Living Faith Church of Augusta

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. -Matthew 5:8 KJV

Jesus is coming back for a glorious Church, a holy Church without spot, wrinkle, or blemish. (Ephesians 5:27 KJV.) The Lord is seeking people with pure hearts. (John 4:23.) We should desire and work toward purity of heart because it is God’s will. (1 John 3:3 KJV.)

Purity of heart is not a natural trait. It is something that must be worked in most of us. Purity and purging go together. (John 15:2 KJV.) Purging is a tedious process because through it worthless things are removed while things of value are retained.

Removing the worthless without harming the valuable requires an expert-and our God is an expert! (Malachi 3:3.) He watches over us, and when impurities are being extracted, He makes sure the valuable things in us are not harmed.

Allowing God to do a deep work requires great commitment. It is not always comfortable to face the kind of truth He desires to bring. But we must realize that the truth will not affect our lives unless we are willing to face it, accept it, and allow it to change us.

Are you willing to pay the price to have purity in your life-purity of motives, thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions?

Remember, the pure in heart will be blessed. 

Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.] – John 14:27

The peace of the Lord is one of the most precious blessings in life.

From a spiritual position, it was Jesus’ blood that bought our peace. But from a practical or natural position, the price we must pay for peace is a willingness to change our approach to life. We will never enjoy peace without a willingness to adjust and adapt ourselves. 

You and I must be willing to sacrifice worry and reasoning if we are to know peace. We cannot have anxiety, frustration, or rigid, legalistic attitudes and enjoy the peace of God.

Keep your mind and conversation on Jesus-not the problem. Worry is useless, vain, and prideful.

One of the big adjustments I had to make was to slow down. It is impossible to remain peaceful and hurry. God is not in a hurry.

Be willing and obedient to make the changes the Holy Spirit leads you to make in order to walk in peace. Jesus has provided His peace-enjoy it!

…Let him search for peace…and seek it eagerly. [Do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, with your fellowmen, and with yourself, but pursue, go after them!] – 1 Peter 3:11

When Jesus said, Peace I leave with you…(John 14:27), He was talking about a special kind of peace, not a worldly kind of peace. The special peace that Jesus was talking about is the kind of peace that operates all the time in every situation.

The believer who is experiencing God’s peace through his relationship with Jesus can have peace even in the midst of the storms of life.

First Peter 3:11 Says that we are to search for peace, to pursue it, and to seek it eagerly. The word seek means “…strive after, endeavor…desire,” “Inquire.” “To require or demand.” It means requiring something as a vital necessity, craving, or pursuing something.

This verse mentions three areas in which we are to seek peace: (1) with God, (2) with our fellowmen, and (3) with ourselves.

Learn to love peace and to desire it earnestly. Seek peace, for without it you cannot enjoy life and the blessings of God. The Lord has said that if you seek Him with your whole heart, you will find Him. (Jeremiah 29:13.) I believe if you seek and search for peace with your whole heart, you will find what you are looking for. 

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. – 2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV

Do you ever have any difficulty with wandering thoughts? The harnessing of the human mind is often like trying to train a wild animal. Don’t be discouraged. With enough diligence and lots of grace from God, you can win control of your mind.

The key to casting down thoughts and not allowing them to return is to replace wrong thinking with right thinking. Fix your mind on good things. (Philippians 4:8.) Start to think good thoughts on purpose, and you will train yourself to think God-like thoughts.

Wondering about things by turning them over and over in our minds without being able to arrive at a solution leads us into confusion. The Holy Spirit quickened to me that I cannot get confused unless I am trying to figure out something that I need to leave in God’s capable hands.

Negative thinking leads to trouble. Proverbs 23:7 says that as a person thinks in his heart, so is he. I believe our thoughts draw a border for our life, and we must live within that border. 

…If anyone intends to come after Me, let him deny himself [forget, ignore, disown, and lose sight of himself and his own interest]….-Mark 8:34

Having self on the mind all the time insures a miserable life. 

I find it a challenge to keep myself off my mind, but the more I obey the Lord’s command in this area, the happier I become.

I think all of us form the habit of trying to take care of ourselves. We want to make plans for ourselves and be sure that we are well provided for.

Obviously, one cannot live without giving some thought to himself and making plans, but when you and I move into a selfish, self-centered mind-set, we are out of God’s will.

Our society promotes “me-ism,” but the Word of God does not.

It is imperative that God’s children resist the magnetic pull of worldly ways and refuse to be excessive in self-centered thinking. I believe many people are depressed because they spend all their time trying to make themselves happy. True joy comes only from giving life away-not from striving to keep it.

Don’t ruin your life by trying to keep it. Be a blessing to others, and you will be blessed. Give and it shall be given unto you. Die to self-centeredness and really begin to live!

 

…be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude]….-Romans 12:2

Every change in our life requires a change in our thinking. God regularly teaches us new ways to think, because we cannot act differently if we don’t think differently.

What would be considered a normal mind for a Christian? Remember, what is normal to the world is not acceptable for God’s children in most areas. For a believer, worry is not normal. Confusion is not normal.

Negative thinking is another type of thinking in which a Christian should not indulge. There are many other kinds of thinking that should be considered abnormal for a child of God.

The Lord has shown me that when we think hateful, mean, judgmental thoughts about people, not only can we injure them, but also judgmental, resentful, unforgiving thought patterns can cause us great harm.

We have an opportunity to think creative, loving thoughts about people and to pray positive, faith-filled prayers.

Use your thought life wisely. Think about other people the way Jesus would, and think about your circumstances in light of God, Who says, Behold, I am the Lord…; is there anything too hard for Me? (Jeremiah 32:27).

[Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ… – 2 Corinthians 10:5

If we are going to give God glory, we must manifest excellence. An excellent life begins with an excellent thought life and excellent attitudes.

All fruit has a root from which it began. The root of all of our actions is our thoughts. Words come from thoughts. Attitudes begin with thoughts, and emotions (moods) take root in our thought life.

Choosing excellence in one’s thought life is a private thing. No one but God and the individual knows exactly what is going on in his own mind. I call it “inner purity.” Inner purity is a challenge that Christians should be excited about taking on.

In Second Corinthians 10:5 the apostle Paul teaches us to cast down all wrong thoughts that disagree with God’s Word. He is, in essence, saying, “Keep your minds reserved for God’s thoughts (His Word) alone.”

God desires truth in the inward parts. (Psalm 51:6.) I encourage you to begin paying more attention to your thought life. Your words, moods, and attitudes are rooted in it. Dedicate your entire self to God. Live as if you were private property – reserved for God alone!

Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in. – 1 Peter 3:4 message

We have an outer life and an inner life. The outer life is our reputation with people. The inner life is our reputation with God. 

We need to pay attention to what is going on inside us. Thoughts and inner attitudes, motives, and desires-all of these things are important to the Lord.

As far as God is concerned, the inner person is the real person. A truly powerful Christian is one with a pure heart, one who wholeheartedly serves God.

Our inner life is comprised of our soul and our spirit. Our human spirit is indwelt by the Holy Spirit at the time of the New Birth. God’s will and desire for us, then, is that we desire and allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in our soul also.

Our soul is our mind, our will, and our emotions. Our spirit mingled with the Holy Spirit performs the functions of conscience, intuition, and communion with God.

We must cooperate with God to allow the divine life force that came into our spirit when we were saved to dwell in and be at home in our entire inner being.

May you be challenged to be accountable for your inner life.

Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind)….rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined….- 1 Peter 5:8,9

An emotional person is someone who is easily affected with or stirred by emotions. Their conduct is ruled by emotion rather than reason. A person who lives by emotion lives without principle.

We all have emotions, and they are not going away, but we cannot trust them. We should seek God to learn to manage our emotions and not allow them to manage us.

We are created to operate in the fruit of self-control. Self-control is a freedom-not a bondage. We are free to use wisdom, free to obey God, free to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. We are free not to be pushed around by our feelings. We don’t have to do what we feel like doing; we are free to do what we know is wise.

Be honest with yourself in this area. If you believe you are not managing your emotions, begin to pray and seek God about emotional maturity. Remember:

1. He who lives by emotions lives without principle.

2. We all have emotions, but we cannot trust them.

3. We cannot be spiritual (walk in the Spirit) and be led by emotions.

4. Emotions won’t go away, but we can learn to manage them.

Make emotional maturity a priority goal in your life.