The Sixth Blessing Devo

June 16th, 2019

Devotional

“The Sixth Blessing”

                                  Matthew 5:8

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Monday: “Pure in Heart” - Matthew 5:8

  “Blessed are the pure in heart”. What do you think it looks like to be pure in heart? I think for many of us we equate this with perfection, which can scare us. We don’t necessarily like the idea of being perfect. 

Later on in the Gospel of Matthew, we find the teaching to be perfect as God is perfect. We’ve created an image of perfection in our heads that few would even want to obtain –nonsensical, prudish, unimaginative, and perhaps even gruff. Someone who doesn’t smile or laugh or have fun. As a United Methodist, one of the tenants of our tradition is that we are moving on towards perfection, but if these characteristics mark perfection it is most certainly not who I want to be.

Nor are these characteristics that we put on perfection indicative of those who we often consider to be pure in heart - children. Children laugh and play and have a joy deep within them. So why do we often think of children as pure in heart? Because of they are fully who they are. Their hearts shine through. They don’t have to pretend to be someone else in order to please other people. Instead, they can live, fully as themselves, connected to God. 

  What do you think of when you hear the phrase ‘pure in heart’?

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for the example that we see in children of being pure in heart. O Lord, help us to recapture child like wonder and innocence in a way where we can fall deeper in love with you. Amen. 

Tuesday: “See God” - Matthew 5:8

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” When we think back in scripture of stories where people saw God, it was often something that brought awe and fear. Think of Moses, who was told that he would surely die if he looked on the face of God, so he turned away and even catching a glimpse of God made his face shine in such a way that the people of Israel were frightened. 

Yet, at the same time we can see God every single day. We see God at work. We see glimpses of the Kingdom of God. Perhaps what Jesus is saying here, is not so much akin to the idea of Moses catching a glimpse of God, but instead the pure in heart will have the ability to see God at work in the world and give God glory.

But we also need to put ourselves in the places where the spirit of God is on the move. And sometimes we shy away from those places. Places that make us uncomfortable. Place interacting with people who we don’t think are like us. Yet, the pure in heart go there, because they are so deeply connected with the heart of God. 

Where have you ‘seen God’? What was that experience like for you?

Prayer: Lord, we want to see you. We want to not just see your face because we are so close to you, but we also want to see you at work in the world, so that we can join in your mission and ministry. So sure our hearts, Lord God, that we cannot help but proclaim your glory. Amen. 

Wednesday: “Clean” - Matthew 23: 25-26

Our struggle around being pure in heart, is not just with the idea of perfection, but also the idea that we have made purity about following rules instead of what is in our hearts. If anyone knew how to follow a rule it was the religious leaders of Jesus’s day. The Pharisees and the scribes. They had rules for rules for rules. Yet, when Jesus looked into their hearts, it was not purity that he saw.

When we make purity of heart about what we do, what we achieve, how we follow the rules, we can be in danger of discounting God. It’s not so much about the outward appearance of purity as what is in our heart - the place from where our lives flow.

Jesus told the religious leaders that they need to examine themselves and then clean their insides. Clean their heart. May we take time today to do the same. 

What does it look like to be clean within?

Prayer: Lord, we come before you today asking for forgiveness. For forgiveness for the times that we have made it more about how we look to the outer world then where we stand in our relationship with you. Clean us from within, Precious Lord, we pray. 

Thursday: “Draw Close to God” - James 4:8

  This is one of my favorite verses of scripture. We may have heard before the saying that God will take 999 steps, we just need to take 1. This verse exemplifies that for me. God is running towards us, we just have to draw close to God, in order to find all that God has for us.

But it’s not just about receiving something from God, at least not simply receiving what we would consider a traditional blessing. Instead, as we draw closer to God, as we move towards sanctification or perfection, we want to shine God’s light more into the world. Therefore, we come before God, asking that God cleanse us and purify us.

We cannot become pure in heart by anything that we do, or by our own merit. We can only find such purity as we draw closer to God and allow God to change us from the inside out. 

What is one way that you draw close to God?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for being the God who both pursues us and changes us. Thank you for your love that will not let us go nor allow us to remain the same. Lord, may we never take such gifts lightly, we pray. Amen. 

Friday: “Create in Me a Clean Heart” - Psalm 51

  When I was little one of the things I hated the most was having scraped knees. For with scrapped knees came the peroxide - that nasty feeling of the dirt and grime in the wound bubbling to the surface. But I also knew that the wound had to be cleaned so it didn’t become infected. Friends, today begins the season of letting the dirt and grime of our lives come to the surface, through confession, so that God can bring healing. Sin is not just on the surface of our life, it is deep within us and needs to be purged. Ignoring our sin only causes it to fester and bring more pain, more hurt. 

  From time to time we all need a such a cleansing within. A time when God helps bring to the surface all that we need to get rid of, all that needs to be weeded out, in order to be pure in heart and see God with the eyes of Christ. 

How has God cleansed you within?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the gift of the cross and your life-purifying blood. We come before you today confessing the areas that we struggle with and asking to be washed again in the blood of the Lamb. Purify our hearts, we pray. Amen.