"Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God." Matthew 5:8
Lord, how could I be pure in heart? Cause I'd sure like to see You!
Growing up I used to think "pure in heart" meant perfect, holy, blameless, sinless, spotless, blemish-free, wrinkle-free. In the back of my mind I knew I could never achieve such perfection so the best I could do was to just pretend that verse was not there. Besides, I thought this referred to seeing God in the next life, in heaven.
But now, for the first time I was beginning to realize that "seeing God" was not referring to seeing Him in eternity only. It was talking about seeing Him here and now. With the spiritual eyes of faith. I just needed to figure out how to have a "pure heart".
I started researching, praying, listening to sermons on the beatitudes. In a sermon that my pastor preached years ago, even before we joined the church, I heard (on an audio CD) an explanation that caught my attention. To be pure did not mean at all what I had thought for all these decades.
It's like a glass of water. Pure water means it has no additives. If I add to it a drop of milk, it's no longer pure water. If I add to it a grain of salt or sugar, it's no longer pure. Pure means to be of one substance. No additions. Only molecules of water.
Another verse that was brought up by my pastor was Psalm 86:11 "Unite my heart to fear Your name." It was a prayer of David. A united heart has only one focus. God!
We all know what it means to have a divided heart. A child is sick, bills need to be paid, I just got stopped for speeding, and on top of it all I have a big written exam coming up tomorrow. We try to focus on a million things at the same time. And maybe God is somewhere in there, too.
When we have a "united heart", we're of one substance. We focus on the Lord as much as I focused on this verse for all those months! Twenty-four/seven. "Blessed are the pure in heart!"....
I was still meditating on the first half of the verse, when one night I got out of bed sometimes after midnight, to go to the living room ("Loving Room" as I now call it) to spend some time with the Lord. Peace. Quiet. All are sleeping, the phone is not ringing, bills can wait, even a dish in the sink is forgotten for the time being!
It's the middle of January. I take along a blanket and I wrap it around my body. I usually sit in the dark, on the floor with my back leaning against a sofa. I pray in the dark till the Holy Spirit guides me to pick up the Word and read. As I'm sliding down, neither standing nor sitting, in a split second, the Lord shows me what it's like to "see God". Also in a split second I'm somehow protesting, "Lord, I was not yet ready for that. I'm still trying to figure out what it means to have a pure heart".
And then, as I sat down, the Lord showed me in detail what He'd just revealed to me in that one split second. He showed me that when my heart is constantly searching for Him, focused on Him, longing for His presence, I will see Him in FOUR different areas in life (in no particular order).
1. In the Word. From Genesis to Revelation. He's on every page. Not only to study about Him. Not only to aquire intelectual knowledge. But to actually see Him, to know Him, to experience Him and His intimate presence.
2. In nature. When my heart is pure, united, focused on Him, I will see Jesus in nature. All over. Sky. Clouds. Mountains. Rivers. Lakes, ocean, trees, flowers, grass. Animals, birds, creepy crawlers. Everything He made has His fingerprint on it!
3. In people's faces. Every human face. Tall, short, skinny, heavy, sick, healthy, male, female, adult, child, young, old, rich, poor, handsome, not-so-handsome, friend, foe, stranger, aquintance, free, or prisoner. You get my drift. If I see Him in every person, I'm likely to treat every person as I would treat Him.
4. And this one boggled my mind! In circumstances. How astonishing to think that when He's constantly at the forefront of our minds and hearts, we'll see Him in absolutely every circumstance.
Need I mention a few? Nah! I won't. I'll abstain. But you know, there are good circumstances, "bad" ones, and even neutral ones. Of course the "bad" ones, might only be "bad" in our own opinions. When we realize that "bad" circumstances are taylor-made by a perfectly loving God for each of us, after we allow such circumstances to bring us closer to Him, we'll inevitably admit that they were not bad afterall.
I just finished reading through the book of Job and one verse (among many) stuck with me: "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You." (Job 42:5)
Would Job exchange places with anyone in the world at this time? No! Never! Ever! He can truly say "But now my eye sees You"! Who would not want that? How badly do we want it?
In reality anyone who has "tasted of the Lord", knows that this prayer is worth making more than any other: "Lord, I trust You, I give You permission to send in my life whatever You see fit to help me to truly see You."
John 1:18 "No one has seen God at any time."
In Exodus 33:20 God says to Moses "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live." Is it worth dying to ourselves, to our selfish desires just to "see God"?
In John 14:9 Jesus says to Philip "He who has seen Me has seen the Father".
So, the question is: How badly do we want to see God? No other question is as important for a human being. Have you ever asked that of yourself? Again, I mean with the spiritual eyes of faith. Notice Job did not say "my eye has seen You." He says "my eye sees You."
And with this I should draw to a close, Lord willing.
When Jesus walked the streets of Israel, many people wanted to see Him. Among the many that come to mind, there was a man who truly, really, badly, wanted to see the Lord. Care to take a guess? If you thought of Zacchaeus, good guess! Luke 19:1-10 tells the story. Zacchaeus was "a man"! (And that would be more than many males are today.) A man! (v. 2) He was a "chief tax collector". I'm sure that means he was good at what he was doing. Good in the eyes of the world.
Successful! For it further describes him as "rich". Again, "rich" in worldly stuff. But spiritually bankrupt. Broke! POOR! A spiritual pauper.
And he had another flaw, drawback, as none of us is "perfect". He was "of short stature". (v. 3)
But there was one grand thing about Zacchaeus. He wanted to see Jesus. He wanted to see Him soooo badly, Zacchaeus suddenly did not care what people thought. Nicodemus waited for nightfall to come to Jesus, but Zacchaeus did not!
Zacchaeus could not wait for night to come. As far as he knew, he might never again have the opportunity. So he did the unthinkable. The beloved physician Luke tells us in v. 4 that Zacchaeus "ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him". Can you picture him running? Climbing a tree?
I did a little research and learned that the sycamore tree in Israel is not the same as the one by that name that gows in North America. Its fruits look like figs, but with unpleasant taste, and are eaten by the poor. Its limbs grow low, close to the ground.
But Zaccheus took the risk. It was well worth it to him. He no longer cared who saw him or what the multitude would think.
I challenge you to read the whole story in your Bible. Suffice it to say that on that day, because Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus badly enough, his life was changed. And his eternity.
Is it worth seeing Jesus?
You decide.
But it does take a pure heart! One that is constantly wanting Him badly enough to do whatever it takes to see Him.
If you feel no such desire, there's a solution. Ask Him for the desire. A short heart-felt prayer like "Lord I don't feel the desire to see You. Please give me that desire. May it consume me day and night. I would not want to rest till I see You."
Jeremiah 29:13 "you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."
Grace to you!
Natalia in Idaho
Natalia in Idaho
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