The Heart of the Matter

This morning I began reflecting on my life over the past forty four years as a Christian, my prayer this morning was – I thank you Lord for the changes you have made in me, you saved me, you began to allow me to walk as a man of God, a man of faith which I didn’t know how to do, You got me excited about the word of God, loved the word of God! You cleaned me up, I got dirty again, you cleaned me up then I got dirty again, we rinse and repeated that for several decades…; but I always humbly thank you Lord for the changes you and I have had, but Lord there is something stirring in me this morning in my spirit, something deeper, something wonderful and amazing.  – Lord what is it? God will you grant me a fresh new revelation of heaven in my life. Lord, grant me a return to that child-like wonderment in my faith, grant a fresh sense of innocence, a childlike purity of heart that only you can give. And then I said this… grant an unveiling of the unconquered parts of my nature that sadden You, that need to come into an alignment with You, Your heaven, Your nature and Your character. I was asking to be taken into new levels of faith in who God wants me to be in Him, and who He wants to be for me.

It was a pretty revealing prayer and quiet time. I sense there may be others in the church who are not satisfied with their walk – who long for more, are not satisfied with their spiritual status quo, not satisfied with the  ‘One mile wide and one inch deep’, those who are looking for a spiritual walk that is ‘one mile wide and one mile deep’.

Let me take us back to Jesus’s day when Israel too had lost depth in their faith . . . stale rules, priests not spiritually scratching where it was itching. God knew this but He loved His human creation so much that he came in the flesh to right the ship, so to speak. He began his ministry with the most important words He could come out with – a starting point – the sermon on the mount. His first words were the “Blessing” passages in Matt 5:3-11. He spoke of those who are poor in spirit, those who recognize their need for Him, those who are humble, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (some bibles say justice). Blessed are the merciful who will obtain mercy, but then our Master says: Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God… this is the heart of the matter – a matter of the heart.

Purity of Heart

The Greek word for “pure” in Matthew 5:8 is katharos. It means to be “cleansed, blameless, unstained from guilt. Blessed are those who are cleansed, blameless, and unstained from the world while living in the world.

I believe this is what Jesus was getting at when He said to the people that day, happy you will be when you have come to a place of a new pure heart. Why? That’s at the core of God’s agenda for a happy life while on this earth. When one doesn’t have a pure heart, one cannot see the majesty and wonder of heaven – cannot see God. God has always wanted, right from the garden of Adam and Eve, for us to walk in a wonderment of His majesty and grace and goodness. He wants humankind to walk in innocence like that of a little child – not childish – but child-like innocence.

God calls on you and me to keep returning to a true spirit of innocence. The lack of a pure heart detracts from innocence, and that detracts from our ability to see God in our day-to-day living. Purity, childlikeness, and wonder are the attributes Gods asks us to walk in, in order to see His majesty and beauty day to day.  Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

Can I ask? Do you have trouble seeing the kingdom of God at work in your life sometimes? If, like me, you do, I have a proven three step plan to bring you to that place.

The three step plan:

Step one – recognize the enemy activity at work in me

For you and me life happens. There are moments in our walks where innocence comes under fire, it becomes eroded due to devastating life events – the loss of a dear loved one, divorce, loss of a job, children moving out, empty nest syndromes, the nasty event called COVID! All losses that can’t be replaced. Losses that lead to bitterness, callousness, unfeeling, cynicism, judgments, anger, pride, arrogance, resentments, being suspicious, being pessimistic, unbelieving, sarcastic and scornful, wanting control at all costs – the list goes on. These feelings signal a broken spirit. They show up as signs that the once “pure heart” is becoming eroded and broken.

All these traits are enemies, corrosive like acid that eats away at the human heart and spirit. They divert our nature away from God’s nature. God doesn’t share those traits, imagine if God were cynical, angry, and resentful, we would all be dead! Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

When those life sucking and draining events occur in our lives and we get hurt upon hurt upon hurt, and another hurt, and these hurts begin to layer themselves in us and result in bitterness, callousness, unfeeling and so, unless we make a determined choice to do what is necessary to root out those hurts, the carnal side of us wins out and no one really wins except the enemy, the evil one and his minions.

But here’s the thing… we all go through devastating life events. Life happens, good and bad happens; but God will use every devastating moment to teach us, to correct us, to discipline us in order to show us His majesty, His absolute goodness, and what He wants to be for us. It is imperative that we keep a pure heart so we can see God in those moments and vulnerable times. He always wants us to see heaven ahead of us. Paul says this in Romans 8:28. We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose – that means even in the devastating moments of life, God is at work in His good plan.

But if, like me, you have negative traits steeped in your nature, recognize and acknowledge them as bits of your nature that aren’t heavenly and God-like, but carnal.

Step two – return to me and I will return to you

James the apostle says; Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. How simple is that? (James 4:8)

This is at the heart of the bible. God has called us to keep returning to Him, right from the beginning in the garden. Come back to me and I will give you rest. He asks us to let those devastating bits of life go. If people and events have destroyed you, hurt you, and caused you grief, give them to God and forgive – forgive wherever forgiveness is needed.

Forgiveness was huge in Jesus’s agenda! Review the bible on forgiveness. Forgiveness restores purity of heart to the human soul, it clears spiritual vision so we see God again the way He wants you to see His heaven, His grace, His mercy, and His works. Forgiving is not a natural inclination, it is a supernatural thing to do. To turn and repent and forgive isn’t a natural human way of responding, it’s a Holy and spiritual response that God gives us the ability accomplish.

Forgiveness requires discipline – that’s why we are called disciples – we are being disciplined by the Holy Spirit to look and act like portraits of God’s character in this broken world.  I’m preaching to myself here! These qualities, purity, wonder, being unstained by sin, untethered to guilt, free from fear, will grow within our hearts in those moments when we deliberately return to the Master’s side.

Jesus refers to believers as being the branches as He Himself  is the vine (John 15:1-17). For a vine to produce its purest fruit, it must be pruned. We aren’t pruned by drinking prune juice! Those who are truly “pure,” have been pruned at the Master’s side with His Holy Spirit, baring their souls and deliberately turning their lives back to Him. In forgiving you are declared innocent by Jesus Himself and purity fills your heart.

We are sanctified by His pruning when we set ourselves apart with Him, when we spend time with the Master, and give Him permission to prune He will root root out those things in us that are not producing good fruit, and prune them away so we can produce the fruit necessary to win over this world. We can’t win over the world by being like it. We have to be different in it. We win over the world by overcoming it through the blood of Jesus and through the word of our personal testimony.

Step 3 – keep tuning up!

Gal 5:1 –  It was for freedom sake that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to the yokes of slavery. DON’T GO BACK TO THE OLD WAYS! Don’t default to the old nature. When the enemy wants to fill you with anger and bitterness and resentment, when you desire for justice but don’t get justice your way and it callouses you, remember this – God wants perfect justice for you and for the other person involved because He cares for both of you.

In Galatians, 5:16-20 Paul says: So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. That means spending time in His presence. – keep tuning up!  Folks, we’re not robots, we have a choice. We have to choose to listen to the Holy Spirit or not. Know the Holy Spirit will tune you up when your sound you’re making is not in tune. In the same passage Paul says, if we let the Holy Spirit guide our lives then we won’t be doing what our sinful nature craves. The Spirit offers us desires that are the opposite of what sinful nature desires. Our sinful nature desires us to be envious and angry, to use our tongue and voice to be cutting, to blurt things out without thinking, to shake our fist at the other who is weaving in and out on the 400 highway cutting in front of you and missing your car by inches on a Sunday afternoon!

Spirit desires and carnal desires are constantly in conflict with each other and you get to choose who wins. When carnality wins, innocence, purity, and the majesty of God  go out the window and our spirits become further eroded. This is what grieves the Holy Spirit – our loss of purity. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

Let me illustrate here: there arose a “discussion” among the disciples, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven (a carnal desire) Jesus?” Hmm… Jesus said, and in His incredible wisdom He called a child to Him. I guess the child came without hesitation. Jesus sat the child on his knee and probably asked the child his or her name, though he already knew it. He likely had a conversation with the child . . . were you playing with the other kids today?  And Jesus looked to the crowds and especially to His disciples and continued, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins, your impure thoughts, your impure desires and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven”. God seeks for us to return to Him in a childlike faith, childlike innocence. And please hear what I say, not childish but childlike.

Its about fine tuning of our spirits.

Think of it like this. Novices at the piano won’t have the experience of knowing when a piano is slightly out of tune; they haven’t had time enough to know that sound of harmonic agreement when the strings are hit by the force of the keys. But those who have matured and have given their lives to playing the piano will know instantly if a string is out by just a 1/8th of a turn

An experienced mechanic can hear when a car engine is slightly out of tune. You and I would just say that it is running fine; but the master mechanic knows when it is running out of tune. A seasoned mechanic places the head of one of those long screwdrivers on top of a certain part of the engine, then using it like a crude stethoscope, places his ear on the other end of the screwdriver and can actually hear which cylinder is not firing at the proper moment and makes a small adjustment to that engine.

So with God, we need to invite Him under the hood of our lives where we are holding bitterness, callousness, unfeeling, cynicism, judgments, anger, bitterness, resentment, and suspicion.

Our Master says, I know your hurt but you can’t hold on to that… give it to me and I will give you heavens opposite, and make you better. That’s discipleship folks. The Holy Spirit says, for your unfeeling I will fill you with compassion. In your cynicism, I will give you wonder. In your bitterness, benevolence. In your callousness, mercy, In your envy, contentedness. And so on. God will do it in a way that is right for you and Him.

As I close, if any of my message has resonated with you, can I give you some takeaways? Trust me, these are not for the faint of heart!

1. If you’re feeling spiritually dry, doing life rote, Say to God as I did… God will you grant me a fresh new revelation of heaven in my life. Lord, grant me a return to that childlike wonderment in my faith, grant me a fresh sense of innocence, a childlike purity of heart that only you can give. Grant me an unveiling of the unconquered parts of my nature that sadden You, those that need to come into an alignment with You, Your heaven, Your nature and Your character. You promised if I draw close to You, You will draw close to me! I tell you this! God will grant you that.
2. Ask yourself if there are places in your spirit where life’s devastation has made you callous, angry, unfeeling, continually cynical and suspicious? Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal those unconquered parts of your nature that are not of the kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit will reveal them to you if you’re being honest. Ask if there things in your life that aren’t producing the fruit of the Spirit but actually producing the opposite of the fruits of the Spirit. If you are a list-making person, as my wife is, make yourself a private list.
3. Ask yourself if you are willing to bring the list to the altar of God for Jesus and His Holy Spirit to review so you can begin to make changes, if you need to forgive. The Greek word is aphiami – it literally means to let off the hook, let pass, to give up the chase. Jesus did that for you and then He asks us to do the same for others.
4. Make time to sit with the Master and let His sword, quick and powerful, divide bone from marrow, soul from spirit.
5. And lastly, begin or continue to be thankful and grateful every day you are here on earth. Be grateful for what you have. Be content with where you are in life. Know that God wants and has the ability to help develop deep within you a purity of heart.

Thank you for allowing me into your life today and bless you.

Wayne Morgan

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