DOES YOUR INSIDE MATCH YOUR OUTSIDE?

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Written by Elizabeth Waweru

Does Your Inside Match Your Outside?
by Mark Altrogge

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” MT 5:8

Once a father told his child to sit down. The child refused. Again the father told his child to sit down, and again the child stubbornly refused. Finally, the father said, “If you don’t sit down I’m going to give you a spanking.” The child sat down and said, “I’m sitting down on the outside, but I’m still standing up on the inside!” Reminds me of what Jesus said to the Jewish leaders:

You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me…’ MT 15:7-8

Outwardly they honored God. They sang songs and prayed and tithed. But they had no love for God. Their hearts – their inner persons – were impure – they acted religious to be noticed by men, not to please God. They were hypocrites.

The word hypocrite comes from a word meaning actor. A hypocrite’s an actor, a pretender. He professes some value or belief but his private life does not match it. He’s not pure in heart. So, to be pure in heart means our words match our thoughts. Our outer life matches our inner life.

When God saves us he gives us new hearts:

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Ezekiel 36:26-27

God gives us new hearts that want to follow and obey him and pours his Holy Spirit into us who motivates us to sincere obedience.

A friend once requested I ask him about his TV watching every time he traveled for work. This man sincerely wanted to please Jesus and didn’t want to sin when no one else was watching.

To be pure in heart doesn’t mean we never sin. But it means that now we don’t want to. We hate it when we do, and are grateful for Jesus’ constant cleansing (1 JN 1:9).

A few ways to cultivate purity of heart:

The reward for pursuing purity? “They shall see God.”

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure (1 John 3:2-3).

Because of our glorious hope to see Jesus, the infinitely pure one, face to face, we purify ourselves now, by the power of the Spirit.

Be blessed!

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  2. Pingback: ONE LOVELY BLOG AWARD – C.C. Brown

  3. Thank you again Elizabeth for joining up with Freedomborn, I will look forward to sharing together on our Blogs.

    Elisabeth it is True until our Carnal Flesh is put to death (Romans 8 :12-15- Romans 6 -Colossians 3:4-6 -Galatians 5:24 -26) and we are Perfected in Love (Matthew 5:48 – Hebrews 6:1-Philippians 3:14-16 -2Timothy 3:17-1John 4:16-19- 1John 2:4-6- 2Corinthians 13:11) and are Born Again, we may Sin and Jesus will intercede for us and we will be forgiven when we have Heart repentance but we don’t continue to Sin when we are Born Again as the Scripture below confirms. We no longer have Adam’s nature we have God’s seed or Nature, we are One in Christ Jesus and we have His mind and He doesn’t choose to Sin and nor will we ever choose to Sin because we are like Him in this World.

    1 John 3: 1-11 ( 9 ) No one who is Born of God will continue to Sin because God’s seed remains in him he cannot go on sinning because he has been Born of God.

    1 John 5:18-20 We know that no one who is Born of God sins; but He who was Born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.

    John 8:34-36 Jesus replied, “I tell you the Truth, everyone who Sins is a slave to Sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the Family but a Son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

    What people get confused about Elisabeth are weaknesses and shortcomings, theirs and others, yes we all have them such as Fear or even Anger when it comes from grief or confusion but we do not let it lead us to bitterness an resentment and seeking revenge which is Sin. Jesus came to heal not condemn but Carnal fleshy Man judges critically and without Love and Compassion because he looks on the outside but God sees the Heart and knows our motivation or the reason.

    Romans 6:18-20 Being then made free from Sin ye became the Servants of Righteousness.

    Romans 6:22-23 But now being made free from Sin and become Servants to God ye have your fruit unto Holiness and the end everlasting life. For the wages of Sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

    Romans 6:6- 7 For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of Sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves to Sin because anyone who has died has been freed from Sin.

    1John 3 – No one who lives in Him keeps on Sinning, no one who continues to Sin has either seen Him or known Him. Dear Children do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is Right is Righteous just as He is Righteous.

    Colossians 3:4-6 When Christ, who is your life appears then you also will appear with Him in glory. Put to death, therefore whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.

    1John 4:16-17 And we have known and believed the Love that God hath to us. God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him. Herein is our Love made Perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment because as He is so are we in this World.

    Christian Love and Blessings – Anne.

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