I Discern the Heart, Not the Works

I Discern the Heart, Not the Works

Victoria Ann

This morning I had a vision (dream) of a little girl… perhaps about 5 or 6 years old: Innocent. She reminded me very much of my oldest daughter when she was that age, in that she was so pure and innocent, and she had blond curly hair.  This poor precious child though, was not at all like my child had been.  I never heard her speak and I never actually saw her “do” anything, but I was infused with the understanding that this precious little girl was one way on the “outside” but she was USED for unspeakable things that I cannot comprehend.  This was not her will.  Her own will had been completely removed from her and she was a counterfeit of the real.  As I looked at her and understood the things that she was doing, I knew it was not “her” doing them.  That which had become her “master” and controlled her was doing these things.  In my heart, I still perceived her as the beautiful, pure and innocent little girl; Her “real self” was so separated from that which the outward self was forced to do… it was like she was simply a “cover” over the hand of the one who worked the deeds.  I cannot describe the things the “Thing” that used her made her do, but I know I was stunned and astounded and filled with anger and compassion at the same time.  There was such a division between her real nature and what she was used for!  I argued to my reasoning, “This cannot be…”  

Then I heard the voice of my Holy Father speaking through His Spirit…

“This child is no more culpable for what she is used for, than the horse with a bit and whip applied to his back.
It is not the will of the horse that he be ridden in a brutal insane frenzy,
and it is not the will of the child.
The greater evil is against the child,
 due to her position as being created in the image of her heavenly Father.
All who violate the innocence of children, do so for the purpose of desecrating the image and likeness of their Creator! 
This is why the enemy preys on the innocence of children!

 That is also why the Lord God looks to the heart to see what is in the heart of the child and the man. 
If it is NOT according to the heart of the child to do evil, but rather it is imposed and informed upon them, then it is the ones who impose their will upon the child to do their acts of evil, that are culpable for the acts of the child. 
And the man, who on the outside does works that look good to the eyes of man, if his heart is unclean and filled with dark intent and motives, their works are defiled as well.

—The LORD tries the reins of the heart!
What is driving the actions? 
What is holding the reins of the actions of the man or child?

Again, I see the motives and intentions of the heart! 
Is the motive mercy and kindness, or is it self gratification and gain?
Is it against the will that they act, or is it according to their will? 
I Am a perfect and just judge.

That is why you are to pray for those who persecute you! 
You do not know their motives!
You do not see their heart!
The motive of the actions of Paul (Saul) were to serve and to please Me with his zeal for Me! 
The actions of Judas were to benefit himself and his greed for recognition and profit. 
IN their end, their true natures were made known.
The works of Judas shall not last. 
The works of Paul are forever.
The one is a betrayer of the Son of God, and the other went out into the world, teaching and preaching the truths of My Kingdom. 
This he did free of charge, delighting in not accepting what was his to receive; —That he should receive his living from his labor in My field.
But that he gave as an offering to Me.
 Knowing full well, the priest is supported by the people he serves, Paul looked to Me and delighted in receiving his living, not from the ones he served, but from humbling himself and becoming a tent-maker, and looking to Me.
This he did not do with pride, but with humility and joy as he would not lay any burden upon the tender lambs of My flock.

Do not judge according to what you see. 
Do not judge according to what you hear. 
Do not judge according to the flesh, but lift up your enemies to Me and I will be glorified as I set the prisoners free and trip up the “free” to show their true nature!
Things are not as they appear in this material world.
This is a realm of many, many slaves and prisoners, and few there are who are indeed free!
Pray for the freedom of all! 
Those who are not Mine are to be separated from those who belong to Me.
I will have all My children!
Behold, many look like the enemy but they are not! 
Many look like My children, but they are not!
I behold the hearts, and I know My Children and they know Me!“

I see this as a natural struggle, as there appears to be ever more exploitation and corrupting of our children by the world. This is such a comforting Word that assures us that the Lord discerns our hearts! He knows our inner struggles. He knows if our love is for Him or not, no matter what our outer life shows. There are many who are trapped into lives they did not choose for themselves.

Some time ago, my dear friend shared with me the story of a woman she had met. She was described as “beautiful, with a radiant light that shined through her eyes: She was a lover of her Lord God and follower of Jesus Christ.” Her life story though, was astonishing: She had grown up in a brothel. From an early age, she was forced to surrender her body to defilement while her soul longed for freedom! I do not remember how old she was when she learned of her Savior, except that she was still young. Year after year, decade after decade she endured, and held onto her love and trust in her Lord. Finally, when she was 50 years old, and no longer as profitable to her owners, she was turned out onto the streets. She was finally free! My friend met this beautiful, gracious woman years later and was equally astonished that she appeared to bear no bitterness or outward indications of her former life, except a profound joy and appreciation of her freedom. She was now free to live according to her hearts desire for her Lord, who preserved her through the difficulty of her life.

Why do some people have to suffer like this when they love the Lord? Because the world hates innocence and goodness, and the beauty of the Lord is insufferable to them. But would she be as incredibly powerful in her witness in her testimony of His faithfulness in and through all things if she had not endured what she did? Would the beauty of her grace be as striking and her internal light be as bright in any other way? Would her treasure and reward in heaven be as great by any other path?

I would have to suppose that she came to know the Lord Jesus in a way that very few ever would! And, I would have to believe that she developed a faith far beyond what any, who had not walked a similar path of suffering could know. Understanding that Faith is the currency that pleases our Lord and Father, and she is rich in it… I am reminded that Jesus said the Lord had made the poor to be rich in faith! And without Faith it is impossible to please God! Oh my goodness!! What an incredible testimony!

The other application of this vision from the Lord is in the spiritual. Our own personal struggles with sin in our members as the Apostle Paul put it! We do not necessarily need to be enslaved as this woman was physically, we are all born slaves to sin! Reading from my Passion Translation, Romans 7:14-25 illustrates this perfectly! —” For we know that the law is divinely inspired and comes from the spiritual realm, but I am a human being made of flesh and trafficked as a slave under sin’s authority. 15 I’m a mystery to myself; for I want to do what is right but end up doing what my moral instincts condemn. 16 And if my behavior is not in line with my desire, my conscience still confirms the excellence of the law. 17 And now I realize that it is no longer my true self doing it, but the unwelcome intruder of sin in my humanity. 18 For I know that nothing good lives within the flesh of my fallen humanity. The longings to do what is right are within me, but willpower is not enough to accomplish it. 19. My lofty desires to do what is good are dashed when I do the things I want to avoid. 20. So if my behavior contradicts my desire to do good, I must conclude that it’s not my true identity doing, but the unwelcome intruder of sin hindering me from being who I really am. 21 Through my experience of this principle, I discover that even when I want to do good, evil is ready to sabotage me. 22 Truly, deep within my true identity, I love to do what pleases God. 23 But I discern another power operating in my humanity, waging a war against the moral principles of my conscience and bringing me into captivity as a prisoner to the “law” of sin–this unwelcome intruder in my humanity. 24 What an agonizing situation I am in! So who has the power to rescue this miserable man from the unwelcome intruder of sin and death? 25 I give all my thanks to God, for his mighty power has finally provided a way out through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed one! so if left to myself, the flesh is aligned with the law of sin, but now my renewed mind is tied on and submitted to God’s righteous principles.”

I LOVE what follows!! Romans 8:1, 2 ” So now the case is closed! There remains no accusing voice of condemnation against those who are joined in life-union with Jesus, the Anointed One. 2 For the “law” of the Spirit of life flowing through the anointing of Jesus has liberated us from the “law” of sin and death.”

Glory to the Lord! HE sees your heart! He discerns what is in our heart! He knows our struggles against our flesh… and the battle to do what our love for Him yearns to do! He has eyes to see what we are struggling against and He love us! He loves us in and through all our struggles. His grace flows abundantly when our flesh is the weakest! Didn’t Paul say that the Lord said when we are weak, then He is strong! His Grace is enough for us! This is extraordinary grace!

This Grace of the Lord is the beauty and innocence I saw in the child in the vision. I did not see the things she had done in the body… only her innocence with a knowledge of the deeds against her will. And this is also the beauty of the woman who had lived the life she was forced to live, yet never forsaking in her heart, her love and trust in her Lord. The resulting grace and beauty of this trust was evident in her face and countenance when she was finally freed. His Grace covers us!

We are covered by Grace! When He looks upon His beloved children, He sees through His covering of Grace! He sees beauty and love and innocence. He sees His precious children!

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples; And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free… If therefore the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed.”

John 8: 31,32, 36
Recovery Version


Amen!!!!!

83 thoughts on “I Discern the Heart, Not the Works”

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  37. First of all I would like to say excellent blog! I had a quick question in which I’d like to ask if you do not mind. I was curious to know how you center yourself and clear your thoughts before writing. I’ve had difficulty clearing my mind in getting my thoughts out. I truly do take pleasure in writing but it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are generally wasted just trying to figure out how to begin. Any suggestions or hints? Cheers!|

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    1. Good morning Cassey,

      Thank you for your comment about my blog and your thoughtful question. As for the blog… It, like the book He gave me ( Little Weed) is all the Lord. I do not do the writing, though it comes through my hands… it is the outpouring of Holy Spirit, and no “work” on my part…I am more like a ready scribe to write what He is speaking to my spirit. But truthfully, it is the manifestation of His promise to ALL.. that if we seek Him with all our heart and mind and soul… Basically submitting ourselves fully to seeking Him… HE WILL make Himself found by us! He desires a relationship with His children but He always calls His own AWAY from the noise and structures of the world. Jesus retreated to a lonely place by Himself outside the village… We must get alone with Him and Him alone… We must wait for Him, seek Him and desire Him. THEN and only then does the Lord make Himself found, heard and known to us and this is just beginning of our walk with Him. It is by sitting before Him…seeking Him for my “food” that Holy Spirit speaks to my spirit and answers questions I have not yet thought to ask or have pondered… or that I need to know and understand.

      The the first part of my day is His, and it has been my habit for almost 3 decades to get up and record the dreams I had during the night and / or read my bible. I have been blessed with dreams and visions since childhood… when I began to get up and record them first thing in the mornings and wondering what they meant… that was the start. After being baptized and Holy Spirit filled, I began seeing and understanding things differently… I could not ‘hear’ Holy Spirit speak to me and it took years before I was able to begin to “hear’ Him. The first thing I needed to do was to be delivered of the constant voices of the world (enemy / adversary) constantly talking in my mind, condemning me no matter what I did. I never thought there could be a time I would not be plagued by those non-stop noise in my thoughts… but one day I realized that my mind was clear; they were indeed gone and I had peace. Now I could hear the non-voice of Holy Father as He spoke so gently through His Holy Spirit to my own…It is very different than the harsh interfering voice of the enemy in your mind that you just could not shut off… this “voice” is a “knowing… you do not know how you “know,” but all at once, this “knowing” is dropped into you and He waits for you to being to write what He has rained upon you. It was like learning a new language or to walk… Starting with the most simple and unexpected “unction” to write something I did not intend or think of myself.

      It started with being led back to a night vision I had no understanding of and almost ALL of them were like that.. but I recorded them anyway. I felt “led” to go back to one that intrigued me and just “asked” in my mind what the meaning of something was and found that I started writing (typing) out an answer… it flowed, but I did not know the words until I wrote them and many times I had to quit and walk away. I could not comprehend the love that was flowing out in words… I struggled to believe that the Lord could actually be talking, speaking to ME! I struggled to believe I was not just making it all up… exulting myself… but the words magnified the Lord in ways I never could have written myself. As I cried and wept like a baby as He showered me with His love and healing deep in my soul… Holy Spirit patiently waited for me to go back to my desk and continue where we left off… He so kindly waited, and with infinite grace would continue to speak to my spirit when I was able to continue…

      Again… it was only as HE desired to speak. Many, many times I would ask questions, (sometimes demand answers) and I would hear nothing… no inspiration… only quiet. It would drive me to my bible and to my closet in prayer on my face before Him. He would many times comfort me with His peace… but If I was not yet ready to receive the answers to the questions I asked, He would not answer them but He would make me press deeper into Him and reaffirm many things He had already spoken to me and shown me their manifestation… showing me I could trust what I am hearing, and it is Him speaking.

      How do I quiet my mind and center myself to write?
      Since I write of nothing but Him… He is my focus. I journal every morning… I sit at my laptop and journal my thoughts and feelings or concerns about the world and what is going on… my family… I write out many of my prayers and many times that is all that I have on the page when I get up to leave. Other times as I touch on a subject I will find that I am writing something else… I know Holy Spirit is speaking and I let His Spirit flow to see where it leads. When He is finished, He is finished. I cannot make demands on Him. He will speak when He will speak and He will “lead” me to answers in other things He has already spoken that I was not ready to understand before… Now as I am “led” back to something He spoke to me years or months before, and I could not understand because it did not seem to answer a question I had… I realize it was manna laid up for the moment I would need it! Proving again and again that He knows the end from the beginning and He is leading us on His paths… All that we need is already there, waiting for us to get there in our walk with Him, for He has already examined all our ways and all our paths and without us even realizing it… we who belong to Him ARE being led on His paths!

      My advise is to not consider time sitting before the Lord unfruitful! Yes… there are many times when it is 10 to 15 minutes where you are actually in the process of entering into the quiet in order to hear Him… I think of an ink pen that has not been used for a while and you pick it up and begin to scribble on a piece of paper to get the ink flowing again… That is how it is! That time is not wasted. If I am trying to finish something… to make sense of something in my writing and I do not know how to start, I just begin writing what I hope to say in some manner… Sometimes I begin writing in the middle and I will then “see” the way it was supposed to begin and I will start to write the beginning and it will feed into what I have already written… but like a ribbon, it will straighten and smooth itself out when I get to that point again.

      I hope that this is helpful to you, and that I answered your question.
      I wish you the best with your writing and I would like to know what it is you write 🙂
      I wish you a blessed 2022!
      Victoria B.

      Reply

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    1. Thank you so much Caterina! And shout out to Porter TX!
      Blessings to all you in Porter Tx!
      Victoria B.

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    1. Thank you Celinda! I appreciate your feedback to this post. Yes, this particular post seems to hit upon a subject in a way that many of us have not understood before. –What does it really mean and look like to not judge according to appearances, but according to the heart of a man? Only the Lord God can truthfully and rightly judge any man, for He alone tests the heart and knows what is in a man!
      Blessings to you!
      Victoria

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    1. Thank you Allan for your feedback! One of the reasons I started this website is because I did not know of any other blogs that shared this kind of content… Free, without charge or any kind of “hook”… to simply share freely what the Lord shared freely with me. I would recommend looking up the authors you like to read… or the pastors and teachers you like to listen to and see where that leads you.
      I hope this helped.
      blessings,
      Victoria

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    1. Thank you for your comment Earnest.
      Yes, this is WordPress. I had someone with coding background do this website for me so I am sorry I cannot answer your question.
      Blessings, Victoria

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    1. Thank you Josiah!
      I really appreciate your comment and I hope you will come back again and again.
      Blessings! Victoria

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