Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Heb. 4:12 (NKJV)

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 Heb. 4:12 (CJB)-See, the Word of God is alive! It is at work and is sharper than any double-edged sword - it cuts right through to where soul meets spirit and joints meet marrow, and it is quick to judge the inner reflections and attitudes of the heart. (Complete Jewish Bible) Heb. 4:12 (NLT)-For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are.  

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2  This means:  the Word of God is able to divide between the natural man and the spiritual man. The Bible says: “The heart is more treacherous than anything else and is desperate.” (Jeremiah 17:9) When our heart wants something very much, we can easily find excuses to do what it wants.

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 People develop their own agendas by which they seek to climb the mountain of success or happiness. As Christians, we may have rejected some or even a lot of these notions. Yet, the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, and because we are all so easily influenced by the world around us, our hearts need guarding.

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 Scripture clearly teaches us that the real issues of life are spiritual and are really matters of the heart, the inner man. The term heart, then, generally speaks of the inner person and the spiritual life in all its various aspects. This multiple use of “heart” along with the way it is used strongly focuses our attention on the importance of the spiritual life. Like the human heart, it is central and vital to our existence.

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 Since the heart is so important to what we think, say, and do, we each need to regularly do open heart surgery with the scalpel of the Word under the guiding hand of the great physician, the Lord Jesus. We accomplish this through the teaching, guiding, convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit. Like a sharp two-edged sword, the Word divides the inner man asunder to reveal the true condition and needs of our hearts (Heb. 4:12).

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 Are people always consistent in what they believe?

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 We May Go Through Various Conflicting Intentions: For instance a teenager may find that he has two intentions 1. To be on fire for God and a powerful witness for Jesus and 2. To still be popular with the cool, tough, non- Christians he knows. Once he/she realizes that they are trying to do two things at once then hopefully common sense and Christian maturity will help them make the right choice in following Christ. Simply listing the various intentions of our heart then judging them biblically may be enough to resolve issues that occur in our lives.

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 Watch your thoughts. They become words. Watch your words. They become deeds. Watch your deeds. They become habits. Watch your habits. They become character. Character is everything. (Frank Outlaw)

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 Discuss ways that our hearts can deceive us?

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Words like "always", "never" "have to", "go to", "perfect" and "100%" jam our mental switches in the "on" position. With enough of them we feel stuck, anxious and stressed as we receive multiple simultaneous urgent instructions that we have programmed into ourselves. .

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 When you rework your thoughts and intentions it helps if they develop into a concrete picture of a positive desirable future. For instance a struggling student should frame the goal “I will pass in Mathematics” rather than “I will not fail in Mathematics”. When we see the biblical healing commands they are faith- filled, positive and have the desired end state in view. Jesus did not say to the lepers “Leprosy be rebuked” instead He said “Be clean” and Peter and John did not say to the lame man “Lameness be gone” instead it was “Rise up and walk”. We need to be solution-focused not problem focused.

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 How can you become aware of evil intentions of your heart?

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 Pray and ask God to reveal the thoughts and intentions of your heart to you so that you can bring them into the light and deal with them. Sometimes it is hard to admit to sneaky, dishonest, crafty or manipulative intentions as a Christian. The truth will set us free and help us to make wiser decisions.

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 Intents of our heart can be very complex part in our lives. Our inner life plans, vows, self-promises and deep desires can retain power and remain active even to a time later on in life, When something "looks like", "feels like" "smells like" or "sounds like" something else then a whole cascade of thoughts, memories and emotional reactions can be produced.

Think of a recurring and embarrassing memory that seems "as vivid as yesterday". When it pops up it has all the intensity of twenty years ago. We need to move from paralysis to power and be able to work with the thoughts and intentions of our heart and to bring them into conformity with God's will.

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 How Do Your Beliefs Impact Your Emotions?

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 The connection between what we believe and how we put it into action is through our inner motive power - our emotions. Our emotions can paralyze our ability to be obedient. When this happens we need to examine the thoughts and intents of our heart to see if there are some that are contrary to what we are trying to do. As we correct the beliefs in our heart through the Word of God and confession/repentance we will find new liberty to obey God and a freedom from anxiety and inner conflicts.

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 Works/actions are a reliable guide to our intentions and what we truly believe in our heart. On various occasions compassion "moved" Jesus to act in prayer, healing, cleansing and teaching.

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 How The Mind Works To understand the power of thoughts, intentions, vows and desires you have to understand a bit about how the mind handles its data and in particular how it handles time. The mind has no actual awareness of clock time such as hours, days, months and years. The mind uses event time where actual events are the indicator of when things should happen. (e.g. Saul begin to despise David you the ladies sang Saul slew his thousand and David ten thousand)

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 For instance "At two o'clock I will have a sleep" is clock time while "After lunch I will have a sleep" is event time. The event is the "clock". The mind uses event times such as "when I am grown up I will", "After I am married I shall…" "Until I leave home I will have to” etc. Events and instructions continue in the mind until the event time is reached for them to terminate. Where there is no termination date included in the instruction it continues indefinitely.

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 Make No Provision For Evil Intentions: Do not give yourself the means of carrying out your wrong intentions. Deny them what they need if they are to be implemented. If your wrong intention in your heart is stealing from the church offering, make sure someone is with you when you count the money. Confess your wrong motives and intentions to God and ask His forgiveness and cleansing.

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 As Christians we have to take time and effort to make sure their inner personal beliefs line up with God's Word. With God’s help they will interpret reality properly and have paid attention to their heart.

Thoughts & Intents of the Heart pt. 2 Your promises to yourself are not as important as Christian obedience and the promises of God. Don’t get stuck in your own way or your own intent may override the things of God.

Bible Study Wed. 7/29/15 Thoughts & Intents pt. 3 Scriptures: Heb. 4:12; Jer. 17:9; Matt. 15:19

References: Bible.knowing/jesus.com The Thoughts and Intentions of the Heart (Globalchristians.org)