Purity of Heart and Cathartic Prayer

Sunday, April 13, 2025
9:30p.m.

The Spirit called me to the exchange that took place between Moses and the LORD in Exodus 33 and 34, several weeks ago (March 20th) and it has lingered there in the back of my mind ever since.

This morning the Unveiling Mercy devotion dealt with the way Moses' face shone after speaking "face to face" with the Lord.  And it was no small thing then, whenever the Instagram account of Ruth de Jesus made the connection also to this place in Scripture to Romans 3:23. Paul tells us, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The Greek word is hustereó and it means to lack, to fall short, to be in need, to fail. 
 
In Exodus 34:6 we read all that we're lacking and all that we're in desperate need of when the LORD proclaims his very nature. He is, "The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin."

So much in Scripture seems to bring me back to this conversation, lately.

I've been struggling more than usual with my health issues and because of that, have missed church as well as Wednesday night activities that I help with several weeks in a row. Whenever I miss, it always opens the door to "voices in my head" and trying to distinguish what is what or "who is who" is challenging for me. I struggle with people pleasing, perfectionism, and can easily lean more towards legalism than grace. And all of this "noise" is making it difficult for me to hear the voice of God. There's this ever present, nagging feeling of guilt. It's also, not as easy to connect whenever my husband is at home, which he has been, since it's the weekend. 

The message Joni gave in the reading for today, was about Kintsugi, the art of highlighting and joining broken pieces of pottery with gold resin, turning the broken into beautiful works of art. We see the Lord do this over and over again in Scripture. I'm still eagerly waiting to see how He will glue all my pieces back together in the end. His blood is more valuable than any gold resin, and He has covered me in it.

As I opened Jesus Calling, the first sentence that called to me, in this moment was this one: "Be thankful for quiet days, when nothing special seems to be happening." The message being conveyed for today is to stay the course, keep seeking Him, remain steady in your routine, keep inviting Him into every aspect of your day/life. Remembering that the presence of the Lord brings joy and that nothing that I do apart from Him, has any eternal significance. (Rom 8:8, John 6:63, John 15:5). 

The struggle I mentioned earlier also involves a real struggle with works-based faith. I know its merit is erroneous. This is a struggle with my flesh. Is there a possibility the Lord is using these worsening health issues; to show me that my feelings of worth shouldn't be tied to my performance?

One of the reference verses for today was Psalm 105:4 "Look to the LORD and his strength; seek His face always." 

With Exodus 33 still on my mind I ended up thinking about the seeming contradiction between this verse in Psalms, and then Exodus 30:20 that says, "You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live." Yet we're told to seek His face always. But also a few verses earlier in Exodus 33:11 it's said that "the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend." 

Context to what was said prior to verse 20 gives me some perspective. In verse 19 God says, “I will make all my goodness pass before you..." as opposed to His wrath. And if His goodness is such that we couldn't stand in the full revelation of His goodness, how much more His wrath? But He is much more inclined to show us his compassion and mercy. And that same goodness is what David wrote about in Psalm 23:6, it follows us all the days of our life, and we shall live in the house of the Lord forever. 

The word we translate as "follow" is so tame compared to the actual meaning behind the word. It's the Hebrew word radaph (רָדַף) and more accurately means "to pursue". 

When looking into cross references to Exodus 33:20 I ended up at Matthew 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" This is the verse that led to today's lesson. 

It started by looking up the word pure in Greek. Katharos (καθαρός) means clean, pure, clear. When reading this word, I immediately think of the word 'cathartic' and sure enough the two are related. 'Cathartic' originates from the Greek word kathartikos, meaning "fit for cleansing or purging." It is derived from katharsis, which refers to purification or cleansing. Ironically, the term was used in a medical sense to describe substances that purged the body, particularly the bowels. If you're privy to my health issues, you might get a chuckle. 

This helped me to see how we achieve purity through confession. We purge all that's weighing us down by giving it to God. I love the NLT translation of Pslam 27: 8 "My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “LORD, I am coming.” 

1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse (katharizó from katharos) us from all unrighteousness." All. Pas (πᾶς) meaning all, every, whole, entire.

The idea of being pure from this mindset also convicts me about the way I'm not very transparent in how my health affects me. I struggle to let people know just how bad it is. I'm always overcompensating, wearing my smile, and showing up even if it's incredibly hard to do so. This would be true even if my issues didn't revolve around things that aren't "polite" to discuss.

Jesus makes this assessment of Nathanael in John 1:47, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”

Downplaying and minimizing how utterly awful my issues are and how they affect so much of my day-to-day life, is deceit, plain and simple. It not only opens the door for Satan to manipulate the situation, but even worse, it downplays how much glory the Lord receives whenever He works in and through it. 

Paul says we're to boast of our weaknesses. Because Christ's power is complete. I don't want to rob the Lord of any glory and honor He is due. Yet, whenever I try to deal with this in my own strength, I suffer burn out and He isn't glorified. 

Confession isn't just about what we typically think of as sin, it's also about being genuine, real, and honest with God, yourself, and the people you do life with. It's cathartic to unbottle everything you've been trying to hide, minimize, and downplay. Admitting that I do this, opens up the door to conversations with God about why I do it. And understanding why I do it shows it's one more way, I'm not fully trusting Him. 

2 Corinthians 1:3 tells me not only is He the Father of compassion and mercy, but He is the God of all comfort. All. Pas (πᾶς) meaning all, every, whole, entire.

No matter what I fear will happen, if I'm honest, worst-case scenario, God is for me. He is with me. He loves me. He is the only judge. He is the only one that sees all and knows all. Not even I fully understand everything going on inside this head, body or heart of mine. Lord knows, the closest I ever get to understanding my own thoughts and emotions are whenever I'm in prayer with Him. And my health issues are so all-consuming, it's sometimes easier to deal with whenever I don't try to understand and catalog every detail. 

Heavenly Father, 
Thank you for another layer of understanding revealed. Purity of heart is achieved by seeking your face. Whenever we're open and honest, we purge all the impurities that keep us from you, bringing us ever closer and closer. Help me to be more authentic and genuine, even if it makes me feel weak and whiney. Help me to find balance in serving, while not neglecting my own health. Help me to be honest with others and myself. Thank you that you call to me and want open, completely honest, communication. Thank you that you are a near, close up, personal God, and not some distant, far off, unapproachable God. Thank you most of all, this week especially, for Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for your unbelievable obedience in the face of one of the cruelest and most gruesome forms of death, just so that I could have the opportunity to come to the Father in all honesty, with confidence. Thank you that your goodness not only passes before us, but it also follows, no, pursues us and hunts us down, to the point of death; your death, that provides life eternal where we will finally be able to see you in your fullness face to face and live. 

In Jesus' name, Amen.