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“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:8 how we can see God. What does He say we need to be in order to see God? That’s right, we need to be pure in heart! But what does it mean to be pure in heart? What does it mean to be pure?

Being pure means not having anything that isn’t supposed to be there. If you have a glass of pure water, that means nothing except water is in the glass – no dirt, no bugs, no poison or anything else but water. If the water has something else in it, the water is not pure.

For a person to be pure means he has nothing in him that isn’t supposed to be there. He is just as God made him to be. In other words, there is no sin in him. He is not sinning on purpose. He is trying to be free from sin – in what he does and in what he thinks and desires. That is what it means to be “pure in heart.”

What is the promise to those who are pure in heart? “They shall see God.” Wow! What a promise! What could be more amazing than seeing God? Nothing! That is what every Christian wants. We want to see God, Who created us.

We who are saved by Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, will one day see Him in Heaven. Those who have turned away from their sins and asked Jesus to save them are made pure by His Holy Spirit, Who lives in them. They want to be godly and not sin. They want to do right and are really sorry when they sin, which means doing wrong. So, the pure in heart really will see God.

Do you want to see God? Have you been made pure in heart by asking Jesus to save you from your sins? If so, you will see God!

My response:

» Do I want to do right?

» Do I fill my mind with God and His Word so I can live in a pure way instead of constantly sinning and displeasing God?

“The everlasting God the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not” (Isaiah 40:28).

“Hey, Tim—will you look at that moon?” James poked his friend’s sleeping bag.

“Hmmm . . . hey—I was just falling asleep!” Tim rolled over on his back.

“Sorry—it takes me a while to fall asleep when I’m in the backyard like this. So how long do you think the moon has been there?”

“Well, it has been there for the ten and one-half years that I have been alive.” Tim yawned.

“Be serious, Tim. My Sunday School teacher said God created the world about six thousand to ten thousand years ago. So, if the moon was created on the third day, then it could be close to ten thousand years old.”

“That is a long time to be hanging around in one place,” Tim replied.

“But Tim, that is not long at all to God—He has been around forever.” James folded his pillow to get comfortable.

“How could someone do that? That would mean he was never born and would never die.”

“Exactly, Tim. But God is not just anyone; He is the eternal God.”

“Wow—I think I would get tired or bored living that long. He must be really old. Does He have white hair?” Tim leaned on one elbow and looked toward James in the darkness.

“Well, no one has ever seen God, but I know He does not look like us, and He does not live by time like we do. He doesn’t use any calendars or clocks.” James tried to explain.

“Hey—how does He know when to do things? Does He ever forget?”

“Shh! You’re going to wake up my parents. I am glad you are coming to church with me tomorrow. We can talk to my teacher about it. But if we are going to be ready in the morning, we should go to sleep now.” James yawned.

“Okay, but I hope I can remember all my questions. Now I’m the one who is wide awake!”

Our God is eternal. He lives forever.

My response:

» Have I ever just sat and thought about how long forever is?

» Do I use opportunities to talk to my unsaved friends about God?

» Do I feel secure because I know that God is everlasting?

“But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth” (Psalm 86:15).

Have you ever found yourself in the belly of a great fish? Or maybe in the middle of a lion’s den or a fiery furnace? How about clinging to the deck of a ship that’s being tossed around in a storm or breaking up against a rocky reef? Have you ever gone into the blazing desert and crawled under a bush to cry and wait until you starved or thirsted to death?

Hopefully, none of these things has happened to you. Hopefully, you will never find yourself in a situation like any of them. But if you ever do, remember the God of the Bible, because the Bible tells us stories of people who did find themselves in those situations.

God shows compassion. He listens to repentant sinners and saves them out of their own trouble, because salvation belongs to Him. The prophet Jonah tells why he prayed to God when he was trapped in the belly of the great fish: “For I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness” (Jonah 4:2). God was correcting Jonah for his sinfulness and rebellion, but Jonah called upon God anyway, because he had reason to believe that God would show him compassion and mercy.

Are you in a difficult situation? Do you think nobody cares? If there are people who care, do you wonder if they could do anything to help? In times like that, it is important to remind yourself what the Bible reveals about the character and works of God: He is compassionate. He takes pity on us in our weakness, fear, sorrows, hardships, starving, persecution, grief, loss, or confusion. In fact, no one else could show you the kind of compassion and love that the Lord can, because He alone is God. If you need true compassion, then you need the Lord.

God cares for our needs, and He shows perfect compassion.

My response:

» Have I ever been in a situation that was too hard for me to bear?

» Since God is aware and cares about the times when I need Him most, do I trust Him and turn to Him?

» How can I be compassionate toward others as the Lord is compassionate with me?

“There hath not failed one word of all his good promise” (1 Kings 8:56b).

Kayla was sitting in the living room staring out the window when her grandfather came in. “Why such a long face? It’s a beautiful day out,” he said.

Kayla frowned. “Dad promised to take me to the zoo today, but he had to go to work. He broke his promise.”

Kayla’s grandfather took a Bible off the coffee table and sat on the couch next to her. “I’m sorry you’re disappointed. We all get let down by others. But there is One Who will never break a promise.”

Kayla sat up and started listening. She could not think of anyone who had never broken a promise. Her grandfather opened the Bible to 1 Kings 8 and started telling her about the temple Solomon had built. “When the temple was finished, Solomon prayed to God, thanking Him for keeping the promises He had made to His children.”

“What kind of promises?” Kayla asked.

Her grandfather told her about God’s promise to Abraham that even though he was an old man, he would have a son. And through that son, his family would number more than the stars in the sky. He also told Kayla God’s promise to Moses that God would deliver Israel from Egypt and give them the Promised Land.  

As her grandfather read the Bible to her, Kayla was amazed that all those promises had come true. “The Bible is full of many more promises,” her grandfather said. “One of my favorite promises is the promises of eternal life for those who trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.”

“Are you sure God will keep His promises?” Kayla asked.

Her grandfather smiled, turned in his Bible to the book of Hebrews, and pointed to a passage in chapter 10, verse 23. “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised).” He gave Kayla a big hug and said, “You never have to doubt God’s promises.”

God will keep all His promises.

» When I read promises in the Bible, do I believe God will keep them?

» Is there a promise I am afraid God won’t keep?

“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

When the apostle John says, “God is light” what does he mean? Is he saying that God is like a giant flashlight? Or maybe God is like the sun? The Bible often uses darkness to describe sin. Hell is said to be a very dark place because God’s glory is not there. If sin is like darkness, then God is like light, because He is pure and holy. Have you ever noticed how darkness and light cannot be in a room at the same time?

When I was a boy, I went to an Atlanta Braves baseball game. The game was held at night. I remember as the sun went down and the sky grew darker, the huge stadium lights suddenly came on. The stadium that had been growing darker became as bright as day. What happened? The light drove away the darkness.

In the same way, God will not stay in the same place as sin. That is why John writes, “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness [sin], we lie, and do not the truth” (1 John 1:6). You can say that you are walking with God all you want, but actions will tell the real story.

But thankfully, the opposite is also true: when you are walking with God and choosing to please Him, there will be no room for sin in your life. Remember that God is light “and in him is no darkness at all”! You should walk closely with God so sin does not have a chance to creep into your life.

One night in Australia, the driver of the car I was in turned off the highway, driving slowly and then turning off his headlights. “Watch this,” he said as he turned the lights back on. We were on a golf course. There, blinking in the light, stood dozens of kangaroos, grazing on the course. They looked at us and then slowly hopped away. Until the light was turned on, I did not even know they were there.

Many times, the light of God’s Word will show us things that we need to change. When that happens, we need to come to God in repentance. First John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Remember that God is light!

My response:

» Has God’s Word showed me something I need to change?

» Have I confessed my sin and turned away from it?

» Am I living in the “light”?