Heart Check

Jeremiah 17:9-10The Message (MSG)

9-10 

“The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful,

    a puzzle that no one can figure out.

But I, God, search the heart

    and examine the mind.

I get to the heart of the human.

    I get to the root of things.

I treat them as they really are,

    not as they pretend to be.”

1 Corinthians 10:13The Message (MSG)

13 No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.

Jeremiah 29:11Good News Translation (GNT)

11 I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for.[b]

This week I have been reading the story of Solomon in 1 Kings (I use the First Five app to drive my devotions).  He had everything and the Lord had truly blessed him.  However, his eyes got bigger than his heart.  “Greed” and “Lust” are two words that really come to mind when thinking of how his heart turned from the Lord.  He did not guard his HEART.  He did not position his heart with the Lord.  What happened?  His kingdom was torn apart.  

OUR HEART - we can’t live without it beating.  If it stops, we stop.  Scary to think about how one simple organ drives our whole existence.  The word “HEART” is mentioned 963 times in the KJV (found on https://bible.org/article/guarding-heart).  He is not speaking of the organ, but our spiritual heart.  We truly have to watch our hearts.  In fruitful seasons, we can easily stray away and not give Him the glory of that season.  Very quickly our eyes guide our hearts to move into other directions than He intends, such as exhibit A - King Solomon.  When in dry, hard seasons, we can easily be distracted and focus more on changing the circumstance rather than what God is trying to teach us in that circumstance.  It really all is a cycle.  During fruitful seasons, keep your eyes on Him and be GRATEFUL; keeping you hearts aligned with Him and giving Him the glory.  During dry seasons, dig in and really reflect/meditate/pray, on what He wants you to learn in this season; praying for that rather than the outcome creates a heart that is able to withstand any outcome.  We all know that we don’t always get what we want.  

I would like to leave you with a quote from the book Never Go Back: 10 things you’ll never do again, “We find that two things are true:  First, the good life sometimes has little to do with outside circumstances.  We are happy and fulfilled mostly by who we are on the inside.  Research validates that.  Second, our internal lives largely contribute to producing many of our external circumstances.  Our talents and abilities, when invested in God, actually build much of the external life.” (Cloud, 2014)

Be Blessed!