Clean and Pure in His Sight

To be clean and pure in Gods sight
is very different than the way things may seem to us
We think of cleanliness in a fleshly way
For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,” Says the Lord.
“But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word. Isaiah 66:2

if you want to impress God, that’s the key to how to do it:
to be of a poor and contrite spirit and tremble at His word
which is similar to: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
Proverbs 9:10a

God looks on our hearts,
He looks on everyone’s heart
from the most wicked sinner to the most righteous saint
That is just the way God sees
But the Lord said unto Samuel,
Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature;
because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth;
for man looketh on the outward appearance,
but the Lord looketh on the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7
This is one of the most important scriptures in the bible
We have to know what God is looking for from us
in order to know how please Him

Remember Cain and Abel? They both gave God a sacrifice
God was pleased with Abel’s sacrifice
Cain was so angry about that fact that he killed Abel
The way we might think to offer the things in our lives to God
might be very different from what He asks of us, or even requires of us
We do not get to decide what is important to God
He decides
Our part is to find out what is important to the Lord
and not assume we know
Cain chose the offering, Abel did what the Lord asked:
And in process of time it came to pass,
that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 
But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.
And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. Genesis 4:3-5

Many men have missed it and are teaching fleshly merits
When the Pharisee and the tax gatherer were standing before the Lord,
the Pharisee is who men would consider righteous,
not the tax gatherer who seemed to be a sinner
God looked on his heart, He looked on both of their hearts
I am sure the Pharisee wore beautiful attire
and spoke the most lovely speeches,
filled with goodness and beauty
God was not impressed
God is not impressed with our false humility
True humility before God is bowing before Him in every instance
Including following Him wherever He leads,
loving whoever He puts in our paths,
doing deeds because God would be pleased, not to impress Humans
Following His commands: Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. John 15:14

We should never do things to be seen of men,
otherwise, we have our reward, then and there,
meaning, there will be no future reward from God our Savior
If we value the opinion of our fellow humans so much so
that we do things to impress them,
then we aren’t honoring God
and doing things secretly before God
so that He can be glorified but, instead, so that we can be glorified
It’s ugly stuff and we have all done it

Do not labor for the food which perishes,
but for the food which endures to everlasting life,
which the Son of Man will give you, 
because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
Then they said to Him,
“What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
Jesus answered and said to them, 
“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
John 6:27-29

To be clean and pure before God is a condition of the heart
Once you have accepted Christ’s forgiveness
and His sacrifice on the cross and believe that He rose from the dead,
you are then a new creature and the old must pass away
Being cleansed and pure and holy before God is an ongoing process
Jesus is returning for a church without spot or wrinkle
For us to think we’re prefect in Gods sight is not for us to decide,
To honor Jesus and glorify Him
is the most important effort we can make while we are on earth

Aim to find out how to please God and be conscious of His exhortations
of how others pleased Him through their examples throughout the Word from the very beginning to the very end

Scriptural References:

And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves
that they were righteous, and despised others:
Two men went up into the temple to pray;
the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself,
God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
And the publican, standing afar off,
would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but smote upon his breast, saying,
God be merciful to me a sinner.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased;
and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Luke 18:9-14

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 
Therefore when thou doest thine alms,
do not sound a trumpet before thee,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets,
that they may have glory of men.
Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 
But when thou doest alms,
let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 
That thine alms may be in secret:
and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. 
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are:
for they love to pray standing in the synagogues
and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.
Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 
But thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door,
pray to thy Father which is in secret;
and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 
Matthew 6:1-6