Throw It Off!

Now let me show you how it should work, go to Matthew 5:8. It says “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” That word pure is a word that comes from the Greek word “Katharos” it means to be free from pollution. Another word we use that comes from that word is the word “catheter”. A catheter works to rid the body of impurities. It pushes out what you don't need, so you can keep what you do need.

So Jesus is saying in Matthew 5:8, that you are blessed when you can free your heart from pollution. Blessed are you when you can push out what you don’t need (I wish I had some help) and keep what you do need. Blessed are those who have a system built in them that cleanses the impurities – not out of the flesh – but out of the heart. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Can I call 1 witness – come here Joseph! Why did God bless Joseph above all of his brothers? Well I believe it was because Joseph had a pure heart.

Had Joseph not been pure in his heart, had he not been able to release the hate, the pain, the hurt, the offenses that was executed against him – (You know - the impurities in his heart) - then when his brothers finally came to him, he would have sought to get revenge over them and then not fulfill the purpose of him being blessed in the first place, because he would have been too bitter to have been trusted with that level of wealth or blessing, or notoriety, or money (I’m trying to help somebody). Because when vindictive people get more - they just get more vicious with the more they get.

When vindictive people get more money, they just get more vicious with more money they get.

When vindictive people get more wealth, they just get more hateful with the wealth they get.

I have come to realize that God blesses people He can trust. He blesses people who don’t have an agenda above what He is doing. And He can deposit more into you when you have a pure heart because you don’t have a score to settle with someone else, you're not out on a mission to get even. And so He blesses those who He can trust. (Can God trust you?)

And so I must continually throw off the infections of this life.

Offenses are going to come. If you live long enough, offenses will come. A lot of us are living in la-la land because we believe there’s a such thing as a perfect world. You think you’ll be able to find the perfect job. You believe you’ll find the perfect man/woman (news-flash - the one you have now is not perfect, you’ve just learned how to tolerate them).

We want to have things come to us without the offenses, and so our prayers are prayers for stuff that just don’t exist. “Lord send me the perfect man, a 6 foot 3, tall dark and handsome, perfect credit, who understands me, who completes me” it don’t exist! “Lord 36-24-36 brickhouse!” it don’t exist. And so anything that doesn’t measure up to that is like trying to find a place where offenses don’t come. But offenses…do come.

Now watch this:

Turn back to Luke 17 - in our text, Jesus says “Woe unto him through whom the offense come.” That word “offense” comes from the Greek word “skandalon” it is a trap or a snare – any impediment placed in the way causing someone to stumble and fall. Now this is a word for all those who like to see other folk fall. This word is for all of the offenders. All those who love to set traps. Those who like to trip folk up and see them fall down.