Blessed [anticipating God’s presence, spiritually mature] are the pure in heart [those with integrity, moral courage, and godly character], for they will see God,~Matthew 5:8. 

Beautiful friends it’s been great to go on this journey with you into house cleaning. It had been on my heart for awhile and in our current culture there’s a prevelant lie that’s hurting millions of people. 

The lie is there are no consequences for sin if you’re in Christ. If you simply believe in Jesus, make a confession of faith, then you may live as you please without any consequences.

This lie hurts us for many reasons: 

1. It sets people up for a cycle of sin confess instead of true repentance (changing the mind about sin). Repentance leads us to restoration. 

Sin cost Jesus His life. He was the living sacrifice, atoning sacrifice for our sins. We then, in Him, are called to offer our very lives over to Him as a living sacrifice. Our lives are no longer our own, meaning He becomes Lord. 

He’s a good Lord too! He’s no bully or control freak or kill joy. He gives lasting joy. He is joy. 

Therefore, confess your sins to one another [your false steps, your offenses], and pray for one another, that you may be healed and restored. The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power),~James 5:16. 

There’s a tremendous blessing placed in and on our lives when we obey God. Our obedience is not to win approval or be saved by works. It’s an act of love that brings blessing into our lives. 

2. When our minds are filled with lies, immoral thoughts, jealousy and envy, perversion, pride, fill in the blank with anything unholy…our minds miss clearly/accurately seeing God. 

There are natural things that are good. I’m not stating you think about Bible verses all day. I often think about friends, family, nature, how funny something is.

I do know when my mind starts thinking on things that are negative or lies (ex. this is hopeless…), it doesn’t help me to see God. 

Sin always takes the focus off God and placed it onto us, onto problems (fear/worry/dread), onto others in a negative way (Why is God blessing that person? Why are they getting away with that?), or objectifying a person (lust), looking down on someone (prejudice, racism, sexism), exalting self (pride), debasing self (pride/unbelief)…

Sin robs us of the opportunity to see what God is doing. It robs us of intimacy (knowing Him). It starts in our minds then often translates to our words and actions. 

The Bible tells us…

Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart],~Phillipians 4:8. 

Seeing God is important. Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing. He was powerful because He stayed in alignment with the Father. He pursued the Father’s will above everything else. 

Purity is powerful. 

Purity says, “My soul (mind, will, emotions), body, and spirit will be yielded to God to be purged of what’s not like Him.” 

When He’s the focus, the lies have been renounced and I’m fully submitted to Him, I hear and see Him more clearly. 

3. When we offer our bodies over to sin, the Bible says we become slaves to sin. Truly we are either obeying God or the devil. Ouch! It’s harsh but true. Adam and Eve chose to obey the devil giving him authority in their lives. We give the devil authority that Jesus stripped from him when we choose to obey him instead of God.

Do you not know that when you continually offer yourselves to someone to do his will, you are the slaves of the one whom you obey, either [slaves] of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness (right standing with God)?~Romans 6:16. 

So why pursue purity? 

To honor God, honor others, and see God. As we behold God we become like Him. The world needs believers who look and act like Jesus. 

For years I believed the lie that the Father didn’t love me as much as others because life seemed hellish, traumatic, and a series of disappointments. As long as I believed that lie, I missed out on divine encounters with Him. My sin of unbelief blocked me from seeing God. 

When I focused on other’s blessings, I missed counting my own. 

When I was complaining, I missed opportunities to bless others and thank God. 

What if your mind is a mess or you’re stuck in sin/confess cycles? 

The good news is God is powerful. There’s inner healing and deliverance available. For every action (symptom) there’s a root cause. 

Most addictions are a cry for comfort. Holy Spirit is the Comforter. 

Many issues are manifestations of insecurity and an orphan spirit. God is our Father and His perfect love casts out fear, lust, greed, gluttony, jealousy, promiscuity, materialism, inferiority, shame, pain…

So here’s what I do (I’m in this with you). 

1. I ask Holy Spirit to search my heart and reveal any hidden sin or lies I’m believing. 

I confess my sins to God regularly, almost daily. Immediately if I know I did something wrong. I ask for His healing virtue to heal my soul (sin wounds the soul). I renounce lies and ask Him to replace them with truth. 

2. I fast and pray. 

After my mum died I developed quite the sugar addiction. Yum. Not really. God asked me to fast from sugar for 21 days. It was painful because I then had to grieve. I had to go through the cycles of grieving. It was awful at first. Yet He taught me to rely on Him for comfort. I didn’t realize that’s what I was doing (using sugar to deal with pain). He knew. And this was around Halloween so there was candy everywhere! Ha! Once the comfort was received from Him, the fast was completed, the addiction to sweets was broken. Haven’t struggled since. I’m a huge proponent of fasting. 

3. I watch what I’m feasting on. 

I don’t have cable. I read books. I have certain shows or movies I watch on Netflix. I don’t feast on things that promote immorality. 

One of the guys I know joked all I do is pray. This is false. I have tons of fun. I have continual inner communion with God, yet I’m not bored. I have more joy than my fellows who watch hours of TV. 

What we feast on grows. Our media is saturated with images that tell us we don’t have enough (buy more), we are not beautiful, handsome, talented or rich enough, or they are pushing a sexually immoral situation (depends on the channel). 

So I feast on what’s helping me become more like Christ or at least what’s not polluting my mind. 

4. I ask God to keep me pure; in thought, action, and in deeds. 

5. I spend as much time as possible alone with God because I can in this season of my life. 

Papa God, I ask Your Spirit would saturate our hearts and minds with Your truth. Help us Lord to grow in Christlikeness by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Empower us to say YES to Your will. Cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Help us to renew our minds and feast on what’s holy, good, and pure. I bind every spirit that’s not Your Holy Spirit. Lord for those ready and willing to walk out freedom I ask for divine deliverance. May we look like You in character and deed. In Jesus powerful name, amen. 

Love,

Erin Lamb