Wisdom says:
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him: Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. Forsake the foolish and live; and go in the way of understanding. [Prov. 8:4-6]
Folly says:
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him: Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell. [Prov. 8:16-18]
Both of these passages come from the same Chapter of Proverbs. They are both in the same chapter, to show us how deceptively simple it is to get them confused as to which one is which. The one you hear and listen to will be determined by whether or not you have taken up the cross to follow after Christ or not.
For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. [Heb. 4:12]
The words of Folly will always speak of the easier way, the broad way that leads to destruction. It is the voice that will always minimize the need or necessity for restraint, for suffering, for turning away from soulish gratifications, whether they be food and drink, or the issues of soulish venting, justifying and offence. She will give you what you want, let you do what you want, and will even use scripture to convince you that it is OK to do so as well. Her ways will often mimic those of the Holy Spirit, however the end of her ways are death, not life.
Her words are the words of the comforter of your soul, justifying your ‘human nature’ rather than crucifying it. Those who choose her ways will abide in the shadow of death, even though they believe that they live, for her name is ‘Jezebel’ and her destruction is written in Revelation 2:19-23.
The Holy Spirit is the comforter of your regenerated and renewed spirit. Jesus work on the cross will restore your soul, but only according to your willingness to deliver it from the smooth and flattering words of the seductress that has enslaved it. The cross is the only means by which this can be done. The Holy Spirit will always seek to move you to deny that which is your ’self’, your old humjan nature, that your new life of Christ might be made manifest ~ not according to some religious conception of it, but according to the resurrectino power of it.
This is the root cause of so much deception that exists today. We keep giving place to the voice of the soul, the voice of error, heeding the voice of the serpent that continues to whisper sweet seductions to that which does not honor or glorify God. This is the spirit of anti-christ, who also, incidentally, destroys that which is OF Christ.
The Holy Spirit will always guide you and lead you into those ways that honor and glorify God, ways whose sole purpose is to mortify your flesh with all of it’s carnal lusts, prides and appetites, for where there is a love or affinity for these things, the will be no love of God.
Those who will not take up the cross have no defence against the voice that seduces away from the way of Christ, the way that leads unto truth and life, the strait gate way. That cross is obedience to the voice of the Spirit moving you to fulfill the righteousness of the law, by mortifying all that exalts itself against it.
Those who take up the cross unto this end will often appear to be the outcasts of God, for we are tested and proved often by the Holy Spirit to the end of holiness and purity and love unfeigned. It often entails falling, for it is the reproofs of instruction that lead unto life. It is the lesson of humility and the ever present reminder that no man can stand on his own.
When you fall, yet continue to turn to God in Christ to deliver and restore you, you show by those very deeds your faith and trust in Him and the power of His blood and His word to cleanse and deliver. His purpose is not to tempt that you might fall but that in and through these things, the strength and faith of Christ might be made manifest in you to uphold you through it, as well as showing you what exalts itself against it.
Those who have ears to hear and eyes to see themselves, those who will willingly humble themselves before God with contrition of heart and repent for their errors will receive grace unto grace, which leads from faith unto faith. Those who do not will abide in their blindness and bondage, unto their destruction. This is how God refines and purifies, and how the wheat of His field is separated from the chaff.
Seek the Lord, take up the cross, obey the Holy Spirit. God through the fires and the floods. Do not turn away from that which you fear, but let the love of God be made manifest in your heart unto the end of casting out fear. Deliver your soul from the perfect storm of its own torments, that you might have that which will be needed in the coming days to help others deal with their own.
