The Pure in Heart Will See God

Good Evening to All!

The Answers to the Bible Challenge "Crime and Punishment" are as follows:

1. b) "stripe for stripe" (Exodus 21:25)
2. b) repaying with five oxen (Exodus 22:1)
3. a) pay double the worth of the property to the other Exodus 22:9)
4. c) death (Exodus 21:15)
5. c) death (Exodus 22:17)
6. True (Exodus 21:14)
7. True (Exodus 22:13)
8. c) death (Exodus 21:16)
9. a) compensation for any losses and support of the victim during convalescence (Exodus 21:18-19)
10. b) if the ox had a prior record of meanness, both you and your ox must be put to death, unless the victim's family agreed to accept restitution; if it was the ox's first offense, your ox must be slaughtered but you would not face personal punishment (Exodus 21:28-30)

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Blessed (happy enviably fortunate, and spiritually prosperous--possessing the happiness produced by the experience of God's favor of their outward conditions) are the pure in heart, for they shall see God! (Matthew 5:8)

When I read the devotional for tonight, the first thing that popped into my head was
Psalm 51:10: O Lord, create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. That is my daily prayer. We must keep a vigilant watch over our precious heart. Just as fatty foods, cigarettes and many other things can defile our physical hearts and give them diseases, the same can happen to our spiritual heart. Allowing profanity, violence, pornographic or even "rated R" movies into our hearts can desensitize them and defile them.

A person may think "the language wasn't that bad, but then you watch something and
it has a little bit more and eventually you're watch a movie where every other word is utter profanity, but by then listening to that kind of stuff doesn't bother you. That's when Satan makes his move. Satan's complete goal is to kill, steal and destroy us. He is the Father of Lies, therefore he will try and convince us , profanity isn't bad, watch a few "dirty movies won't hurt", Yes it will, and it won't stop there. Once he's got you moving away from God, which is what doing all these things will do, he'll just keep adding things to it. The more stuff we do that we know God does not like, the harder it is to hear God. The Holy Ghost was
sent down to us as a comforter, but also as a guide and teacher into all truths. When we are about to do something that God will not approve of, the Holy Ghost will give our heart (conscience) a nudge, don't do it. It will also help us to go to those we've done wrong and ask for forgiveness. God cannot forgive those who will not forgive others. I try to find a way in the majority of my posts to bring this particular subject up, even if it is just a couple of sentences, because it is so readily overlooked and yet it is one of the most important issues. Unforgiveness and bitterness can keep your prayers from being answered. If you think about it being unforgiving and bitter hurts us in many ways. Not only does it "stunt" our prayer life, but it puts stress on our physical hearts which is purposely causing undue stress on it, and purposely harming it. That is the same as defiling the temple. Which is a no-no.

If you are angry and bitter at someone because of something they did to you but you were in the right, give them an 'early' birthday present and call them up and ask forgiveness. It will make both of you feel better. Not only that, it will open the door for the other person to ask for forgiveness also. Pride won't ever get you very far. There is a BIG difference in taking pride in your work, or how you look, and being prideful where you won't back down to keep the peace or to keep harmony. Believe me I know how hard it is. I am the type of person where "giving in" in not in my vocabulary. My poor hubby and I go round and round because WE BOTH want the last word. I say "poor hubby" because I'll argue even if I'm wrong. Of course so will he, but that's no excuse. I know better. I know what God says about that. I have gotten a lot better than I used to be but I'm not to the point where I need to be. Believe me, when Jesus said that our tongues are the most UNRULY members of our body, He knew what He was talking about. I pray every day for God to take control of my tongue and hold it if I start to say something I will be sorry for.

Just keep in mind, the less temptations you allow yourself to be around the purer your heart will be for God. That's what we should all be striving for. I know my main weakness is my loving hubby who will do ANYTHING to get me to argue and get a rise out of me. I just have to learn to plug my ears and walk away. Of course that isn't the only area I need work on, but take baby steps. If we try to do too much at once, we will feel overwhelmed and give up. The Holy Ghost is there to help us if we ask, but He can't do it for us because of "free will".

Good night to all and May God Bless!