Purity: June 24, 2011

JUNE 24 2011. TODAYS WORD FOR FRIDAY JUNE 24, 2011

PURITY

DEFINITION:

Freedom from anything that pollutes or contaminates; uncontaminated; without evil; guiltless; undefiled.

SCRIPTURE:

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield and without hypocrisy. James 3:17.

He who has clean hands and a pure heart; he shall receive blessing from the Lord. Psalm 24:4-5

I stir up your pure minds by way of a reminder that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken by the holy prophets. II Peter 3:1-2.

Holding the mystery (revealed truth) of our faith with a pure conscience. I Timothy 3:9.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

People today are very concerned about how they look. It is mind boggling to think of all the money, time and effort people spend to make themselves look good. People try everything including cosmetics, beauty treatments, exercise, gyms, spas, diets and when all else fails, plastic surgery.

All this is just to improve their outward appearance. What we should be more concerned about is what we are like on the inside because although we look on the outward appearance, the Lord looks at what is on the inside (I Samuel 16:7). Believers should spend their time and effort on making sure they are pure and uncontaminated on the inside.

When we think of the word purity we think of several scriptural references to describe this word. These include being uncontaminated from the evils of this world, innocent and regenerated.

Purity is applied figuratively to God’s wisdom as James tells us in the verse above. Wisdom is from above and it is first pure and then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield and without hypocrisy.

Purity as it applies directly to the believer includes first to the believers heart (Psalm above). When our hearts are pure it will be evident because we will strive to live honest and moral lives that honor the Lord our God. If our hearts are pure our hands will be clean and uncontaminated by evil deeds. The believer must have clean hands and a pure heart.

Secondly, it is used in relation to the believers mind (II PETER above). Peter writes to believers desiring to stir up our minds to remember and follow the words given to us in God’s Holy Word. If we obey God’s Word we will keep our minds pure. Finally, purity is applied figuratively to the believer’s conscience (I Timothy above).

Our faith provides a pure conscience. A pure conscience enables us to discern right from wrong. Living a pure life as a believer is something we should always strive for. When we were raising our children we often talked about the need of purity in our talk, our walk and our actions. We need to always be on our guard not to fall into a trap because the devil would always do his best to set unassuming traps for us to fall into.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in James 1:19.

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak. Slow to wrath.

PRAYER:

Help me to live a pure life today, honoring You with my thoughts and my actions.