The first four Beatitudes describe a person's relationship with God.
The next four describe a person's relationship with others; that organically develop in a surrendered soul. Jesus begins these four Beatitudes with mercy.
The Greek word for heart is kardia. It is the center and seat of the spiritual life—thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, purposes and endeavors.
The Greek word for pure is katharos. It means to be clean, blameless, innocent, unstained.
What makes a heart pure? Let's start with the obvious, the heart can not purify itself; nor can a person purify their own heart. Since no heart is pure, katharos indicates that the heart is purified by fire.
In Matthew 3:11 John the Baptist says, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." I have read this verse many times, but this time, God opened my eyes to the word fire as a fire purifying the heart.
Jesus said, “If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. . . . I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. John 14: 15-17, 25-27
God is like a "refiner's fire"(Mal 3:2). Notice, He sends His Spirit wrapped in Truth to remind us of His love and of our ability, through Him, to not only withstand the fire but to learn to appreciate its power. His loving discipline is intended to burn up the worthless things in our lives and make us more like Jesus.
Peter put it this way, "So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world." 1 Peter 1:6-7 NLT
Now, I have yet to meet anyone, including myself, who has a desire is to be purified by fire. However, I have personal experience that the fruit it bears is undeniable. If you have followed me for any length of time, you know I have an autoimmune condition, and I’ve been battling severe insomnia for more than ten years.
Physically and emotionally, this many years of insomnia and chronic illness have brought with it much instability. Since I never know what night will bring, planning for tomorrow is quite the challenge. Emotions sometimes run wild as they are difficult to control in exhaustion—and an overly emotional woman can leave her husband looking like a deer in headlights. But seriously, there are days that I am in what seems like a catatonic state, leaving me unable to do much at all; and at the very least I can become irritable or just down right sad.
Spiritually, these past ten years have created in me an intimacy with God I could have no other way. Prior to my relationship with Jesus (and my husband), I spent decades setting up my life in a way that I did not need to depend on anyone. However, God chose me as His—and knowing that control is my thing, He loves me through—as He chisels control out.
Without question, we are declared innocent, not by our deeds, but solely by the work of Jesus. We are made in the image of God and from the moment we say yes to Him, He awakens in us a desire to please Him; while simultaneously igniting the Refiner's fire to purify His beloved. He's never content to leave us where He finds us or where we currently are. Likewise, a passion to stand on Truth, regardless of consequence, will begin to flow through a secure—loved—refined—and purified heart.
God is the One who makes a heart pure. And Jesus said, a pure heart sees God.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NIV
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