A PURE HEART

Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure.- TITUS 1:15A (NLT)

Sally had so many questions in mind about what was right or not right for her to eat. Could some food be impure?

She had limited her types of food and then realized she was now too skinny. She was so unsure if she should eat seafood, eggs, cheese and other dairy products, although she enjoys them. She has a vegetarian friend who doesn’t eat meat at all. So, Sally felt guilty touching meat. Therefore, she hadn’t been eating seafood, meat or dairy for the last three years.

Perhaps you or someone you know has also wondered if it’s a sin before the eyes of God to eat meat, dairy, or seafood. Today’s verse, “Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure…” reminds us that it is our hearts that are most important. Other scriptures confirm that no food is impure in itself, so if we eat it with a pure heart, it’s pure.(See Matthew 15:11 and Romans 14:14.

For those who choose to eat meat, seafood and dairy products, it’s okay with God as he has given it as food. Alternatively, if someone believes that they should avoid a particular food, perhaps even just for a certain time, it’s between them and God. We are free to choose food from everything God has given us.

More importantly, though, we need to place a spiritual filter in front of the door of our hearts to protect it from impure thoughts. God himself, through Christ, has given us pure hearts. Whenever impure thoughts knock on the doors of our hearts, we can ask God to purify us through Christ.

Father God, grant me a pure heart and guide me so I can walk in your righteousness provided through Christ, in Jesus’ name. Amen

Throughout this day: Believe that God can protect you and give you a pure heart. And when you make mistakes, remember that He is well able to purify you through Christ as you turn to him in confession.

Our Heavenly Kingdom

God gives us the ability to experience His goodness here on earth—no matter what is happening around us.

2 Samuel 15:13-16

Whether you study Old Testament passages like today’s or read news headlines, you’ll find the world has no shortage of conflict. It can be disheartening to realize there always have been and always will be leaders more interested in power than justice—leaders for whom winning matters more than how many people are killed or displaced. But Jesus told us that this would happen, that we would “hear of wars and rumors of wars” and, unfortunately, “such things must happen” (Matt. 24:6 NIV). But thankfully, we are citizens of the heavenly kingdom that doesn’t falter.

As believers, we can trust God to guide us, pray for our leaders to have wisdom, and know that everything is under control of the King of Kings. And we don’t need to wait for eternity to begin living in the kingdom of God—it’s already here! In Luke 17:20-21, Jesus told the Pharisees that His kingdom was already present. Today, too, it’s happening among His people, right here and now.

This month, spend time looking for God’s kingdom and the many wonderful ways it manifests itself. Yes, there are always certain leaders out for their own agendas, but look past them to those doing God’s work in quiet and often uncelebrated ways. That’s where you will find the truest beauty, the purest motives, and the trusted friends of God’s kingdom.

Name Above All Names

Being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.

Philippians 2:8–9

In a sense the best summary of the message of the Bible and the most fundamental truth in this universe is simply this: Jesus Christ is Lord.

Most theologians agree that “the name” that Paul refers to in verse 9 can only be “Lord” (Philippians 2:11). Here, the Greek word for “Lord” is kyrios, which is also used as the translation of God’s divine name, Yahweh, over 6,000 times in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament)—the name that is rendered in most English Bibles today as Lord. Paul’s implied use of God’s divine name emphasizes Jesus’ divinity, just after he has reminded us about Jesus’ humiliation during His time on earth.

Comprising four consonants (YHWH), Yahweh is basically unpronounceable in Hebrew—and purposefully so, for Jews did not dare take this divine name of God upon their lips. Yet Yahweh, the indescribable God, came to earth as the incarnate Christ and revealed Himself to men and women. He humbly went to the cross, and then He was raised to the highest place—His rightful place—and given this name “above every name.” Says one commentator, “He hath changed the ineffable name, into a name utterable by man and desirable by all the world.” In the one who bears this name, God’s majesty “is all arrayed in robes of mercy.”[1]

Old Testament prophecy reinforces this idea again and again. In Isaiah 45, God gives a description that applies exclusively to Himself: “There is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me” (Isaiah 45:21). Paul, once an aggressive opponent of Christ and His followers, applies this very description to Christ, making an impressive declaration of His deity. He points out that Jesus has been publicly exalted to the position that was rightfully His even before He came to earth to suffer humiliation on our behalf. He is now seated at the Father’s right hand. His majesty is there for all who know Him as Savior to see. His identity is unclouded and undoubted.

God is the only Savior—and Jesus is that Savior, of whom it was said, “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Years after Paul had first had his eyes opened to the truth about who Jesus is, we can still catch a sense of awed reverence and love in his words to the Philippians. Jesus Christ is LORD. He possesses the name above all names. Paul never allowed familiarity with this truth to breed complacency about it. Neither must we. Pause now and allow each word to prompt you to an awed praise of this man: Jesus, the Savior of His people… Christ, the long-promised King… is LORD, the indescribable, revealed God. And you get to call Him “brother” (Hebrews 2:11).