{"id":8543,"date":"2013-01-28T00:01:05","date_gmt":"2013-01-28T05:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=8543"},"modified":"2013-01-26T12:53:34","modified_gmt":"2013-01-26T17:53:34","slug":"lifes-healing-choices-the-joy-of-a-pure-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/01\/28\/lifes-healing-choices-the-joy-of-a-pure-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Life’s Healing Choices – The Joy of a Pure Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n

Happy are the pure in heart. For they shall see God.\u00a0 Matthew 5:8<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b>What a promise we are given \u2013 we shall see God<\/strong><\/em>!!\u00a0 Not might or possibly, but we SHALL see God!!!\u00a0 So how do we become pure in heart?\u00a0 First what is \u00a0 the definition of pure? Webster\u2019s dictionary says it is \u2018unmixed with any other matter<\/strong><\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 John Baker says \u2018a pure heart is one that is free and clean of impurities<\/strong><\/em>.\u2019 So how do we get to a pure heart?\u00a0 How do we get our heart, unmixed with anything but God?\u00a0 After all we all do have regrets, guilt, anger and any combination of many hurts, habits or hang-ups.\u00a0 How do we recover from these and become pure in heart? How do we let go of our excuses, blame, guilt and shame? \u00a0We go to His word and read His promises:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCome now, and let us reason together,\u201d
\n<\/b>Says the Lord,
\n<\/b>\u201cThough your sins are like scarlet,
\n<\/b>They shall be as white as snow;
\n<\/b>Though they are red like crimson,
\n<\/b>They shall be as wool.
\n<\/b>Isaiah 1:18<\/b><\/p>\n

Although we have regrets, guilt, anger, shame, He promises that if we are willing and obedient (v. 19) we will be as white as snow.\u00a0 His love for us is so strong. \u00a0His grace so amazing! We will be pure in heart.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I acknowledged my sin to You,
\n<\/b>And my iniquity I have not hidden.
\n<\/b>I said, \u201cI will confess my transgressions to the Lord,\u201d
\n<\/b>And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
\n<\/b>Psalm 32:5<\/b><\/p>\n

When we acknowledge we have this guilt, anger and blame, He immediately forgives.\u00a0 Not later, not tomorrow, but immediately<\/strong><\/em> \u2013 as far as the east is from the west. He forgives.\u00a0 Then His word says \u00a0 \u2013 \u2018I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.\u2019 Psalm 32:8<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But before we can really clean our hearts, we have to look at what or why we need to clean up.\u00a0 Don your cleaning rags ladies \u2013 it\u2019s time to Clean House<\/strong>!!<\/p>\n

\u00a0Chapter 4 discusses the three areas in which guilt can cause harm to our lives.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Guilt<\/strong> destroys our confidence<\/strong>. Guilt causes us to worry about what others think, look over our shoulder to see who is really watching and wondering when our big secret will come out.\u00a0 When I was living in the gay lifestyle, I was constantly looking around, wondering who would drive by and \u2018out me.\u2019\u00a0 I lived in a small community where everyone knew everyone.\u00a0 You know the kind where your neighbor could tell you what you bought at the store. \u00a0So, as you can imagine, unless I was behind closed doors, I was always on the lookout. My guilt was wearing me out!! When I walked out of\u00a0\u00a0that lifestyle and ran to His arms, He welcomed me. It reminds me of the story in Luke 15: 10-32 of the prodigal son who went away from his father to find a \u2018better life.\u2019 After he had squandered all that he had, he went back to his father, realizing he had made mistakes.\u00a0 He took his guilt and told his father to make him as one of the servants for he was not worthy.\u00a0 What did his father do when he saw him?\u00a0 He ran to him and prepared a party for his son who was lost:\u00a0but now was found. \u00a0If we lay down the guilt and fear of our lives, and turn back to Him, He will meet us, clothe us in His best robe of righteousness and fill us with His grace \u2013 unmixed with any other matter.<\/i><\/li>\n
  2. Guilt damages our relationships<\/strong>. Feeling guilty over our choices in life can cause us to over or under react to those around us. The guilt can cause us to overcompensate for others, runaway from building relationships and hide from those around us. Again, my guilt was so strong on how I dragged my children through the choice of lifestyle I made.\u00a0 I overcompensated with material possessions; showered them with presents, food, \u00a0 activities, all the while withholding the love they needed and deserved as \u00a0 children. My guilt was destroying every relationship I had in my life.\u00a0 How could this be made pure?\u00a0 \u2018And \u00a0 they shall rebuild the old ruins; they shall raise up the former desolations \u00a0 and repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.\u2019 Isaiah \u00a0 61:4<\/b> \u00a0If we will confess and move away from our guilt and fear, He will restore and rebuild our relationships \u2013 unmixed with any other matter<\/i>.<\/li>\n
  3. Guilt keeps us stuck in the past<\/strong>. Wow, this is a hard one isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 How do we get past the memories, reflections or regrets of our past?\u00a0 As John Baker said, \u2018it\u2019s like driving a car and always looking in the rearview \u00a0 mirror.\u2019\u00a0 I loved this visual! Can you imagine the chaos on the roadways if everyone was always focused behind them?\u00a0 God may use our past to allow us to encourage others or to give testimony to His glory, grace and \u00a0 healing.\u00a0 But we are not to dwell in the past. Joyce Meyer often says, \u201cLet God turn your mess into a message.\u201d\u00a0 God will take the \u2018old you\u2019 and make you new. \u201cIf anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; old things have passed \u00a0 away; behold, all things have become new.\u201d 2 Corinthians 5:17<\/b> If we leave \u00a0 our guilt and fears in the past, He will make us new \u2013 unmixed with any other matter.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In Psalm 51:10, David cried out to God:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    \n<\/b>And renew a steadfast spirit within me.<\/b><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/b>Here he had committed adultery and had Bathsheba\u2019s husband killed in battle. David murdered, lied, and betrayed his nation and almost each time we read about David he is doing something wrong. \u00a0He cried out to the Lord to create in him a clean heart.\u00a0 Fast forward to Acts 13:22 when God had placed David as king and said \u2018I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.\u2019 So, how do we become pure in heart like David? We repent, learn from our mistakes, become humble, teachable and turn our hearts completely toward God.\u00a0 We become unmixed with any other matter.<\/i><\/p>\n

    We pray that our hands reach out as His would, our eyes see as His, our feet walk where He would walk and our hearts break as His would.\u00a0 The things in our past are not as powerful as our Almighty God.\u00a0 This step may seem pretty scary but which is scarier: continuing to live drag our past with us or feeling the freedom He has to offer?<\/p>\n

    The rest of this week Leslie, Kim and Amy will discuss how we can move forward and drop those bags of the past. I am going to leave you with an awesome song written from Psalm 51. \u00a0Enjoy and make it your prayer today.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0Let\u2019s Pray:<\/strong><\/td>\n

<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

http:\/\/youtu.be\/bacXQPujfKI<\/a><\/p>\n

In Jesus Name, Amen!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You\u2019re Assignment:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Determine a quiet place, whether it is in your home, park or corner table at your favorite coffee shop.\u00a0 Prepare your heart for the next step of beginning your inventory.\u00a0 Go to our Facebook group and tell us where this place will be.\u00a0 It may encourage or give ideas to others in our group.<\/p>\n

*******************<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are interested in joining us for the online Bible study, click HERE<\/a>.
\nOnce we receive your registration, we will email you further details.<\/p>\n

If you would like to send a private message to Laurie in regards to this blog, please email her at Laurie@girlfriendscoffeehour.com<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. Happy are the pure in heart. For they shall see God.\u00a0 Matthew 5:8 \u00a0What a promise we are given \u2013 we shall see God!!\u00a0 Not might or possibly, but we SHALL see God!!!\u00a0 So how do we become pure in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":8600,"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":[22],"tags":[1570,425,1567,1566,570,578,608,1569,662,1568,846,873],"class_list":["post-8543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-victorious-healing","tag-2-corinthians-517","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-isaiah-118","tag-isaiah-614","tag-john-baker","tag-joyce-meyer","tag-lifes-healing-choices","tag-luke-1510-32","tag-matthew-58","tag-psalm-325","tag-psalm-5110","tag-recovery","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/014.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-2dN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8543","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\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8543"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8565,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8543\/revisions\/8565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}