Since 2004, outside of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, there’s one individual who has captured my heart, lock, stock, and barrel. This individual is the one that God gave me the green light to marry on September 25, 2004. She has brought so much joy to my life, she has brought a sense of maturation to my life, she has brought deepness to my life, she has brought completeness to my life, and other things. This individual who has my heart is in the person of my beautiful wife, Mrs. Pamela Yvette Lindsay. In order for her to have obtain possession of my heart, it took some time to get to know one another, grow on one another, love one another, trust one another, understand one another and other things. Through life’s rain, storms, and other crucial situations we have faced, it has kept us together, made our bond that much stronger, and allowed us to have a firmer grip on one another’s heart. In the realm of the Spirit, you ought to feel that way about your God possessing your heart. He ought to be the number one holder of your heart! He ought to be the one you eat, sleep, and think about daily! Your actions should portray that of one that loves God and will not “cheat” on Him. If truth were told, can we own up to the fact that we are loving our Father just right and that He possesses the keys to our heart? Well, today’s main scripture helps us see an example of someone whose heart drifted away from God because of life’s circumstances.
1 Kings serves as today’s backdrop for our message. Within this eleventh chapter, we find a great man of God, the wisest king and man of all-time in God’s eyesight, by the name of Solomon. In the previous chapter, Chapter 10, the author discussed Solomon’s wealth and how the people of that day reverenced the wisdom of God that was inside of Solomon. Ladies and gentlemen, there will come seasons in your life where there’s a talent or a gift you have that people will desire and reverence because of the God inside of you. As Solomon was celebrated by those who came near and far to receive his wisdom, he also had an issue of the heart. The issue came about from his love and devotion to his many of wives. Then, to make matters worse, his wives were foreigners (Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, etc.), and God had told him not to intermarry with foreigners. With this being said, it brings us to our main scripture.
The text begins with this statement, “As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods”. In looking at this text, we find that due to Solomon’s age and his “foreign” wives, his heart was turned to other gods. No matter how old or young you are, do not allow “foreigners” to turn your heart away from God. Do not allow the foreigner of the love of money turn your heart away from God! Do not allow the foreigner of wealth and fame turn your heart away from God! Do not allow the foreigner of past hurts turn your heart away from God! Moses tells us in the 10 Commandments that “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”. Be aware of the foreigners and little “g” gods and whatever foreigner tries to invade your “country” (YOU), do not allow them residence in you and keep them away from your heart!
Because of Solomon’s wives turning his heart to other gods, then this statement held water: “and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been”. One thing you often hear and was true in God’s eyesight was that David was a man after God’s own heart. Oftentimes, because of David’s devotion, God rewarded him handsomely and promised that the Temple would be built by his son and as long as his children followed God, God would take care of them. However, because of the foreigners in Solomon’s life, he could not fully devote his heart to God. If you take a moment to read the remainder of Chapter 11, you find that God became angry with Solomon and because of the relationship David had with God, the kingdom would be split during Solomon’s son reign as King of Israel. During his son’s reign, the son would only retain Judah, the two southern tribes of the 12 tribes of Israel. My encouragement to you on today is that you do not allow anyone or anything to snatch your heart away from Almighty God. We ought to do the best we can with the greatest commandment when it says, “You ought to love your God, with all of your HEART, soul, and mind”. Yes, you are going to slip and not do everything right, but love God to the point where your heart is not possessed by foreigners!
In closing, I am blessed that God has given me a great wife. I am blessed that though storms have came, we’ve managed to make it work, love one another, and she maintain possession of my heart and vice versa. Yes, you are going to go through your struggles in this Christian journey. Again I say, do not allow anyone or anything to stop you from allowing God to possess your heart! When He has that in His possession, it’s protected and it’ll never get broke!
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