I was a kid of the 50’s, you know the type that was always outside, screaming and yelling and having the time of my life. I remember once, someone purchased a brand new refrigerator and we found the cardboard box. It became everything we could imagine, but most of the time it was a tank and we would actually run over each other, just for fun! It was great being young then, when we would drink water from the garden hose or we would give each other rides on the handlebars — without a helmet! We would ride our bikes to school every day, whether we were making A’s and B’s or C’s and D’s. We actually enjoyed going to school; there was always recess, right? And then later it was called gym class. Although I was a strong kid, my interests were in the arts and I joined the band and played the coronet.

If memory still serves me, running into the school bully was almost the worst, except for a paddling by the principal. I absolutely loved the symphony orchestra. I could sit in a huge chair, close my eyes and be wherever the music would take me! The music could be the call of the morning at sunrise, or the quiet thrill of sunset and then in a flash it could turn stormy with flashes of lightning all around. So few of my friends understood that. I would explain it to them and they would just look at me, not in a bad way but with completely miffed. It seems that my imagination was a little bigger than theirs and I could see things they never knew existed.

During all those years, my Dad was in the military and was usually somewhere else. My Mom was a good cook and provider and I sure did love her. But she did not know how to deal with a boy, so she stuck to my two sisters instead. Having said this, I sort of raised myself and I sure had a lot of questions about way too many things and the majority of them never were answered. For example: If the music is great and thrills the heart, why does it feel like your head is in the clouds?

Or when you go steady and she gets mad at you and she walks away, where did your heart go to? On one particular day, my Dad was kind enough to get me out of school early (maybe it was NOT a kind thing) and we went to see a family off as they began their flight back to the Philippines from the states (Clark Air Base). I’m not sure of the spelling, but it was the Height Family (pronounced “Hi-eat”) and her name was Debra May and it was the first time that I was in love with someone. Yeah, puppy love, but it was so real to me!

She and I walked around the front of the terminal, sat on a bench and for whatever reason I felt so bad. My chest was in pain, my mind was confused and there seemed to be a scream ready to jump out! Then she kissed me again, on the lips and said goodbye, went back in the terminal, got on the plane and left. I couldn’t stop crying but I wasn’t all that sure why though. I mean she was just a girl, right? My Dad drove us home and the songRhythm of the Rain was playing on the radio, I asked my Dad to drop me on the corner and he did. Sitting there I saw her plane fly overhead, as the tears streamed from my eyes and my heart died.

Something new had just taken place, I simply remember all the pain and suffering for the next week or two. I couldn’t eat anything. I drank orange juice instead. My parents said it would all go away in a day or so. Here at over 60 years, I still remember it vividly. Our maid, Priscilla asked what was wrong with me, I told her and from then on she would laugh at me. So to an extent, I know that the majority of all people in the world have NO idea of what love really is.

They go through the motions, especially on Valentines Day, but to KNOW what true love is, they are oblivious. I do not say this because of my adolescent experience but you must admit, there seems to be evidence to that end. Since that day in Clark Airbase, I have felt that same dying of my heart, every time I would lose someone dear, as they would pass over. Even with all the pets that we had, each would pass on and there was a new scar on my heart. The tears would come and my Mom told me that the Lord catches all our tears, in a small bottle and then when we need a blessing, HE pours some of those tears out to us.

Those days are way back in my life and yet just thinking on them, I still get a tear or two. I am NOT a softhearted man. I am a man that will NOT let a single moment of love slip away into forgetfulness. LOVE is something special and not like any other feeling we have, it strikes to the deepest spot we have, an area we never knew we had. So misunderstood, it causes confusion and discord when it pops up. Suddenly we know, just how deep our heart truly is.

Whether you’re willing to deal with that concept is a whole other thing! That spot in my heart, is the exact spot where I met My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I was so tired of loosing everything and everyone. I was tired of all the tears and crying. I was tired of being alone all the time. When I understood what it meant for someone to “die for you,” when it settled into that hidden spot so very deep in my heart, something changed.

As a young boy, I had asked my Mom who was a very practical woman if I would see those pets when I get to heaven. She said, she didn’t know. My Mom didn’t know for sure, so she was not going to lie to me, just to make me feel better! I’m sure there are some readers here that are grumbling a little. How better to KNOW the truth, than to hear it all the time, it makes it easier to know when one lies to you.

For better or for worse, life gives and takes away, makes you happy and then makes you sad — that is life. Once I gave my heart to the Lord none of that has changed in any way, only now, I am NOT alone with it! Now, I know for sure I will go to heaven and why is that, you ask? Jesus Christ loved me enough to die for me! My sense of love, which has served me all these years, is telling me the truth through bright eyes, full of wonder, through all the tears I have shed. Jesus Christ─God, is always there!

My contradictors, those who are not saved have all the questions. Even though they are always telling everyone how intelligent they are, they still can’t understand the Bible! Should you ask them how giving they are, they have already listed and numbered every gift and to whom it was given. Such wonderful people to be sure! But they’re still LOST and headed for eternal destruction! And heaven help you if you tell them that to their face! Then the gloves are off! The problem is they are only skin deep, very shallow at best and there is no real heart with any depth to it. And they are bound and determined to prove me wrong, at all cost. Ignorance at it’s finest.

They do not recognize that the problem is not to convince me, but God. HE has the final say!

Matthew 11:28-30: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Here’s what is so unusual, the following verses spell out the God’s condemnation:

Matthew 11.21-27: “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.

And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.

At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.”

You see, I learned a long time ago, what “love” really is and I choose to hold it dear in my heart.  Yuppers, I made some mistakes back then and I still make ‘em today, but one thing is for sure: My Lord, MY God never makes a mistake─ever! Come on now, we hear them all the time, “Well, it seems they were taken too early in life.” Really? And you know this how?

I can’t tell you how many times I prayed and wished I would be spared pain and suffering, but it was still there and I had to deal with it. Just like YOU! The Bible says:

Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

And once again, the verses before the one above, spell out the problem with the person that will not come to Jesus Christ.

Proverbs 14.1-11: “Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands. He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him. In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them. Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox. A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.

A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth. Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge. The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit. Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour. The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy. The house of the wicked shall be overthrown: but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish.”

Love is not something that just sort of comes along, it is something that we are given, by God, who is Love! And you are right, sometimes Love hurts like nothing else ever could, but would you be willing to give up all your Love…for something less? I don’t think so!

1 John 4.16-21: “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that Loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.”

God said it, I believe it, that settles it!

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!