Chapter 6 - The
Beatitudes
Mat_5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall
see God.
Bonhoeffer- 'Who is
pure in heart? Only those who have surrendered their hearts completely to Jesus
that he may reign in them alone. Only those whose hearts are undefiled by their
own evil-- and by their own virtues too. The pure in heart have a child-like
simplicity like Adam before the fall, innocent alike of good and evil: their
hearts are not ruled by their conscience, but by the will of Jesus. If men
renounce their own good, if in penitence they have renounced their own hearts,
if they rely solely upon Jesus, then his word purifies their hearts. Purity of
heart is here contrasted with all outward purity, even the purity of high
intentions. The pure heart is pure alike of good and evil, it belongs
exclusively to Christ and looks only to him who goes on before. Only they will
see God, who in this life have looked solely unto Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
For then their hearts are free from all defiling phantasies and are not
distracted by conflicting desires and intentions. They are wholly absorbed by
the contemplation of God. They shall see God, whose hearts have become a
reflection of the image of Jesus Christ.'
My thoughts-
We can't see our
hearts, people can't see our hearts, our inner workings, are innermost thoughts
and beliefs. All too often you'll hear
tell how shocked people are, when people they know commit crimes. They think they
know the people but they really don't. We don't know the heart. But we do know
that God can create a clean heart in us.
Psa_51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew
a right spirit within me.
If we want a pure
heart there is only ONE way to have a pure heart- by God creating it in us.
We cannot create our
own pure heart, it's impossible.
Bonhoeffer saying
this- 'Only those whose hearts are undefiled by their own evil and by their own
virtues too.'
Undefiled by our own
evil. We understand that. We know that
we are not to be evil. But is it true, can our hearts be defiled by our own
virtues, too? Our hearts can be puffed up with vanity, we can be ruined by well
doing when we turn it into something for ourselves and not of God.
Our hearts are
tricky things aren't they?
We want to do good,
but we do things that aren't good. We want self to be satisfied, not realizing
that were we given everything material in the world we still would not be
satisfied. Whether rich or poor we have
to deal with our ever tricky heart.
Our hearts need
cleansing to be pure, and only our Savior can cleanse our hearts.
David said the
following-
1Ch 29:17 I know also, my God, that thou triest the
heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine
heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy
thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee.
1Ch 29:18 O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel,
our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart
of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee:
1Ch 29:19 And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart,
to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all
these things, and to build the palace, for the which I have made provision.
Prepare their heart
unto thee.
Give unto Solomon my
son a perfect heart.
God prepares, God
gives, God creates when it comes to our hearts!
Mat_5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall
see God.
Bonhoeffer says-
'They shall see God, whose hearts have become a reflection of the image of
Jesus Christ'
This is because it
is Christ who has cleansed our hearts, creating new hearts within us.
This new heart
belongs to Christ! He knows this new heart!
We need to choose
Christ always in all things, allowing HIM to purify our hearts.
Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and
our bodies washed with pure water.
1Pe 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying
the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye
love one another with a pure heart fervently
Christ offers.
We choose.
Every single day!
Every single moment!
Christ will purify
our hearts, we must surrender our hearts to Him to purify.
We cannot keep a
hold of our heart devising our own ways, and expect Christ to purify our ways.
We must take hold of Christ's ways.
Please LORD, make
our hearts PURE in YOU!
All by YOUR LOVE!
Your amazing purifying love.
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