Pure part 5
"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). I started this Rant series this way and I'm going to end it this way. What we see is what we be. So in the never-ending circle of love feeding on itself we can understand that this is not an if-then statement. It's not, "If you make your heart pure, then you'll see God." Because that puts all of the emphasis on YOU and what YOU'RE doing. The cry of man's heart has always been, "I'm not good enough, and I want to be better." This is because of the lie that the serpent told way back in the garden of Eden. The lie that says you have to do in order to be. The lie that says you're not good enough but through your own effort you can be. All you have to do is this, this, and this. But here's the problem with that idea (over and above the fact that it's a LIE): There's always one thing you lack. No matter how good you act... that's all it ever is. An act. And think about this: You can't have good without evil. They come from the same tree. The tree of death. God isn't insterested in good and evil. He's interested in the other tree--the Tree of Life. Jesus came that we might have LIFE and have it more abundantly. Not just life, but HIS life. Eternal, everlasting, abundant, Resurrection Life. That's why on the cross He gave His life FOR us and and He gave His life TO us. That's why on the cross He gave us the desire of our heart. He made in us a clean (pure) heart and an upright Spirit by the circumcision made without hands--the cutting away the flesh of human effort. He revealed that pure heart IN US. We don't have to make our heart pure, and in fact we can't. But He DID make our heart pure by getting rid of everything that wasn't what a pure heart beats with. A pure heart beats with love, love, and only love. When we try to do it ourselves, in our own strength, there's always one thing we lack. We see the darkness even as we yearn for the light. But when we understand the finished work we lack nothing. We have been blessed with all spiritual blessings. We have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness. We are filled to overflowing with love and there is nothing BUT love inside of us. The light shined and the darkness fled. We've moved past the cultural based "morality" of religion and into the pure, undefiled love of a relationship between Creator and creation. The relationship between loving heavenly Father and beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Now we can see God as He truly is. Now we can see Him everywhere we look. In everything--and, more importantly, in everyBODY--we look at. When we are filled to overflowing with love, that's when we see things with the eyes of grace. When the light shines, that's when we see things clearly--see things as they truly are. That's when we see God. That's when we see love. And while we are not what we try to be--we are not what we act like--we are what we see. What we behold is what we become. When we see love... we be love. We rise to the level of love that we are shown. Jesus showed us love--showed us the Father--by laying His life down for us, and picking it back up so that we might have it!