Seeing God – Two2Grow, May 23
Seeing God – Two2Grow, May 23
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8 NIV
A Guest Devotion from Josephine Stenhammar
I wonder what comes to mind when you read the words ”holiness” and ”sanctification.” Maybe you think of legalism and a list of don’ts to restrict Christians.
Maybe you read the words, look at your own life, and feel a sense of guilt and shame. God never intended for that to be the case.
Being sanctified is simply a purification of our hearts and minds. In other words, our love and motives become directed at God. The Holy Spirit gives us a pure and devoted heart filled with the love of God.
As sinners, we will always battle the flesh, and we are divided in our love and desire for God and for the sinful world. While we will always fight sin, God wants to wash us and make us pure so that we will wholeheartedly desire only God. The temptations of the world are no longer binding to us because all we desire is the presence and glory of Jesus.
God makes us holy and set apart from the world, not through restricting us but through washing us and inviting us to focus our love and desire on Him instead. And, as we read in Mathew 5:8, this comes with a promise to see God!
When we allow Jesus to sanctify our hearts and make us pure, then we will see God! He removes the dirt that blocks the eyes of our heart so that we can then gaze upon his beauty all the days of our life, as the psalmist writes in Psalm 27:4. What a beautiful promise, and how I long for each of us to have this purified vision, love, and desire of God.
I want to encourage you to continue to ask Jesus to sanctify you today.
Lord Jesus, I want to love you with all of my heart. I want to desire you and long for your presence. Sanctify me and refine my heart today that I may see you. Amen.
A Guest Devotion from Josephine Stenhammar
I wonder what comes to mind when you read the words ”holiness” and ”sanctification.” Maybe you think of legalism and a list of don’ts to restrict Christians.
Maybe you read the words, look at your own life, and feel a sense of guilt and shame. God never intended for that to be the case.
Being sanctified is simply a purification of our hearts and minds. In other words, our love and motives become directed at God. The Holy Spirit gives us a pure and devoted heart filled with the love of God.
As sinners, we will always battle the flesh, and we are divided in our love and desire for God and for the sinful world. While we will always fight sin, God wants to wash us and make us pure so that we will wholeheartedly desire only God. The temptations of the world are no longer binding to us because all we desire is the presence and glory of Jesus.
God makes us holy and set apart from the world, not through restricting us but through washing us and inviting us to focus our love and desire on Him instead. And, as we read in Mathew 5:8, this comes with a promise to see God!
When we allow Jesus to sanctify our hearts and make us pure, then we will see God! He removes the dirt that blocks the eyes of our heart so that we can then gaze upon his beauty all the days of our life, as the psalmist writes in Psalm 27:4. What a beautiful promise, and how I long for each of us to have this purified vision, love, and desire of God.
I want to encourage you to continue to ask Jesus to sanctify you today.
Lord Jesus, I want to love you with all of my heart. I want to desire you and long for your presence. Sanctify me and refine my heart today that I may see you. Amen.