Thoughts and Intents

“...discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Heb. 4:12

It seems there are many statements with this phrase. Guilt is a dissonance between left and right brain, when beliefs about facts don't agree with experiential belief and feelings. A lie is very close to the same thing. It is not just having wrong facts. We will never have all the correct knowledge this side of the third coming.

Thoughts – feelings – intents of the heart. This is time-based as well as mind-based. Thoughts are rooted in our past and how we have been conditioned to view reality. These perceptions of reality and relationships produce our feelings which have the potential of steering our thoughts. The natural result of feelings is to create the intents of what we will do next.

Thoughts are rooted in the past. Feelings are always in the present. Intents are future oriented.

Thoughts may be left-brain dominant. Feelings are right-brain dominant. Intents are the result of the mixing of the first two.

When we choose to live life based on true facts but with a disconnected heart we are living a lie. When we live “honestly” from the heart but don't yet have all the “truth” we are in the growing process. Conviction occurs when the Holy Spirit aligns something correctly between the right and left brain momentarily to show us the path to greater peace and godliness. How we choose to react sets the direction of our movement either toward more life or more death in our soul.

Since guilt is dissonance between the two sides of the brain, it will occur if either side is out of harmony with the other. If we have authentic truth about something in our left brain that has been confirmed by conviction of the Holy Spirit that it is in agreement with God, but our experience-beliefs do not seem to confirm it as truth, we will experience false guilt. But it feels the same as true guilt and feels true for us.

Guilt creates enormous amounts of resistance and stress. Stress in the physical world is when forces are applied in different directions on the same object causing incentive on the material to distort and tear apart at the molecular level. The same it true of our soul. When the mind and heart are not in agreement the result is stress.

Truth has far more to do with harmonization and synchronization than just knowledge of technically correct facts. A person can think they understand the “truth” about the Sabbath or the state of the dead but be living in great stress because they refuse to allow their heart and experiential memories to be healed. One cannot be in harmony with “Sabbath truth” as it is in Jesus if their emotional beliefs and experiences are not suffused with the peace and motivation of a healed heart. For them, keeping the Sabbath even on the right day is actually a curse in disguise.

On the other hand, a Sunday-keeper who is in tune with his true condition in the heart and is allowing Jesus to heal and repair and restore his heart is on the read to oneness with God. Typically Adventists believe if they can confront that person with the “facts” about the true Sabbath that they can force conviction onto them. Then they stand back and judge them with condemnation if they do not “accept the Sabbath truth” and accuse them of denying God with their hearts when in fact this is not true at all. Further, Adventists often will refuse to spiritually socialize with such “unbelievers” until they conform to “our understanding” of the correct day of “worship”.

There are many errors in this all too typical scenario. We think we are supposed to convict others (with reinforcement from God). We think left-brain factual knowledge is preeminent in the arena of “truth”. We engage in judging and condemning thereby not only incurring enormous guilt onto ourselves (Romans 1-3) but causing true-hearted believers in God to question the credibility of our factual truth because they observe that in our hearts we are actually living a lie before the world. We are spiritual prigs. We are proud of our exclusive access to “truth” and refuse to see that God is far more concerned with aligning our hearts with His heart than in us possessing all factual knowledge. If I have all knowledge but do not have love, I am nothing. 1 Cor. 13:2.

Conviction and guilt are not the same thing. Conviction does not have to produce guilt. Guilt is stress between what is believed by the right not harmonizing with what is believed by the left. True conviction is simply a revelation from God of what changes need to occur to bring peace between our left and right brain and align us with God's left and right “brain”. God actually shields many from being convicted of left-brain Sabbath truth for a time because He knows if they attempt to come into fellowship with Sabbath-keepers in their current condition these new believers will be corrupted by the heart-lies that we refuse to address in ourselves. As these new believers live in our atmosphere of hypocrisy God will lose the work He has already started in their hearts and their latter condition will be far worse that before they joined us.

The “Sabbath truth” for hardline Adventists has become identical to how the Jews felt about the temple in Jesus' day. To say anything that crosses or challenges our smugness of “having the truth” meets with violent reactions of defensiveness and deep suspicion. It stirs up deep feelings of bigotry and animosity while at the same time in full denial that we have any bigotry. Our religious pride is very close to what the Pharisees and priests exhibited against Jesus, but like them we cannot see the true condition of our own hearts in our zealous jealousy to “defend the truth”. (see Hebrews 4)

Retribution

If I am afraid of someone or some circumstance more than I trust God then I am in idolatry – which is more common than I would like to admit. If I confess – agree with the Holy Spirit about His conviction – and repent – allow Him to turn my heart away from fear to trust in Him – then I will be saved from a dysfunctional life that short-circuits the power flow into a peaceful, resting, confident, joy-filled witness of what God is really like.

Jesus took upon Himself my identity and accepted the results of the law of retribution. (see My Utmost for His Highest 6-22 for excellent insight on this) He offers me His identity to receive the results of His righteousness under the law.

If I accuse Him of identity theft I accuse Him of having the character of Satan. In so doing I take on the character of Satan myself and refuse Him permission to take away my retribution thereby bringing it back onto myself.

If I indulge in a spirit of fault-finding criticism I will indeed find faults. But to my horror, sooner or later I realize I have found them rooted in me.

I want to employ the universal law of retribution in the positive. That is the essence of humility. Humility looks at the goodness that God has created in others, often that they cannot see themselves. Positive retribution brings out the characteristics of God in me that I discover in others. Humility allows me to actively seek His hidden goodness in others, especially in those who are deeply camouflaged by lies and sinful externals. By beholding I become changed. This is a statement of the principle of retribution.

Contrast of Fires

The fiery furnace episode has important lessons. The furnace fire was instigated by the corrupt passion of a man who believed God would burn and torture people for disobeying Him. The three Hebrews rested in the truth about God and refused to bow to fear and force. The amazing part is that though the fire was man-made and emanated completely from earthly evil passion and anger. As the Hebrews rested in their trust in God, He transformed what promised to be fatal torture and abuse from men into the very passion and presence of God Himself. By staying in total submission to God and not yielding to fear or resistance to evil intentions but trusting their covenant Partner they became examples of how to pass from the intended fire of evil rage to the glorious fire of God's passion and presence.

Clay Lightfoot

Well, for having clay feet I have been traveling a lot lately. I traveled 760 mile yesterday just in time to sleep overnight and leave again today for another adventure. We are attending a training session to become facilitators for Ancient Paths ministries for the next day and a half and then join one of my nieces to celebrate her graduation from massage school. Last weekend we attended another niece's grad from high school and brought her home with us for much of the summer. We've had very little time with her for her whole life so this is a great opportunity to get to find out how very special she is. I've been doing a lot of remodeling lately and will continue, though for another person for the next month. Then I have to go back and finish the first job I started in VA. Meanwhile, in July we have friends coming to stay with us for 3 weeks to do ministry in our local church. They specialize in conflict resolution and peace-making not only in churches but in families and business settings as well. They travel around the country to whereever they are invited and do this full time. Quite an adventure. I have been learning a great deal by listening to teachings while I have been traveling. It has really opened my understanding to a lot of things that help fill in the emerging Big Picture.