Week Four =
PURE
1)
Pure
Redemption
2)
Pure
Hearts
3)
Pure
Minds
4)
Pure
Relationships
5)
Pure
Lives
Heart Verse:
1 John 3:3
All who
have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. (NIV)
Day 1- Pure Redemption
My
friend once told me she was going to buy me a shirt that says “I love Jesus,
but I cuss a little.”
It’s
true. I don’t actually cuss much, but I’m not sure I’d qualify for the
Christian purity award. Good thing there’s no such thing. My past was rocky, my
present more like bumpy, and my future is firmly in His grip.
So,
looking up the Greek definition of hagna, our word for pure in Philippians 4:8,
I was bombarded by words like innocent, free from sin, modest, holy, sacred,
without spoil. These are strong words. The guilt was overwhelming. Free from
sin, hardly. Uncontaminated – I laugh. There is a reason I only stay in touch
with a few very close friends from high school. Who wants to relive those days?
Hagna
is an adjective, it describes something and is a detail of that something. In 1
John 1:5-10 we find purity as a verb, as an action, and of course it is a work
of Jesus Christ, not me.
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to
you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship
with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the
truth. But if
we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If
we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Girls,
darkness is miserable and scary, but it is not us. Christ is in us. Christ
cleanses us. The phrase to cleanse is also translated to make pure, or better
yet- to remove all filth. This is the work of Christ. Darkness is the shame
that no longer has a place in our lives. We are light women, light people.
No
matter our look of purity, our feeling of purity of the past or present, He
declares us purely redeemed, Pure Ones to Him in our confession.
2
Corinthians 7:11 offers us an interesting take on repentance and confession:
“See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what
earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm,
what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point
you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.”
In
Corinthians we are told that innocence (purity) is a fruit of repentance, not a
result of perfect behavior.
“See
what this godly sorrow has produced in you…you have proved yourselves to be
innocent…”
Of
course we need to stay away from the things that invite sin into our lives.
Yes, yes, and yes! But more importantly we are invited to stand on the road as
a Prodigal God runs with open arms to embrace us and let Purity itself
overwhelm us with Mercy and Grace.
*find the Pure Scripture engagement tool by clicking on the Pure tab underneath the I Love My Shepherd header on this page. :)
