The Holy One calls to me this morning. I don't really want to get out of bed. The battle rages and I just do not want to deal with the wounds inflicted by the invisible enemy of my soul.
While the enemy is relentless, the Holy Spirit is persistent. He gently nudges me again, but this time He uses His infamous "fighting words". "If you don't get up the enemy wins, is that what you want?" This is an all too familiar sentence that He has used over the course of my life to energize me. I hate losing...especially to evil forces. There is something about my Scotts-Irish heritage that wakes up at the challenge and kicks in when I think about giving up ground to an enemy.
The Holy One has had a huge task in flesh refinement of this genetic reality because my will to win puts many Holy principles at risk. You know the ones, like.... we must die to live, give to get, lose to win, all the exact opposite to the human mind and my Scotts-Irish temperament.
He calls me this morning to talk about the battle that rages, the discouragement I feel and to give me a little "pep talk". Our conference begins with a re-definition of the battle itself. He takes me back to His encounter with Joshua on the eve of the battle over Jericho which is talked about in Joshua 5:13-15.
"And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold a man stood opposite of him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, "Are You for us or for our adversaries?" So He said, "No, but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come".
The Holy Spirit then speaks to my reluctant heart, "The battle is Mine and I have called you to fight it. The war here on earth is Mine, from generation-to-generation, life-to-life and season-to-season. If you agree to lay down and not get up, then one more warrior leaves the battlefield and there is one less voice to speak truth to those who are perishing. The message of Salvation brought through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ must be told."
His words pierce my heart and bring the conviction that my thoughts of giving up are a grief to HIS heart.
Whatever has gone on in eternity past is unavailable to our knowledge except what we find written in the Word of God. We know that God created other life forms that we call "angels" and they were given free-will similar to ours. We are told that one of His created angels, in the exercise of his free-will, forged a mutiny and assembled a team of fellows to orchestrate an attempted coup against the Most High Creator God.
We are told, that the penalty for their rebellion was to be cast out of Heaven, never again to live as privileged citizens of God's Kingdom. God's Sovereignty and powerful authority over all He created requires this fallen angel to give an accounting and to gain Holy permission to act and operate. (Book of Job) The word written about Eternity future, in the Book of Revelation chapter 20, speaks of Satan's ultimate end, as well as the end of all who follow after him in rebellion of God.
What we find here on earth is Satan's last stand. He knows his fate for it is written and sealed. He knows God and that His word IS final.
The mystery of Holiness creates many questions. We can find some of the answers here in our short human life span, but many will not be discovered until we move on to our real, but final, destination point.
The Holy One brings me back to the issue of our conference this morning. "The battle belongs to the Lord". I am called to fight His battle and it is not the other way around. His battle is for all the souls that He created to spend eternity with Himself.
There are many things that I do not understand about this life on earth. But what I do understand to be true, is that on any given morning when I wake up forgetting that I am locked in a battle against evil, I lose. But worse than that, if I fail to engage in the battle I am called to fight, my Lord loses.
This is not our war, it is God's. He set the rules of engagement, the boundaries of conflict and even set the limits of His own intervention with regard to our free-will. Somehow, this life we have been given to live is a pre-lim to Heaven. A place where the free-will of every individual is permitted to choose their destination point for eternity before it is finally established and sealed.
Here, on earth, is where we all get to choose our eternal destiny, whether we will be included in or eliminated from the Paradise that awaits, in a Sacred Romance with the One who Created all things.
The battle rages for souls. The choice is being made every second of every day that determines eternity for someone. Every born-again Believer who refuses to fight is one less warrior on the battlefield.
This life is not about pleasantries or exalted self-anything. It's a dirty, white knuckle, bone crushing, heart rending, mind bending battle for the souls of men. God has ordained that we, who possess the Truth, share it so long as we have a breath in our mortal bodies.
The end is near and we have few time-outs left on the clock. The Holy One reminds me that while the battle is His, I must choose to get up and fight it, in His strength and in His way. I cannot begin to fathom all the why's and wherefores of Holiness, but today, I can grasp from my Counselor that the stakes in this battle are very high for all humanity on planet earth.
So, today, I grab my Sword, thankful for His forgiveness and encouragement and head back into the war. Will I see you on the battlefield?
The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
While the enemy is relentless, the Holy Spirit is persistent. He gently nudges me again, but this time He uses His infamous "fighting words". "If you don't get up the enemy wins, is that what you want?" This is an all too familiar sentence that He has used over the course of my life to energize me. I hate losing...especially to evil forces. There is something about my Scotts-Irish heritage that wakes up at the challenge and kicks in when I think about giving up ground to an enemy.
The Holy One has had a huge task in flesh refinement of this genetic reality because my will to win puts many Holy principles at risk. You know the ones, like.... we must die to live, give to get, lose to win, all the exact opposite to the human mind and my Scotts-Irish temperament.
He calls me this morning to talk about the battle that rages, the discouragement I feel and to give me a little "pep talk". Our conference begins with a re-definition of the battle itself. He takes me back to His encounter with Joshua on the eve of the battle over Jericho which is talked about in Joshua 5:13-15.
"And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold a man stood opposite of him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, "Are You for us or for our adversaries?" So He said, "No, but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come".
The Holy Spirit then speaks to my reluctant heart, "The battle is Mine and I have called you to fight it. The war here on earth is Mine, from generation-to-generation, life-to-life and season-to-season. If you agree to lay down and not get up, then one more warrior leaves the battlefield and there is one less voice to speak truth to those who are perishing. The message of Salvation brought through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ must be told."
His words pierce my heart and bring the conviction that my thoughts of giving up are a grief to HIS heart.
Whatever has gone on in eternity past is unavailable to our knowledge except what we find written in the Word of God. We know that God created other life forms that we call "angels" and they were given free-will similar to ours. We are told that one of His created angels, in the exercise of his free-will, forged a mutiny and assembled a team of fellows to orchestrate an attempted coup against the Most High Creator God.
We are told, that the penalty for their rebellion was to be cast out of Heaven, never again to live as privileged citizens of God's Kingdom. God's Sovereignty and powerful authority over all He created requires this fallen angel to give an accounting and to gain Holy permission to act and operate. (Book of Job) The word written about Eternity future, in the Book of Revelation chapter 20, speaks of Satan's ultimate end, as well as the end of all who follow after him in rebellion of God.
What we find here on earth is Satan's last stand. He knows his fate for it is written and sealed. He knows God and that His word IS final.
The mystery of Holiness creates many questions. We can find some of the answers here in our short human life span, but many will not be discovered until we move on to our real, but final, destination point.
The Holy One brings me back to the issue of our conference this morning. "The battle belongs to the Lord". I am called to fight His battle and it is not the other way around. His battle is for all the souls that He created to spend eternity with Himself.
There are many things that I do not understand about this life on earth. But what I do understand to be true, is that on any given morning when I wake up forgetting that I am locked in a battle against evil, I lose. But worse than that, if I fail to engage in the battle I am called to fight, my Lord loses.
This is not our war, it is God's. He set the rules of engagement, the boundaries of conflict and even set the limits of His own intervention with regard to our free-will. Somehow, this life we have been given to live is a pre-lim to Heaven. A place where the free-will of every individual is permitted to choose their destination point for eternity before it is finally established and sealed.
Here, on earth, is where we all get to choose our eternal destiny, whether we will be included in or eliminated from the Paradise that awaits, in a Sacred Romance with the One who Created all things.
The battle rages for souls. The choice is being made every second of every day that determines eternity for someone. Every born-again Believer who refuses to fight is one less warrior on the battlefield.
This life is not about pleasantries or exalted self-anything. It's a dirty, white knuckle, bone crushing, heart rending, mind bending battle for the souls of men. God has ordained that we, who possess the Truth, share it so long as we have a breath in our mortal bodies.
The end is near and we have few time-outs left on the clock. The Holy One reminds me that while the battle is His, I must choose to get up and fight it, in His strength and in His way. I cannot begin to fathom all the why's and wherefores of Holiness, but today, I can grasp from my Counselor that the stakes in this battle are very high for all humanity on planet earth.
So, today, I grab my Sword, thankful for His forgiveness and encouragement and head back into the war. Will I see you on the battlefield?
The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
