{"id":19068,"date":"2014-04-14T00:20:31","date_gmt":"2014-04-14T04:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=19068"},"modified":"2014-04-13T14:54:44","modified_gmt":"2014-04-13T18:54:44","slug":"inward-outward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/04\/14\/inward-outward\/","title":{"rendered":"Inward and Outward"},"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 (happy, enviably fortunate, and spiritually prosperous\u2014 <\/span><\/strong>
\npossessing the happiness produced by the experience of God\u2019s favor <\/span><\/strong>
\nand especially conditioned by the revelation of His grace, <\/span><\/strong>
\nregardless of their outward conditions) are the pure in heart<\/em>, for they shall see God!<\/strong> <\/span>
\nMatthew 5:8 AMP<\/span><\/p>\n

Easton’s Bible Dictionary defines the heart as the “…centre not only of spiritual activity, but of all the operations of human life. \u00a0The words, \u201cheart\u201d and \u201csoul\u201d, are often used interchangeably. The heart is the \u201chome of the personal life\u201d. The heart is also the \u201cseat of the conscience” , all definitions we would agree with. Then, what is it to be pure in heart<\/span><\/em>?<\/p>\n

Most people would agree that to be pure in heart<\/em><\/span> is to be cleansed, spotless. \u00a0But Chuck Smith presents the idea that one who is pure in heart<\/em> <\/span>mourns because of their sin and because their heart is divided. \u00a0A pure heart is one that is undivided; fleshly desires do not compete with Godly desires in the pure heart. \u00a0A pure heart embraces God and finds joy in Him. \u00a0None of which can be accomplished on our own. \u00a0A pure heart comes from God. \u00a0It is an attitude we desire.<\/p>\n

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
\nPsalm 51:10.<\/p>\n

It is heart knowledge, not head knowledge…<\/strong><\/span>
\n and must be experienced inwardly before we can share it outwardly<\/span>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Proverbs 21:2
\nPeople may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart.<\/p>\n

Proverbs 4:23
\nKeep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.<\/p>\n

Matthew 12:34
\nFor out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks.<\/p>\n

Matthew 15:18
\nBut whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart,<\/p>\n

Luke 6:45
\n…for out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart his mouth speaks.<\/p>\n

Being pure in heart is WHO we are, shown in WHAT we do<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The blessing of being pure in heart<\/em><\/span> is the ability to see God. \u00a0Many people believe this speaks to the future when we will actually, physically, see God face-to-face. What a joy that will be! \u00a0But we can also see God now.<\/p>\n

The promise of seeing God in the present is twofold as well. We are able to see God inwardly by experiencing greater intimacy and communion with Him. God will make Himself known to us through His Word and we will become more aware of Him and His companionship. We will see His hand over us, in our lives. And as we see Him more clearly inwardly, we will begin to recognize Him more outwardly. \u00a0We will see God in the ordinary and recognize His favor on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

When You give it to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand and they are filled with good things.
\nPsalm 104:28<\/p>\n

Purity of heart<\/em><\/span> leads to the inward desire to “see” God. “Seeing” God enables us to recognize the outward daily blessings and favor of God upon us. \u00a0Are you gathering up the good things God has for you?<\/em><\/p>\n

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

Heavenly Father, thank You so much for the blessing of being able to see You in our lives. \u00a0Increase our desire to be pure in heart so we can experience greater intimacy with You. \u00a0We recognize that being pure in heart is not something we can achieve on our own but comes through our faith by knowing You. \u00a0We lift up praise to You for the favor You rain down upon us each and every day. \u00a0In Your precious Son\u2019s name. \u00a0Amen, so be it!<\/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":164,"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":[127,5889,3367,1287,425,5784,6080,2467,662,6081,827,6079,846,6067,3174],"class_list":["post-19068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-beatitudes","tag-cynda-cottrill","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-jesus-speaking","tag-luke-545","tag-matthew-1234","tag-matthew-58","tag-proverbs-2112","tag-proverbs-423","tag-psalm-10428","tag-psalm-5110","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-4Xy","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19068","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\/164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19068"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19073,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19068\/revisions\/19073"}],"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=19068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}