January 12, 2022: The Battle Within Us Will Continue Until Our Surrender in Jesus is Made Complete.

I was reminded recently that the battle we struggle with daily, is a "Battle of the Heart".

Whether we want to admit it or not, there is a spiritual battle all around us, all the time. Our battle is not against each other. There is a constant battle going on for our soul. God created us to have a personal relationship with Him. But the only way to have that relationship is to come to recognize that our salvation is in His son, Jesus Christ, in what He did for us on the cross. Upon our receiving Jesus into our heart, another battle continues and that is the "Battle of our Heart".

Ephesians 6: 12 (NKJV)

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

The battle of the heart is the battle of our "free will", our selfish desires we constantly want to be in control of. If we have received Jesus into hearts for our salvation, then He wants to complete our rest in Him by surrendering all to Him. Then and only then will we find the "true rest" we truly seek.

God wants our complete and absolute devotion to Him. He wants to know that nothing will stand in between Him and us. The story of Abraham and Isaac is just one of many stories in the bible that illustrates this devotion God seeks from us.

Genesis 22: 9-12 (NKJV)

Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So, he said, “Here I am.” 12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now, I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

God had promised Abraham that he would be the "father of many nations", and God gave Isaac to Abraham at the age of 100 years old. That was a miracle in itself. Now God was going to put Abraham to a test to see if he believed in God, and asked Abraham to offer Isaac up as a burnt offering to Him. Just as Abraham lifted his knife to slay his son, the Angel of the Lord stopped him and said: “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now, I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

PERSONNAL COMMENT:

We all, as believers in Christ, at some point in our lives, will be tested by God to see if we are truly devoted to Him. There are things in our lives that we are holding onto very tight and won't let go. God will ask of us if these things are more important than He is in our life. The heart wants what the heart wants. But God wants our hearts to want Him. So, we can continue to want the things of this world, or "absolutely surrender" our whole heart to Him, and so ends the "Battle of Hearts" and our "true rest" begins.