1. Blessed Are The Pure In Heart.
Matthew 5:8 (ESV)
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

2. How divided is our heart? We are to be of single mind & single heart.
Purity of heart is to will one thing. ~ Søren Kierkegaard
How divided is our heart?
We are to be of single mind & single heart.
Are we fragmented by our multiplicity of loves & desires?

3. John Piper
Jesus did not come into the word to change our bad habits! He came to cleanse our dirty hearts!

4. Followers of Christ are to be leaders by example to men.
We are called to live on a higher level.
We are not called to be the worlds bottom feeders.
Notice that this message was being presented to His disciples!
There is a big difference between believers & followers.

5. The first thing we learn from this beatitude is that Jesus is concerned with our heart.
It is not enough to clean up our act on the outside.
Jesus had allot to say concerning outward shows of religiosity.
On the inside, what are we really full of?

6. Pure =
Not defiled, polluted or mixed with impurities.

7. Blessed are the pure in heart -
That is, whose minds, motives, and principles are of single focus;
Its not so much our thoughts, but what do we do with them?
What do we allow our hearts and minds to feed on?
What is the filter between our mind & soul?

8. Spiritual litmus test:
When life & people cause life challenges do I~
When I am mistreated, do I blow up or keep cool?
When I hear gossip, do I entertain it, silence it or spread it?
When offended, do I begrudge or forgive?

9. Matthew 6:24 (ESV)
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

10. The pure in heart can overcome the impurity of the mind.
The pure of heart have the ability to not act on all that they feel.
They do not cast off restraint.
They do not do just what they see or feel is right in their own mind.
The Spirit neutralizes our impulse living.

11. Oswald Chambers.
Our danger is to water down God’s word to suit ourselves. God never fits His word to suit me; He fits me to suit His word.

12. Who will see God?
Psalms 34:25 Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

13. goals for a week:
Pray that God will help us understand what it means to be pure in heart and to help me grow purer through the next week.
Understand how a state of pure-heartedness can change my perspectives, thoughts, words, actions and inevitably, my life.
Try to catch ourselves when my heart feels impure in some way and to choose to think, say or do something different.
Try to do at least one thing each day that was motivated by a pure heart.
This could mean being kind, generous or believing the best about someone.

14. What does it mean to see God?
To be admitted into His presence.
To be awestruck by His glory.
To have a revelation of His grace & be comforted by His mercy.
Come to the Table of mercy, here we see God.