Pure

In Psalm 24, we see a listing of qualifications for coming into the presence of the Lord:
3 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive blessing from the Lord, And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

In Psalm 51:10, the Psalmist writes:
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

The Word of God is a cleansing agent - as we approach the Scriptures, personalizing them and applying them to our lives, we can experience the transformation of our thinking, the "renewing" of our mind, as Romans 12 says.  But, we have to do more than engage in casual reading; it's so critical that we allow the Word to penetrate our consciousness and be yielded to the Spirit of God to do His awesome inner work.

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A well-known singer and actor posted two pages of her Bible on Instagram recently.  In the post, she made reference to these verses, from Proverbs 4 in the New Living Translation:
13 Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life.
And...
20 My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words.
21 Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart,
22 for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body.
23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

I think that overall, American Idol has brought to the fore so many talented artists, including a number of them who profess faith in Christ.  In fact, on Faith Radio, you can hear music from Mandisa, Phil Stacey, Chris Sligh, and others.  Recently, a former competitor, Jasmine Murray, was in our studios. Phil and Chris were both Top 10 contestants during Season 6, along with other professed Christians Melinda Doolittle and...the winner, Jordin Sparks.

As I recall, it seems that year Melinda might have been considered the favorite, but Jordin ended up in the finals with Blake Lewis.  And, Jordin has had quite a bit of success as a pop singer, with hits such as Battlefield.  And, something distinctive about her was her wearing of a purity ring, pledging abstinence until marriage.  So devoted to that topic, when British comic Russell Brand poked fun at the Jonas Brothers at an MTV awards ceremony in 2008, Jordin from the stage defended them, according to MTV.com.

Of course, of the three Jonases, Nick and Joe have both shed their purity rings, and Kevin is now married.  Jordin, well...a piece on the Empowering Everyday Women website, which is a site oriented toward Christian women, said about a TODAY show interview:

In 2012, Sparks first showed signs of wavering on her purity commitment during a Today Show interview. When asked about it, she said, "You know what? I switch it from day to day — I don’t wear it exactly everyday anymore, but I always have something there."

She added, "When I was 13 my mom spoke to me about purity and waiting for marriage and different things like that. And, you know, at the time I was like, ‘Sure that’s great,’ but I can’t say what’s gonna happen a couple of months from now. People grow.”

EEW alleges that Jordin left her commitment behind when she fell for singer Jason Derulo, and the two had a three-year relationship and moved in together.  The article reported on an encounter on Wendy Williams' talk show:

“Are any one of these rings the purity ring?” questioned the hostess who popularized the phrase, “How you doin’?”

Seeming momentarily startled, Sparks quickly flashed all ten of her fingers, smiled and gave a quick head shake, confirming the ring was no longer there.

Well, apparently, even though there have been public displays that have been inconsistent with a Christian perspective, Jordin apparently is spending some time in the Word.  Faithwire.com just published one of her Instagram posts, showing two well-marked Bible pages from Tyndale's The Wayfinding Bible.   Here's part of her post:

SO MUCH WISDOM! PLEASE READ THIS! 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Take hold of my instructions; don't let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life. My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don't lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.' Proverbs 3:5&6, 4:13 & 20-23 . . I remember seeing my parents & grandparents Bibles marked up like this when I was younger. I've only had this Bible for a little less than a year & I look at the pages of mine now & I understand. These are so much more than words. It's amazingly overwhelming and I cannot fully explain it. Everyone takes their own unique journey. It's filled with experiences that are joyous, difficult, easy and painful. But somewhere along the line, after many experiences, they finally 'wake up.' I love the expression: "When a man's Bible is falling a part, the man isn't." I'm awake Lord. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Be encouraged today. Grab that Bible off the table & dive in! Please share!

Something I say, and I think this is so true in this case - you never know how God might be working in someone's heart.  And, it can be discouraging when you see high-profile people who seem to be wandering from their declared faith walk.  But, we can be confident that the Holy Spirit is at work, and we can pray for the people we know who don't seem to be walking it, either.

As we pray for others, especially those who might have strayed, we can pray for a tender heart, for openness to the Holy Spirit, for the strongholds of the enemy to be pulled down and for God to reveal Himself in a powerful way.  No one is beyond the grace of God.

And, we can pray concerning our own shortcomings - because we are human, we are, as the hymn says, "prone to wander."  We have to continue to trust in the Lord and guard our own hearts, as those verses Jordin quoted command us.

Oh, and by the way, purity is one aspect of God's best for us.  That can be true for a single person who is facing relationship issues.  And, for everyone, we can strive to keep pure hearts before the Lord, knowing that leads to pure actions.

And, a footnote: Jordin Sparks has been cast in a forthcoming film called, God Bless the Broken Road, from God's Not Dead director Harold Cronk, according to Deadline.com.  It is described as a "faith-based film" that "is about a grieving widow named Amber whose husband was killed during combat in Afghanistan and now faces financial and spiritual challenges while raising her young daughter, Bree."   Lindsey Pulsipher plays Amber and Jordin plays one of her best friends, Bridgette. Makenzie Moss, who played the young girl Lily in Do You Believe? has been cast in the role of Bree. The film is due out next year.