"The Pure of Heart" -2

"Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it." (Psalms 34:14) When it comes to having real peace with God, there is really only one source to go to for the peace we really need, and that is Jesus Christ! Nothing else can wash away our sins, and give us peace with our Heavenly Father; and when we are talking about peace, we are talking about completeness and soundness; actual friendship with God, as one that has things in common with the Creator of your living soul, because He is the Living God! The seeking part is easy, because we know what it is that we must do; it's pursuing that becomes difficult, because it requires us to move straight ahead, not veering to the right or left, and being distracted by the things of this world. Jesus said, in Luke 9:23, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." It is actually a constant pursuit, to be taken on a daily basis; we can never think of ourselves as having arrived to the place where we are done pursuing peace with God, because as long as we are in these fleshly tents, we are going to sin against God; and if you say that you aren't, you are deceiving yourself, and actually do not understand the fullness of the gospel! Jesus Christ suffered and died for all of your sins; all of your sins mean those sins that you committed yesterday, those that you committed today, and those that you will commit tomorrow. Sin is sin, it is all the same trespass, just performed at different times; we just need to be forgiven when we trespass, no matter how many times that might be; every three minutes if necessary, we ask Him for forgiveness! And regarding this cross we pick up daily, this cross is not just those things which we must do, it also includes the things we must not do! Jesus had to remain free from sin, although He was tempted as you and I, His cross to bear was to remain sinless; being led as a sheep to the slaughter, He would be innocent of the sin that He would bear upon the cross. Therefore, our cross to bear is also to remain innocent and free from sin! When we fall, and we will, we need to continue by asking for His forgiveness, and "He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness"; but we must ask Him for forgiveness, and then continue by picking up our cross and following Him; pursuing peace with God daily, which actually means throughout each and every day. The pure of heart are those that pursue righteousness; regardless of how many times they might fail, they continue the pursuing it... "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the life of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:1-4)