Good morning pure ones!

1 Peter 1:22 (Amp) says,

  • Since by your obedience to the Truth through the [Holy] Spirit you have purified your hearts for the sincere affection of the brethren, [see that you] love one another fervently from A PURE HEART.

As Christians, we must have the courage to look within ourselves and ask God to reveal to us the areas in our hearts that are not genuine.  Every morning I pray what the Psalmist said in Psalm 139:23-24 (Amp),

  • Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

And also, Psalm 51:10 (NIV), I pray,

  • Create in me A PURE HEART, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Family, the Word of God is everlasting; it’s alive and active.  It has the power to transform and change us into the image of our Lord Jesus Christ as we renew our minds to the Word of God.  Romans 12:2 declares,

  • Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude]…

When we refer to “the world”, we mean cares, temptations, desires, and everything else that opposes the Word.  We must not put our confidence and trust in the world’s ways of doing things.  1 John 2:15-17 (Amp) states,

  • Do not love or cherish the world or the things that are in the world.  If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh [craving for sensual gratification] and the lust of the eyes [greedy longings of the mind] and the pride of life [assurance in one’s own resources or in the stability of earthly things]—these do not come from the Father but are from the world [itself].  And the world passes away and disappears, and with it the forbidden cravings (the passionate desires, the lust) of it; but he who does the will of God and carries out His purposes in his life abides (remains) forever.

Don’t adopt or embrace the world’s ways of doing things. 

Another Scripture I declare every morning is in Ephesians 5:1 and it says,

  • Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

And again in 1 Peter 1:15 God’s Word declares of us,

  • …but as He Who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy”.

Our love should be real because people want to see how genuine we are (see 1 John 3:11-17).  We should not be like Cain – his works were evil and his love was not genuine.  Cain was filled with jealously and envy.  This is why we must go to God with our challenges and issues.  If we try to cover up our heart issues, they will eventually surface.  

My question to us today is, “Is our love sincere?”  We must love not only with our words, but also with our actions.  When we do things for God we must not do them to be praised by men (see Matthew 6:1-5, 16 Msg).  Jesus said if we do good works to be praised by men, that is all we will receive.

I exhort you to meditate upon the Word of God until it’s like you’re looking in a mirror.  Let the fruit of your lives reflect the character of Jesus.  We have the power of the Holy Spirit to do it.  So, find the courage to look within yourself.  Accept the fact that you are created in the image and likeness of Almighty God.  Embrace who you are in Christ Jesus and be a blessing everywhere you go.

Developing a pure heart,

Lisa Gordon

Assistant Pastor

Jesus City Church