We Are Blessed.

Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:1-11

Going to Mars Hill church for the last month and a half, God has been opening my eyes to His beauty, to His heart. To a God who loves me more than I can fathom. To a God of acceptance and mercy, of grace and understanding. As a church, we have been studying the Sermon on the Mount. Every Sunday God stretches my mind and I am left with dwelling over what I learned for the rest of the week. It is such a blessing to be able to be apart of this church and body of the One great Love. Today, we heard a message on Matthew 5:8. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." This verse is a lot different then all the other ones. Jesus' message in the previous lines is talking to the broken, to the people who didn't have it all together. To the sinners, to the liar's and thieves. Like Rob Bells puts it, He is speaking to those who don't have it all together. The people who try their hardest but seem to not get anywhere. That is who Jesus is talking to in the Sermon on the Mount. He is blessing those who aren't perfect. He is saying " I have room for you." But this verse is different, it is talking to "the pure in heart"... Uh oh..I think we look over that one, or at least look over the difference between the other ones. It wasn't until Kent Dobson, who taught us today, brought it to my attention just how different this verse is, and it scared me a little. If Jesus is saying that only the people with pure hearts can see God, then I am far from that, then my eyes must be glued shut. But, that doesn't really sound like our God of love, does it? Throughout the whole service I heard a little whisper in my ear. Kent opened my eyes to the fact that Jesus doesn't want us to be perfect, but what He does want is our impurities. He wants us to be pure in the thought that we AREN'T perfect. That we DON'T have it all together. Christ died for us so that we don't have to pretend. The mask we put on is much dirtier then the grim covering our hearts. God wants us to be pure from the inside out, not just on the outside. We can't pretend to Him that we have it all together. He knows how hard it is, He knows how far we have fallen, and yet.. He has still blessed us. He has still made room for us, those who don't deserve it. We will see God when we bring the dirt to Him, we will see God when we strive to live a life that He has told us, even though we fall short sometimes. God is looking for the heart that knows they are dirty, who knows that they are unworthy; and yet comes to His feet anyway, searching for His every powerful, cleansing, Hands of grace. It's a call to change from the inside out, but also an announcement of love. That He loves us so much, He wants us, dirt and all. And He will clear our eyes to see Him.

It is in our impurities we are made pure.

To be pure of heart doesn't mean to be perfect. Its in our realization of our impurity do we become pure. It's then God sees our brokenness, beautiful.