Blessed (Part 6)

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.  — Matthew 5:8

“If God is real, how come He doesn’t show Himself.”  “I’ve never seen God.”  “You can’t prove to me that God exists.”  How many times have you heard statements like this?  You might have been like me and even said something like this in your past.  Most of the time, these statements come from people who want to live life on their own terms, not from people who are genuinely seeking God.  People who say things like this are flat out admitting that their hearts aren’t right with the Lord.  Jesus himself says in this verse that if you are pure in heart, you will see God.

The steps to a pure heart are NOT easy steps.  You must admit to God that you have NOTHING to offer Him and receive His forgiveness (poor in spirit).  You must leave your old way of life and get rid of the things that are killing you spiritually (mourn).  You must learn how to deny yourself and get control of your sinful nature (meek).  You must begin to feed yourself the word of the Lord and worship Him with your mind (hunger and thirst for righteousness).  You must learn to forgive others for things that others would NEVER forgive (merciful).  If you are one of the very few that actually make it here, your heart will become more like the heart of Jesus (pure)…you will begin to see Him!

I can’t speak for others, but in my journey of life, I don’t think anything has changed me like the presence of the Lord.  No, I don’t literally “see” Him, but I feel Him.  The best way I can describe it is that I just get engulfed by His Spirit.  I become so aware of how unworthy I am to be in His presence, yet at the same time I am ridiculously grateful to be there.  I am so full of gratitude.  It’s like the only words I can say is “thank you, Lord…I love you, Lord.”  Sometimes, I can’t even get those words out, I can only be still and let Him love on me.  Absolutely every time it happens, I want more!  I actually remember one of the first times it happened.  I was in my car driving.  His presence just filled up the car and I had to pull over and ask Him to turn it off…I couldn’t take it.  The reason I couldn’t take it is because my heart had only begun to become pure.  The more pure it gets, the more of Him I can take…and the more I want!

Now, do not think that I am talking about being “perfect.”  I am talking about being clean.  I am not perfect, yet Jesus GAVE me perfection.  I did not earn and could never earn perfection.  I can‘t live perfectly, but I can live clean.  Cleanliness only comes through obedience…and yes it is hard!  I do not always get it right, but the more clean my heart becomes, the more of His presence I can take.  I hope many of you reading this know what I’m talking about, because it is truly an awesome thing!

I want to end by telling you about a recent time that I “saw” God.  I was taking Caroline (my 6 year old) to school and we were listening to Flyleaf’s version of “Oh How He Loves Us.”  Before they play the song, the lead singer tells the crowd that it doesn’t matter what they’ve done, it doesn’t matter where they come from…God loves them.  Then, they begin to play the song.  Right when they started to sing, Caroline looked up at me and said “Daddy, even when we are mean, God still loves us?”  There He was, right there in the passenger seat of my 1991 Ford Ranger.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Later

Adam