{"id":19048,"date":"2014-04-13T00:15:42","date_gmt":"2014-04-13T04:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=19048"},"modified":"2014-04-13T00:00:35","modified_gmt":"2014-04-13T04:00:35","slug":"face-face","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/04\/13\/face-face\/","title":{"rendered":"Face to Face"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SeekingHimLogo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We have now entered the season of Lent. \u00a0For many Christians, Lent is taken as a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter where God miraculously redeemed mankind by resurrecting His Son from the dead. It is also a time to consider what Jesus said and did; and how we should be living in light of His Words. \u00a0\u271e \u2665<\/p>\n

During this season, here on the\u00a0Seeking Him<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0devotional blog, we have chosen to focus our devotionals on Jesus\u2019 instructions and admonition communicated in Matthew chapter 5\u2014the Beatitudes. \u00a0Jesus said, \u201cBlessed are\u2026\u201d and He went on to give instruction as to how to be \u201cblessed<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0To be \u2018blessed\u2019 is to \u2018be happy, or to be envied.\u2019 \u00a0 Truly for the Christian, we ARE blessed\u2014oh, how very blessed we are! \u00a0Those who observe our lives should clearly be able to tell that we ARE blessed\u2014and that we KNOW it! \u271e \u2665<\/p>\n

Please consider Jesus\u2019 instructions along with us. \u00a0We pray that our words will encourage you and spur you on to be prepare your hearts for the joyous celebration of His Resurrection! \u00a0\u271e \u2665<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. <\/strong><\/span>
\nMatthew 5:8<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

At first, this Beatitude appears to be referring to those who are morally clean\u2014those who don\u2019t defile themselves with impure thoughts, or anger, or other internal sins that wreak havoc on one\u2019s life, and which can make a Christian ineffective. \u00a0This is certainly an aspect of \u201cpure\u201d or \u201cclean.\u201d \u00a0 And if we understand the phrase \u201csee God<\/em>\u201d in the sense of being in God\u2019s Presence and being able to commune with Him, then certainly, the less sin there is in our lives, the more we are aware of the abiding Presence of God. \u00a0It is more often the case that God seems most distant from us when, in fact, we are distant from Him as a result of an impure and hard heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cCreate in me a clean heart, O God,\u201d David cried out in Psalm 51, \u201cAnd renew a steadfast spirit within me.\u201d \u00a0This thought of having a \u201csteadfast\u201d spirit, one that is devoted to God, may also be in mind here. David wrote this psalm on the heels of his sin with Bathsheba, which was indeed one of the most dramatic and deep moral failures of a man of God in Scripture. \u00a0Not only does David want a clean heart, but he wants steadfastness…the ability to focus on God…to lean on Him at all times, and not be distracted by the temptations of the world.<\/p>\n

The Greek translation of Psalm 24<\/a> (please check it) uses the same phrase, \u201cpure in heart.\u201d \u00a0Here I think we get further insight into the meaning of this term. Notice that the one with clean hands and a pure heart avoids falsehood and deceit. \u00a0There is a sense, then, that being pure in heart is more than just avoiding sin. \u00a0Rather, it is being devoted to God, and having a life that is His, and that is recognizable as being His. \u00a0It is about serving only one Master, not two, and drawing near to God. \u00a0The words of James echo this thought:<\/p>\n

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
\nDraw near to God and He will draw near to you.
\nCleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
\nJames 4:7-8 NASB<\/p>\n

What does Jesus mean, then, when He says that the pure in heart \u201cshall see God.\u201d \u00a0Wasn\u2019t Moses told that no one could see God and live (Exodus 33:20<\/a>)? \u00a0First, I think there is a present reality to seeing God here, in the sense that those who are pure in heart draw near to God, as James says, and in turn God draws near to them. \u00a0But I think there is also a future reality, looking forward to the time when ALL those who have endured this fallen world, who come out the other side beaten and bruised but, by the grace of God, have pure hearts, solely dedicated to God\u2019s word and will, shall indeed stand before His throne and, in a sinless state (on account of the work of Christ), and see Him face to face.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>~\u00a0\u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0*<\/span><\/h4>\n

Dear Father, we thank You for the opportunity to see You face-to-face through the Holy Spirit. \u00a0Create in us a clean heart, O Lord. \u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name. \u00a0Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have now entered the season of Lent. \u00a0For many Christians, Lent is taken as a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter where God miraculously redeemed mankind by resurrecting His Son from the dead. It is also a time to consider what Jesus said and did; and how we should be living in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":13840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[3188,127,3367,6066,6065,5784,662,6064,5350,6067,3174],"class_list":["post-19048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-ann-mwafulirwa","tag-beatitudes","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-exodus-3320","tag-james-47-8","tag-jesus-speaking","tag-matthew-58","tag-psalm-24","tag-psalm-51","tag-pure-in-heart","tag-seeking-him-devotional","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-4Xe","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19048"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19051,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19048\/revisions\/19051"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}