“God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8 NLT)

It’s one blessing after another in the Beatitudes. Jesus lists what God does for Kingdom Disciples. The blessings come freely because God “rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14)

With sins forgiven, hearts become pure. Whenever the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, we simply confess, repent, receive back a pure heart and move on in freedom! We turn from self-centered lives to Jesus-centered lives. Right relationship with God enables us to develop right relationships with parents, spouses, children, neighbors, coworkers and even our enemies.

When needs, troubles, injustices, conflicts arise, where do we turn? Romans 12:2 urges: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world.” There is a better way than what we see around us. Our cultures are interwoven with both good and bad. “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” These new people have Jesus-centered lives. He speaks to us through His Word and by His Spirit. We listen to Jesus and do what He says. In this way, Kingdom Disciples experience ongoing transformation—pure hearts and changed minds. “Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

God wants to speak to us to reveal His will. Depend upon hearing His voice in matters great and small. Stepping out in obedience to Him, we see God at work.  We see God change our lives personally. We see God change our families. In fellowship with other Kingdom Disciples, we can seek to learn His ways to bring about creative change in our communities and society.  Jesus-centered fellowships are moved to Kingdom-focused action.

Standing face to face with difficult challenges, where do we turn? The devil wants to push us his way. Our limited human thinking would lead another way.  Only the Kingdom Way “is good and pleasing and perfect.” Turning to Jesus, we ask Him to help us cleanse our hearts if we have sin and to change our minds if our thoughts are not in line with His. God now reveals His will. Now we will see God change our lives. Now we will see God lead us to change our world.

Question for reflection: What challenge are you, your family or your community facing? How will you discover what God wants you to do?

Kingdom prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God.  Renew a loyal spirit within me.”   Psalm 51:10