Tag: within you

30.u. “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.”

 

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

 Matthew 23:25-28    “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.  So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

 Psalms 15:2    He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart;

 Psalms 51:6   Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

 Ezekiel 36:25-27   I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.  And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

 2 Corinthians 7:1  Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God

 James 3:17    But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

 James 4:8   Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

 1 Peter 1:22  Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,

 1 John 3:2-3  Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.  And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Purity, inner purity, the image of purity, ceremonial purity have been attempted by many religions in many different ways. Pure of heart in Scripture seems to define it as a single, undivided heart – those who are sincere and not divided in their devotion and commitment to God. It is an inner purity and has external manifestations of the Holy Spirit which is in them. There are pollutants (sin) that pollute the heart. Greed, pride, lust, power, anger, deception, hate, confusion, self-reliance, self-worth, self-deserving, etc….. When these are present and acted upon there is little to no intimacy or relationship with God. A pure at heart person has heard the voice of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and humbly surrendered all of this selfishness, repented, committed, believed, trusted, followed, and obeyed Jesus Christ. The purity of heart comes through this alone and not by external actions, though there certainly are external actions that can be clearly seen in those of a pure heart. Being sensitive to Godly, holy, and heavenly spiritual things requires a heart and soul that is pure to things of God and always voiding the worldly and fleshly desires. If you are not conscious of spiritual things then your heart is focused on something else. The greatest motivator of purity comes from a desire to know and understand the grace, mercy, and love of God so that in all we say, think, and do Jesus Christ is honored and glorified. They want to be pure for His honor and glory, not ours. 

58. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,

Deuteronomy 29:4     But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.

Proverbs 20:12    The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the LORD has made them both.

Isaiah 6:9-10    And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’  Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Isaiah 63:17   O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants

Matthew 13:11-15     And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.  This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘“You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

  For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

John 8:43    Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.

2 Corinthians 3:15    Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts.

Ephesians 4:18    They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

2 Thessalonians 2:10-12     and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.  Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,  in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

James 1:13-17     Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.  But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.  Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

2 Timothy 2:25    correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,

Ezekiel 36:26   And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

There is quite a bit said in these verses that show the heart of man.  God knows the heart, mind, and soul of each person.  He knows those who do/will and do not/will not desire and seek Him.  He knows those who will believe and those who will not.  He knows. It appears to say that God will send a delusion and a hardening of the heart, ears, and eyes to those whose heart and mind and soul are dull to things of God.  It also says that God will give a new heart and new spirit to those who truly seek and desire Him.

I get a bit lost in how these two outcomes are applied to people.  If I were to look at my conversion and what it took to bring me to my knees before Jesus Christ, it was only by the grace and mercy of God that my eyes, heart, ears, and mind were opened to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the need for forgiveness and repentance.  I would easily have been one who’s heart was like that of stone, whose eyes and ears were shut to things of God.  Yet God opened them and gave me a new heart.  He gave me understanding and pulled the veil from my eyes.  He opened my deaf ears.  He softened my heart of stone.  He put a new spirit within me.

I know I deserved to be alienated and left in my ignorance for I was living in the pleasure of my sin giving no thought about God.  “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

It is the time to recognize neglect of His word and that complacency that has filled our hearts.   Confess, repent, seek, desire, and run to Him for the time is short for us to serve, honor, glorify, follow, and obey Jesus, the author, creator, awesome, mighty, powerful, loving, and steadfast redeemer of our soul.

Let Him hear what the Spirit says

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,”

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says“

John 14:26  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Psalms 51:11     Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Acts 1:8     But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 15:8    And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us,

Acts 2:4    And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit

Acts 13:4    So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to

Acts 16:6     And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

Acts 20:28     Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers,

Romans 5:5     and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.  For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:19     Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

2 Corinthians 13:14     The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Psalms 25:8     Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.  He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

Isaiah 63:10     But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.

Acts 7:51     “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit.

We are not alone in our walk by faith this side of eternity.  The gift of the Holy Spirit is given to all who believe.  The Holy Spirit will guide us, lead us, teach us, bring us to knowledge, instruct us in our knowledge of God, convict us of sin, and bring us joy and peace.  Our christian walk is to be led by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of honoring and glorifying God. It is a humble heart that seeks to hear and be led.  However there is something to be mindful of –  Not listening and resisting this active leading in our life.  Filling your heart and mind with His word is food and fuel for our soul. Live humbly desiring and seeking to be led by God.  Joy, peace, strength, power, hope, and love result from this desire.

Spirit of counsel to lead us

“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the LORD, “who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin;”

“But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.”

“so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

Zechariah 4:6  Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.

2 Chronicles 14:11   And Asa cried to the LORD his God, “O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.”

Isaiah 11:2    And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.  And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,  but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Isaiah 63:14    Like livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name.

Ezekiel 37:14    And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.”

Haggai 2:4  Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts,

Psalms 20:6  Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand.  Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.  They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.

“Not by power or might but by His spirit”.  How many times do we try to accomplish on our own?  We use our power, strength, knowledge, and head off on a course of action without seeking God, without knowing if this is in His plans and purpose for us.  We make these plans or take action and after we have set them to motion we ask God to make them work out.  Knowing you are being led by God down His path for you is power, strength, and peace to our heart and soul. Seek God first with all your heart,, mind and soul.  Our pastor has been teaching through the book of Exodus and this past Sunday in chapter 33/34 it spoke of the tent Moses had out side of the camp.  He went there each morning and the rest would stand in the doors of their tents and watch God’s presence come down in the form a cloud.  The people would worship from their door ways knowing God was present while Moses spent the day speaking with God.  A question keep running through my head.  If I/we had a choice each morning to spend the day with God – would we choose it?  Would we step away from all the activity and plans we have made?  Joshua said it this way “choose this day whom you will serve.  As for me and my house we will serve the Lord our God”