PSALM 73:25 – Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
THEME OF THE DAY. BATTLE FOR AFFECTIONS. Fellow Christian, we are in a war every day. It is not a war fought externally but in the battleground of our hearts. This war is aimed at conquering and capturing one thing – our affections. Do we know this battle? Are we fighting this battle? Are we winning this battle? We must face this spiritual reality for it defines the Christian life. We are either doing battle daily to keep the supremacy of Christ in our hearts, or the white flag of surrender is flying high signaling we have given our affections over to our spiritual enemies — the world and flesh. This surrender has removed Christ from His rightful reign in our hearts. But God has not destined us to defeat in this war. Nor does He desire for us to easily surrender our affections to lesser gods, and yes, when we give our hearts over to be ruled by anything or anyone other than Christ, the thing or person has become our god and an idol. So, what are some things we may arm ourselves with to win this daily battle for our affections? Let’s consider two applications.
In order to win the battle in keeping Christ supreme in our hearts and thus maintaining His rightful place in our affections, we must see the worth of Christ, the worth of knowing Him. The Apostle Paul wrote, But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ (Philippians 3:7-8). Friends, here is where battles are never fought or quickly lost. We must ask God, then seek Him, to show us the majesty, the beauty, the splendor, the glory, and the soul-satisfying Person of the Lord Jesus. If we don’t get this, we will foolishly seek to have Christ, the world, and our fleshly desires co-exist in our heart’s affections. And that will never happen! If we don’t see the surpassing worth of knowing Christ above all other things, we will be worldly, discontented, and spiritually barren Christians who try to do the impossible – be satisfied with worldliness and Christ. And this sad condition of defeat is found everywhere among Christians. We see it in their faces – stressed and miserable. We see it in the epidemic of “church hopping” always looking for a new experience, a new teaching, a new whatever, all the while keeping Christ off the thrones of their hearts.
Another thing we may do to win the battle to keep Christ as the chief affection in our hearts is to see through the deception of the world and our flesh. Sin always promises but never delivers. Our flesh always wants to be satisfied, but it never gets enough. When we are spiritually awakened to see that sin and our fleshy desires when fulfilled only leave pain, regret, remorse, and emptiness, we then see the spiritual life for what it is. This awareness will drive us to abide in Christ and keep Him on the throne of our hearts. We will have eyes to see the folly and foolishness of allowing anything or anyone to capture our affections above Christ. As this happens, we will guard our hearts to be the place He rules and we will keep the invaders of the world and flesh outside its walls.
Yes, the Christian life is simple, not easy, but simple. It boils down to a war of affections. And there is only one victory – Christ or the world and our sinful flesh. Fight hard, Fight right. Christ is worthy to have the highest of affections, all the time.
PRAYER: “Father, please show me how great and wonderful You are that I would keep my heart fixed on You.”
QUOTE: “The spiritual battles we face today have one objective – win our affections.”