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Episode 862: In this episode, we explore the Beatitude “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Jesus’ call to purity isn’t about perfection, but about having an undivided, focused heart toward God. We talk about how distractions cloud our spiritual vision and how clarity accelerates spiritual growth. Discover how a pure heart helps you recognize God’s presence and movement in your life more clearly.
Whether you’ve been following Jesus for years or you’re just starting to ask questions, there’s a seat for you here.
Join Jeff and Chris for honest conversations about Scripture, faith, and the everyday stuff we all navigate. With humor, personal stories, and plenty of back-and-forth, The Bible Guys explore what the Bible says and how it connects to your life.
Subscribe, bring your questions, and get to know the Bible one conversation at a time. Head over to TheBibleGuys.com for more information!
You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun in practical ways. Hey guys, thanks for tuning into the Bible Guys. Whether it's your first time or the first time in a long time, we're gonna ask that you please take a moment and share maybe perhaps this link with a friend or to promote the Bible Guys on social media. Just help us out. I'm excited about it. This is gonna be a good day as you're looking through stuff. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, so. You are Chris. That had nothing to do with anything, but I'm excited about it. Yeah. So I can't quite seem to get my voice in sync. You're even raspier than normal. I don't know why, but anyway, we want to go ahead and say that we're in the middle of a series called well, we're talking about the Beatitudes. I'm not sure we have a title for it. But before we get to that, we have a segment that really is this is sort of the first time the desiree has formulated this segment this way. Yes, we've had this premise, but not in this way. So she's calling this segment monkey rich, and she says, Chris will tell a story, Jeff will interrupt every ten seconds with a random word that the storyteller must immediately incorporate in the story. Yes, so we've sort of done something like this, but not this. What was what did we do last time? That was like that? How did it go? It was? I can't remember, but it wasn't this did I? Yeah, I can't remember. It was I injected things into your story. I just don't remember how how. But I like this better because it's like these crazy random words a sentence yes, yes, yes, and then you had to finish it. That's it. This is better because it's gonna go quicker because that was kind of the issue with the other one. Is it kind of plodded along a little bit? Okay? So all right, So did I ever tell you here comes the story? You ready? So you're still looking at stuff? I got it? Okay? Did I ever tell you the time when I was a little boy, I was walking to the convenience store and along the way I saw a guy with a leaf blower in his front yard. But the strange thing is the squeaky shoes blowing leaves. He was blowing squeaky shoes, and every time he blew them, they squeaked. And the closer he got the leaf blower to the squeaky shoes, the louder the shoes squawked. Yeah, walkie talkie, And so I. Thought to myself, that sounds exactly like my dad's walkie talkie, you know the kind that he has in the back shed. Holy guacamole. Every time that I would go in the back shed, it would be so dirty. I would say, holy guacamole. And I would look for different things. And I came across these walkie talkies inflatable kayaks. And I have to move the inflatable kayaks to the side, and you know those ducks that they would float in the water if all this hunting gear. But I would get to these walky talkies and I would think, to myself, this sounds just like these inflatable shoes. That's what I thought in the moment as I was walking my dog to the convenience store. You see Grandpa's face Facebook post. They didn't have Grandpa's fish back in those. Days, but if he did, I thought. I did, because as I was walking to the store, I was actually getting something that my grandpa. My grandpa's Facebook post talked about he actually posted the. Fact unsupervised toddlers licorice? Did you say unsupervised toddlers? He wanted licorice? And so I thought to myself, Okay, I'm gonna go buy some liquorice because we ran out because I gave my bag of licorice to a group of unsupervised toddler. So because he posted about it and he wanted it, I knew that we ran out. So I thought to myself, I'm gonna go get it. Emotional support lama. So therefore I was turning the corner where this guy was, you know, blowing leaves, and I came across this pen and it was filled with believe it or not, emotional support lamas. Oh wow, where they were just there? So I stopped to say hi to them, and I realized that they were very used to people. I was worried at first they were going to spit on it clip on tie, but they didn't. And the reason why they didn't spit on me is because oh she whizz is because they were trained. But I knew I was passing them, so I purposefully wore a clip on tie just in case, because I had they spit on me, I would have protected my shirt with this car. I see spaghetti. But anyway, I walked all the way over to the store, and as I was getting to the store, I realized they had a sale on spaghetti newdles. And I thought to myself, should I buy my licorice or should I buy the spaghetti noodles? Because you know my mom is Italian, yes, and she works very hard. And I thought to myself, I could delight my mom with spaghetti noodles. Instead suspicious castle. So I decided to go ahead and buy the spaghetti noodles instead, knowing that I might disappoint my grandpa because of his Facebook post. So I brought them home and I gave them to my mom and in hopes that she would make my favorite disc spaghetti. But instead I came home the next day after school, Jeff, and instead of making spaghetti, I saw this suspicious looking castle role on the table filled with noodles. I had no idea what was underneath. So the moral of the story, the moral. Of the story is, Jeff, just go ahead and do the good deed and buy your grandpa what he wants. Because when you go shopping, just buy what you're wanting to buy, no matter how many distractions of beaf blowers and squeaky shoes and lamas, right, just buy what you're gonna go there for. And it all ended up being score and good, you know, and mixed. Up glitter tornado. That's your last one. I thought I was wrapping up, okay, okay, And I remember that day very well because that was the day that a tornado came through the the the barn in the back. It actually hit the barn and one thing that my mom was a was a huge craft maker, you know, she used to knit and make crafts, and I remember it hit the barn and glitter just got sucked up in the tornado and it just spread. And did you know that, for the next two years we found glitter in the. Gut, I believe you. Yeah, eactly. So we refer to that event as the glitter tournail, which is why I remember every detail of that day. That's incredible, Chris, Thank you well. You know, I think it's one of the things our listeners love is having the opportunity to just learn more about your life and you know, those kinds of things. Now that glitter tornado thing gives me nightmares. Yeah, I hate glitter. Yeah, I hate it. I think it should be outlawed. How do you think that did? It was really good, Chris. I enjoyed it. Yeah, although you threw me some pretty tough. One tough ones. Yeah, I was like, wow, that's those are I mean glitter? Well, Ted GPT helped me out with that because I was I was struggling this a little bit coming up with good ideas. But glitter tornado was from h and spaghetti were from desire. Oh were they? Yeah? All right, well oh she gave you suggestive words, yes, h huh oh wow, well hey, I think I think I jump made it make sense. So you were telling me before we started that you and your buddy used to make these stories. Yes, like that right? You used to be one of my favorite things to do. Uh. Me and my buddy would sit in biology and we would like write a sentence and then like start the next sentence and then fold down the paper so so they couldn't see the previous sentence and you would have to just make another sentence based on just a few words, and then then you would you know, do the same thing, and we would full, full, full, for full, we do the whole paper, and then at the end we would literally unravel it and then read the story. And it was one big run on sentence, you know, or sometimes we would you know, start a new sentence, and we used to cry laughing, and they were just outlandis stories and we loved it, and it was something that passed the time. When the teacher was being boring. I was gonna say, you were doing this not in English class, you were doing this in biology class. You were doing a writing exercise in biology. Just pay attention. So that's good man like biology. And I certainly didn't like the lady who was teaching biology at the time. You know, we didn't like her at all. So the only thing I remember from college biology class I had. I had a maybe he was a nice man, but maybe the single most boring voice I've ever heard in my life. It was a deep voice. He had been a lawyer before he became a professor, and he this very deep voice and completely monotone. So he go, homogeny recapitulates phylogeny. Wow, And that's the only It was one of the funnies things because I had just complained about his voice. Bonnie my wife, now, she was my girlfriend then we were sitting next to each other in biology class and I had just told her, I said this, this guy has the most boring voice I ever heard in my life. And she was laughing about that. And as soon as I said those words, he goes homogeny recapitulates phylogyny, and I just lost it. I started laughing, so I couldn't stop it. Yeah, so I remember that. That's the only thing I remember from that biology class. Wow, that's great. Yep, it was great. We are moving on to our segment, and she wiz, I actually I would say this. You know what, it takes a pure heart to be able to take words and tell a very clean and innocence. Does it? Does? It takes well? Good news for you then, because about Jesus said blessed of the peer and heart, because they're going to see God's. Good for me. Who would have thunk? Yeah? Yeah, So here's what Jesus says. We've been doing the beatitudes in Matthew chapter five, and he gives us whole list of things of what God promises to bless right and when he talks about blessing he's talking about, you'll be happy, you'll be fulfilled, you'll have God's favor on your life, right, that all these things and so this one phrase he says, God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. And that's it today, that's what we're talking about. And it's not really just about being pure enough to be able to tell a nice story. No, so we probably should unt pack that. Well, I mean, you said at the end of my story, you made a comment and said, we just want to get to know you better. I thought to myself, what if somebody tuned in late or fast forwarded the YouTube or hit fast forward and they actually think that was a true story or me lying about my childhood. Yeah, yes, it was so thank goodness, because I mean, yeah, all those emotional support lamas running around it really would make the thing confusing for people. So, uh, I just thought I would jump into this. I looked up the word pure, right, what does he mean pure in heart? Well, I was curious because there's a lot of different Greek words that get translated as pure. So this is Katharo's is the word, and it means clean, It means unmixed, and it means undivided. Isn't anything you ever you ever hear the word cathartic. That was cathartic, and and usually what that means it kind of cleansed my soul. When when I did that, it kind of cleansed me clean. It's it's where we get that word right, And so it's not just the The general meaning behind katharos isn't just moral cleanliness. It's right. It's a single hearted devotion to right. So a lot of times, like for flips too, when it says be like minded, yes, and he's talking about the church not being divided in their thinking right to be of one accord, you think it's sort of. That way when when you are dialed in all in on God and God's ways, you are going to wind up living a more pure life. You're going to have a more pure heart. Divided mind. Would be somebody who lives in the world and then also lives in God's work, right, Yeah, somebody who hasn't officially abandoned. This is why Jesus said you can't serve both God and money. You need to choose right. This is why at the very end of this message he preaches in Matthew Chapter seven. The very end, he goes, Listen, you have a choice here. You can either build your life on the sand, or you can build your life on the rock. Yeah. Right, And and so if you're foolish, you're just gonna keep building your life on the sand, and when the storms comes, gonna fall. If you're wise and you're going to do and you do what I say, then you will build your life on a rock, and then when the storms come, it'll stand. And so it's the same. You can't build on the rock and the sand. Right, That's what he's really with this whole message. He's kind of driving a wedge between trying to have your cake and eat it too, where you want God to answer all your prayers and to be your good luck charm, but you want to live like the rest of the world lives all the time. And Jesus, through the whole message, is separating that your religion is not checking all the boxes so you can be right with God. So stop thinking that. Instead, understand, be single minded, be all in with God. But when you are, you're going to start seeing the world from the perspective he sees it, and you're going to have a different, a different mindset. I remember I had a friend who watched a documentary about food and suddenly couldn't go to McDonald's anymore. Well, yeah, up right, because he had new new information the famous movie. Yeah yeah, yeah, So he had new information and he's like, I can never go and he said, you should watch that movie. I said, I will never watch that documentary. I don't want to be changed, right, but for him, But for him, when he adopted the viewpoint of that filmmaker and he genuinely believed the information he was given been given, he built a different life. So we always used to go to McDonald's together. Suddenly he's never going to McDonald's again. And it changed him. Whereas for me, I know about it, but I'm not embracing it, right, And so I stopped McDonald's on the way to work today, right. And And there is something to that when you really genuinely believe what God has said and you're aligning with his principles, it's not that you're still wanting He doesn't want McDonald's anymore, right, It's not like, oh, dude, you know what, level love to go get me a big mac right now? He's like, do you know what a big mac's gonna do to you? Right? Do you want a large friend is gonna do to you that? That's a he's horrified. Yeah, that I would go. And that's that's what it means to be single minded with God is once you align with God's thoughts. It's not that now you're constantly fighting with Oh my gosh, it's so hard not to keep doing those old things. It's, oh my gosh, you know what that's gonna do to you? Right? Right? Yeah, that's good. And that's a heck of an introduction. Before we read the verse. I did read the verse. I read it twice. Oh you already read it twice. Oh, I thought you were referring to it. I read it twice. Okay, read it. But that's okay, let me let me do it again. Yeah, Blessed are those whose hearts are pure, For they will see God. That's three times longer. That's three times. That's so funny. So, uh, that's three times. That's good though. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm gonna drive this one home. Yeah yeah, well, you know, so when he says for they will see God, that's a different promise, isn't it? Right? Because the other ones where they will be satisfied, they will be comforted. You know, the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs that it talks about an inheritance, right, But this one says for they will see God. That's interesting is that. Yeah, the reward of that of being pure and hard or like minded or going fully devoted to God's way, will see God. So I don't literally take it as seeing God, because we know that the Bible says that no man can look upon God and live right, right, So Moses couldn't look upon God. And some people would say this must mean go to heaven. But none of these verses mean go to heaven. No, not a single one of them means go to heaven. Because you can see God in you know people, you can see God glorified, right, you can see God through any Christian so so, but or you can see God in a way that you haven't seen him before. Have you ever heard the phrase we don't lose sight of God because he's hiding from us. We lose sight of God because our heart gets cloudy. You've ever heard that? That was I've heard that multiple times. I heard a whole message preached on that, And that's part of it is in those moments. Okay, today we woke up and it was foggy, really foggy. Right, Well, I couldn't see to the end of my street. Yeah, right, So when things get cloudy, you can't see very far when and all that is is water vapor coming in from off the lake that we live near. Right, the ice is melting, and so there's all this water vapor, temperature and all that kind of stuff, and it gets in the way and it starts a cloud. You can't see normally. I turned the corner and on the street leading out of my sub it's a half mile long street, I see all the way to the end, just about right. And it's the same thing when you are really clear and everything is blown out of the way, there's a nice breeze, everything's blown out of the way, nothing is blocking your view. You can see and you can see God moving. We can't see God. It's because we've allowed things to creep in that make that cloud up our view and we get distracted. The Book of James says a double minded man is unstable in all of his ways. Right, This idea being double minded makes it very difficult for me to focus on anything. I had a friend, This is funny. I had a friend that had both of his eyes went slightly opposite. Did you ever see somebody with one lazy eye? Yeah, the new Superman, so he had that's true. Uh, he had two lazy eyes, both of them went slightly He had these special things that they were. They tried to fix it, but it was always you were always trying to figure out as he's looking at me, you know, and somehow he could see, he could he could see, but they weren't significant. It wasn't like they were, you know, opposite directions, but they were just off from each other. And anytime I think of this, a double minded man is on the stable waist. If you're looking at two things, you're not actually focusing on anything, right, And that's what we want to do. We think we're good multitask and there's a ton of research on it. We're not good multitaskers. Right. Everything we do then it winds up being about seventy percent of our very best that we could do. If we just focused on one thing, we get way less done when we're trying to do more things. But when you have focused I was just talking with one of our leaders here at Heritage Church. He's on staff. He's got a big team and a big budget, has a lot of pressure and a lot of deadlines. And so I was talking with him that his entire team does all the work, and I said, I really think what you need he has two really good leaders. I said, I think you need to divide it and have one of your guys paying attention to this group of thoughts and one of your guys in that team thinking of this group of thoughts, because what they're doing is they're going back and forth. I need to work on this chord progression. I need to make sure that I got volunteers scheduled. We've got to design this thing. We've got to get this video out, we've got to write. And when you're thinking about one hundred things, it's hard to focus. But when you're thinking, Okay, I've got some volunteers, I've got chord charts and vocals that I need to arrange. I need to make sure that we get the songs in place and that the graphics are right. That's a very different thing from and I've got to do nine million other things. And so when you bring focus, you wind up also accomplishing way more. So. This is really what I think this peer and heart means is when your focus is clear on God, everything else begins to fall away, and you actually accelerate your walk with God. You accelerate your growth when you're focused on just Him. David said keep your eyes straight forward. Solomon says the same thing, keep your eyes straightforward, don't look to the right or the left. Yeah. Right. And you know this also aligns with one of the best and most famous prayers of all time. Do you remember Ben Stiller and Meet the Parents, But he says, oh, Lord of Hosts, three things we pray never he goes to see THEE more clearly, to love THEE more dearly. Remember I don't remember. It's hilarious. So anyway, I was just thinking, obviously, yeah, I'd like to think that. It is. It is symbolic of and it's also consistent with all the different times in the scriptures when it does say see God right like you'll you'll see God and people will see God in you. I mean, there's multiple references of that, and and and seeing God is is sometimes it's seeing God in a whole different way, right, Like for instance, remember when Moses you know, stood at the end of the sea, and they all said, oh, no, we're gonna die because Pharaoh's armies coming. And he says, do not panic, right, because Moses saw God in a way that they hadn't seen God. And then then he raises his staff. They walk upon dry land, the waters crashing on the on Pharaoh's army. And then it says, and then on the other side, then they knew God, right or or you know, or when Jesus calmed the storms, it says, they got to the other side, and it says, and then they said, what manner of man is this? That that the wind and the waves should even obey him? They saw God in a different way. But they saw Jesus in a different way than they than they saw him before. Right, And so blessed to the pure in heart, for they will get to know God and to see God, you know, in a different way. Because isn't it true that when God asks us to, you know, go a little bit further, It's like it's like Peter, Hey, Peter, can you can you step into the boat and then Peter, can you shove off, you know, shore just a little bit further? And then hey, Peter, can you throw the net over the side of the boat. It's like it's like, the more we step out in faith, the more we see God. Right, So we trust God in the little things and we see him come through, so that when God asks us for the bigger things in life, like, we're like, ok, I see him in a whole different way. So I think that I think it could be you know some So this idea of undivided clear focus is really at the core of this Catharsos, right, Catharos, which is where we get the word pure from. So let me go back to my driving analogy. Have you ever driven for a long distance and suddenly realize your entire windshield is just covered in bugs? Yeah? Right, it's just dirty. Yeah, that's the difference. You can just see farther and clear when the windshields clean. So I think that's what we're talking about, is keep our windshield clean right as much as possible. And and Ben Franklin said, I can't keep a bird from landing on my head, but I can keep him from building a nest in my hair, right, And that's such a great phrase. That's the idea. So temptation happens distractions happen. Just keep it clean, Just just clean it off, clean it off. You keep cleaning it off, and you'll be able to see God. You'll be able to keep following him and keep drawing closer to Him. It'll accelerate your spiritual growth. And I think that's what it means when he says, blessed the pearent heart, because they'll see God. You're gonna see God moving, you're gonna see God working, you're gonna see where God's going, and you're gonna be able to stay close. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, hey, that's our time, so hopefully we'll see tomorrow on the Bible guys. Mhm hm h