THE "CLEAN HEART" LIFE

THE "CLEAN HEART" LIFE - How to Experience it
by Andrew Strom

It was in my teen years that God totally revolutionized my life. I
was filled with the Holy Spirit when I was 17 - and that was really
the turning point. It was an overnight transformation. And after I
read a few 'Revival' books, that was all I cared about. -The glory
of God coming down and transforming people. I was hungry for
God to move.

Something happened to me when I was converted that I always
assumed was "normal" - and still believe it should be. God gave
me a true 'fear of the Lord' from the start, and a deep repentance
where I literally went right through my life and repented of everything
I could find that was not godly. So I was "clean" and newly filled
with the Spirit - filled with His love and power. And I found that I
could literally WALK in this 'clean' state before God - without any
"effort" or striving whatsoever. I just figured this was normal. It
became my 'natural' state - walking with a clean conscience and
clean heart before God.

Did I have to "strive" to maintain this constant "clean heart" state?
No, not at all. I simply avoided sin and kept walking in this inner
purity that God had given me. No effort at all, really. It just seemed
"natural". The Scripture, "There is no condemnation to them in
Christ Jesus" was very real to me. I could sense that indeed I walked
under a new "law" - the 'Law of the Spirit of LIFE in Christ Jesus'
which had made me free from the law of sin and death.

In the Bible I saw this was totally 'normal'. There didn't seem to
be anything "special" about it.

Whenever I discovered any 'darkness' in me that I had not seen
before, I instantly would repent of it because God had given me a
deep hatred of sin. This is one of the keys to this kind of walk. I
could not stand for anything to come in between me and God.
I simply walked before Him in this permanent state of communion
and fellowship.  If I inadvertently "tripped up" in such a way that I
noticed a kind of "spot" on my white robe, so to speak, I was very
quick to deal with it because I hated sin and loved walking in total
transparency before God. -But it was not common for me to have
to do that. Sometimes weeks would go by without me having to
seriously "repent" of anything. 'Clean' had become my natural state -
a wonderful gift from God.

This is not to say that temptation never came along. Of course it
did. I just had to choose not to entertain it. I hated sin and loved
God too much to indulge it. But did this mean that I was outwardly
"perfect"? No! -Just that I was inwardly walking with Him in
righteousness and "purifying myself as He is pure". And so the
years went by...

I read the book, "The Normal Christian Life" by Watchman Nee,
and along with some other Revival books, etc, - this helped me
to understand better the state I was in - and to assume it was
"normal". But I would often come across other Christians who
seemed surprised when I would share a little about what I was
experiencing. Many did not seem to live in any genuine "victory"
over sin - and seemed to be always 'repenting' with little real
result. They told me I needed to keep "short accounts with God"
which seemed to mean that I had to repent every half-hour or so.
What kind of "victory" this was, I could not discern.

Didn't Jesus die so that we could walk with God as ADAM
did before the fall - communing with Him in the "cool of the
evening"?  Isn't that the whole point?  -To give us a clean heart
and restore us to full communion with God - as an actual STATE
OF BEING?  Isn't it just that simple?

Another thing God taught me later on was to "RENOUNCE" things
that were serious temptations in my life.  This did not affect my
"righteousness of heart" before God one way or the other, but
it did affect my mind - and the clarity of it. I was no longer
bombarded with temptations anywhere near as much after
'RENOUNCING' those strongholds out of my life.

I have now been walking with God in this "clean-heart" way for many
years. It does not seem to be an "effort" or anything 'hard'. I have
been made a 'new creature' and I simply walk in it as a "natural"
state. My heart and my conscience are continually clean before
God - washed in the blood of the lamb.

So what are the pre-requisites for this kind of walk? -Simply to have
a true "fear of the Lord", to have experienced "thorough repentance"
and also to have been baptized and Spirit-filled, I believe. -Simple
stuff, really. For most of us the door is wide open to walking in this.
Can you trust God for it, my friends? Will you enter in?

God bless you all. 

Andrew Strom.