The Heart's Intent

Jeremiah 17:9-11, “v9) The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? v10) I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds. v11) As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid, So is he who makes a fortune, but unjustly; In the midst of his days it will forsake him, And in the end he will be a fool." 

Matthew 6:1-4, “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. v2) Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. v3) But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, v4) that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”

Ah, the heart! In Proverbs 16:1-2, it shows another issue with our heart's intent! It says, "The intentions of the heart belong to a man, but the answer of the tongue comes from the Lord. v2) All a person’s ways seem right in his own opinion, but the Lord evaluates the motives."  The heart is a very wicked, sick, and deceitful organ! What does "intentions" actually mean though? Let's see what the true definition of this is, found in the online dictionary: "purpose or attitude toward the effect of one's actions or conduct: the act or fact of intending: a determination to act in a certain way : resolve: a thing intended; an aim or plan." Webster's Dictionary says, "A plan of action or purpose, either immediate or ultimate."

Our intentions, from our heart, tends to rule over our actions and behaviors, and sometimes even take precedence over our true plans, hopes and desires. Many Christians have good desires to serve the Lord and to become a disciple of Jesus, which is what we are supposed to desire. However, something happens along the way, along the little journey to become what we desire for Jesus. See, our intentions are our will, motives, designs and wishes, and they often suppress our own commitment to serve Jesus with all of our heart and mind. This is what Paul was referring to in Romans 7:21-25, "So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ my Lord. So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin." 

Let's take a short look at some of the steps and processes we take to get to the intentions by starting where it all starts: The MIND.

The all-powerful, all knowing God connects to us through our mind. This is the seat of reflective thought, and where we are God conscious, and where God is on the throne (in control) or we are. We connect to God and worship Him in the mind. It's the seat of understanding. The Bible doesn't separate the mind and the intellect. Prov. 23:7, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” So that takes us to The INTELLECT.

The intellect is where we accumulate all of our knowledge. It's the seat of our wisdom gained, our morality (right and wrong), learning processes, and our reasoning. It's in the intellect that we can know God’s Word and His will for us because it's through our intellect that we can understand His commands, precepts, and judgments. We can understand truth in the intellect, and our sinful nature. Dan. 10:12, "From the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard.” The intellect then leads us to The INTENTIONS.

Intentions are where the will, desire motives, purpose, consideration, designs and wishes lie. This is where we make our choices, and it is also the seat of the sin nature that Paul talks about in Romans. It's where the deliberate exercise of volition happens. We often have good intentions, but then, what happens? Romans 7:15-20, "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. v16) If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. v17) But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. v18) For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. v19) For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. v20) Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me." Well, from our intentions, we move right on to The IMAGINATION.

The imagination is where we often find ourselves disassociating with reality. We fantasize, and create mental images which have little to do with reality. It's where many of us escape to when we want to focus on something other than reality. Our imagination includes ideas, our many schemes, what we contemplate about, where our fantasies and images originate and all of these things usually aren't even evidence of us being connected to the real world at all! Luke 1:51, "He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts." Our imagination isn't necessarily a bad thing because this is the place where our creativity, art, poetry and new ideas originate and come from. Phil. 4:8, "Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things.” Imagination then leads to The SENSES.

Our senses include our sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. They are the gateway to the inner person and without them, we wouldn't even know there was a real world. Our senses aren't necessarily bad unless we choose to use them for the bad. These steps and processes are what we take to live in the real world. Here on earth. The access to the inner person from the real world has to first go through the imagination and then to the intentions. That's why we make so many wrong decisions. Advertisers know this about the human nature and they use this knowledge to appeal to our imagination and NOT to our intellect. If they appealed to our intellect, well, they wouldn't sell very much and eventually go out of business! When we examine these observations closely and understand the connections they have with one another, we can clearly see why we have so many problems and why bad choices are made. It's so important not to let your imaginations run your life and how extremely important it is for you to let the Word of God and your relationship with Jesus Christ rule your ACTIONS and DECISIONS.

The Bible has A LOT to say about the heart of man. So much so that the word “heart” is found in the Bible 835 times in 775 verses in the New King James Version according to E-Sword! So this must be especially close to God's heart and important enough to be repeated over and over and over again for OUR minds to understand it and apply it. I Kings 8:39, "For you alone know the hearts of all the sons of men.” God knows ALL of our hearts, our intentions, our thoughts that are dropped IN to our hearts. Yes, He knows it ALL! We may start out wanting to do a good thing but suddenly that turns into something selfish, self centered, egotistical or just down right with ill intent! How many times has each of us questioned ourselves over the years of our own intentions? I would say there's a tiny minority that hasn't examined themselves from time to time, but as I stated, they are in the minority. I believe it's our human nature to doubt and question and examine ourselves. Although, as the end draws near, I'm guessing more and more just don't care about their heart's intention. But, when we read passages in the Bible about men deceiving themselves like in Galatians 6:3 and James 1:26 it should cause us all the more concern  because the question now becomes "am I being honest with myself?" We obviously need to learn all we can about the human heart, about its condition, and its obvious ties to our choices with the hope that we can come to know ourselves better and improve our hearts health.

When the Bible speaks of the human heart it is speaking of the THINKING of a man, a man’s will, a man’s emotions or feelings, a man’s conscience, or any given combinations of these. Or, likely THE combination of those all. The question that should come to mind when we think about this aspect of the human heart is “Am I responsible for the way I think?” Well, the Bible answers that in the affirmative. “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” Romans 8:6. I admit it is a very tough exercise to change the way you think but isn't that what every man does when he repents? Absolutely because repentance is certainly a changing of the will but it's also a changing of the mind and the ways of our thinking. When a man comes to accept the Bible and its teaching as his own TRUTH, the way God breathed it to be accepted, he is not only committing himself to a new way of thinking about the world and his relationship with God but also with his fellowman. When we accept the gospel we are saying we are going to let the Bible guide our thoughts, our ways of thinking and we aren't going to think about things the way we used to. We will NEVER be perfect or sinless, but we CAN change our attitudes and the WAY we THINK. Worth repeating here, Proverbs 23:7, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”

Biblical decision making begins with a willingness to submit your intentions to God's perfect will and humbly follow His direction. It's hard to wait for His direction sometimes, as I'm sure many of you have found out on your own! The problem is that most of us don't know how to figure out exactly what God's will actually is in every decision we face, especially the big, life-altering, mind blowing decisions. We've all been there. We've all struggled with how to figure these things out. But the main thing is the lesson it teaches us for our future decision making. PATIENCE and WAITING. Two things the Lord had dropped boulders down on my head about many times before I finally got it! I admit, it was a hard and difficult lesson for me.....but I learned. Am I perfect? Not by far. But I have submitted myself, my intentions and am humbly following His directions. One lesson, and probably the most important one is to begin with PRAYER. We need to frame our attitudes into trust and obedience as we totally commit the decision to prayer, laying it at the foot of the Cross. There's no need to be fearful in decision making when we're secure in the knowledge that God has our best interest in mind. Jeremiah 29:11, " For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." 

Remember that all of what we allow in our minds, will be settled in our hearts and from our hearts will show who we are by the choices we make and things that we do. Everything starts with a thought. Good, bad, or indifferent. A thought has an outcome. And after the thought is configured, our intentions eventually become known. Prayers and good intentions need a plan. Good intentions and prayer are important in your struggle against sin, but be sure to also make a precise, practical plan about how you will battle those temptations in your life. When you combine prayer, intentions, determination, and a plan based on God's word, you will find victory comes a little easier and sooner rather than later. It says in Proverbs 21:5, "The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty." And we find in Proverbs 21:29, "An upright man gives thought to his ways." Being a born again Christ believer isn't just a free ride. It requires action on our part as well. We must all do work in order to flourish and grow and blossom into the person God already knows we ARE!

In Hebrews 4:2, it tells us, "For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it." I tell you this because the deceitfulness of sin will continually hide in the shadows, not as an external enemy that we can see and know, but as an internal enemy as mentioned in Hebrews 3:12-13, "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; v13) but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin."  Today, we are in the age of the Second Exodus but we share in the same fallen condition of those of the First Exodus. Therefore we are urged not to "fall by the same sort of disobedience" as described in Hebrews 4:11. Our need, then, is to soberly allow the word of God to do the excruciating work of a surgeon's operation, dissecting us, tearing apart those rough spots, taking out the disease that's laying underneath and to re-sculpt our internal person. We need to let Him pierce through our weakened defenses and false facades deep into our most inner places. We need to let the Scriptures read us as we read His Word and allowing them to leave us "naked and exposed" because we can't hide from the Almighty God!

Mark 7:20-23

If we pay attention and look closely, while also listening, it's easy to identify behaviors that contradict God's nature and His Word. In Mark 7:20-23 and Luke 6:43-45, Jesus taught about how wrong living is the overflow of a wrong heart. Intentions. So being able to see through the external behaviors, which encompasses the sin, to see the heart's attitudes beneath them. The behavior is the "fruit," and the heart is the "root." The heart is where the SEEDS are PLANTED, and so in order to free a garden of weeds so the fruit grows unobstructed, the roots have to be removed and picked out. And because we are all susceptible to the same kind of blatant disobedience as Israel, we also have examine our own hearts. We have to recognize the root that is causing the weeds to grow so that we know what roots are damaging to our bearing fruit. And we need to exercise our will in examining our hearts in order to find those destructive roots.

So is there right ACTIONS but wrong INTENTIONS? Absolutely! First of all, we all know that our God is a God of justice and He hate treacherous dealings. We can read it from the following verses in the bible, Proverbs 11:1, "Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.” And in Micah 6:8 it says, "He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?" As we are going about trying to do the right thing, we also have to remember that God also delights in mercy and forgiveness. As much as God likes Christians to do the right thing and report injustice, wrong doing, to rebuke or correct, it all MUST be done with the right intentions of the heart. God is still the God that looks at the heart of man, found in 1 Samuel 16:7, "But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” God will always discern the hearts of the person to check for the motivation behind our actions. And motivation sometimes isn't a pretty thing! We can see this in the famous sermon of the mount where Jesus was talking about committing adultery in the heart (Matt 5:27-30), as well as killing a brother in the heart (Matt 5:21-26).

Let's look at a scenario in two different ways. One with the RIGHT intention and one with the wrong intention.

Ok, so the first scenario is you're in college, working very hard to pass your studies with good grades, you study hard, sometimes up all night, maybe even attend study groups, you find all of your resources, and you take your exam. While you're in class, hunkering down for the exam, you notice a fellow student who is clearly cheating. You don't like this particular student and know they don't do the same hard work that you do to pass their tests. They've been mean or disrespectful to you. So you report them to your teacher/professor/dean. You did it BECAUSE you didn't like them first of all and it angered you that they were skating along without doing the work that you and the rest of the class had to do and second to that was the fact that it bothered you that they were cheating. The wrong intention here is the hatred and revenge.

The second scenario is the same exact setup only the twist is even though you don't like this person, it's not your dislike that drives you to report them, or the fact that you have to study and the other students have to study to pass and that person took the cheater's way out. It's clearly the wrong thing to do. Cheating is wrong and you want to see proper justice be done in the right way. So you report that person BECAUSE it's wrong and NOT because you don't like them as was mentioned in the first scenario. So you see how the intentions of the heart can be wrong or right?

Let's take a quick look at how the Bible defines the heart as found in Vines Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, [W.E. Vine, Edited by F. F. Bruce, Fleming H. Revell Co. Old Tappan, N.J., 1981, pp. 206-207]: "The word came to stand for man's entire mental and moral activity, both the rational and the emotional elements..." As to its usage in the N.T. it denotes the following:
(a) the seat of physical life, Acts 14:17; Jas. 5:5;
(b) the seat of moral nature and spiritual life, the seat of grief, John 14:1; Rom. 9:2; 2 Cor 2:4; joy, John 16:22; Eph. 5:19; the desires, Matt. 5:28; 2 Pet 2:14; the affections, Luke 24:32; Acts 21:13; the perceptions, John 12:40; Eph. 4:18; the thoughts, Matt. 9:4; Heb. 4:12; the understanding, Matt. 13:15; Rom. 1:21; the reasoning powers, Mark 2:6; Luke 24:38; the imagination, Luke 1:51; conscience, Acts 2:37; 1 John 3:20; the intentions, Heb 4:12; cp. 1 Pet 4:1; purpose, Acts 11:23; 2 Cor 9:7; the will, Rom. 6:17; Col. 3:15; faith, Mark 11:23; Rom. 10:10; Heb. 3:12.

The heart, in its moral significance in the O.T., includes the emotions, the reason and the will. The mind isn't viewed as being inferior to the heart in Scripture. In one of the most famous verses on sanctification in the Bible, Paul exhorted the believers in Rome by telling them to "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind" in Romans 12:2. Similarly, he exhorted the Ephesians believers be telling them to "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind" Ephesians 4:23. Paul spoke to the Corinthian believers of having "the mind of Christ" 1 Corinthians 2:16. Luke said that the Lord "opened [the disciples'] understanding [literally mind in Greek], that they might comprehend the Scriptures," that is, the Old Testament Scriptures, concerning His resurrection in Luke 24:45. So, while the words "believe" and "faith" occur approximately 450 times in the Bible, only a few passages specify WHERE belief takes place. They speak of believing as though the reader of Scripture knows what that means and where it occurs. Romans 10:9-10 directly speaks of believing in your heart. "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. v10) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." That is set in direct contrast to "confessing with your mouth," because one is external while the other one is INTERNAL. The former is by faith alone. The latter includes works.

1 Samuel 16:7 speaks LOUD

What a comforting and encouraging Scripture is in 1 Samuel 16:7! How good it is to know that God doesn’t look at how we look, who we know, what we wear or what church we go to! The Lord looks at, and examines, our hearts. He searches it for intentions. He knows our motives. He knows our true intentions towards Him and people. Where there are ulterior motives or intentions, He will try to replace them with what is right and pure and true if we allow Him to do so! If we don't keep our hearts right, our good intentions will not produce good fruit. Good intentions will always produce the sweet fruit that is pleasing to our Lord. Bad intentions will produce the rotten center which is not pleasing to the Lord. It's so important to be aware of your intentions BEFORE you act and is something that I practice all the time! When I am feeling compelled to act in a swift manner, I  HAVE to slow myself down, ask myself what my personal intentions ARE and I really try to search my heart to make sure they are pure. If I'm having a hard time seeing my intentions for what they are, then I don't ACT upon the initial action UNTIL it's clear. Sometimes, us not seeing the intentions clearly, is God's way of giving us that little warning and time before we act so that we don't act with ill intentions! It's happened to me and I've learned some hard knock lessons in my past! That's why it's wise for me to not speak or act until I KNOW it's with good and right intentions! The heart deceives and Satan wants you to immediately ACT without giving time for the Lord to say GO.

Our intention and the effect of our actions don’t always necessarily line up. Any action of ours that is ultimately sponsored by our faltering ego, inevitably leads to suffering. For ourselves and others. This is why God mentions the heart so many times with warnings, lessons and guidance on our intentions of the heart! Remember Jeremiah 17:9-11, “v9) The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? v10) I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds. v11) As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid, So is he who makes a fortune, but unjustly; In the midst of his days it will forsake him, And in the end he will be a fool." We can't always trust it without examining it!

God is looking at that place inside you where your mind is constantly weighing various options, various factors and various situations. This just simply means that He's looking at more than just your behavior. He is looking at why you do what you do and THAT goes to the level of the heart.  After King David's sins of murder and adultery, he really needed a new heart. But he knew that he was not capable of providing it for himself. So he asked God to do it as he prayed these words, "Create in me a pure heart, O God." Psalm 51:10. The word "create" is hugely significant. It reveals to us the fact that David knew he was powerless to fix his heart. It was too messed up. And by that time, King David had his motives made once again pure, even though his recent actions had been anything but. If your motives are pure, you will be moving in a good direction. It will be in the direction of godliness and righteousness, as compared to continually chasing after things which are outside of God's will for your life.

As D.L. Moody used to say, "We have to be emptied before we can be filled." As we admit our bad motives and sinful decisions to the Lord, we then ask Him to remove them and their chilling effects from our heart and soul. That emptying is crucial in order to make room for God's living water to fill us up with all that is pure, good and beautiful.

So in closing, if you find your heart today filled with unholy desires, bad intentions and egotistical motives  rather than righteous ones, you can ask God to do something about it. Submit your ways and your heart to Him FULLY. Who else is capable of performing delicate and precise surgery on the soul? Who else, but the Holy Spirit, can give us a genuine love for Christ and an ongoing desire to do His will in all things? The bottom line is that our Creator knows us better than we know ourselves. And He sees those issues deep within us that no one else can even come close to seeing. Yet He still loves us even with all of our conflicted desires and imperfect follow-through and imperfect executed actions. But that's the power of our Loving God!

Let Jesus search your heart. Submit it fully unto Him and He will make it new.



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