time with Christ.  I need to make it a priority to rearrange my schedule, no matter how busy it is, in order to set aside time each day for prayer and Bible study.  But how many times have I gotten to the end of the day and realized I never spent time alone with Him?  Of course, I’ve usually used the excuse that I was just too busy.  Huh. I’ve never been too busy to eat…but I’ve been too busy to spend time with my Jesus?  Doesn’t sound right, does it?

Philippians 3:7-11 in The Message says this:

 

“The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God's righteousness.

I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.”

In these verses, Paul was willing to give up anything and everything to know Christ more.  His family, friendships, his freedom – in order to know Christ and experience His power.  Just like Paul, we should value our relationship with Christ as more important than anything else.  To know Christ should be our ultimate goal.  But we aren’t going to know Him unless we are studying His Word and spending time in prayer.  It is so amazing that we have access to His knowledge and His power, but we may have to make sacrifices to enjoy it fully.

"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.”

It comes down to these questions:  

How hungry are you to know Christ?  What are you willing to give up in order to set aside time each day for prayer and Bible study?  A crowded schedule? Your friend’s approval?  Some of your plans or pleasures?  Whatever it is, knowing Christ is more than worth the sacrifice and I promise you will be blessed for making Him top priority in your life.  

Monday Morning Memo: Is Christ Enough?

We are in the third week of looking at the Beatitudes which are found in Matthew 5.  Each of these beatitudes tell us how to be blessed.  “Blessed” means more than happiness.  These beatitudes don’t promise laughter, pleasure or earthly prosperity.  To Jesus, “blessed” means having hope and joy, independent of outward circumstances.  To find hope and joy, which is the deepest form of happiness, we need to follow Jesus no matter what the cost. 

 

Hopefully, as we look at a beatitude each week, it will help us to understand how we can experience this hope and joy that Jesus speaks of…regardless of what is happening around us.  Yes, even when our world seems unhinged.

 

This week we are exploring the third beatitude and I will share it from the New International version of the Bible…and then from the version The Message…which puts it in today’s language.

 

Matthew 5:5 in the NIV reads: “Blessed are the meek; for they will inherit the earth.” 

The Message reads:  "You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.”

I think a lot of people today are not content.  We have been so programmed to always want more, to get ahead, to do better than the person next to us.  No matter what we have, it’s never enough.  Maybe we need to ask ourselves, “Are we content in any circumstance that we face?”

Social media has had a huge impact on our lives…some things have been good and some have been bad.  When it comes to contentment, I think sites like Facebook and Instagram have played a huge role in causing many to be discontent.  I believe the reason is that we often don’t post those things from our day that don’t look “pretty”.  Those times when we lose our temper with our kids…our spouse…or our coworkers.  We don’t post when our house looks like a bomb went off or when we’ve driven through the drive-thru lane for the fourth time in one week to quickly get our kids fed… before dropping them off at yet another practice.  

Instead…we post only the highlights.  We get those beautiful children of ours perfectly posed to make it appear that they always get along and life is perfect…and then we quickly snap a picture before they start killing each other because one of them is breathing the other one’s air.  Yep, I’ve been there.  And the same can be true for vacations…jobs…marriages…even the home in which we live.  Only posting those flawless moments can make it appear to others that you don’t ever struggle and as we all know…there isn’t anyone who never struggles.

It's often hard to be content…when what you see on social media only reminds you of what you don’t possess.  They have a nicer home…they have better behaved children…they have better jobs with better pay…they have an amazing spouse who spoils them…they get to go on exotic vacations.  None of these things are wrong…but to a person who is struggling with being content…they are all just reminders of what they wish they possessed.

Allow me to let you in on a little secret.  No one’s family, home, job, marriage or even vacation is perfect.  And in the end…none of those things will bring true contentment. Yes, they can bring you joy for a season…but no possession or no other person will bring you lasting, everyday contentment.

Paul shares in Philippians 4:11-13 in The Message about being content: “Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.”

The secret to true contentment is to get to the place where Christ is enough.  Nothing else is needed…beyond Christ…to make us content.  No matter what life throws at us…or what circumstances we find ourselves in…we can be content. To do this, we need to rely on God’s promises and Christ’s power to help us.  If we are always wanting more, we need to ask God to remove that desire and teach us contentment in every circumstance.  He has promised to supply all our needs, but in a way in which He knows is best for us.  Whatever we need on this earth, He will supply.  

We must remember, however, the difference between our wants and our needs.  Most of us want to feel good and avoid discomfort or pain.  Many of us want just a little bit more than the next person.  We need to realize that we may not get all we want.  When we learn to trust in Christ, our attitudes and appetites can change from wanting everything to accepting His provision and power to live for Him.  That may mean that our health may not be perfect, and our possessions may not make someone else drool.  But when Christ is enough…we can be content in knowing He will take care of all our needs and walk with us every step of the way.

"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.”

Contentment can’t be bought…but it can be experienced when Christ is enough.  If this is something you are struggling with today…why not give your desires and your wants to Jesus and trust Him to give you what you need.  Only then will you be truly blessed.

Monday Morning Memo: Many Kinds of Loss

I shared last week that I thought it might be a good idea for us to look at the beatitudes this summer…which can be found in Matthew 5.  Each of these beatitudes tell us how to be blessed.  “Blessed” means more than happiness.  These beatitudes don’t promise laughter, pleasure or earthly prosperity.  To Jesus, “blessed” means having hope and joy, independent of outward circumstances.  To find hope and joy, which is the deepest form of happiness, we need to follow Jesus no matter what the cost. 

 

Hopefully, as we look at a beatitude each week, it will help us to understand how we can experience this hope and joy that Jesus speaks of…regardless of what is happening around us.  Yes, even when our world seems unhinged.

 

This week we are exploring the second beatitude and I will share it from the New International version of the Bible…and then from the version The Message…which puts it in today’s language.

 

Matthew 5:4 in the NIV reads: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted”.

 

The Message reads:  "You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.”

Too often we read this beatitude and think it is just talking about when we lose someone by death.  But that’s not the case.  As I said last week, life isn’t always easy and there are many ways we can feel loss and dealing with the pain can be most difficult.

 

2 Corinthians 1:3-5, also in The Message, is a great scripture to help us understand this verse and develop this particular attitude:

“All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too.”

 

Many think that when God comforts us, our troubles should go away.  But if that were always true, people would turn to God only out of a desire to be relieved of pain and not out of love for Him.  We need to understand that being comforted can also mean receiving strength, encouragement, and hope to deal with our troubles.  The more we suffer, the more comfort God gives us.  

 

This has been proven in my life over and over again.  As many of you know, I have a disorder that causes my body to go “out of whack” easily.  It never happens at a convenient time…because pain is never convenient.  There is never a good time to hurt and if I had my way, God would heal me and allow me to function more easily.  But so far that hasn’t been His will for my life and as a result, I have a much greater empathy for those who are also suffering.  

 

I can’t tell you the number of times when others have come to me because they are also hurting.  They too are facing burdens that at times, seem unbearable.  They also know what pain is like, whether it is physical, emotional or spiritual…and oftentimes they just need to hear that they are not alone; that what they are facing, I have also faced…and I can attest to the faithfulness of my Jesus.  I can’t take their pain away…but I can be the one to help comfort and remind them that they are not alone.

 

If my pain can bring Him glory…I know it will be worth it.  But remembering that isn’t always easy when I’m in the “trenches” of hurt.  It’s at that moment, when God often brings someone alongside me to encourage, uplift and point me back to Jesus…because they have also known pain in their life.  You see, God often uses others to bring His comfort to us, because He knows that as humans…knowing we aren’t alone can make a world of difference on our journey.

 

"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.”  

I don’t know what you may have lost today.  It may be loss of health, loss of a relationship, loss of a loved one, loss of security or even loss of emotional stability.  Whatever is making you feel overwhelmed today, allow God to comfort you.  Allow others to walk this road with you so they can point you to Jesus.  And remember, every trial you endure will help you comfort other people who are going through similar troubles…so while you are looking up to your Jesus…look around for those who may not know to look to Him.