Pure Heart

Vision Can see us holding our hearts out to Jesus and letting Him examine the areas that need to be further purified, healed, pruned

Why? Greater place of dwelling. Growth. Awaken.

New levels of intimacy = authority

Intimacy = New levels of Him revealing His power through you

VISION: God’s brilliant light is warming up our hearts and creating these vibrations of heat but they’re smothered in love - healing

VISION: Also, see us holding our hearts out to people and feeling bruised/used - areas needed for further healing

God want to heal the little things that’s bruised our heart

We must be thankful for His process of pruning

He wants to have your limitations broken off

Boldness renewed

Refreshed

God wants open heavens over everyone

God’s ultimate goal is to be with you for eternity

Revelation 21:3 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”

He makes His Holy Spirit dwell in us - forever

“God’s tabernacle is His people”

All nationalities and backgrounds

What hinders intimacy with God?

Our offense towards other

His offense towards us

Our offense towards God

I don’t want to give the enemy a foothold

Ephesians 4:27 “and do not give the devil a foothold.”

Foothold = “Small area of influence or control that can be expanded if not addressed.”

Small offense

Small offense towards God

“If God really loved me He wouldn’t have let that happen to me”

No longer agreeing with that

Psalm 25:10 “All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.”

Gods intentions for you have always been to overcome evil with good

Does God have any offenses towards you?

Worship anything above Him?

Money, power, control, position?

Love yourself more than God?

Prideful or arrogant in your own works?

Do you have jealousy towards your neighbor?

“It’s just a little lie” “It’s just a little weed” “It’s just a little blasphemy” “It’s just a little porn” “Its just a little witchcraft”

Small offenses towards the church

“There’s no real pastors who love God anymore”

“There’s no real churches who love God anymore”

“I’m not going to give my tithe to the church b/c I don’t trust them”

Small offenses towards another person

“I can’t believe they humiliated me in public”

“I can’t believe they think they’re smarter than everyone else”

“They always try to one-up me, and I’m over it”

“Ill give them a piece of my mind next time”

Judas vs Jesus

Jesus understood Judas’s intentions motives, and goals, but he was not swayed by them

Judas didn’t derail Jesus’s purpose on earth

Some would say “Get out of my presence!”

NO: He washed his feet

Even when Jesus knew Judas motives and intentions, He didn’t call him out directly to him until it was time.

John 6:70 “Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!””

John 6:71 “(He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)”

Last Supper

John 13:21 “After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.””

John 13:24 “Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.””

John 13:25 “Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?””

John 13:26 “Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.”

John 13:27 “As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.””

At His last meal, Jesus exposes Judas, and then Satan entered into him

Greed -> compromise -> decision -> Satan using him as a pawn

What was the little foothold Judas dealt with?

Greed

John 12:5 ““Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.””

John 12:6 “He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.”

The enemy “searches for a particular passion that has power over him and by its means make him his prey”

Judas lost his soul for 30 small coins. A weeks worth of wages

Footholds make us shrink back from God - inch by inch

1 Timothy 6:9 “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.”

Some say with a boisterous attitude “oh you want to get rich huh? That’s a temptation and a trap!”

NO: Colossians 3:12–13 “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

2 Timothy 2:24 “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.”

2 Timothy 2:25 “Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,”

Is there a small sin that’s hidden you need to let go of? Is there a foothold?

What do you need to let the Lord prune in your heart today?

Jesus is the vine

God is the gardener

John 15:2 “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

Judas, was not pruned b/c he did not let God prune him

He was cut off

John 15:6 “If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”

Jesus gave Judas chances for repentance

With Mary’s anointing oil:

John 12:7 ““Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.”

John 12:8 “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.””

Judas, was not cleaned

John 13:10 “Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.””

John 13:11 “For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.”

We are clean by God’s teaching

John 15:3 “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”

God uses His word and His teaching to clean us/prune us

We grow in God as we’re pruned

What do you need to surrender?

What have you been holding onto so tightly it can’t grow?

What does His love look like and sound like?

Remain in Him = to remain in His love

John 15:4 “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”

Two way street

The Gospel according to John a. The Extended Metaphor (15:1–8)

‘Let us both remain in each other’

"Abide in Me" = Remain united - through faith

· Obey His commands - holiness

· Intimacy with the Father

“And I in you”

· reciprocal relationship / mutual

· Your human will

Abiding is how we keep offenses handled quickly

We let Him prune us when we let go of offenses

I’m going to choose to remain in His love

OT Goal:

Leviticus 26:11 “I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you.”

Leviticus 26:12 “I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.”

Leviticus 26:13 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.”

NT Revelation:

2 Corinthians 6:16 “What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with (in) them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.””

Is it with or is it in? Both

John 14:15 ““If you love me, keep my commands.”

John 14:16 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—”

John 14:17 “the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

We are learning how to be a dwelling place of the Lord everywhere

LIFE: Open visions on the elliptical

LIFE: God entrancing me then leaving Exercise

Stop /dinner table cooking

Be so close to God there’s no separation

Immediate intimacy

Become a walking miracle

Keys for breakthrough

LORD: “You get to choose where you dwell”

If you want to be where God is moving – dwell where He dwells

There is one who will never forsake you, be with you

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.””

Those who dwell have a RIGHT TO THE SUPPLY

Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure (katharoi comes from katharos) in heart, for they will see God.”

Old Testament X: Isaiah 1–39 The Wicked Will Not See the Glory of God (Augustine)

THE WICKED WILL NOT SEE THE GLORY OF GOD. AUGUSTINE:

We will see God

Revelation 22:4 “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.”

Hebrews 12:14 “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

Lexham Context Commentary: New Testament The Beatitudes (5:3–12)

The word “pure” here can also be translated as clean

Sincere, upright, virtuous, void of evil

These are true repentance:

Upright in heart

Heart posture

humility

Opposite:

Faking to repent

Concealing a matter to uphold pride

The Gospel according to John a. The Extended Metaphor (15:1–8)

To take them in reverse order:

2 Corinthians 11:2–4 “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”

2 Corinthians 11:12–14 “And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.”

o Fall in love with Jesus

“There is no greater freedom, joy, and peace than that found in obedience to the Word of God.”

§ If you’re not faithful to Him...

§ Righteousness & sexual purity

o What’s got your heart?

§ Actions reflect your heart

How do you purify the heart?

§ Deuteronomy 30:2-3, 6 “2 and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore…” The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul and live.

When David fell to Bathsheba, he brought his heart not just his words.

Psalm 51:1 “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.”

Psalm 51:2 “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”

Psalm 51:3 “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.”

Psalm 51:4 “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.”

Joel 2:13 “Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.”

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

o How are you choosing to honor the Lord with your mind, will, emotions, including your body?

o What are you running to for comfort?

o What is broken in your life still?

o What do you need to surrender to walking after God relentlessly?

· Can you admit faults?

o Pride or humility?

o Fast more often to defeat pride

§ 1 Sam 16:7 “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Dealing with Rejection for Ladies:

· If he doesn’t like you, he may just have a certain type that he likes OR if you’re a strong leader, your strength makes him feel insecure

Dealing with Rejection for Men:

· Find your peeps. Do not isolate

· Conquer – come alive

Is it wrong to be constantly wanting to be in a relationship?

· It depends –

· Healthy to acknowledge desire

o Paul says it’s better to be single – not really realistic for most.

o 2 are better than 1 & often more powerful than 1

o 1 can set 1K a flight 2 can set 10K (Deuteronomy 32:30)

o Righteous desire to want to rasie a fam.

· Is that coming before God?

o Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.”

§ Defined “Other gods, foreign gods”

· LIFE Unhealthy: Sadness, agony, defeat

o Not being in a relationship started to take the joy out of life

o Didn’t want to do ministry

o Is that your golden calf?

· LIFE: Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the LORD tested Joseph’s character (Psalms 105:19)

· Stephen Furtick “you don’t get to decide how long you wait for God to do certain things. You get to decide how you wait.”

· It is good to wait upon the Lord

o Isaiah 40:31 “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

o Lou Engle “thank you for long waiting.”

· “Don’t be surprised if you struggle to make sense of what God is doing in your life… Sometimes obedience comes before understanding.”

· “Waiting for God to intervene can test us to the breaking point. But remaining faithful to God is an opportunity to learn greater trust and dependence. In other words we build a deeper closer relationship with God. Suffering also puts God’s goodness in question, but faithfulness is the path we must travel to uncover God’s goodness.”

· “Faithfulness is a seed planted in the soil of suffering. It is perseverance that sprouts from the ground”

o Do you feel less than? Incomplete? Overlooked?

§ Colossians 2:9-10 “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form. 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness (you have been made complete). He is the head over every power and authority.”

· God works all things together for good (Rom 8:28) – if we let Him.

o “Throughout the Bible, God shows us that he is not uninvolved or disinterested. He didn’t create the world and then sit back and watch it spin.”

· Thinking: “Something is wrong with me.”

o Might need deliverance but don’t let the devil spiral you into depression.

o Unforgiveness (Matt. 6:15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.)

o Resentment/anger/bitterness,

If you are caught in sin cycles

Key to God’s heart: Psalm 51:17 “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.”

            Be broken before God so He can make you whole

            No isolation in sin

Satan wants to keep you bound so you’ll never walk in freedom

Declaration

There is a gracethat is sufficient for you

An anointing that is ready to break the yoke

A word from God to pick you up out of your pain

A hope beyond the current trials, situation, and circumstance

A healer that’s ready to take that pain and sin, and cast it as far as the east is from the west