Beatitudes discussion, part 6: Blessed are the pure in heart...

[Agaliha]

"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."




Wesley's Notes (http://wes.biblecommenter.com/matthew/5.htm)
5:8 The pure in heart - The sanctified: they who love God with all their hearts. They shall see God - In all things here; hereafter in glory.


Discussion/sermon/outline: http://bible.org/seriespage/blessed-are-pure-heart-matthew-58 --

...To have a pure heart means to have a heart that is committed to living a life that is totally pleasing to God...

...So a pure heart means living by the rules of God, living a life that is pleasing to God...having a pure heart means living by the rule of God, living a life that is pleasing to God. Secondly, having a pure heart means living for the sole purpose of God, to have a heart that is fully devoted to God. It means single-minded devotion and commitment to God, doing anything and everything in our life for the sole purpose of glorifying God...

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24 (http://javascript%3cb%3e%3c/b%3E:%7B%7D)).

Do you agree with the above quote?
What does "pure of heart" mean to you?

[Bix]

This passage is a bit confusing to me, so hopefully others will chime in. I'm still not totally understanding what it means to be pleasing to God. What exactly does God want me to do with my life? I'm still trying to figure that one out. Does anyone have any other perspectives?

[Agaliha]

I'm still not totally understanding what it means to be pleasing to God. What exactly does God want me to do with my life? I'm still trying to figure that one out. Does anyone have any other perspectives?

Do you mean in a spiritual or general context?

If by spiritual, there must be some sort of guidepost to look to, whether it be the Bible, Jesus (pbuh) or your specific church practices/beliefs. What is pleasing to God would probably differ based on your faith and perspective, whether it be Judaism, Christianity or Islam. What is pleasing to God in my faith probably wouldn't apply to yours and vice versa. That's not to say there aren't commonalities, because there are.

I'm not entirely sure how defined these things are in Christianity or more specifically the Episcopal Church...I know in Islam what is and isn't pleasing to God is more often than not clearly defined. Following the 5 Pillars, the Qur'an, Hadith, Sunnah, praying, remembering God (dhikr) and things like that are pleasing to God. Likewise, missing prayers, associating others with God (the most serious of sins), and being lukewarm in practice and devotion are examples of what is not pleasing to God. It's a whole mental, emotional, physical, inward and outward sort of thing. Just going through motions is not enough, you have to live it, feel it, breathe it...

I did a quick search on Google for what is pleasing to God in Christianity and saw some answers:
Prayer
Reading & studying the Bible
Going to Church
Having faith in God
Refraining from sin
Living up to the values, commandments, etc presented in the Bible
Being grateful to God
etc

Not sure if that helps or not, though.
Perhaps you could ask one of the clergy at your church?

[Bix]

Sure, I'll probably bring that up next time I see the priest of my church.

It is confusing because so many groups have an agenda to make sure God is on their side, ya know? It really muddles the message about how exactly I'm supposed to behave to allow God to be pleased with my life.

[LacyRoze]

To me being pure of heart means loving God with all my heart, being faithful to him and living my life to the best of my ability. Probably not the mainstream interpretation but it is mine.

[Bix]

When you say being faithful to him, what does that mean to you personally?

[LacyRoze]

Faithful, to me, means he is first and present in all I do. It means I pray, I read my bible and I live my life, to the best of my ability, in the way I think he would want me to.