January 21 Care Group

We discussed Sunday's message about being pure in heart.  Matthew 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
-What is the heart?  thoughts, desires, emotions, inner workings
-Gen 6:5 paints a dismal picture of men's hearts.  It is only God's grace that can pull us out of that state.
-God created us to give Him glory.  As we walk with Him He shows us the real "junk" that's inside our hearts that we may not be aware of - but it's not hopeless, it just makes us need Him and love Him more.
-God sees everything about us and patiently loves us anyway.
-Ezek 36 says that now we have been given a new heart!  He motivates us to do His will and His pleasure.
-The fact that we care about our motives is a sign that God is at work in our hearts.
-Matt 5:27 - Do we open the gate and entertain the sinful thoughts and temptations that come our way?  We should instead cry out immediately for help.
-Praying for those who have sinned against us is a real key to staying in forgiveness and not letting bitterness creep in.
-This is part of our good fight of faith.
-Some of us have daily battles to get through the constant challenges that life brings our way.  We need to go to His word, call out for strength and wisdom all the time.
-Ps 119:9-11 - How do we keep our way pure?  By keeping His word in our hearts!
-This world is wearisome, yet God builds us up.  We know that His grace and His word are more than sufficient.