A Purposed Heart

A Purposed Heart

my journey for life

Daniel Lavan Jr.

A Purposed Heart: My Journey for Life

Copyright © 2021 by Daniel Lavan Jr.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author at [email protected].

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All Scripture is taken from Life in the Spirit Study Bible unless otherwise stated. Life in the Spirit Study Bible, formerly titled The Full Life Study Bible—King James Version, copyright© 1992, 2003 by Life Publishers International. Published by Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530, U.S.A. Color maps and maps index copyright© 2000; in-text maps and charts copyright © 1988 by Zondervan.

Scriptures marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scriptures marked NCV are taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scriptures marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scriptures marked ESV are taken from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and the New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Blessedness of the Pure in Heart, by Charles Finney, The Oberlin Evangelist (Official Publication of Oberlin College 1839-1862), Oberlin, Ohio, (September 1, 1858), in public domain.

Cover design by German Creative

Editing by Jeanne Marie Leach of novelimprovement.com

Typesetting by Sally Hanan of Inksnatcher.com

A Purposed Heart: My Journey for Life/—1st ed.

Print ISBN 978-1-7347811-1-3

E-book ISBN 978-17347811-0-6

I dedicate this book to the loving memory of Daisy Lavan, a mother who could hear inside of me before I said a word. Gone but never forgotten.

And to my living father, Daniel Lavan, Sr., a man who does not know how to be negative and can’t wait to share the truth with others the moment he opens his mouth.

Contents

Preface

Introduction

1. Seeing God

2. Self-Effort Won’t Work

3. Initial Cleansing

4. Clean Heart

5. Up Close and Personal

6. When Do We See God?

7. Understanding Heart

8. Impurity Is a Cancer

9. Inside and Outside

10. The Test of Life

11. Destiny

12. Walking before God

13. The Broken Spirit

14. Into His Will

15. Pure as Gold

16. With All My Heart

17. Pure Heart Forever

About the Author

Preface

To see God is man’s utmost need, but we must deal with our heart’s purpose, without which we cannot see God. Our heart is the vessel that holds our affections, the receptacle for our thoughts, and where our strength and driving force reside. In the bodily sphere, the heart pumps life-giving blood through our bodies to nourish us and keep us alive. The condition of our heart determines our life, individuality, and production.

But the spiritual realm is within the heart also. This is the hub of occupation for the Holy Spirit of God. No one can purify their own heart. Only God alone can save us by the blood of Christ. We become clean because He removes the filthiness and uncleanness of our sins. However, we must become obedient to him to uphold the integrity he demands for him to live inside us.

He is the only way to obtain this cleansing experience. We cannot depend upon our actions to direct us to a godly lifestyle. This only comes through unwavering loyalty and dedication to Jesus. We must love him with all our hearts because he is our Savior, not because he can do great things for us.

Holiness doesn’t come by doing specific things. Instead, when you become God’s, He’ll transform you so that everything you do will make it apparent that your heart has been made pure.

Jesus said, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8). But who can actually obtain a pure heart? We all can. Jesus isn’t telling us that we must basically be perfect. The Bible says, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9).

So, what, if anything, can we do to attain a pure heart? First, we must seek God, regardless of what kind of person we may be. We need to lay ourselves before him exactly as we are and allow ourselves to grieve over the state we’re in. Then as we repent, we pray as David prayed, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me (Psalm 51:10 NKJV).

We think of the heart as the birthplace of emotion and that our intellect comes from the mind. But in the Hebrew culture, the heart refers to everything—personality, emotions, thoughts, and intellect. Proverbs 23:7 says, As [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he (NKJV).

In reality, the heart is the center of who we are. We should endeavor to be pure with all our being. But being pure doesn’t mean we’re perfect. Being pure in heart means we are endeavoring with all our heart to seek after a life of holiness because that’s the secret to happiness.

Carolyn Lavan

Introduction

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

—Matthew 5:8

This beatitude describes the essence of true life. God’s purpose in creating mankind has always been to have a face-to-face, heart-to-heart relationship with us. God is more concerned with our hearts than he is about our theories of eternal life. No matter how correct our theories may be, they’re worthless if our heart’s intent isn’t pure.

When God introduced this beatitude, he wasn’t presenting a new idea.

Throughout the Bible, God addressed his desire for an intimate relationship with mankind. To have that relationship, a pure heart is required. The psalmist asked, Who may stand in his holy place? God answered, He who has clean hands and a pure heart (Psalm 24:3–4 NIV).

The prophets of Israel often confronted God’s people concerning the condition of their hearts before him. The Lord spoke through Isaiah, saying, These people say they love me; they show honor to me with words, but their hearts are far from me. The honor they show me is nothing but human rules (Isaiah 29:13 NCV).

Jesus mentioned this beatitude, Blessed are the pure in heart, only once in the Sermon on the Mount, but he emphasized its importance as he further illustrated what he meant. He explained that allowing anger to burn in one’s heart is as serious as committing murder in God’s eyes (Matthew 5:20). He also stated that having lust in one’s heart is comparable to committing the act of adultery (Matthew 5:28).

The entire sixth chapter of Matthew compares the difference between the pure, sincere heart and the impure, hypocritical heart. Jesus talked about the impure motives of the hypocrites who were practicing charitable deeds, public prayers, and fasting in order to be esteemed by men (Matthew 6:1–4). Though their actions appeared to be serving and honoring God, in their hearts they were seeking honor and serving themselves.

Jesus exposed their true motive, which wasn’t to draw near to God but to display their religious activities before men. The Greek word for hypocrite is actor. They were only religious actors. In other words, they were phonies. Their outward appearance seemed to indicate a dedicated life of religious service to God, but they were actually serving themselves. The prophet Samuel said, The Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart (Samuel 16:7).

When the Bible speaks about the heart, it primarily refers to the whole inner man. The heart indicates the core of a person—the source of the emotions, thoughts, and motives. God wants us to keep our heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23 NKJV). This is why the Bible talks about the issues of life—what people talk about, reason, plan, think, understand, doubt, purpose, and perceive—as all coming from the heart.

Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish theologian, put it this way with his 2008 book title Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing, meaning God. A pure heart is an undivided heart with unmixed motives and without hypocrisy. It’s a heart focused on one thing, the thing that ultimately matters in life—God. He is the creator of the heart, the lover of our soul, and the purpose of life. Purity of heart embodies the whole inner man, which includes the mind, will, and emotions, all focused on the uncompromising aim of knowing, loving, and serving God. Jesus said, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37 NKJV). This not only sums up the entire Old Testament but also the total purpose for our lives.

The Bible states, For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to him (2 Chronicles 16:9 NKJV). The Lord is looking for people who’ll pursue him with all their heart. And out of a pure heart will flow true love. Paul states, The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith (1Timothy 1:5 NLT). A pure heart is essential to fulfilling the first and greatest commandment.

Jesus said, The good person, out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks (Luke 6:45 ESV). Our attitude and our speech reveal what we cherish in our hearts. King Solomon wrote, He who loves purity of heart and has grace on his lips, the king will be his friend (Proverbs 22:11 NKJV).

The King of Kings wants to enter into a friendship with us, but this friendship must be built on purity of heart; that is, honesty, sincerity, and complete loyalty to him. A friend of God. Now that’s what I called blessed!

CHAPTER 1

Seeing God

W

e live in a culture where identities are under attack. Online predators disguise themselves to lure unwary victims. They use their private information to strip their bank accounts or exploit them sexually. Almost daily the news warns of identity fraud or identity theft, where our identities can be taken over by criminals so they can take advantage of us.

Even more complex is the matter of gender identity, which is increasingly finding its way into public discourse. Back in February 2014, Facebook provided its users with a bewildering array of fifty-eight gender identity choices they could use to describe themselves on the sexual continuum. That’s fifty-eight ways of indicating their precise gender preference, excluding the traditional male and female identifiers. In fact, in our present-day world, gender is now so fluid that it’s no longer linked to biological realities but rather to subjective feelings.

This maze of complexity and off-kilter logic has complicated, rather than clarified, one’s identity. Into this mishmash of confusion, Jesus’s message about purity of heart takes on new force as it strikes at the deepest core of the identity issue. Linked as it is to the other Beatitudes, it provides the only clear way forward.

Purity of Heart = Seeing God

First of all, what does it mean to have a pure heart? Additionally, what does it mean to see God? And why is seeing God the desirable result of having a pure heart? The Scriptures testify to the fact that purity of heart is the only means by which anyone can see God. In this vein, the writer of Hebrews exhorts his readers to "Strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14 ESV, emphasis added).

And again in 1 John 3:2–3, we read, "Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure" (ESV, emphasis added).

So then, what does it mean to be pure in heart? Does it mean to be sinless? If so, then none of us qualifies except for Jesus. But if only pure hearts qualify to see God, then how am I ever going to see him, because my heart is decidedly impure.

Since Jesus himself is demanding this purity of heart, then he must also provide the means by which this seemingly impossible condition is possible. In reality, all the Beatitudes are impossible to achieve or to demonstrate using our own brute human strength and ingenuity. Only the breath of God—his Holy Spirit—can make this purity of heart a reality in me.

The Heart of the Matter

The issue before us is purity of heart. First of all, when the Bible talks about the heart, we need to know what it’s referring to. The heart isn’t merely the muscle