Those Who Call on The Lord Out of a Pure Heart

“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)

    We have spent time this year in understanding what righteousness, faith, love, and peace look like and we learned why it is so important to obey this command and continually pursue these so we can live righteously, faithfully, in love, and at peace.

    We are to pursue these things with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

    We have recently learned that ‘calling on the Lord’ is appealing to God for help, for guidance, for worship; fully acknowledging Him as supreme in authority, to the point that we desire to be named after Him/His Son --> “Christian” (Acts 11:26). We can rightfully wear the name Christian when we are IN CHRIST, part of His body, the church (Ephesians 5:23, Colossians 1:18).

IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: How do we get INTO Christ? We must not only believe in Jesus, we must not only repent of our sins, we must not only confess our faith, we must also be baptized for the remission of our sins. Many churches today do not teach the necessity of baptism, teaching instead that it is merely a sign to show others that we’ve already been saved. The problem with that teaching is that the Bible says otherwise. Please read 1 Peter 3:18- 21 – BAPTISM saves us! Sounds rather necessary, doesn’t it? This act, if done in faith, is the point that we obey God fully, and it is the point when God washes our sins away. Why else would Ananias, who was directly instructed by Jesus to inform Saul of Tarsus of what he must do, instruct Saul to “arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16)? Faith alone won’t save us. Repentance alone won’t save us. Confession alone won’t save us. Even baptism alone won’t save us. But when put together, in full obedience to the only God of this universe, we can be saved because His Son, Jesus Christ, died for our sins, allowing us to be forgiven by God’s grace. That’s what the message of salvation in Jesus Christ sounds like as found in the Bible.  That is how you are granted the name “Christian,” that is how you become part of the body of Christ (in Christ), the church (Romans 6:1-14, Galatians 3:26-29, Colossians 2:11-14)!

“THOSE WHO CALL ON THE LORD OUT OF PURE HEART”

    We have learned that having a pure heart means to have a heart that is innocent, sanctified, and set apart to God, a heart that is morally pure. So, I draw the conclusion, that those who seek God, who make appeal to Him, and have hearts that are morally pure and innocent (whose sins have been “washed” away) are the very same who make up His church. We are to flee youthful lusts and pursue after righteousness, faith, love, peace with the church belonging to God’s very Son, the church He established in Acts 2! We are to help one another flee sin and pursue God and all His ways!

Consider now, this passage: 

“Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love for 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 lives and abides forever.” (1 Peter 1:22-23 NKJV)

    We purify our souls in obeying the truth (see note above), and we are to love one another sincerely and fervently with a pure heart. When we love one another sincerely and fervently, we will be willing to encourage and correct in order to benefit the other (Ephesians 4:19, James 5:19-20). When this is done with a pure heart, godly wisdom should be what guides our words (James 1:5, 3:13-18, Ephesians 4:12-16), because we appeal to the God of heaven, the only source for true wisdom! And having been born again (please read John 3:1-7, baptism IS necessary!) of incorruptible seed – see 1 John 3:1-3 – through the word of God, we purify ourselves, keeping ourselves pure through continued learning, obedience, and appeal to God through prayer and thanksgiving!

    Continue to flee youthful lusts as you grow up in Christ (Ephesians 4:15-16). Continue to pursue righteousness (living right before God, humbly obeying all His commands), faith (without it, it is impossible to please Him, Hebrews 11:6), love (selflessly seeking the higher good for others, to be a benefit to others), and peace (with God and with man). Allow members of the church to help you and look for ways to help them too (Galatians 6:9-10). We are all in this together!! Keep trying! Don’t give up!!

    God provides all you need to succeed!! Do it His way – it is always worth every effort!! What you’ll get in return is unfathomable – blessings upon blessings!! Continue to pursue God today!!

You can do it! So can I!!   

 

Preparing to Walk in Peace

    Who among us doesn’t like shoes?

    It’s stereotypical for women to like shoes, but we do! We like to be prepared for any occasion with the right pair of shoes! Whenever I am about to travel or make a public presentation, my mind always generates this recurring dream in which I get to my destination and find I only have one shoe and I fall into panic mode... whether that means I’m shoe obsessed or simply unsure of my packing capabilities, I don’t know, all I know for sure is that “missing a shoe” and not being fully prepared is fearful to me!

    God, in His great wisdom and love for us, gives us all we need to be prepared – including shoes!

“…having shod your feet with the 

preparation of the gospel of peace…” 

(Ephesians 6:15 NKJV)

    I have found that this is not a part of the armour that is often talked about, so I want to learn more about this shoes that God has prepared for His people to wear!

    “Preparation” (Strong’s G2091) means foundation, firm footing, readiness. By this we know that God has provided something that we can wear confidently! These shoes have a sturdy, gripping base that won’t let us down! We can stand for as long as it takes (Ephesians 6:11, 13)! We can go through valleys (2 Corinthians 12:9-10), we can climb mountains (Psalm 18:31-33), we are ready!

    The “gospel” (Strong’s G2098) is ‘the good news of Jesus Christ.’ “Peace” (Strong’s G1515) means ‘one, quietness, peace of mind.’ It carries with it the idea of ‘to join, tie together in a whole, wholeness when all essential parts of joined together.’  God is essential. You are essential. You coming to God through Jesus Christ is essential (John 14:6, Romans 6:1-13)! Put them all together and you have peace, being joined with God! You maintain that peace by continuing to learn and grow and humbly obeying God’s commands (Psalm 37:37)!!

    The “gospel of peace” specifically in Ephesians 6:15 expresses ‘the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lots, of whatsoever lot that is.”

    When we live this way, in peace with God, standing on the firm footing of faith, others will notice the difference! And when they do, we are PREPARED and READY to help them to pursue the same peace, by telling them how we came to have it, by sharing with them the GOSPEL OF PEACE!

“…Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, 
and always be ready to give a defense 
to everyone who asks the reason for the hope 
that is in you, with meekness and fear.” 
(1 Peter 3:15 NKJV)   

    Shoes that remind us of all our blessings in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-14) and makes us ready and prepared for the occasion when someone asks about our hope? Well, those are without a doubt the best pair of shoes we could ever put on!!

    Are you wearing the shoes God has provided? Are you prepared to share the gospel of peace with others? Let’s remember to put these shoes on daily (along with the rest of God’s armour, Ephesians 6:10-18) as we continue to pursue peace each day!!

You can do it! So can I!!