Tuesday, December 15, 2009

blessed are

i love reading through books of the Bible at different times of my life. no matter how many times i read philippians, i get something new from it. the Word truly is, living and active!

i'm headed to south asia and to prepare to not only share the gospel in a dark place, but to help lead a team, i wanted to have "stories" and ways about Jesus fresh in my mind. i didn't know what gospel to start in, so my friend suggested matthew and we're reading it together. (ps-she recently posted a blog in regards to matthew as well and it's WAY more articulate! check it out!)

SO GOOD!

it's not like i haven't read matthew before. at fbc we spent how many years studying it together? how many times have i heard the event of john the baptist blasting the pharisies? how many times have i read and heard about Jesus being tempted in the wilderness? (ps-have you read this lately? another AMAZING section of scripture that is totally overlooked and underplayed!) the themes are already so beautiful and i'm only on chapter five!

i keep getting caught up in the "blessed" passages, more commonly known as "the beatitudes" (whatever the heck that means).

in church on sunday, sean talked about verse nine:

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

i am not a peacemaker. i do not intentionally go out of my way to create peace in my life. but i should.


but i read this section again and was utterly moved by verse eight:

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

in the summer, i went to a conference about killing sin and pursuing holiness. a few months ago i went to a retreat and we talked a little bit about holiness. pursuing holiness. the pure in heart. dude, i'm no scholar, but this seem connected to me. i suck at so much! i praise God that He continues to teach me about it and that He hasn't left me in my sin, but i want to be so stripped of impurities, no matter how small!!! i know it isn't possible now, but i hate sin. i hate that i think it's good at times.

my new prayer:

"Lord, i want to see you; make me pure of heart."

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