DAILY READINGS IN LIFE OF CHRIST - J.R. Miller (1890)

pril 21. Purity of Heart

"Blessed are the pure in heart — for they shall see God." Matthew 5:8

There is no beatitude in the Bible — for anything unclean. We are told also that there is no room in Heaven — for anything that defiles. Therefore if we hope to enter Heave — we must prepare for it here. To a child who expressed the wonder how he could ever get up to Heaven, it was so far away, a wise mother's reply was, "Heaven must first come down to you; Heaven must first come in to your heart." The words were very true. Heaven must really be in us — or we can never enter Heaven. And just as we become pure in heart — is Heaven entering into us.

But what is heart purity? It is not sinlessness, for none are sinless. A pure heart must be a penitent heart that has been forgiven by Christ and cleansed by His blood. We have a Bible promise that though our sins be as scarlet — they shall be as white as snow. The pure heart is one, then, that Christ has cleansed. It is one also that is kept pure by obedient living and close communion with God. We are taught in the Scriptures that an important part of true religion, is to keep one's self unspotted from the world.

It is an evil world in which we live; but if we faithfully follow Christ, doing His will, keeping our hearts open to every influence of the divine Spirit — we shall be kept by divine power from the corruption that encircles us. As the lily remains pure and unstained amid the soiled waters of the bog in which it grows — so does the humble, loving, submissive heart of the Christian disciple remain pure in the midst of all this world's corruption. Over such a heart, God's face beams in perpetual benediction. The vision of God on earth of course is never full and clear — but it grows brighter and brighter as the believer walks ever toward the morning, and at last it will be unclouded and full in the perfect day of Heaven.

Been there, done that!

 

 DAILY READINGS IN LIFE OF CHRIST- J.R. Miller (1890)

20 April 2026

Spiritual Hunger

"Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness — for they shall be filled." Matthew 5:6

It strikes us somewhat strangely at first, that there should be a beatitude for dissatisfaction. We know that peace is promised to the Christian, and peace is calm repose and satisfied restfulness. The words "hunger and thirst" appear to suggest experiences incompatible with rest and peace. But when we think a little more deeply, we see that spiritual hunger must form a part of all true Christian experience. Hunger is a mark of health. It is so in physical life; the loss of appetite indicates disease. Just so, a healthy mind is a hungry one; when one becomes satisfied with one's attainments, one ceases to grow. The same is true in spiritual life. If we become satisfied with our faith and love and obedience, and our communion with God, and our consecration to Christ — we have ceased to grow.

Invalids often die amid plenty — die of starvation; not because they can get no food — but because they have no appetite. There are many professing Christians who are starving their souls in the midst of abundance of spiritual provision, because they have no hunger. There is nothing for which we should pray more earnestly and more importunately, than for spiritual longing and desire. It is indeed the very soul of all true prayer. It is the empty hand reached out — to receive new and richer gifts from Heaven. It is the heart's cry which God hears with acceptance — and answers always with more and more of life. It is the ascending angel that climbs the radiant ladder to return on the same bright stairway with blessing from God's very hand. It is the key that unlocks new storehouses of divine goodness and enrichment. It is indeed nothing less than the very life of God in the human soul, struggling to grow up in us into the fullness of the stature of Christ. Such spiritual hunger never fails of blessing.