The Intent of the Heart! :: by Don Twobears

I was noticing this past week the names of all those (across the Web), that write for the Lord and I was wondering if they are writing FOR the Lord, FOR notoriety and fame, or because they love the Lord. Then a small thought popped into my head: This can’t be a bad thing, because certain people write in a certain manner, right? Thus, it is easier for someone to find a “kinship” with a certain writer. Then it hit me that the content could be by the very definition, that of Jesus Christ, that of our Lord and from our Lord. You know, where HE shines in what is written and nothing of you or me comes through.

I used to have “By Don twobears ” under the headline, but I soon believed it was never me that was doing the writing in the first place and to continue to put my name there would beplagiarism, so I stopped. Rapture Ready does post my name, though. I have a return email address at the end, for no other reason than to answer any questions. You would be surprised how many write to ask about my nationality and the majority of those who write include a question concerning the Word of God.

This time around in this article, I want to hammer home that once you are saved, you are saved forever!

My last few articles dealt with what we are to be doing as we live each and every day. So many got confused by this and thought that I was saying there must be works done in order to be saved, which isdiametricallyINCORRECT! Thus resulting in my having to change how I begin the articles. I must be slow and careful, as well asprecise. Another thing I have learned: There are some who love to sit and read and simply WAIT for a writer to make a mistake, that being the case, since I am a human (lowly at that) they will have a field day with me. No discord inferred or desired.

It would seem to be a constant error to afford writers that they are the benefactors of the Word of God when they are not! We write because at any given moment, day or night, the Lord will nudge us, what we “hear” must be written down and shared — small epiphanies, if you will. I can be sleeping or doing something else and the proverbial “light” will come on.Ding! Suddenly I am aware of something I was looking at in one direction and I thought I understood it, but was ever so slightly off. It is in that moment that I must stop whatever I am doing and write it down. It has been in the middle of the night, many a time. Thankfully I am fully retired and I can then sleep when I am dead tired. I can’t say enough about this situation other than to say that it is a wonder to behold. And as always, it is the Lord, not me! At least I get to be the pen, right?

I remember vividly, as a first grader, those big pencils (one could be used for a stack in the yard) and those big “Chief” divided tablets. It never occurred to me the reason I was trying so hard to be perfect when I wrote back then that one day this would be my calling. A day that seemed to really stand out for me was the day a teacher suggested I try calligraphy. You know, that fancy pen and all. Oh, wow. It was on then, and the words were beautiful as well as pictures produced in one’s mind. Now I use a computer, right? This is called “progress.”

Both my parents were born-again believers and I know at times they were sure I was going to be the biggest devil in hell, short of stupid, Satan. They would be so proud to read the articles coming from my computer, especially my Mom.Their“wonderful Donnie-boy, but don’t get off track so much.” Such was my wonderful Mom and I sure do miss her, BUT I know one day we will be together again with our Lord and Savior! I can’t wait for those times when we can sit around and drink coffee and exclaim the glory of Jesus Christ and then sit and listen to HIM and see HIM and KNOW Him, exclusively. I can’t wait!

I read today that if you were a billionaire you could spend $10,000.00 a day and die before you ever use that billion up. As fantastic as that sounds, how many starving people could you feed in a day with $10,000.00? What’s even more remarkable is that you could do this and never receive a penny of interest on that billion. Let’s say you do receive interest on the onebilliondollars and still spend ten thousand a day, how long would the billion dollars last then? Now, how many billionaires are there that feed the starving every day? Now we see the problem with Man. What is at work here is this: The intent of the heart.

Proverbs 20.5: “Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.”

Hebrews 4.12: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than anytwo edgedsword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Acts 8.20-22: “But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, ifperhapsthe thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.”

The one verse in the Bible, that tells it as the Lord wants it to be known is this:

Jeremiah 17.9-10: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lordsearchthe heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”

I believe it goes without saying that we humans MUST rely on the Lord because without HIM we are forever lost and damned. Our hearts are wicked from beginning to end and we are selfish andconceitedbeyond compare! I know, like you, I feelashamedto be this way, but as the Bible says, “We are all sinners.”And we must come to understand, that it is our SIN that separates us from our Lord and Savior. IF we neverreconcilethis error in us, according to the perfect will of God, we will never see a single moment of heaven. We will indeed see our own destruction in the lake of fire!

Again, I am going to say, “We MUST ask for the Lord’sforgivenessof our SIN!” ANYTHING short of that and we will see eternal destruction. There are NO two ways about it! That one decision is the only one that will change us for the better. Or the lack of, will leave us to hell.

Now, you can say I am not being nice here, you can call me a hater or whatever suits your fancy but that will NEVER change anything. YOU MUST come to the cross of Jesus Christ and be washed in HIS blood. That seems to be the most confusing part of the matter for most people. WHY? I have no earthly idea, other than they wantwhatthey want the way they want it or no “deal.” And all I can say to that is if there is NO deal, there is NO heaven or eternal life and you are definitely going to get exactly what you have asked for!

So now we know what the “intent of the heart” is all about, right?! In other words, you can saya lotof things about Jesus Christ, but if your heart does not belong to HIM, your words are nothing more than “lip service.” We humans spend so much time exposing the “liar” in others through technological advances like the Lie Detector, which shows physiological changes. We also see the effects of stress in our lives, mostly because we spend so much time doing stuff that doesn’t really matter and it’s always so much to get done, in so little time. Right?

Have you ever thought, that walking that very thin line between what is right and what is not right is the reason you are so stressed and you get so little sleep at night? Some like to call that living in the “gray area,” meaning, a truth with a little lie in it. Well, you can’t mix the two and call it truth. It’s really called a “swindle” and that is WRONG: “Come on down and buy a car from us and you’ll see so much in savings we’ll probably be paying you to buy the car!”

I wrote about this sort of thing before, it has never changed. Life is about making decisions and that’s it. You can’t sleep without making it a decision. What decisions are YOU making today? Are your decisions guided by Jesus Christ or not? It’s one way or the other! Stop andrememberthis: The “intent of your heart” is where you make that FIRST decision, so make it a good one because Jesus Christ, who is GOD, knows the “intent of your heart!”

Whatever you do, whatever you think, all of it is recorded and will be used against YOU in God’s court of law and God is a JUST judge, you will never be able to hide from HIM! As the Bible says, HE will call the living and the dead before HIM, in judgment. That has to besomethingreally serious to think about, whether you’re the President of the United States or a humble writer. All will be judged by God!

The wide or broad way has all the lines according to who you are; one for the billionaires, the millionaires─you know the greedy ones, and then there are the lines for the thieves, the murderers, the liars, the haters, the Hitler’s and the Stalin’s and the names go on and on. That is why it is called the “wide and broad way” to eternal destruction! And yet, this loving Lord of ours gives us millions of “off-ramps” to salvation, through HIM and His blood spilled at Calvary right up until the day of theRaptureor our death. Consider the life guide first (the Bible), and then make your decision of where you want your destination to be. It’s critical to be sure!

Only a fool, is without Jesus Christ!