Winning the battle on the inside

As we enter a new year and we look back in contemplation on the old year we need to ask ourselves, how much ground have we taken in the last twelve months?

I’m not so much talking about the external battles, the inward battles are the ones the really cont the most. Winning the battle on the inside is a prime requirement for us in order to advance in our walk with the Lord. There is a direct correlation between how much of the battle we have won on the inside and how much ground we can take externally.

II Corinthians 10:5	Casting down imagination, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
6	And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

One of the greatest inner battles we face is that of coming into rest. The account of the conquest of Canaan in the Old Testament is a picture if this inward battle. The story of Israel’s struggle to enter the Promised Land was pictured as an inward battle for us today.

Hebrews 3:17	But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
18	And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
Hebrews 4:1	Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

The Apostle Paul describes Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land as entering into rest. Paul also said that journey of Israel to the Promised Land was for an example to us today 1 Corinthians 10:1-6.

We have strongholds in our mind that keep us from the fullness of Gods purposes and promises. These mindsets are strongholds that keep us back from entering our inner promised land.

2 Corinthains 10:5

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Unbelief the giant that holds us back

Removing the veil of unbelief opens a doorway to an incredible walk with God, a walk the takes us into a realm of intimacy and relationship with the Lord that goes way beyond the norm of the present mediocrity of Christianity.

Fear, doubt, unbelief, is the giant that most Christians carry with them to the grave. Most Christians do not believe that God will take care of them, that statement may shock you, nevertheless it is true. The children of Israel had experienced the power of God in the defeat of Pharaoh, they had witnessed God take care of them in the wilderness, but when it came to the crunch they failed because of unbelief.

Hebrews 3:19	So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Hebrews 4:3	For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

The problem was, they could not trust God with their lives

God has a plan for your life, as you submit your life to the Lord following Him, obeying His voice, abandoning your life to Him, trusting Him to take care of you, striving will begin to subside as your own will, desires, and ambitions melt away in the vastness and greatness of Gods will for your life.

Hebrews 4:10

For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

 --- Giving up our own life to the will of God and ceasing from our own will and desires, opens up for us the vast supply that God has laid up for us before the world began

Hebrews 4:3	For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
1 Peter 1:4	To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

When God commissioned you to come to this earth in order to fulfill your purpose and destiny, everything you needed to successfully fulfill that commission was laid aside for you. However it is only as you sync with and enter into that plan and purpose for your life that this provision is released to you as you need it.

In an experience where the Lord took me to heaven I saw a vast storehouse of all kinds of provision. There was money, and gifting such as heavenly business acumen, there were spiritual gifts and various levels of the authority; there was a huge pile of wisdom, along with many earthly possessions such as land and buildings. This building was so vast I could not see the end of it, angels had it all catalogued with names of people which these provisions were set aside for. When I left the building I looked up at the sign over the vast doorway; it said. Unclaimed Provision.

Ceasing from our own works

Do you really trust God with your life to the point of being willing to follow Him even unto death? The early Christians could walk into the arena singing hymns because they trusted God with there lives and they were committed to the will of God no matter what that entailed. As the conditions in the earth become more treacherous and law and order breaks down we need to be in the place where we love not our lives even to death.

Revelations 12:11

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death

You can only come to that place where all the inner fears, strivings, and insecurities cease, when you understand the great unconditional love that the Father God has for you, when you know that He knows what is best for you, and you are completely comfortable with that. When you come to that place you can readily abandon your life to God trusting Him no matter what, only then do the battles on the inside stop and you begin to enter into real union with the Lord.

Hebrews 4:3	For we which have believed do enter into rest,
4:10	For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
11	Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

God Bless youN Johnson © January 2006

Winning the battle on the inside