Matthew 5:8

Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.
~ Jesus

Prayer

Father God, in reading James 4 and Psalm 24, I see how much you desire people to draw near to you, to come to you. I come in the name of Jesus and ask that you would continue to shape me – the actions of my hands and the attitude of my heart. I want to become more like Jesus, the only one who truly maintained a pure heart throughout his life. I am his disciple, your child, and in his name I pray, amen.

Psalm of Meditation for the Week:

Psalm 119:97-104 (Mem)

ם

• Read: the verses twice.
  

• Mark: the words or phrases that catch your attention.
  

• Meditate: talk (better yet write) with God about those words. Ask him to impress things upon your heart and mind; expect a response from the Lord.

Pondering Point

The Psalmist acknowledges a wisdom that comes not just with understanding but with obedience.

Matthew 9:12-13

Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.
~Jesus

Some people seek to equate purity of heart with purity of motive, as if this in itself is the blessing Jesus speaks of. There is teaching in Scripture about pure motives, but there’s danger in this perspective alone.

Take sincerity for instance. People may sincerely desire to honor God, their hearts totality committed to a religious path; their motives are upright. There is no hypocrisy – and yet in light of Romans 10:2-3, they’re not under God’s blessing. The pure in heart are not blessed simply for having a pure heart, but rather they are open to the blessing that comes in the person (and work) of Jesus.

Take Jesus out of the equation, and you take out the blessing also – regardless of how pure the heart’s motive. This was the Pharisee Saul’s situation prior to his conversion. He was sincere in his faith – but sincerely wrong, as Jesus made clear to him. Saul (later the Apostle Paul), saw this issue from both sides. Pure and well-meaning motives, zeal included, can be based on an errant message.

Many of us know sincere Muslims or Mormons for example. Their religion’s beliefs don’t line up with the Jesus of the Bible. Jesus himself said: If you do not believe that I am he (who saves you from sin), you will indeed die in your sins (John 8:24).

Prayer for the day

Lord Jesus, I am under no delusions that I can purify my own heart. I come with a heart of repentance asking that you would purify me from my sins. I come in obedience to the call from God to confess my sins and I rejoice that through you I am forgiven. Thank you for such grace. And thank you for enabling it with your very life. Help me to follow you all of my days. In your name I pray, amen.

Scripture Meditation for the Day:

Psalm 119:97-98

Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies.

Statute, Command, Precept, or Decree of God:

Proverbs 1:5

Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.

The Promise:

Psalm 1:2

[Blessed is the one] whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.

Pondering Point

From the Psalmist’s perspective: God’s Word gives us a leg up on our enemies. Use it.

Psalm 51:10

Create in me a pure heart O God
~ King David

Ephesians 5:25-27

Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make
her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the
word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without
stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Prayer Prompt

Stop and think about the truth that, as part of the church, you are presented by Jesus to your Heavenly Father without stain or blemish. Rejoice in this and then give thanks to God the Father for Jesus.

Scripture Meditation for the Day:

Psalm 119:99-100

I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.

The Promise:

Psalm 128:1

Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him. 

Pondering Point

According to our writer, God’s Word can make a person wise beyond their years… with great insight.

James 4:8-9

8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

Isaiah 6:1-8(9-13)

Isaiah’s Commission

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

9 He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”

11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”

And he answered:

“Until the cities lie ruined
and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
and the fields ruined and ravaged,
12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away
and the land is utterly forsaken.
13 And though a tenth remains in the land,
it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
leave stumps when they are cut down,
so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”

It has been expressed by some Christians that merely being in the presence of God has a purifying effect. The prophet Isaiah might find agreement with that. His call from God included a very humbling awareness of his personal sinfulness and of his world’s sinfulness. But then he experienced the great grace of God through the help of an angel and a lump of coal.

Far from the disappointing lump of coal in a Christmas stocking, this piece of coal was the best gift Isaiah could receive in that moment: Freedom from sin and guilt. For us it's not an angel who's the messenger but Jesus himself; and it's not a lump of coal, but the body and blood of Jesus Christ shed for us for that freedom from sin and guilt. Take time to read the story, and then share this prayer.

Prayer

Father God what a vision that must have been for Isaiah. I yearn to know you and experience you more deeply in my world too. But I want to do that with an attitude of humility and an awareness of your great Holiness and my great sinfulness. Between those two I am grateful for Jesus who bridges the gap and serves as an intercessor that brings me peace with you. As the angels of heaven sang Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth among those on whom your favor rests, I give you glory for your favor rest on me in Jesus. Amen

Prayer for Worship

Spirit of God, You are my primary teacher of God’s Word; I submit my heart and mind, my soul and spirit, my will and imagination to You as I immerse myself in the Word during these dedicated moments. Teach me in Jesus’ name, Amen.