That Which Defiles and That Which Purifies

Prayer-Soldier

Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and he placed there the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. (Genesis 2:8-9)

The story is well known how Adam and Eve fell from grace and evil entered their lives. From that original sin, generations have struggled with the deceptions of the evil one designed to separate the children of God from their Creator. The deceptions surround us in many ways, luring us through rationalizations counter to what God has and continues to ask of us.

The temptation is to explain that we are not responsible, but if we are honest with ourselves, while the evil one seeks to tempt us, seeks to deceive us; the choice to act is ours. We may attempt to turn over our responsibility to those who would mislead us, but on the day we face the Lord, it will be our choices which will be held to the light.

The Lord will know what was and is in our heart. He knows our strengths and He knows our weaknesses; blessed are we that He forgives the failings within us. Through His grace, His mercy and the sacrifice of His only begotten Son in atonement for our sins, we are offered the hope of everlasting life in the kingdom where evil is not allowed to enter.

He summoned the crowd again and said to them, â€œHear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.â€ (Mark 7:14-15)

What is in our heart, our mind and our soul determines that part of us which is pure and that part which is unclean. We may care for our physical hygiene, but what do we do to care for the hygiene of our soul? We cannot purify ourselves if what is within us is unclean. We can only turn ourselves towards purity if we seek to keep within us that which is pure, that which we find through the love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Through prayer, we bring Him into our hearts. He has the power to purify us through the forgiveness He offers us. As we seek that purity, He has asked us to confess our sins and believe in Him and the healing which we may receive through that belief. Blessed are we that as we ask Him into our lives, we may be healed so that which defiles us may be removed. Praise be the Lord.

May the peace and blessings of the Lord be with you always,
Prayer Soldier