Bible Study Weekly Recap - The Pure In Heart
- jerrybaca18
- Jul 27
- 3 min read
By Karen Romero-Baca
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. (Revelation 22:1)
Yes, Jerry talked me into writing the Blog this week! Because of this, I started with the Scripture that we forgot to add to our Power Point. Although SPOILER ALERT (for those who have not seen it), he does mention it toward the end of the video.
He also insisted on mentioning my name. As everyone is aware, “Karen” has become a derogatory meme. However, if you look it up, it originates from Katherine and means “pure” or “clear.” This correlates directly to the scripture above about the pure and clear river coming from God’s throne. There is a reason that the enemy loves to tear down certain names. Do not worry. I am not making this Blog about me or my name. Although I have made jokes that I plan on selling T-shirts saying, “Make Karen Great Again!” LOL...Jesus has a much higher name and His has been used in much worse conversation by those with impure or wicked hearts.
This week we focused on the pure in heart. This concept has been very misunderstood. Some say “we can never be holy” and use such scriptures as Romans 3:10&23: “10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” in order to back them up.
What they miss is that it is only through our own flesh or works that we cannot be perfect. Being pure in heart does not mean flawless perfection but rather having good motives and righteous thoughts. Jesus has asked us to be holy as He is holy in all manner of conversation (1 Peter 1:16) and explains that it is a condition of the heart that truly reflects who we are (Luke 6:45). Therefore, we should never use the scriptures that pertain to our fleshly lusts as humanity to make excuses for our actions or imperfections. Instead, we just need to repent and align with His will so we can reach the destiny He has for us. Our obedience in that area will also allow us to experience the blessing of seeing God for ourselves (Matt 5:8).
Another misunderstood issue stems from those who think the “law” is no longer valid. Jesus did set us free from the law, but only because He expects MORE from those with a pure heart, NOT less. In other words, we should no longer wish to do the bare minimum when it comes to tithes or living righteously in this crazy world. We are called to be salt and light. Jesus set a much higher standard for us because He knows our hearts. The pure in heart are those who want to be generous and in right standing because that is their desire, not because they are forced to comply with a set of rules. So if we have wickedness in our hearts, what can we do about it? Seek Him, ask for His forgiveness, and turn from any wicked ways. King David was not without fault, especially when it came to Uriah the Hittite, but God still calls him a man after his own heart. If we set our hearts on things above and keep our eyes on Jesus, we can all become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor 5:21).
If you missed the study on Saturday, you can catch it here in the PowerPoint and zoom video:
Hope to see you all next time when we explore the peacemakers!
Comments