GOOD INTENTIONS

PROCLAMATION

“I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of The Lord my God, as The Lord told my father David, when He said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for My Name.’”  1 Kings 5:5 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

In response to a message that he received from envoys of Hiram king of Tyre, who was a friend of King David, King Solomon said, because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of The Lord his God.  But now The Lord my God has given me rest on every side from wars and I intend to build a temple for the Name of The Lord my God. (1 Kings 5:1-5)  King Solomon verbalized his good intentions and then immediately began taking actions to implement them.

APPLICATION

All too often we do not follow through with our thoughtful good intentions.  We get side-tracked and our good intentions never come to fruition.  We do not act upon them and the delay leads to a failure to accomplish them.  It is not good enough for us to think good thoughts if we never put them into actions and transform them from thoughts to reality.  And on the other side of the coin, there are the times when we say or do the right thing, but our intentions and motives are less than honorable.  The world sees our actions and behavior, but The Lord God also see our hearts and knows our thoughts. (Psalm 44:21 and 94:11)  In this case our thoughts reflect who we really are. (Proverbs 23:7)  We need to pray for God to help us to act on our good intentions, and to create within us a clean heart, mind, and spirit to eliminate sinful thoughts. (Psalm 51:10)  We don’t want to end up on that proverbial road to hell that is paved with good intentions.

WE ARE DEFILED BY WHAT WE SAY NOT BY WHAT WE EAT

Proclamation:

“Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them.  Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”  Mark 7:15 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Mark.  This is the gospel as he received it from the apostle Peter.  He begins this chapter by relaying the discussion which Jesus, The Christ, had with the scribes and Pharisees regarding His disciples eating food with unwashed hands. (Mark 7:1-23)  Jesus made the point to them that it was not that which entered the mouth which defiled a person but rather it was that which comes out of the mouth that defiles them.  For the evil which is within a person’s heart becomes his thoughts, words, and behavior and that defiles him. (Matthew 15:11 and Mark 7:20-23)

Application:

People have claimed that eating certain foods and breaking certain traditions is sinful.  Unfortunately, man has created a number of traditions, even religious traditions, which have nothing to do with The Word of God.  Some people get so caught up in the little things, focusing on the details, until they miss the big picture, the overall purpose.  Not eating pork, meat, or dairy products does not make one a better person.  One can even eat too much of the “right” foods and make one’s self sick.  While most of our diets need improvement, we have a bigger problem with the words that we speak, and the manner in which we speak them.  Out of the mouth come the issues of the heart. (Proverbs 4:23, Matthew 15:18, and Luke 6:45)  Our evil and sinful thoughts lead to spoken words which are hurtful, not helpful, deceptive, untruthful, and not very nice. (Colossians 3:8)  Our words can defile us and we will have to give an account for them one day. (Matthew 12:36)  We need to pray that The Lord God will create within us a clean heart and mind, and that He will guide our thoughts, words, and behavior.

FOR AS WE THINK SO ARE WE

Proclamation:

“Do not eat the food of a begrudging host, do not crave his delicacies; for he is the kind of person who is always thinking about the cost.  ‘Eat and drink,’ he says to you, but his heart is not with you.  You will vomit up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your compliments.”  Proverbs 23:6-8 (NIV)  The King James version says, “… For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he ...”

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King Solomon.  Here Solomon records the sayings of the wise men of his day.  He warns the people not to dine with stingy people who invite them to dinner.  The host, who begrudges their guest a meal, will calculate how much they eat.  They may have invited you but you are an unwelcome guest.  If you accept the invitation, you will regret it and wish that you never had because the thought of being unwelcome is so disagreeable.  Your after dinner “thank you” will be just empty hollow words.  The problem is that the host is not who or what he says but he is what he is thinking.

Application:

That which we think is who we are inwardly and that is who we really are.  We are not who we think are or wish that we were, but as we think, that is who we really are.  We are not the person that we say we are; we are the person that is reflected by our thoughts.  We will be judged for our thoughts in addition to our spoken words and actions.  If we lust after someone in our thoughts, we have sinned and already committed adultery with them. (Matthew 5:28)  The Lord God sees our heart and knows our thoughts and our intentions.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PUT BEFORE YOUR EYES

Proclamation:

"The eye is the lamp of the body.  If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness."  Matthew 6:22-23 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were spoken by Jesus, The Christ, as He spoke to His disciples and to the surrounding crowd during His Sermon on The Mount, as recorded under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the Apostle Matthew.  Jesus said that the eyes are the lamp and light to the body.  If a person’s eyes are good and they look at that which is good, then the whole body is filled with light.  However, if the eyes are bad or if they look at that which is bad, then the whole body is full of darkness.

Application:

Physically, our eyes allow light to enter the body, if they are functioning properly and if there is light around.  If they do not function properly or if there is no light available, then we live in darkness.  Spiritually, that which we look at and see enters our mind through our eyes.  If what we look at and see is good, then good thoughts are produced.  However, if what we look at and see is bad, evil, or sinful, then our thoughts are bad, evil, or sinful.  Philosophically, our eyes are the windows to our soul.  We are what we think.  “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…” (Proverbs 23:7 KJV)  We may not be all that we think that we are, but what we think, we are.  Some of us think that we are the best thing to happen to the world since sliced bread, and we are not.  But if all we think about is superficial, worldly, sinful things, then that is what we are.  If we spend our time looking at sinful things, then we will think sinful thoughts.  Thinking sinful thoughts is committing a sin. (Matthew 5:27-28)  So, be very careful regarding what you put before your eyes.  Look at good things, read The Good Book, The Bible, think good thoughts, and do good things.