Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God”, Matthew 5:8. Heart purity is seeing God in every situation. There lies the daily challenge. In every circumstance lies the opportunity to either complain, blame others, blame the devil….or find God in it. God is in control of my circumstances and is able to use them to His advantage for His work in me. In the economy of God there is no waste. He uses everything if I invite Him into my situation. Romans 8:28 is not an option to suit my whims. God’s word stands true, tall and steadfast in declaring: “ALL things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose”.
Therefore, heart purity is essential for spiritual discernment. Discernment is sadly lacking in the Body of Christ. It is prevented by judging situations from “eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil”, Genesis 3. The first commandment God gave to mankind was not to eat of this forbidden fruit. We were never meant to judge situations from our knowledge and intellect, but to find God in what He has permitted, ( not necessarily sent from Him, but to be used by Him to do a work in me). For example: A lady travelling alone in her car has a puncture in a tyre. She gets out of her car and sees the problem. Here comes the choice: She can be swayed by emotions of stress and exasperation, bemoaning her lot, or, out of a pure heart, (seeing God, not the puncture), she can ask the Lord to undertake. She does not judge the situation as “bad” by eating of the tree, but immediately, (or maybe eventually), turns it over to the Lord, seeing Him in control of everything. She refuses to judge her predicament with her natural judgement, even though she is greatly inconvenienced as, for various reasons, she is unable to replace the tyre herself. As she is guarding her heart and waiting on the Lord, our Heavenly Father is well pleased and sends help. Eventually, a car comes along with two young men in it. As they begin to overtake they see the flat tyre and pull over, offering the lady assistance. She gratefully accepts their chivalry as they replace the flat tyre with the spare, and each continue their journey. The lady experiences the joy of a thankful heart for God’s provision.
Know God, know peace. No God, no peace. I can live in God’s peace, or live in pieces!
Our emotions are God given and are an important part of our makeup. We have often quoted: Emotions make good servants, but bad masters! If we allow them to rule us, our lives can become a roller-coaster. This happens when we judge situations by the tree of knowledge, seeing them as good or bad, instead of having spiritual discernment, knowing God is in full control and receiving direction from Him. Our emotions need to be mastered by the Holy Spirit.
The Word of God, the Bible, is our immovable benchmark for everything to be measured by, showing things that are out of line and revealing the true. History is past, the future beckons us but the Word of God endures forever. When our emotions surface, they can be beautiful servants instead of deceiving masters.
I covet the place not to be ruled by my feelings. My warrant is the Word of God, not my feelings. The Word is a person, Jesus. He is the reality. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”, 1 John 1:1
“And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us…”, 1 John 1:14.
Jesus taught us: “If you love me, keep my commandments”, John 14:15. The first commandment God gave in Genesis 3, not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, has never been rescinded. If I continue to eat from the tree, (using natural judgement to decide what is good for me), will I ever know true discernment from God.
Nehemiah 8:10 “The joy of the Lord is my strength”. This joy is the strength to take me through any situation. It is the abiding life of Christ. Richard Wurmbrand (1909-2001), the Romanian Jew imprisoned for his faith in Christ and opposing the communist regime, suffered years of torture during his incarceration. Would he have been joyful about his tortured years? No-one welcomes pain but his strength received to endure those dark years was the abiding life of Christ.
Colossians 3:15 “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts”. I have a choice. This peace lies in the person of Jesus Christ who desires to reign in my heart. The peace of God was first shattered when sin entered the world, but God had a plan to restore and redeem it……He sent His Son, Jesus Christ. We no longer have to be ruled by sin or feelings. Do not settle for less than what God intended for us. We can grow in our experience of that promised peace. We live in a world stricken with trouble, disease and turmoil but let us covet the place where we will not allow ourselves to be robbed of our birthright in Christ – His joy, peace and strength for the journey we are on – with Him! Set God’s rhythm for your life, amid all the problems He is ever present…..and where He is, there is fullness of joy.
Psalm 16:11 “You will show me the path of life, in your presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand there are pleasures for evermore”.
