NewDayvotional

From the pastor for the people

Archives for September 2015

How to Cultivate a Pure Heart: Part 3

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The Bible gives us at least six ways we can cultivate a pure heart before God. In this post we’ll look at the third way we can do that.

God says, if I’m going to keep my heart pure, then third, I need to read my Bible. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” If you want to keep your heart pure, you need a filter for your heart – and God’s Word is a heart filter. It filters out ungodly thoughts and attitudes.

Do you know what the lint filter is on your dryer? Well early on in marriage neither Kristin nor I knew that dryers had lint removers. We only discovered the lint remover because our dryer began to malfunction. When we removed the filter, there was this gargantuan pile of lint that had accumulated over the last year. I seriously could’ve fashioned a small pillow from all the lint. It was crazy! Well that filter captures the little fibers that fall off your clothes during the drying process. The filter removes them from the drying cycle.

This is what God’s Word does to the ungodly attitudes and thoughts that want to set up residence in our hearts. God’s Word filters them out.

  • We might have a complaining heart if we’ve never read Philippians 2:14 which says “Do everything without complaining…”
  • A bad attitude might take root in your heart if you’ve never read Philippians 2:4 which says “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”
  • Gossip might take root in your heart if you’ve never read Proverbs 16:28, “…a gossip separates close friends.”

You see, God’s Word filters out the sinful things that corrupt the purity of our hearts. This is why the psalmist wrote in Psalm 119:11, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” So make sure your only intake of God’s Word doesn’t happen on Sundays. God’s Word is an essential part of keeping our hearts pure.

How to Cultivate a Pure Heart: Part 2

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The Bible gives us at least six ways we can cultivate a pure heart. In this post we’ll focus on the second way to do that.

God says, if I’m going to keep my heart pure, then second, I need to remove my callouses. It is said of the wicked in Psalm 119:70, “Their hearts are callous and unfeeling…”

When I was in college I volunteered as the children’s pastor at a local church. I had to learn the guitar so I could lead the kids in worship. Well let me tell you something I learned about playing the guitar. If you’re new to playing, your finger tips will be very sensitive to pressing down the strings to the fingerboard. If you practice for more than five minutes it hurts! Your fingers will literally start bleeding if you play too long! In time though, you develop callouses. Once these are developed you can press down as hard as you want and you won’t feel a thing.

This is what can happen to our hearts through disobedience. They can get to the place where when God speaks to our hearts or convicts our hearts, we don’t feel a thing! This is a bad place to be. But the good news is that we can remove the callouses from our heart! A pumice stone will remove the callouses from your hands or feet and obedience will remove the callouses from your heart. When the callouses are gone, we once again become sensitive to the Lord’s leading. We once again feel his promptings and conviction. And the more you obey the more sensitive you become.

Removing the callouses from our heart is the second way we can cultivate a pure heart.

How to Cultivate a Pure Heart: Part 1

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The Bible gives us at least six ways we can cultivate a pure heart. In this post we’ll focus on the first way to do just that.

God says, if I’m going to keep my heart pure, then first, I need to Guard my heart. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Your heart can be stolen away from God so you have to be on guard.

The other week we were cleaning out our garage. We had quite a bit of stuff laid out in the driveway. I thought we’d have it all put away before a party we had to go to at 1pm but I was wrong. 1pm came and we were nowhere near being done. So we left some stuff out in our driveway (with no one to guard it) and head off to the party. Well, when we came back, someone had stolen a bunch of our stuff, including about $500 worth of winter gear that I had just bought last year! It was my fault. I left it out. I wasn’t careful to guard it and someone stole our stuff away!

Well did you know that if you’re not careful, your heart can also be stolen away from God (if you don’t guard it). Let me explain. Imagine yourself as a paper clip. If you, as a paper clip get too close to a powerful magnet, its invisible magnetic field will suck you in and trap you, holding you in its grip. This is why I John 5:21 says, “Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.” If you don’t keep away, you’ll get sucked right in.

  • The cares and worries of this life can draw you away from God.
  • The love of money can draw you away from God.
  • Television shows or movies or books that promote ungodly values and lifestyles can draw you away from God.
  • Ungodly friends can draw you away from God.
  • A vice (such as alcohol, drugs or porn) can draw you away from God.

But what does the Psalm 141:4 say? “Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers…” You see, you have to get close enough to get drawn in. So picture these things as powerful magnets that want to draw you away from God and make it your goal to stay away from their invisible magnetic fields. King Jehoshaphat showed God that he was guarding his heart by removing the temptations in Israel that would draw people away from God. We read of Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 17:6, “His heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord…he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah.” The Asherah poles and high places tempted the people to prostitute themselves to false gods so Jehoshaphat removed the temptation. This is exactly what we need to do! We need to identify those things that are most likely to draw us away from God and remove them from our lives (or do our best to avoid them, whether they be people, places or things). This is an essential component of keeping our hearts pure.