Fight for the heart
So many times I just feel like I just exist. I’m not living with a purpose. It’s like by flesh, mind, and heart are not attached. In my flesh I constantly struggle with all kinds of stuff. I mistreat people all the time. I rub people the wrong way constantly with my words. I cut others with my tongue and watch them suffer. In my flesh, I am a bad person. In my mind I am conniving and judgmental. I keep record of right and wrongs. I hold grudges against others and I pick others apart just to make myself look better in my own mind. In my heart I say that I want to meet with God. I bow to worship Him and I wage war every second of my life. My heart is my only redemption of my entire self.
I really have been seeing how Satan isolates these three areas of us to defeat us regularly. I can think of instances of where he would get my fleshly desires to lead me down a path that in my heart and mind I do not want to go. In the other areas, the same can be said.
The old saying ‘together we stand, divided we fall’ is true for our personal lives as well. I know that for me when I fail in the flesh, this halts any progress I made in my heart. The same can be said for the others as well. To be honest, my heart is usually guarded pretty well. I have claimed Proverbs 4:23 so many times which says ‘Above all else, guard your hearts, for it is the wellspring of life.’ Satan seems to have free reign over my life sometimes, usually tampering with my mind and or my flesh. My heart is God’s. He is there, He dwells in my house [temple] and He holds residence there. Satan is not welcome there and he knows my heart is off limits and is beyond his boundary of terror.
My problem is not with my heart, it is with my flesh and mind. I fail constantly in these two areas. The Bible mentions the word ‘heart’ 743 times; the word ‘mind’ 156 times; and the word ‘flesh’ 124 times. According to these stats, God is more concerned with our hearts than with our flesh and minds. As a matter of fact 1 Samuel 16:7 says 7But GOD told Samuel, "Looks aren't everything. Don't be impressed with his looks and stature. I've already eliminated him. GOD judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; GOD looks into the heart."
My heart is Fort Knox when it comes to easy access. Patrolmen guard and keep my heart clean and pure before the Lord. Since God cannot be in the presence of sin, He is safe within my heart but if He stepped outside my heart then He would be severely upset with what He would see me doing and thinking.
The only way to change this is to do some major self cleaning. Relying on God and telling Him that I cannot do this alone. I want so badly to live without sin just to satisfy Him but I am at war daily and I lose many battles. Please pray for me as I battle with the heart of Christ but the flesh and mind of my desires.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 11Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
FIGHT FOR THE HEART