Ingredients To Repentance

That God cannot pour His riches Into hands already full.

REWARD ¡V an intimate relationship with God. Psa 24:3-5 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

5. Purify your hearts (vs. 8) ¡V Many times when we see the word ¡§pure¡¨ in the Bible, we think that it is talking about holiness ¡V living a life that is separate from sin. And it is true that the application of purity for a Christian is that they will live a holy life. But purity doesn¡¦t relate just to Christian things. In my younger days, when I had a little bit of money that I could spend on myself, I used to purchase new coins from the federal mint. One of the coins that I purchased was a $5 gold piece. It cost me $65. (doesn¡¦t make much sense does it) That gold says on it, ¡§99.99% pure¡¨. As much as is possible, it is free of anything that makes it not gold. When Jim, Judy and Janet Morris and I were getting the flower bed in front of the church ready for the new flowers, we purified the dirt as much as we could. We took out all the rocks, the weeds, and clumps of clay. As much as is possible, it is free of anything that makes it not dirt. A Christian with a pure heart is free of anything that would prevent him from living like a Christian. He is free to be totally committed to God. He has one focus ¡V to love and serve God with all his heart. Jesus said in Matt. 22:37-38 ¡§Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. In Rev. 3:15-16, God accused the Christians in Revelation of being fence sitters; they were neither hot or cold. They weren¡¦t pure because they didn¡¦t have their complete focus on God. They were trying to eat their cake and have it too.

The problem with this is that when you are divided between two points of focus for your attention and energy, you can¡¦t give your whole self to God. Jesus said, (Mat 6:24 NASB) "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. You¡¦re always confused about who you are, where you¡¦re going and why you¡¦re here. You can never find satisfaction or fulfillment.

How do you purify your heart?

- by obeying the truth (1 Pet 1:22 NIV) Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. It is a fact of marriage that the best way for me to increase the level of love that I have for my wife ¡Vthe depth of my devotion to her ¡V is by doing loving things for her. As I express my love, my love grows. The same is true in your relationship to the Lord. The more that I obey Him, the deeper my devotion to Him grows.

- by trying times (Job 23:10 KJV) But he knows the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. (Prov 17:3 NASB) The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the LORD tests hearts. One of people¡¦s most difficult questions is why God sends hard times into the lives of people who are trying to live good lives. At least a part of the answer is because God is working on those people to purify them. Just as we purify gold, silver and other materials by putting them through the heat, so God purifies us ¡V focuses us completely on Himself ¡V by putting a little heat under us.