This Year, Live by the Beatitudes (6)

 'Blessed are the pure in heart...' Matthew 5:8 NKJV  

             
Just a reminder that this week is our week of prayer. If you signed up to pray please keep your time slot and pray. Amy and my hope is that we keep the prayer chain unbroken as we pray for the needs of many this week. On Thursday we will be meeting @7pm @CFW to unite in prayer together as we ask God to bring revival to our church, City, State, and Nation

'Blessed are the pure in heart...'  You may ask how do I get that pure heart Jesus is talking about? Make your heart 'a controlled environment', because what happens there determines how you respond to life. When it comes to people, pastimes and pursuits, don't open yourself to anything that has the potential to take you captive, or to make you cynical and cold-hearted. If you do, you'll shut yourself off from God's blessing. In his book The Applause of Heaven, Max Lucado writes: 'The countryside was flat and predictable...that's why the thing stood out on the horizon like a science-fiction city... a refinery. The function of that maze of machinery is defined by its name. A refinery takes whatever comes in and purifies it, so that it's ready to go out. It does for petroleum what your heart should do for you - removes the bad and utilizes the good... Jesus said, "The good man brings good things out of the good stored in his heart..." (Luke 6:45 NIV) So here are some questions you need to ask yourself, "When I'm criticized or ignored do I bite back, or bite my tongue? When I'm on overload do I blow my top, or stay cool? When I hear gossip do I entertain it, silence it or spread it? When somebody offends me do I harbor a grudge, or choose to forgive? It all depends on the condition of your heart."' When your heart has been purified you'll begin to see God in people, places and situations you never noticed Him at work in before. Knowing firsthand the dangers of spiritual heart disease, the Psalmist wrote: 'Create in me a clean heart, O God...' (Psalm 51:10 NLT) If you need a spiritual catharsis, spend time in the presence of God. You are loved!