The Power of Holiness (8)
--- Living with Purity of Heart
PROVERBS 23:7 NKJ
7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
God’s word says that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.
In the spirit, we are what we think.
And in the natural, we will become what we think..
In the eyes of God, whatever we think is already done in the spirit.
If you think evil, you have already committed that evil, and you have sinned.
But if you keep your heart pure and think only about the goodness and greatness of God, you are already blessed.
Whatever blessing you think about in your heart is already given to you by God in the spirit realm.
And naturally, you will speak what is stored in your heart, Jesus said.
And if you speak the blessings of God over your situation, God will do it for you, and your blessing will manifest in the natural.
But if you keep evil thoughts in your heart, you will speak evil, Jesus said.
And the devil will use your evil words to destroy yourself and others.
So we must always guard our heart, keeping watch over our heart, to make sure that no evil thoughts enter in, by what we see or hear.
And we must repent of all evil thoughts and ask God to forgive us our sin of all evil thoughts.
We must also ask God to wash away such evil thoughts from our heart with the blood of Jesus.
In this way, we keep our heart pure, and we will
see the goodness of God and greatness of God every day, everywhere we go, and at all times.
1. The blessing of living with purity of heart---You will see God and His goodness and His blessings
MATTHEW 5:8
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
JOHN 11:49
49 Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
If we keep our hearts pure, and keep it full of God’s love and goodness, we will see God move in His great love and power.
If we keep our hearts pure, and full of God’s word, full of faith in God, we will see the glory of God, His miracles, signs and wonders.
Therefore always meditate on God’s promises in your heart and see them fulfilled in your life, and you will have the faith to see the miracles of God.
2. A pure heart is a heart that thinks about the word of God, about His goodness and greatness
PSALM 119:9 ESV
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
PHILIPPIANS 4:8
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.
God wants us to live with a pure heart.
He wants our thoughts and imagination to focus on the things of His Kingdom—on things that are true and noble, right and pure, lovely and admirable.
He wants us to see in our heart all His promises and blessings fulfilled in our lives.
This is having a pure heart.
But if we focus on evil thoughts in our hearts, these thoughts will defile us and make us impure.
And an impure heart will never see God unless a believer repents of his evil thoughts.
MATTHEW 15:18
18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them [= make them impure]. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
20 These are what defile a person [= make him impure].
If you have impure thoughts, ask God to forgive you of such sinful thoughts, and ask God to wash these thoughts away with the blood of Jesus.
3. Do not think about the past or present shortcomings, mistakes or failures of yourself and of others
ISAIAH 43:18
18 Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
1 JOHN 3:21-22
21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God
22 and receive from Him anything we ask, because we keep His commands and do what pleases Him.
If you do bring up the shortcomings or failures of yourself and of others, you will always enter into feelings and thoughts of regrets, bitterness, anger, self-condemnation, and condemnation of others.
All these are evil thoughts and they will lead to a lack of faith and confidence in God and they will hinder your prayers.
We will not see God’s goodness and power if we bring up the past and dwell on the past.
Instead, ask God to forgive yourself and forgive others for all our mistakes and failures and shortcomings.
And ask God to bless yourself and others with a new season of miracles and breakthroughs.
In this way, we will not suffer from self-condemnation and doubt in our prayers.
In this way, nothing can make our heart impure, and we will see God.
4. What we see in our heart, in our spirit, is already a real act to God, whether good or evil
MATTHEW 5:28
28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
1 SAMUEL 16:7
7 But Yehovah said to Samuel, "People look at the outward appearance, but Yehovah looks at the heart."
Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at our hearts.
And whatever you think in your heart, is already seen by God as real and true.
Everything in our lives happens according to what we first conceive in our heart, whether good or evil.
If you think evil, you have already committed the evil in the sight of God, even though you may not have done it with your hands.
If you think about things that are good and pure and true, God considers it as real and done, even though you have not seen it yet with your natural eyes.
E.g. If you see yourself healed by the wounds of Jesus, then your healing has come from God.
E.g. If you see yourself dying of cancer, not agreeing with God’s word, but with the words of the devil, then you will die of cancer.
5. Our mouth speaks from the overflow of our hearts, and God will do what we say if we agree with God in what we say
MATTHEW 12:34 BSB
34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.
MARK 11:23 ESV
23 "Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what THEY SAY will happen, it will BE DONE for them.
Our mouth speaks from the overflow of our heart.
What we store in our hearts will come out of our mouth.
And if our words agree with God’s word, and we speak faith and life, God will do what we say, and we will see God’s miracles at all times.
But if we store evil in our hearts, we will speak words of evil.
And the devil will use these evil words to destroy us and others.
6. Therefore, always guard your heart, so that you only store God’s words and not evil thoughts in your heart
PROVERBS 4:23 BSB
23 Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.
COLOSSIANS 3:1-2
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Our heart is the centre of our life, the centre of our soul and spirit.
It is the place of our imagination and thought life.
From our heart, a fountain of life flows---rivers of love and joy and peace, rivers of miracles, signs and wonders, rivers of wisdom and revelation, rivers of health and strength, etc.
It is the place where our spirit and soul controls everything in our lives.
Therefore, we must guard our hearts.
We must make sure that it is filled with God’s words, God’s wisdom and revelation, God’s goodness and greatness, God’s plans and purposes, and God’s blessings for you and all men.
For example, God commands us in Colossians to think about Jesus in the throne room of God.
So see Jesus every day in God’s throne room, in all His power and glory, with all the angels of heaven and the saints around God the Father and the Son, worshipping with great joy and gladness.
See yourself worshipping the Father and the Son in God’s throne room.
If you can see yourself there in God’s throne room, worshipping the Father and the Son, your spirit is already there.
Another example of entering the throne room of God is this:
When you wake up, say “Hallelujah” seven times.
Fill your thoughts first thing in the day with heaven’s glory, for all the multitudes in heaven shout “Hallelujah” all the time (REVELATION 19:1).
An example of guarding your heart is this:
Guard your heart daily by shouting out loud the blessings of God over your life.
These words will fill your heart and flow from your lips, and you will receive what you think and say.
So declare:
“By the blood of Jesus, I am justified, made righteous; I am sanctified, made holy, set apart for God’s glory; I am glorified, full of God’s glory.
I am healed and healthy and strong.
I have the wisdom of God and the mind of Christ.
I can do all things through Christ Jesus who gives me the strength.
I have the favour of God and man at all times.
I am always at the top, not the bottom; the head, not the tail.
Today, I am blessed to bless the nations.”
7. Decreeing the Decrees of heaven
In Jesus’ name, I declare and decree that .....
1. By God’s grace, I will live with purity of heart, so that I will see God and His goodness and blessings.
(MATTHEW 5:8; JOHN 11:49)
2. I will keep my heart pure, a heart that thinks about the word of God, about His goodness and greatness.
(PSALM 119:9 ESV; PHILIPPIANS 4:8; MATTHEW 15:18)
3. I will not think about the past or present shortcomings, mistakes or failures of myself and of others.
(ISAIAH 43:18; 1 JOHN 3:21-22)
4. What I see in my heart, in my spirit, is already a real act to God, whether good or evil.
(MATTHEW 5:28; 1 SAMUEL 16:7; PROVERBS 23:7 NKJ)
5. My mouth speaks from the overflow of my heart, and God will do what I say if I agree with God in what I say.
(MATTHEW 12:34 BSB; MARK 11:23 ESV)
6. My mouth speaks from the overflow of my heart, and the devil will do whatever evil words I speak about myself or others.
(MATTHEW 12:34 BSB; MARK 11:23 ESV)
7. Therefore, I will always guard my heart, so that I only store God’s words and not evil thoughts in my heart.
(PROVERS 4:23 BSB; COLOSSIANS 3:1-2)
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A TESTIMONY
“GOD SET A YOUNG MAN FREE FROM DEMONIC OPPRESSION AFTER HE REPENTED OF IDOLATRY AND WITCHCRAFT”
BROTHER ANDREW:
"Last year, our church at the Balik Pulau Outreach attended the wedding of the daughter of a church member, Sister AB, in a restaurant in the town itself.
“Much later, Sister AB told me that her son-in-law, Brother KL, had been suffering from chest pains at night at about 300AM onwards for the past few months.
I then made an appointment to meet with brother KL and his wife the following week to pray for him.
“So on the following Monday night, after my Jubilee Prayer House Meeting, I came back to Balik Pulau and met with brother KL and his wife.
He said that he had seen many Chinese-medicine doctors and Western-trained medical specialists, and found no relief.
“He said that at about 300AM in the morning every night, he will feel someone choking him, he will have tightness in his chest, and he will have difficulty breathing, and will suffer great pains in his chest.
And this has affected his work in the daytime, and he was drowsy and tired all the time.
“He said that he had spent lots of money seeing the specialists who gave him medicine that relieved him slightly for one or two nights, but no permanent relief from his suffering.
“I told him that since the pains came regularly at the same time each night, it is most obvious that he is under demonic oppression.
He therefore agreed to repent of idolatry and witchcraft.
“So we spent the next hour repenting of all forms of idolatry and witchcraft using the prayers in the book on "Declarations and Decrees of the Kingdom of Heaven," using the Chinese version.
After the repentance, we commanded all demons to leave him and never return.
“After the Prayer Session, I followed him in my car to his house and there he handed me a Thai temple talisman for me to destroy.
I took it home and burnt it outside my house, at about midnight.
“A few days later, I met Sister AB at the Balik Pulau food-court and asked her about her son-in-law.
She said that after our prayer session, he could sleep perfectly well for 3 nights in a row, but on the 4th night, the demons returned to oppress him.
“Then she added, ‘I have told him to get rid of a small Chinses altar that he had picked up from the roadside, and which he had kept in front of his TV set for quite some time now, but he would not listen to me.'
So Sister AB herself knew why the demons returned to oppress her son-in-law.
“The next day, on a Saturday, I met Sister AB, her daughter, and the son-in-law Brother KL, at the same food court.
I told Brother KL that if he truly wants to be set free from all demonic oppression, he must throw away the Chinese altar that he has kept in front of his TV set.
He promised to do so, and then I left them.
“When Sister AB came to worship with us the next day at the Evening Service, she said that her son-in-law had a good night rest last night and was no longer oppressed.
“Since then, I have met Brother KL and his wife many times in the Balik Pulau food-court, and he is doing very well in his health and sleep.
"I also met with them many times recently to collect durians that they have harvested from the farm that belongs to the father of Brother KL.
This is part of the rewards we will receive when we serve God in preaching, healing, and deliverance.
“We give God all the glory for his healing and deliverance for brother KL.”
Shalom.