Psalms 51:10
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
INSIGHT
-Pure in Hebrew is written as katharos which means blameless, innocent and unstained. A pure heart is one that is unpolluted. David missed the mark and went astray when he committed adultery with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. He also orchestrated the death of Uriah so as to inherit his wife. Confronted by guilt conscious, he came to the Lord with prayer of repentance in this verse. He sort the Lord for a pure heart and a steadfast spirit. Before his election as king, the Lord distinguished him as a man after God’s own heart, for he would obey His commandments (1 Samuel 13:14) and fulfill His will (Acts 13:22). King David had missed the mark and sort the Lord with a sincere heart in repentance. The heart forms the focal point of our being, and God looks at the heart of man. A pure heart is informed by the Spirit of God through ones spirit, that we may harken to His voice and do His will. The flesh wages war against the Spirit and the reverse is true. It is then necessary to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit who purifies our hearts and helps to focus on Christ alone.
PRAYER
Abba Father our God and King, we appreciate You for who You are and what You have done in our lives. We bless Your name and exult You for what You have done in our lives. Thank You for the gift of life and the air that the breath. Many among us are suffering for lack of sufficient oxygen and other health needs, we humbly ask You to heal them all and deliver them from all their troubles. Others are bereaved and mourn the loss of their loved ones, may You grant them Your perfect peace. We humbly come at Your feet asking for mercy. Forgive us all our sins Jesus, sins of our family members, sins of our ancestors, sins of our leaders, sins of our nation and sins of the world. Forgive us merciful Savior and wash us with Your precious blood. When our sins were are red as crimsons You made them as white as snow, we praise Your holy name. Create in each one of us a clean heart and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Thank You Jesus for loving us and washing away our guilt and shame. We come with confidence to Your throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and grace to help us in our time of need. Help us Holy Spirit to focus our eyes on You. We look to You our Father that we may only do Your will. May You guide us throughout this week with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. May Your presence always go with us in everything that we do. We thank You and bless Your holy name, now and forever. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forever more. Amen
2 Timothy 2:22
“Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart”.
INSIGHT
-The youth are highly susceptible to living a sinful life; if they are influenced by peer pressure. We know that bad company corrupts good morals. Those who walk according to the flesh as references in Galatians 5:18-24 are caught up in; sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. According to Galatians, those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Psalms 119:9 reveals that, “How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.” It is through reading, studying and standing on the word of God that we remain in Christ and do His will. When we hide the word of God in our hearts, it replaces all youthful lusts and purifies our hearts by washing which brings forth transformation. When we depend on the word of God, the Holy Spirit enables us to pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, and makes our hearts pure.
PRAYER
Almighty and Everlasting Father we come before Your holy presence. We thank You for Your goodness and grace upon our lives. We thank You for You are good and Your mercies endures forever. We thank You for loving us with an everlasting love. We praise Your holy name and exult You. We ascribe to You with great joy and gladness. Only You are good and Your mercies endures forever. Teach us to number our days that we may obtain hearts full of wisdom. Teach us to rely on Your true word that we may always live by the Spirit. Deliver us from all forms of youthful lusts dear Jesus and help us to pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace. Deliver all the youth from youthful lusts and help them to always do Your will. Help us to live by the Spirit that we may not fulfill the desires of the flesh. Forgive us for the many times we have not followed Your will, and wash us with Your precious blood. Be with all the school going children and teachers that You may protect them and guide them in all their activities dear Jesus. We thank You for the KCSE results and praise Your holy name. Thank You Holy Spirit for Your presence in our lives. We praise You and adore You. Our Father who art in heaven; hallowed be Your name; Your Kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptations but deliver us from evil; for thine is the Kingdom the power and the glory; forever and ever. Amen
Psalms 24:4-5
“The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior.”
INSIGHT
-The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can who it? only God searches the heart and tests the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings (Jeremiah 17:9-10). The lenses of our heart reflect what is imbedded within us. In the Old Testament, we see instances where various nations worshipped idols, including the Israelites when Moses delayed on mount Sinai, and they curved a golden calf, and worshipped it. In the New Testament, idolatry is expressed through schemes of wickedness as shown in Colossians 3:5 which says, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry”. Jesus says in Mark 7:15 that, it is what comes from within a person that defiles him and not what comes from outside. God calls us to be holy or set apart. To focus on fulfilling God’s will with an undivided attention. Revelations 3:15 reminds us to be either cold nor hot, and not both. God is Holy and calls us to be holy, since we have been created in His image and likeness. A pure heart thus unlocks God’s divine blessings and mercy, empowered by His grace.
PRAYER
Abba Father, our Father and Friend, we exult You and worship Your holy name. Only Your name is above every other name, in heaven, on earth and under the earth. Only You Jesus deserves to be worshipped and adored. Only You are righteous, we rely on Your righteousness. Only You are Holy, we depend on You holiness. We are nothing without You Jesus and can do nothing without You, help us to abide in You as You are in us. We repent our sins and the sins of the whole world. Forgive us merciful Savior. We repent for every form of idolatry dear Jesus. Teach us Your ways on righteousness and give us the grace to look You alone, with undivided hearts. Wash us from every form of idolatry in our hearts with Your precious blood. Wash every nation and culture from idolatry by Your precious blood. Wash every form of unbelief and unforgiveness from our hearts dear Jesus, and show us Your grace. Break every chain of witchcraft and sorcery, every curse and infirmity from our lives, families, nation and the world by Your precious blood Jesus. May every persecuted Christian find Your grace. May every lost child find Your grace dear Jesus. May every street child find Your grace. May the nation of India find Your grace. May the nation of Kenya find Your grace dear Jesus. May all the nations of the world find Your grace. May each one of us find Your grace dear Jesus. We thank You our Lord and our God for Your grace given to us in Christ Jesus, by whom You have enriched us in every way, in all kind of speech and knowledge. Increase in us wisdom, understanding, knowledge, love and faith, that we may abide in You as You are in us. Bless us indeed dear Jesus and increase us in every sphere of our lives. Open many closed doors for us in the heavenly realm and on the earth. Only You Jesus are our righteous Advocate, do a new thing in our lives according to Your merciful love, according to Your divine promises. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forever more. Amen
1 Peter 1:22-23
“Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,”
INSIGHT
-The word of God reveals that the whole purpose of man is to obey His commandments and to fear Him. Jesus summarized the commandments to the law of love. Love for God and one another. Even though the word of God is read all over the world by Christians, some have been classified as cold hearted by various sources. When God calls us to love our neighbors, some treat them with contempt. When He instructs us to love our enemies and do good to them, sometimes our hearts remain cold. When He calls us to humble ourselves before Him, sometimes pride clouds our hearts and gradually melts our humanity away. 1 John 4:20 reveals that, “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?”‘ Love is the only bond that unites all humanity together. God calls us to love each other deeply from a pure heart, as He says “love one another as you love yourself” (Mark 12:31). Through the covenant of love, we find agreement and communion, as it says, how can two walk together unless they agree (Amos 3:3). In the same agreement, knowledge and ideas are shares, just like iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend (Proverbs 27:17). Love is the fruit of the Spirit which He gave us through Jesus Christ; Who was without sin. Therefore, we are born out of an incorruptible seed founded upon love. God is love and calls each one of us to love one another fervently with a pure heart.
PRAYER
You are the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, the Almighty Father, the Lion of Judah. We praise You and bless Your holy name. Only You Jesus Christ deserve all the glory and praise. Only You are Holy, only You are worthy, only You are able to do a new thing in our lives. Impart in us the gift of love Holy Spirit, that we may love You with all our hearts, minds and souls, and our neighbors as ourselves. Remove every form of hatred and unforgiveness from our hearts, families, society, nation and nations of the world, and grant us peace. Grant us peace concerning our nations political arena and lead our nation according to Your will dear Jesus. We wait on You concerning our constitution and leadership, take control dear Jesus. May You bring long lasting peace between Israel and Palestine. Bring peace to all the nations of the world Prince of peace. May Your peace that surpasses all understanding dwell in our hearts and minds through You Christ Jesus. May Your love engulf us in all that we think about, say and do. Help each one of us to love with a pure heart. Unite us with our destiny connectors and open many doors for us. Unite us with our business partners and prosper us in all our ways. Unite us with our spouses and bless us with beautiful families. Unite every broken family and marriage according to Your will Jesus. Unite all the street families with their loved ones and give them better opportunities in their lives. Unite us with those who need us most and help us to apply faith and work. Unite each one of us with Yourself Holy Spirit and make us one with You, joint in perfect love. All glory, honor, power and praise belongs to You Jesus, now and forever. Amen
Matthew 5:8
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
INSIGHT
-To see God, one needs to look to Him with both physical and spiritual eyes; or the eyes of the heart. We have experienced and heard many testimonies of people who have seen Jesus Christ, Who is fully God and fully Man. Jesus has appeared to many and this continues to strengthened our faith in Him. Moses requested God to show him His glory (Exodus 33:18). It is a blessing to see God and experience Him in our daily lives, which transcends to eternity. It is also hope that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).
SUMMARY
Google top search analysis revealed that the most researched areas globally are; COVID-19, fitness, health and cosmetics, among others. It shows that most of the users who conduct the search are concerned with their physical health and appearance, and materiality as opposed to spiritual health. To have a healthy heart, we need to focus more on our spiritual health and our physical health will be perfected in Christ. We are called to feed on the Bread of life who is Jesus Christ through reading the word, praying and fasting, walking according to faith and doing God’s will. The heart is the spiritual barometer that measures the intensions and actions of man, and God looks at the heart. God does not does not see and man sees, He does not look at the physical appearance but looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). During the election of a king in Israel, God chose David who had a pure heart and would do God’s will. David was a man after God’s own heart. The eye is the lamp of the body. “If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light”(Matthew 6:22). God requires us to be pure in heart so that we can see Him and receive an eternal blessing. To see Him through His truth, His love, His purpose, His sovereignty, His covenant character and His beatific nature. Jesus confronted the Pharisees saying, “Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean” (Matthew 23:26). The Pharisees were mostly concerned with the outside, what they wore, how they fasted and prayed, and they kept the law. Jesus condemned them for failing to enter His kingdom and hindering others from accessing Him through faith. When we believe in Jesus Christ and follow His will, the Holy Spirit purifies our hearts, and makes us like Him. 1 John 3:3 reveals that, “All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure”. Our hope and faith in Christ makes us pure in heart and we receive an eternal blessing. A pure heart believes and fully trusts in Jesus Christ. When we believe in Christ, we are in Him and He is in us, and He gives us the gift of eternal life. Christ justifies us and charges all our charges against Him. We who believe in Him have having been justified by faith, and have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). In Christ, He reconciles us to Himself. We are called to forgive one another that we may also be forgiven. A pure heart is also a heart that is undivided. It is a heart that is purified and cleansed by the blood of Jesus from all iniquity. God calls all who are double minded to be purified in heart, and draw near to Him and He will draw near us (James 4:8). Lastly, a pure heart loves. God is love and purities our hearts when we love Him, our enemies and all our neighbors as ourselves. The blessing is to rejoice in His eternal joy. Jesus reminds us that the blessed requirement that we need to see Him is to have a pure heart.
PRAYER
Abba Father our Lord and King we appreciate You and bless Your holy name. Only You are our Lord and Savior. Only You are the King of kings and Lord of lords. Only You are our everlasting Father. Only You deserve all the glory, honor, power and adoration. Only You deserve to be worshipped and praised. Only You are Holy and holy is Your name. Only You are Righteous, we rely on Your righteousness Jesus Christ. We are nothing without You Jesus and can do nothing without You. You are the Vine and we are the branches, make us holy and pure in heart. Wash us and sanctity us with Your precious blood. Remove all wickedness from our hearts and make us pure merciful Savior. Remove all unforgiveness from our hearts and society. Remove all wickedness from our nation and shape every crooked path. Give us leaders like king David next year, whose heart is focused on You alone. Remove every strife and bitterness from the nations that we have perfect peace including the nation of Israel. Let all nations know You and grant them the gift of salvation dear Jesus. Bless us indeed and enable us to see You daily through Your word, dreams and visions, Your actual self and at the end of time, we shall see You as You are and become like You. We appreciate You and bless Your holy name Jesus. Thank You for Your mercy and love upon our lives, families and nation. Bless us dear Jesus and keep us. May Your face shine upon us and be gracious to us. Lift up Your countenance upon us and give us peace. Amen