Posted on by Lesley

Blessed Are The Pure In Heart

blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see god

83. This Beatitude speaks of those whose hearts are simple, pure and undefiled, for a heart capable of love admits nothing that might harm, weaken or endanger that love. The Bible uses the heart to describe our real intentions, the things we truly seek and desire, apart from all appearances. “Man sees the appearance, but the Lord looks into the heart” (1Sam 16:7). God wants to speak to our hearts (cf. Hos 2:16); there he desires to write his law (cf. Jer 31:33). In a word, he wants to give us a new heart (cf. Ezek 36:26).

84. “Guard your heart with all vigilance” (Prov 4:23). Nothing stained by falsehood has any real worth in the Lord’s eyes. He “flees from deceit, and rises and departs from foolish thoughts” (Wis 1:5). The Father, “who sees in secret” (Mt 6:6), recognizes what is impure and insincere, mere display or appearance, as does the Son, who knows “what is in man” (cf. Jn 2:25).

85. Certainly there can be no love without works of love, but this Beatitude reminds us that the Lord expects a commitment to our brothers and sisters that comes from the heart. For “if I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have no love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor 13:3). In Matthew’s Gospel too, we see that what proceeds from the heart is what defiles a person (cf. 15:18), for from the heart come murder, theft, false witness, and other evil deeds (cf. 15:19). From the heart’s intentions come the desires and the deepest decisions that determine our actions.

86. A heart that loves God and neighbour (cf. Mt 22:36-40), genuinely and not merely in words, is a pure heart; it can see God. In his hymn to charity, Saint Paul says that “now we see in a mirror, dimly” (1 Cor 13:12), but to the extent that truth and love prevail, we will then be able to see “face to face”. Jesus promises that those who are pure in heart “will see God”.

Keeping a heart free of all that tarnishes love: that is holiness.

 

APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
GAUDETE ET EXSULTATE
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FRANCIS
ON THE CALL TO HOLINESS
IN TODAY’S WORLD

 
Posted on by Lesley

Here I Am, Lord

I, the Lord of sea and sky
I have heard my people cry
All who dwell in dark and sin
My hand will save

I, who made the stars of night
I will make their darkness bright
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord
Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night

I will go Lord, if You lead me
I will hold Your people in my heart

I, the Lord of snow and rain
I have borne my people’s pain
I have wept for love of them
They turn away

I will break their hearts of stone
Give them hearts for love alone
I will speak my word to them Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord
Is it I, Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night
I will go Lord, if You lead me
I will hold Your people in my heart

I, the Lord of wind and flame
I will tend the poor and lame
I will set a feast for them
My hand will save

Finest bread I will provide
‘Til their hearts be satisfied
I will give my life to them
Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord
Is it I, Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night
I will go Lord, if You lead me
I will hold Your people in my heart

Oh, I will hold Your people in my heart

Original Meaning of ‘Here I Am, Lord’ in Isaiah 6:8

Posted on by Lesley · 2 Comments

Joy in Living

When gently descending, the rain in soft showers,

With its moisture refreshes the ground,

And the drops, as they hang on the plants and the flowers,

Like rich gems beam a lustre around.

Thomas Brerewood, ‘Spring, A Pastoral Ballad’

prayer

Our Father, Open our hearts and our eyes this day to behold with wonder and awe the beauty of Your creation. Nurture an awareness in each of us, Lord, that You are close by, even though we cannot see You. Assure us of Your love and overwhelm us with the need to share it with others. Help us to find the way and the words. Renew in us, Lord, a fresh sense of joy in living for, as Your children, we have life eternal. O Holy Spirit, lead us to shine as a light in this world so that others may come to know Your love, peace and hope for them also. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13 NIV
Posted on by Lesley

The Heart of Worship

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You are my first love. Lord, I love You with all of my heart. I really need you and am fully dependent on You today. Lord Jesus, I open my entire being to You without reservation. Lord, fill me with Yourself today. Amen.

And you shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul and from whole mind and from your whole strength.

Mark 12:30

the heart of worship by matt redman

I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You
It’s all about You, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You

It’s all about You, Jesus
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You
It’s all about You, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You

It’s all about You, Jesus
When the music fades
And all is stripped away
And I simply come

Longing just to bring
Something that’s of worth
That will bless Your heart
I’ll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required

You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You
It’s all about You, Jesus

I’m sorry, Lord for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You
It’s all about You, Jesus
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You (it’s all about You)
It’s all about You, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You
It’s all about You, Jesus


Posted on by Lesley · 2 Comments

I Thank Thee God, That I Have Lived

I Thank Thee God, That I Have Lived by Elizabeth craven

I thank thee God, that I have lived
In this great world and known its many joys:
The songs of birds, the strongest sweet scent of hay,
And cooling breezes in the secret dusk;
The flaming sunsets at the close of day,
Hills and the lovely, heather-covered moors;
Music at night, and the moonlight on the sea,
The beat of waves upon the rocky shore
And wild white spray, flung high in ecstasy;
The faithful eyes of dogs, and treasured books,
The love of Kin and fellowship of friends
And all that makes life dear and beautiful.


I thank Thee too, that there has come to me
A little sorrow and sometimes defeat,
A little heartache and the loneliness
That comes with parting and the words ‘Good-bye’;
Dawn breaking after weary hours of pain,
When I discovered that night’s gloom must yield
And morning light break through to me again.
Because of these and other blessings poured
Unasked upon my wondering head,
Because I know that there is yet to come
An even richer and more glorious life,
And most of all, because Thine only Son
Once sacrificed life’s loveliness for me,
I thank Thee, God, that I have lived.


Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest
Posted on by Lesley

Behold, I stand and knock

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD , 1866 PAINTING BY WILLIAM HOLMAN HUNT

The figure of Christ holding a lantern and knocking on a wooden door is clear enough. Momentary study reveals that the door has no handle: it can only be opened from within. The door is the door to our hearts, and knock as loudly as he might, only we can open the door and let Christ in.

20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 3:20-22

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you stand at the threshold of every heart and seek the welcome of an open door. As our doorbells invite us to welcome friends and strangers alike, may we also invite and welcome you as a permanent guest into our lives. Amen

Source: Adapted from At Home In Lent – An exploration of Lent through 46 objects by Gordon Giles.

Posted on by Lesley

What does it mean that Jesus and believers are living stones?

QUESTION

What does it mean that Jesus and believers are living stones in 1 Peter 2:4-5?

ANSWER

The term living stones in 1 Peter 2:5 is used as a metaphor to illustrate the secure and intimate relationship believers have with Jesus, who is described in the previous verse as the “living Stone” (1 Peter 2:4). Together, these two verses picture how Christ and His followers are joined by God Himself: “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4–5).

The foundation of God’s building is His Son, Jesus Christ, the “living Stone.” The “living stones,” in turn, are believers who come to Jesus and place their lives upon this foundation. The living Stone is “precious” to those who believe (1 Peter 2:7), but some men reject the living Stone in order to build their lives their own way, not God’s way (see Psalm 118:22 and Luke 6:46–49). Unbelievers cast this living Stone aside, not caring that Jesus is the only true foundation upon which they can build securely (1 Corinthians 3:11).

In a metaphor much like that of the living Stone, Jesus is described as the chief cornerstone in Ephesians 2:19–22. Peter references Jesus as the cornerstone in Acts 4:11–12, stating that “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” God accepts no one who refuses to become a part of His building. And God is just like all builders—He has a foundation upon which all workers must build (Matthew 7:24–27).

Believers, then, are the “living stones” of the church that Jesus promised to build (Matthew 16:18). As living stones, we have new life in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). As integral parts of the building of God, we have security in Christ (John 6:37). As the Master Builder, God places His living stones just where He wants us to be (1 Corinthians 12:18). As living stones, we are connected to one another in the body of Christ (Romans 12:5). Our Lord, the foundation Stone, is alive forevermore and will never crumble. He will support us eternally.

Peter goes on to describe the function of the living stones: to “declare the praises” of Him who called us out of the darkness of sin into the light of life and glory (1 Peter 2:9). This is the “job description” of a living stone: a speaker of praise, a declarer of truth and love and light. The spiritual house God is building is designed for His glory, and we, the living stones, glorify the Lord in all we do (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Source: GotQuestions.org

Posted on by Lesley

Come to Him – the Living Stone

22 Now that you have taken care to purify your souls through your submission to the truth, you can experience real love for each other. So love each other deeply from a [pure] heart. 23 You have been reborn—not from seed that eventually dies but from seed that is eternal—through the word of God that lives and endures forever. 24 For as Isaiah said,

All life is like the grass,
    and its glory like a flower;
The grass will wither and die,
    and the flower falls,
25 But the word of the Lord will endure forever.

This is the word that has been preached to you.

(1 Peter 1:22-25 The Voice Translation)

2 So get rid of hatefulness and deception, of insincerity and jealousy and slander. 2 Be like newborn babies, crying out for spiritual milk that will help you grow into salvation 3 if you have tasted and found the Lord to be good. 4 Come to Him—the living stone—who was rejected by people but accepted by God as chosen and precious.

(1 Peter 2: 1-4 The Voice Translation)

Posted on by Lesley · 4 Comments

The Cure for Spiritual Blindness

The following excerpt is from God’s Power for Your Life by A W Tozer

Not just wicked men, but good ones as well, can be inwardly blinded to the point of self-deception. Yes, even good men and women can be so deceived as to miss heaven in the final analysis. How tragic to live your whole life believing you are on the road to heaven, and then to find out, when you cannot change, that you were deceived!

Remember these words spoken by Jesus: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in they name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23)

How are we to avoid hearing those dreadful words? Surely, there is something we can do to prevent ourselves from being deceived. What is the cure? How am I to deal with any kind of spiritual blindness I might encounter?

Take heart – there is a cure. “For ye were sometimes darkness,” Paul wrote to the Ephesian Christians, “but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). These men and women once walked in darkness, but they came to walk as children of light. At the root of this transformation was a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit through the Word of God.

Jesus is the cure, and only the Holy Spirit can apply this remedy to restore a person’s life and chase away the darkness of the soul forever. (emphasis is mine)

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” Jesus proclaimed, “because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18). Light is available to all who seek. That is the secret. Those who seek God earnestly and desperately shall surely come into the glorious light of His presence.

Posted on by Lesley · 7 Comments

Take Refuge in God

Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,
    for in you I take refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
    until the disaster has passed.

Psalm 57:1 NIV

Prayer

Oh, Lord, exalt Yourself above me and all that I am – possessions, friends, comforts, pleasures, reputation, health and life – everything. Test me, Lord, and see whether I can really leave everything in Your hands. Bring my life into line so that I will not be fully myself, but fully in You, knowing the truth that I can take refuge in You. Oh, Lord, set in motion a chain of circumstances that will bring me to the place where I can sincerely say, ‘Be thou exalted above the heavens’. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

All hail the power of Jesus’ name!

Let angels prostrate fall;

Bring forth the royal diadem,

And crown Him Lord of all;

Bring forth the royal diadem,

And crown Him Lord of all.

Edward Perronet (1726-1792)