The Holy Spirit calls me today. He speaks loud and clear. He is saying, "Love is a decision and forgiveness is a choice. You are accountable to Jesus Christ for both".
I ponder this truth. I know that each choice and decision we make is an act of our will. There is no such thing as "falling" in love or I "can't" forgive". There is only I "will" fall or I "will not" forgive. We humans like to think that these things are outside our control. We like to imagine that we are emotionally free to act upon every urge and unction of our flesh or that we cannot control how we "feel", so we are not accountable for the way we act in regard to how we feel.
That "lie" has caused more divorces and splits and wars between families and nations than almost anything else. So what is the Truth? The Holy Spirit takes me back to the time before the fall. The time when the enemies of our soul, forged an alliance and conspiracy of insurrection.
The Bible speaks of the mutiny in Rev 12. Even though veiled in symbolism, this account speaks of the "Dragon" who engaged in a war against the Throne of Heaven. Here we find that one third of the supernatural beings God created joined with the insurrection and fought against "Michael" the archangel and the two thirds remaining company of loyal Celestial Beings. By sheer numbers, the loyal out weighed the "traitors" so the "Devil" was hurled down into the earth realm where he continues to wage war against the Holy One by assaulting this created world and God's most beloved creation: MAN.
Ezekiel 28:11-17 is yet another picture of the historic event. It is stated that this wicked One was originally created and ordained as a "guardian cherub", placed in Eden to oversee God's Beloved. But pride and jealousy consumed him and corrupted his wisdom. He became a competitor to our Creator God rather than a defender of His Majesty.
The very one who was anointed to guard God's glorious creation, inspiring man to worship, in the love of his Creator, set a new course to destroy man and ruin that intimate fellowship of God's desire. The "Devil" or "Satan" as he is called, lost his privileged position and is now filled with fury, consumed by pride and like a roaring lion in the earth realm, on the prowl looking for who he can devour. His rebellion set in motion other of his "kind" to do the same. By their wicked manipuation and temptation of our flesh, much of humanity has also chosen to follow the enemy's evil ways.
There is no greater drama than the one being played out over the souls of men. There is no story with more action than the truth of the battle being fought every day. Good vs evil, light vs dark. Eternity hangs in the balance for every one ever born of woman. Lest we become too afraid of the evil one or too incredulous of the truth, it is important that we read the end of the story and find out that "we win"....The Champion of our souls is the victor and Heaven with our Creator is the prize. But that is not yet the conclusion of the matter, because the battle rages, and there are still more potential casualties in this eternal power play.
The battle is real, the players are real, and our Savior, Jesus Christ, is real. The Holy Spirit has been sent from Heaven. He was released from Heaven to indwell and empower God's people to wield Heavenly Authority on earth as it is God's Will in Heaven. The Holy Spirit reminds me that His wisdom and the Lord's strategies in this "supernatural war" are high above our human ways and our thinking. We must rely on His indwelling Presence and the Word of our Holy God to teach us these Heavenly strategies in the war against the evil ones.
We must surrender to His Holy ways, that seem so upside down to human thinking especially while under the narcotic influence of the destroyer. Back to the original statements of this morning's conference:
Love is a decision and forgiveness is a choice. By the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit, we are not victims of our emotions. We have the ability to choose and therefore we stand accountable for our choices. By allowing our emotions to flow unfettered and undisciplined by this truth, we can become the very weapons the enemy would use to destroy ourselves and other people.
While the devil provokes our flesh to hate or hold things against other people, in the end, those attitudes will conscript us into his evil service, where we become the enemy of the very Throne and Kingdom we say we will die to defend. Unless we see the enemy's manipulation in our choices and decisions and yield to the Holy One instead, we actually become (however unwillingly) "members of his mutiny".
The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
