Matters of the Heart

"A good man obtains favor from the LORD, 

      But a man of wicked intentions He will condemn. " 
Proverbs 12:2

People of God always quote this scripture when they feel like someone is being judged, "Man looks at the outer appearance but God looks at the heart..." This is so true but let's take it a little deeper today.  Let's scratch beneath the surface of this scripture to pull out something that will transform our lives beyond a cliché. In this scripture in Proverbs, it talks about the intentions of one's heart.

When was the last time you checked your intentions? Why do you wear what you wear? Why do you drive the way you drive? Why do you talk to certain people a certain way? Why do you go to the church that you go to? Are you doing these things for the right reasons? Some people in the church believe that if you look the part and act the part, that's all you have to do to get into heaven and mislead millions to believe that lie to. With God, it takes a lot more than a nice suit, speaking in tongues and healing a few sick people to make into heaven.

I remember when God was dealing with me about lust. He used the scripture in Matthew 5:27-28 to speak to me about how important it is to pay close attention to the things that start off in the heart. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery. ’But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. He showed me that there was a particular gentleman who I was attracted to that when he came around, I put on lip gloss, I contemplated what I was going to wear more intently. I specifically dressed a certain way just for him. Now, I was saved, very saved and in ministerial training but it was my season for God to magnify the hidden sins and faults in my life that would later cause Christ shame if I didn't deal with them before I reached the lime light. (That's why I needed to go through a process first, but yall don't hear me though...) Anyway, my pastor's wife called me on it, as she always would and told me, which I knew was from God, "Watch the way that you dress." I gave her all kinds of excuses but I knew, though what I was wearing wasn't provocative, that I had intentionally stood in front of my mirror grooming myself for him. Now, you may say it is okay to have a little "crush" but a crush is really lust when you are desiring what is not in God's will for your life and you direct more care and attention to him or her than you do to God. And the main issue was that it was inordinate affections because he already belonged to someone else!!!! Yes!!! Let's tell the truth and shame the devil!!!!

So ladies, (Here's a freebie. If you want to get married because you're tired of being a single mom and you want a man to take care of you, you're destined for trouble. You're already telling God that He is not strong enough, He is not capable of supplying all your needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus. You might as well go out and get you a golden calf right now and get it over with because you are making the "idea" of marriage that you have an idol. Then you're crying every night to God wondering why all your friends are getting married and your not. It's your intentions. If you are going to ride that husband like the colt Jesus rode on as they cried out Hosanna instead of honoring him for the man of God that he is and not a substitute child support check, then God will delay your wedding until you get it right IN YOUR HEART. Men, if you want to get married because you can't hold your passions back anymore, you may want God to deliver you from that struggle now because if you don't master it now, it'll ruin the marriage God wants to bless you with. That's why He's delaying you. I KNOW! I'm in the "Delayed but Not Denied" line too, waiting my turn and allowing Him to transform my heart.)

What are your intentions when you wear what you wear or say what you say? Are you talking about your bills in front of a certain individual so that they will feel sorry for you and give you some of their money that you know or think that they have????? Are you changing your voice when you call a certain establishment so that they will give you more access like they do for people of another color??? COME ON SOMEBODY!!! People of God, if we want to REALLY be able to say that we are walking in the kingdom of God, we have to be open and honest with God and OURSELVES and THEN we can be honest with OTHERS!!! THAT'S what transparency and being "naked and unashamed," really means. Yes, I'm wearing 6 inch heels but I'm wearing them because I like them and I want to feel a little taller, NOT because I'm trying to attract attention away from the Men's Night Celebration. Yes, I use big words when I talk because I like corny things like crossword puzzles and reading the dictionary since I was a kid. No, I'm not going to max out my credit card to take you out to lunch just to impress you to get me into your clique or your jaguar club when I know I'm driving a '88 Jetta!! I am who I am because I know who I am and I don't have to live or look or walk or talk a certain way for you to say I'm accepted. I'm accepted in the Beloved and that's all that should really matter to you or to me.

For example, why do church people try to make a person who grew up in the hip hop culture, change the way he walks and dresses because it doesn't look "godly?" Why do they look down on a young lady who is wearing a loose-fitted skirt to her knee because it's a cute skirt but they esteem a girl who's dress is to her ankles but she was a "Bathsheba" who just bathed because she just got of "David's" bed that Sunday morning?? It's not about the slang, it's not about the church lingo, it's not about the shoes, the car, or the white gloves, the nurse shoes and uniform that make you "somebody" in the kingdom, it's the intentions of your heart. As in the example of the Widow's mite in Mark 12:41-44, she didn't give $10 million with an evil heart to control the way the church was ran, but she gave all she had because she loved the Lord and trusted Him to provide for her even though she had no more money.

So, you hear a lot of talk about taking off the masks, "Let's keep it real," etc, etc. But what is the intentions in your heart? Who are you trying to please, God or man? Are you following God because of who He is or what He can do for you? Do you go to church because you want to be looked at as a good person or you want to show off your gift as a singer or musician? Are you trying to fit into the church like a "Member's Only" club because you couldn't make it out in the worldly society? Okay...Imma go there....Are you trying to push everybody else out of the way to be the best Bishop, Apostle, Singer, Prophet, Evangelist, Deacon, Teacher, or whatever in the church because you didn't get a degree in the world so you think you'll make a name for yourself in the church???? You didn't finish college because of certain personal strongholds that you've brought into the church. So now you want to look down on others in the church because your gift looks good in the little small church your in, but means nothing without effort, time and discipline out in the world???????? CHECK YOUR MOTIVES PEOPLE!!! These reasons for why we do all the things we do from looking down on others to not dressing up because you don't want folk to hate on you, is all wickedness that the Lord sees and will judge. We look at the homosexuals whose sin is on the outside but we don't judge the bitterness in our own hearts towards our brothers and sisters. We want to talk junk about the Roman Catholic church because their sin is all over the media but if the Protestant, Episcopal, Evangelical, Non-Denominational, Baptist, Anabaptist, Charismatic, Racist, Segregated, Divided, Selfish, and Lost Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints was put on blast like the priests, there would be shame exposed greater than that of the Jimmy Swaggart scandals that everybody wants to turn their nose up at. That would be like comparing a cherry bomb to Hiroshima! Judgment begins in the house of God and then it will go out into the ends of the Earth. The Lord is not coming just yet or else He may leave with nobody right now because the Church, including myself, is not ready. Let's get our hearts and our houses in order so that we can say, "Come, Lord, quickly come," without hypocrisy or fear.

With sincere love,

Divine Utterance