July 05, 2021: A Pure Heart Before God Should Be Our Cry to Him. Are We Truly Seeking That with God?

As "New-Born Christians", we turned to God because of the wretched and ugly sinfulness that was in our lives. But now as we grow as new believers in Christ, our cry and petition before God, should be a desire of holiness and a pleasing life before Him.

But as the weeks, months and years move forward, we find ourselves constantly struggling with our sinful nature that is so part of our lives. What does a Christian brother or sister do with this battle that continually plagues us.?

Let us not get too discouraged, there is hope. I too fought this same battle for 35 years with constant overwhelming sexual desires and sin in my life as a single man. I could not get control of those desires...as long as I was trying to control them by my own self-will. I was constantly going before God and asking Him for continued forgiveness and mercy as King David did.

Psalm 51: 1-2 (NKJV)

Have mercy upon me, O God,

According to Your lovingkindness;

According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,

Blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

And cleanse me from my sin.

It was not until I came to "complete and absolute surrender" to Christ in my life, that He showed me that I would never be able to control those desires through my own self-efforts. It was through my surrender to the Holy Spirit working in me, that He gave me the power to create in me a pure heart. It was by dying to myself daily, giving up of my "self-will" to Him that I began to see the victory and the power of God working through me. "All of Him, none of me".

Psalm 51: 10-12

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

It is through my constant daily surrender to Him that I found the victory and peace that we all seek in our lives. Now, am I saying that I do not sin anymore? By no means! I still sin, but I do not struggle with any specific sin in my life. When I do sin, or catch myself doing something wrong in God's eyes, I pray and ask God to show me what "room" in my life that I took back away from Him, and then I surrender that room back to Him and find the rest again in Him.

PERSONNAL COMMENT:

What really works for me, is that I constantly remember that I am a "wretched sinner" and always will be. Yes, I am forgiven and have salvation by God's grace, but still a sinner. Praise God for His forever loving "grace" in our lives!!!