The Pure In Heart

Matthew 5:8

NKJV

“Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.”

I am a human. I have a human heart, which is deceitfully wicked above all things. Nothing good can come from me. How then, can I have a pure heart? Through the purification process that all believers go through during their lives. The fiery trials. The suffering. God turns up the heat to cause the impurities in my heart to rise, like dross that rises out of silver, and then He scrapes it off the top, to leave pure silver.

As I reflect upon this in light of a sermon I had listened to which involved it, the Holy Spirit has revealed that part of God's purpose for my participation in IGNITE is for the purifying of my heart. I have been in Uganda for a month now, and just over four months in IGNITE. God has turned up the heat since I've left the United States. He is causing the dross to rise from within my heart. The garbage is being brought to the surface, and He is testing my faith. The battle however is not in the tests. The battle is living life after the tests. It's maintaining a life that reflects what I've learned. It is so easy to allow the dross to come back into the heart. The garbage can enter with one sin, and will pile up the longer I leave it there. It will block my view of God, and all I will sense is the trash around me and in me. I must learn to live a clean hearted lifestyle, constantly being purified by the Purifier. When I'm living that godly life, I will then see God.

What does it mean to see God? Will it be with my own eyes, beholding Him in human form? Unlikely. Rather, it is seeing God in everything. Once the garbage is removed, the veil torn, the blindness cured, the sinful heart purified, I will see God in all His glory. The most ordinary situations will become extraordinary because I see the hand of God working in it. A broken relationship will be mended and God will be glorified for His part in it. My focus will be fixed upon serving His purpose in my life. I will see the bigger picture of life, and realize that I am part of something much larger than myself. I will see Jesus as the justifier, redeemer, savior. I will see Him as everything, for He is everything. I will see that all things consist in Him. Apart from Him nothing was made, and my heart will see that clearly, for it has been purified. Surrendering to Him will become the natural response, and revival will be a constant reality in me as my heart burns for my God.

The only catch is it takes time, pain, perseverance, and a greater view of the purpose of the fire. Only then can I endure the fire God had placed me in, and come out the other side purified, to see God as He has revealed Himself to be. My God.