Introduction

God allows our thoughts and intentions to be revealed on our faces. When we encounter various matters today, we should not blame God, but rather examine the thoughts and intentions within us.

Scripture

And his father and mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:33-35)

This passage speaks of Mary taking Jesus to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving after His birth.

And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” And his father and mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:22-35)

Prayer

Lord Jesus, pierce through the intentions within us, allowing our intentions to be constantly revealed. Lord, today, use the Holy Spirit to illuminate us, so that there is no darkness in our hearts. Help us today to completely cleanse our intentions, to manifest Your glory in this world, to manifest Your power, and to be vessels useful to You. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

The Intentions Within Cannot Be Hidden

Believing in the Lord, the most important thing is the intentions in one's heart. The intentions of the heart are key, but many Christians do not pay attention to it. When attending a service on the Lord's Day, as soon as the pastor begins to preach, they fall asleep, and when the Amen is said at the end, they immediately wake up. The intentions within cannot be hidden; everything is determined by our intentions. This is a manifestation of the intentions of the heart. The effects of life flow from the heart; this is a spiritual principle. The results that a person lives out are entirely determined by the intentions of the heart. This is a fatal spiritual principle, but many people do not pay attention to it.

Begin to deal with the intentions of the heart. The more you deal with them, the more acne appears on your face, and your skin becomes allergic. This is the work of God. It is not that Jesus came to reveal people's intentions. From Genesis to the end, it is all about revealing people's intentions. You cannot hide them; they will come out as soon as you try.

People cannot fake it. There is an ancient story called Filling the Ranks. When everyone plays together, you cannot tell who plays well and who plays poorly. But one by one, you cannot keep up the pretense. You cannot play fake in life. How you see God is how God allows you to see Him. What a person fears will surely come upon that person. These are all God's arrangements, to reveal the intentions within you. What you love and what you fear will be revealed.

The Intentions of the Heart Are Key

I once ministered to a person for eight years. I served her wholeheartedly at all times, delivering her from her mental state, as well as her mother's high blood pressure, her grandmother's cerebral hemorrhage, and so on. After she came out of her mental illness, I wanted to help this sister grow. Our God hopes that we can grow. People who do not grow will not have joy. Then this sister said, I cannot serve like you. I want to work. I cannot serve like you; my body is not well... I am helping you grow. In the end, she said such a thing? Such intentions will lead to a very miserable life. I am not trying to harm you, but to help you, to walk according to God's intentions! Can we understand what kind of God our God is? God controls the universe! How people see God is how God allows them to see Him. If you consider your work more important than God, then you have the intentions of the person with one talent; you cannot know God. The one talent will be taken away; this is determined by the intentions within you.

I once ministered to a sister with severe depression. After she recovered, she said, I cannot stay here. I must find a church. I cannot stand you all bothering me so much. How could she stand it when she was bothering us? She cannot afford this little price? After a while, she came back to ask us to pray for her, saying, Ah, I am very uncomfortable. I said, Why don't you ask the pastor of your church to pray for you? Their church only has healing and deliverance prayers once a month. We must begin to know God. If you know God through the one talent in the Bible, God will also take away your one talent and give it to those who have more. If you are a person with five talents, God will continue to add to you. So how we see God is never wrong.

The Effects of Life Flow from the Heart

We have a sister among us who is very interesting. She donates dozens of dollars each month. Actually, I do not care about those dozens of dollars. What I care about is whether you are blessed. Everything I do is to bring everyone into blessing. Whether it is donating or serving, I hope that our intentions are God's intentions. If you do not do this, it does not matter. God will allow your intentions to be revealed.

We have wrong concepts within us. Start carefully examining your thoughts and intentions. How to examine them? Actually, the way we live today is a natural outpouring of the thoughts and intentions within us. This is all God's doing. Start adjusting. Do not get it wrong. The things you encounter are all your own intentions. The effects of life flow from the heart. Loving money, loving the world, indulging the flesh, what you value will surely be revealed. A behavior-based, religious flavor will be fully revealed. If the person you are serving has many problems and is very poor, it must be a problem with the thoughts and intentions within them. If you are serving a cancer patient, you must know that there are many things that need to be adjusted in their thoughts and intentions. As a patient, if you want to be healed, deal with the intentions within you. Carnal intentions will surely be revealed in the form of disease.

I know a person who eats organic food all day long. He absolutely refuses to eat food with gutter oil outside. He eats very exquisite food at home every day. As a result, one day he got cancer and was confused: I don't smoke, I don't drink, and I eat very healthy. How did I get cancer? I told him that living is about blessing and cursing. People have a logical system of indulging the flesh, which is the most likely to attract curses.

I also have a neighbor who has indulged the flesh since childhood. He cannot sleep with any noise. Decades later, a firecracker outside the door startled him. He went to a mental hospital and stayed for a few months. This is the result of indulging the flesh. A sister brought her child to us, who was very naughty. I gave this sister a wooden stick and told her to hang it on the wall, and not to indulge the flesh anymore. As a result, she quickly saw the results.

Dealing with Thoughts Within Us is Most Crucial in Life

Recently, we have been removing religious airs. A child is not well-behaved because the mother has bad intentions within her. This mother is very religious, indulging in the flesh, lazy, and fearful. When you peel away these things, you will see the intentions in people's hearts. If you want to understand a person, you need to have close contact with them, and you will definitely see what is inside them. Some people look exquisite on the outside, but when you see their room, it is very dirty. That is the intention within them – laziness! What is in the heart cannot be hidden.

People who are fearful are particularly strange. They are afraid of some things that they should not be afraid of, but they are still fearful. People fear their boss, fear losing their job. Are they not afraid of death, yet they are afraid of these things?

Why do people fall? Because people have hardened hearts. Such people read the Bible, only choosing what they like to read, and they cannot see what they do not like. God will reveal the intentions in our hearts, and when people fall, it is a revelation. People must read the Bible carefully, seeing the essence through the phenomenon. Anything where the phenomenon does not conform to the essence is definitely a problem. Through the phenomenon, you know an essence: I am not aligned correctly.

In Christian circles, people do not resemble Jesus but still pretend and do not pursue the truth. In any era, God is choosing people, choosing vessels that He can use. Read God's words with God's intention, rather than using the words of the Bible to support what we think in our hearts.

Cleanse the Inside of Us

Read Matthew 23, which speaks of the scribes and Pharisees. Brothers and sisters, today you do not need to worry about those who worship idols, but you should worry about the scribes and Pharisees. This chapter is all about not doing things superficially. The biggest ghosts live in the church.

This morning, someone called me, a businessman who is a Buddhist. His business had problems and asked me what to do. I told him. Actually, there is nothing great about it. The most terrible people are those who are full of religious airs, a type of viper. If you are a pastor in a church, it is a high-risk profession. You must pay attention to everything that God reveals. Vipers particularly like to live inside such people.

A sister's mother is in a traditional church, where all the middle-aged and elderly women do nothing but gossip. This sister told me that people are often diagnosed with cancer. This sister hopes that her mother will come among us, worrying that her mother will get cancer someday too.

If people are not aligned correctly, can they not know it? If the inside is very dirty, it will definitely be revealed. If people have the leaven of the Pharisees, it must be removed. Playing fake is never a solution to the problem. Some people cannot get into university, so they study theology and establish a church for their own livelihood. A young man came to me and said that he wants to be a pastor in the future to earn a lot of money. Are these thoughts not deadly?

Know that God is everything. If we believe, we will obey and practice. The intentions inside us cannot be hidden from God. Today, what we see is what we get. If you disobey God's word, you will definitely see the outward appearance. Today, we must tremble for God's word and be rigorous about God's word. Today, we should not be pigs standing in the wind, but pursue glory, honor, incorruptibility.

Today, my words are not to accuse you, but to teach you to believe in God's word, believe as much as you can, and act accordingly. The intention within you is the effect of your whole life. You must live according to God's word.

May God bless everyone!