I asked the Lord what was on His heart for me to write this morning and I simply heard this…

“…stay true to Me…”

This was after I read a passage in 1 Kings 11 where King Solomon turned his heart from God.?

He was influenced by the wrong people, he allowed the wrong people to be close and intimate with him…and then he was pulled, he was enticed, and he gave in…

He made his choices.

His heart ultimately turned from God—and then his life began to wither and crumble and decay. ?

“…He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. ⁴ For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. ⁵ For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done.”—1 Kings 11:3-6

By not taking heed to the warnings from the Lord, he allowed the wrong influences into his life—there were weaknesses in him, and this ultimately lured him away from being faithful and true to God.

Ugh! This broke my heart! A man who once had such great wisdom was ultimately taken down by not taking heed to the words of warning of the Lord. ?

“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” — Revelation 2:4-5

I really did not want to write about this… but perhaps it’s an urgent and important reminder for this time we’re living in.

I know it’s something I so desperately need to have engrained in my heart.

Kind of like if God did tattoos…. this would be one to have “tattooed” in our hearts.

A reminder there for us to look at and remember and see again and again…

I’m so thankful that we have the Holy Spirit to reveal and show us things that could be dangerous to us— that we can take heed and do what we need to do to be right in our hearts between us and the Lord.

He’s so faithful to show us the things that could cause us to stumble and crumble…

And guess what? God knows us so well, that He knows what we can handle and what we cannot.

He knows that we have certain weak areas, He knows exactly what they are, and He watches over us to alert us and to warn us and remind us.

But there are only so many times He will warn us, because there is only so much time in our lives. ⏳

He longs for us to take heed and to hear His heart and to remain in a place of sensitivity to His voice, and a closeness with Him, that nothing will be able to sneak in under the radar and cause destruction, that nothing will be able to come in and create a distance in our hearts toward Him.

This is one of the ways He protects us. ?

But we must take heed.

We must stay in tune with His heart. We must keep our hearts open toward Him.

This is where He shows us very important things we desperately need to be aware of.

And here is what I heard the Lord say to me, that is also right here in His Word…

“… stay true to the Lord.” —Philippians 4:1a (NLT)

Thank You for this critical reminder, Lord. May we be sensitive toward Your Spirit, and remain close and in tune with Your heart. Thank You for making a way for us, Lord Jesus.

“Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.” —Deuteronomy 12:28

-Heather ?