Who May Ascend

."Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?
Who may stand in His holy place?
 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who has not set his mind^[a] on what is false,
and who has not sworn deceitfully.

He will receive blessing from the LORD,
and righteousness from the God of his salvation

Such is the generation of those who seek Him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob"  -Ps. 24:3-6

As I read this psalm this morning, God used his spiritual "highlighter" to "highlight" these verses on the page into my heart.

The NLT translation (what I usually use for the blog, the above is HCSB) says that "they will have a right relationship with God their savior" (v. 5).

Our hearts must be pure, our hands must be clean in order to have an unblocked, unabridged, view and relationship with the Father.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me." - Ps. 51:10

Our prayers shouldn't be for materialistic possessions that only disappear in light of eternity, our prayers should be for things eternally impacted. Our hearts, our motives, our attitudes.

I'm developing a heart of purity. Like my Abba's. Every thought we have, must be subjected to Christ:

" We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ." - 2 Corinthians 10:5

 By having pure thoughts and thus having pure actions, we are obeying Christ. We are pursuing a deeper relationship with Him. Purity isn't just something to be saved until marriage, it is a life long journey.

Purity in essence is single-mindedness, it is a protector, a fighter, a warrior, for all things Sacred to God.

(I recommend reading Meet Mr. Smith by Eric Ludy, for more in depth study)

Our culture sees purity as something that is forced, frigid, cold, and boring. But, God designed purity to protect, not punish. Purity can be (and is) fun, exciting, expectant, and joyful. Purity is a guardian of the sacredness of marriage.

Do not let anyone tell you, ever, that purity isn't worth it. 

Don't settle for less than God's best for your life.

Seek first the Kingdom.

This is a rather short post, but it is my prayer that all who read this blog are blessed and encouraged to live a life of faithfulness to God, pursuing purity, and proclaiming the Gospel!