Pure in Heart

Jesus’ longest sermon recorded in Scripture is known as the Sermon on the Mount, and it stretches across three chapters of Matthew, from chapter 5 to chapter 7. As Jesus is preaching the sermon on the mount, He’s standing along the sea of Galilee preaching to people of all different backgrounds, stories, and understandings of who God is. 

Throughout Jesus’ sermon, He’s teaching the people all about the Kingdom of God, and how it’s different from the world. He opens with a powerful blessing on those who are poor in Spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted for the gospel of Jesus. As believers in Jesus, we are deeply blessed by God. 

Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart…” 

Many of the people that Jesus was preaching to were coming from a performance, works-based faith, trying to earn salvation through their good works. I think many of us can relate. Maybe we don’t consider it an effort to earn salvation, but we are trying to be good enough for God, good enough to deserve love, and good enough for the people around us. So we perform, we put on a face, and we strive to be enough on our own. 

God sees right through our works, right through our performance, right through our outward appearance, and looks to our hearts. He looks at our heart posture and fixation. He knows us for who we are, and He loves us too much for care more about our outward performance than our heart posture. 

Jesus doesn’t just want us to fix our appearance and make us outwardly better, He wants to make our hearts pure. He wants to transform us, free us, and bring us into the life He created us to live. A pure heart is a heart aligned with God’s, completely fixed on Him. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” 

Is your heart truly fixed on God? What is in the way of your heart being fixed on God?

We may feel tempted to focus more on our outward appearance because true heart transformation seems impossible. The truth is, we are incapable of changing our own hearts. This beckons us into a deep reliance on God. Galatians 5:25 says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is active and alive in us, and He is the One who transforms us as we read God’s Word, as we pray continuously, worship, and repent. 

 “...for they shall see God.” 

As we are transformed and our hearts are made pure, Jesus tells us that we will see God. How great a blessing it is that the King and Creator of the world would be so kind to reveal Himself to us, to show us more and more of who He is. Psalm 27:4 says, “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” 

We are desperate for God. We are desperate to know Him, to see Him, and to experience His power in our lives. Whether you know it yet or not, our God is the One you are desperate for. God is a good God. When we seek His face, we will see Him.

I want to end with sharing just a few of the names and characteristics of God, so that our hearts and minds can continue to focus on who He is and all that He has done.

God is the Creator and Sustainer of all the world

King of Kings 

Lord of lords 

Alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end 

The Lord who provides

The Lord who heals 

The Lord who satisfies 

The Lord who sanctifies 

The Lord of peace 

The Lord our shepherd 

Everlasting God 

Mighty God 

Good Father 

We are a blessed people. Thank you God. 🤍