Purified part 1
I think this one might take a few days. Which, by the way, is why I started doing these daily Rants in five part series; sometimes you just need to stay in one place and focus on one thing for a little while. Be still and know that He is God, right? Be still and know that God is love. And that's where we're going to start when we're talking about being purified. That's probably where we'll end too, with Jesus (love) being the Alpha and Omega. But anyways, let's get started. 1 Peter 1:22, "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." Did you catch that? The thing that needed to be purified--the thing that HAS BEEN purified--was the heart. David knew this. He wrote, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit in me" (Psalm 51:10). And that was the man after God's own heart. Literally. He was AFTER it. He wanted it. And then in Ezekiel we see it a few times. I'll pick one: "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 11:19). And I want to point out that God promised THEM (us) ONE new heart. HIS heart. The heart that beats with love. The pure heart. Not just God with us, but God WITHIN us. That's what happened on the cross when Jesus was lifted up from the earth and drew all men unto (into) Himself. He planted Himself in us. Planted the incorruptible seed of love. The seed that grows and grows and grows until it is too big to keep inside. Too good to keep to ourselves. And watch this: Love feeds on love. That's how it (HE) grows. That's how it (HE) appears to us, and in us, and through us. When people love each other. That's the Word (Jesus, love) made flesh. That's charity--love in action. And that's how we obey the truth. Because the truth is... God is love, and He loves you. God is love, and He loves THROUGH you. So obeying the truth is about being religious. Its not about trying (and failing) to jump through the hoops of the Law. Its not about trying to be someone you're not in order to get something you think you haven't got. Its about knowing the truth, and letting the truth you know set you free and make you free by believing it. By walking by faith. Acting in love. Unfeigned love. And that word, "unfeigned," is number 505 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "sincere: - without dissimulation (hypocrisy)." Which, to me, is important. Because I guess there might be something to say for "faking it til you make it." Like Thumper said, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." But there's a more excellent way. A way in which we truly care for one another. Sacrifical, agape, laying your life down for your friends, giving everything you have and everything you are, LOVE. The love of God, in other words. The love that frees people from bondage (which is where I think I'm going to be tomorrow). The love that frees YOU from YOUR bondage when you give it away. Because it makes what is true... true for you. You HAVE been purified. Walk in love in order to experience that pure abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life... of love!