Cultivating Pure Hearts So We Can Magnify God

    Good morning!! This week I would like each one of us focus on our heart - the source of our thoughts and words (Proverbs 23:7, Luke 6:45).

    In order to declare God's greatness to the world around us we need to uproot the weeds of complaining, comparison, jealousy, envy, lust, gossip, and anger, to name only a few.

    From wherever you are right now, begin to remove the weed-enhancing influences in your life: soap operas/TV shows/movies/online videos full of immorality, gossip, and bad language; music and/or books that fills your mind with impurities like lust, adultery and fornication. Maybe for you it's idle mind time where you indulge your negative imaginings/anxieties and let the 'worst case scenario' play out in your mind's eye or it could be that you allow yourself to look back on memories of your sinful past with longing. Whatever it is, get to the source and work to remove it from your life.

"... brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things." (Philippians 4:8 NKJV)

    We should be determined each day to do the work and make the necessary choices/changes that will keep us heading toward a purer heart (1 John 3:1-3). Make time to be with others who are also trying to live right before God:

"Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." (2 Timothy 2:22 NKJV)

    When we change our heart, our motives will become loving, our attitudes will improve, our words will reflect the peace and contentment that comes from acknowledging God's blessings of provision in all things!

    We can do this! We can polish our armour and reflect light into the darkness of this world! Let's purify our hearts and magnify God, declaring His greatness and the greatness of His way!

"Let them shout for joy and be glad, who favour my righteous cause; And let them say continually, "Let the LORD be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant." And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness and of Your praise all the day long." (Psalm 35:27-28 NKJV)

You can do it! So can I!! 

Magnifying God

    Good morning!! Today is another opportunity to prove to the world that doing God's will really is the best way to thrive!! Consider these verses as you go about your day:

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:1-2 NKJV)

“I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall makes its boast in the LORD; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together.” (Psalm 34:1-3 NKJV)

    When we magnify God we declare His greatness! What descriptive words come to mind when you think of God?

    Glorious, Magnificent, Majestic, Loving, Merciful, Holy, Patient, Pure, Powerful…

How Can We Magnify God In Our Daily Walk?

•         Sanctify God in Your Hearts - Determine to seek God with your whole heart, your whole soul, and your whole mind (Matthew 22:37, 1 Peter 3:15). Renew this determination every day!
•          Read His Word - How can we know God without reading His Word? Dig in! (Psalm 119:11-16, 17-18)
•          Pray - Get comfortable communicating with Him! Never give up on prayer! (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
•          Grow Your Gratitude - The more you tune your focus to appreciating the blessings you receive from God, the more likely you are be able to say, “His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalm 34:1, I Thessalonians 5:18)
•          Bear the Fruit of the Spirit - Our actions indicate who we belong to. If we bear the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), everyone will know we belong to God (John 15:1-8, 1 Peter 2:11-12)!
•          Make Mention of Him - If our heart is filled with God’s Word, if we talk with Him daily, are thankful for everything, and we are bearing fruit, the natural outgrowth will be to declare His greatness to others! “...For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). People you interact with are bound to ask you about your positive and patient attitude, your loving and helpful nature, and your firm faith (1 Peter 3:15). Give God the glory!! Magnify His greatness!

    God is worthy of our praise! God’s greatness is worthy to be magnified!! What can you do today that will allow you, like Mary, to say, “My soul magnifies the Lord” (Luke 1:46)? Magnify Him today!!

You can do it!! So can I!!

When Our Faith and Hope are In God We Will Love Our Brethren

    Looking at the final passage that makes mention of the trio of faith, hope, and love we find how having faith and hope in God leads us to sincerely love our brethren.

“[Christ] indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which abides forever…” (1 Peter 1:20-23 NKJV)

Our Faith and Hope Are in God

    Jesus came to preach and teach people about the kingdom of God. He told people of His Father and the promise of eternal life that God the Father holds out to those who hear, believe, and obey (1 Timothy 2:4, Hebrews 11:6, John 3:16-17, 1 John 5:13).

    Jesus was not gathering followers to Himself, but to His Father (consider John 12:49-50). We are to conform ourselves to Jesus’ image (Romans 8:29) – His obedience and faithfulness, His efforts to tell others of God the Father, His love for all people, etc. – because He was/is the only perfect example that will, when we conform to Him, lead us home to God (1 John 1:6, John 14:6).

Side note:  God gave those who answered His call (God calls us through the gospel, 1 Thessalonians 2:13-14) and obeyed His commands (Mark 16:15-16) to Christ, whom He made head over the church, which is Christ’s body (John 17:6-26, Ephesians 1:1:22-23, 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 18, and 27). We become member of Christ’s body/church when we hear, believe, repent, confess, and are baptized.

    God raised Jesus from the dead and gave Him glory so that our faith and hope are in Him. Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:1-3). If we faithfully follow Jesus’ example of wholly trusting God throughout our lifetime, we too, can have hope of being resurrected in the Last Day (read and think on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).  

Having Faith and Hope in God Leads Us to Love Our Brethren

    Read and think on 1 John 4:20-5:5 – if we love God, we will love our brother also. If we believe that Jesus is the Christ we are born of God (He “begot” us), so if we love Him who begot us, we will love those who are also begotten of Him – our brothers and sisters in Christ!

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.” (1 John 5:2 NKJV)

    What better love could we have and show for our brethren than by remaining faithful to God, consistently learning and growing through study and application of His word (1 Timothy 4:12-16), through good times and bad. Our love for, and obedience to, God will have us serving others humbly, always looking out for another’s best interests (agape), and developing patience (longsuffering) as we help others come to know the good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2).

    Jesus loved His brethren because His faith and hope were in God the Father, we, in following His example, can do the same! Strengthen your faith in God, anchor your hope in Him, and fervently love your brethren with a sincere and pure heart (1 Peter 1:22, 2 Timothy 2:22)!

You can do it! So can I!!

“Let us” Have Faith, Hope, and Love

“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus… …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. Let us hold fast the confession without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works…” (Hebrews 10:19, 22-24 NKJV)

Side Note on Context: The writer of Hebrews spends his time encouraging the Hebrew brethren not to return to the old ways (the Law of Moses and its works/rituals), but to understand who Jesus the Christ was and is and to follow the New Covenant He established at His death (see Hebrews 10: 5-10). The writer states that the sprinkling (of blood on the altar, Leviticus 17:6, 11) and the washing in water (for ritual cleansing, Leviticus 16:24) – rituals the Hebrews were all familiar with - have been replaced with something better when Jesus offered something greater than the continual sacrifices of bulls and goats: His own self, once for all (Hebrews 10:10, 10:4, 9:11-15).

Jesus, by His sacrifice, allowed them, and us, access to the Holiest (consider Hebrews 4:16, John 14:6). The Hebrew brethren would have known that the Holiest (or Holy of holies) was the one place that only the High Priest was allowed to go and only when it was required (see Leviticus 16:1-2, Hebrews 9:7-8) but Jesus grants us all access wherever and whenever we need it and we, like the Hebrew brethren, need to cherish and respect that blessed access.

 Faith:

    Since Jesus has granted us access to the Holiest (God the Father), “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.” Faith comes from hearing the gospel –the “good news” of Christ (Romans 10:17). We, like the eunuch in Acts 8:26-39, can hear the good news and understand that baptism is a necessary part of salvation; “…having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (see also 1 Peter 3:21-4-2). Baptism brings us into the body of Christ (the church, Romans 6:3-4, Galatians 3:26-29, Ephesians 1:22-23). So, we, who now offer ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2) continue to get closer to God (live fully in His light, John 3:20-21, Ephesians 5:8-14) with sincere intent (not carelessly or mindlessly, Matthew 15:8, Psalm 78:36-37), in abundance of faith and trust (“full assurance” means abundant and most certain confidence). When we approach God, as His child, with a heart and mind motivated by sincere and confident faith we will be prepared to wholly obey all His commands as we cling firmly to the hope we have through His Son.

 

Hope:

    “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Referring back to Acts 8, the eunuch made a confession before he was baptized: “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (v37) – his hope was found in believing that Jesus is the Son of God – in believing this he also believed what Jesus said: “…if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24) and “[h]e who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). The eunuch after being baptized into Christ went on his way rejoicing (v39). We who have been baptized have all made a confession of our hope – let’s hold fast to it, bind ourselves to it and never let it go! “Without wavering” means we have a firm hold on it – so much so that we can share the reason for our hope with others who ask (1 Peter 3:15-16). God is faithful – our hope is not in vain – all that God has said, He has done and will do (Joshua 21:45, 1 Corinthians 1:9) – let’s hold fast to our hope, trust God, and remain faithful to Him!

Love:

    With our full assurance of faith and unwavering hope, “let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.”  Considering one another is more than “being nice” to those you worship with, it means to be attentive to, fixing your eyes and your mind on them so that you may stir them up to love and good works. Take note that “stir up” literally means to jab (cut) someone so that they must respond. Think of a prod or goad used to push animals in the right direction; it provokes them to action, incites them to do the work, and rallies them to actively participate.  We are to stir up love and good works. The entirety of the New Testament declares why love is a vital part of a Christian and in knowing that we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works (Ephesians 2:10) we realize the importance of action (1 John 3:18, James 1:25, 4:17, Matthew 5:16, Titus 2-3). Love in action = good works! Good works are defined as actions that are beautiful, honourable, noble, praiseworthy, pure, virtuous, just, and truthful (think Philippians 4:8 – there are many good reasons to be meditating on these things!) 

    Do you have abundance of faith in God that motivates you obey His commands? Do you firmly cling to your hope without easing your grip, wholly trusting God? Do you care for your brethren enough to push them in the right direction so that together you can be actively doing, with love, what is good and right? Then “let us be diligent to enter that rest…” (Hebrews 4:11) and “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…”(Hebrews 12:1b-2)!

You can do it! So can I!!