Free Will Versus Fate

[Co - heir in Christ]

Before I came to know God, My spiritual eyes were opened, and I was given a difficult test. A lot was shown to me, and I suffered much at the hands of demons and some of their earthly followers. But God was also communicating to me throughout it all ( as He had been my whole life, although I didn't know it), and I had to chose good or evil, the truth or a lie, freedom or slavery. I chose God, and then He revealed Himself to me more directly (pretty much in every way but visually), and started teaching me the proper principles of spiritual warfare. I don't have time now to go over even a small portion of every thing I experienced and everything God's taught me, so I wanted to focus here on the subject of free will and fate. For about the first 6 months after God opened my eyes, there were long periods of time where I didn't know left from right, or up from down. The demons tried every possible tactic to try to get me to not believe the Word and give up on Jesus, including (but definitely not limited to) incredibly strong deceptions (and once a person doesn't just believe but 'knows' that they exist, they don't pull their punches anymore; any time they get the chance to attack or deceive, they go all out). One of the things that was overwhelming for me was that it felt like I'd been controlled like a puppet for most of my life, and I had been, but it was by my own choice. Before God opened my eyes, I was a zombie whose actions and even thoughts were determined by demons about 98% of the time. I now know what Jesus meant when He said,"Let the dead bury their dead." The majority of people are dead on their feet; puppets w/out knowing it.When things were revealed to me, I kept repeating stuff like: "This life is not what I thought it was," "How could I have been so blind?, it was all right under my nose my whole life,"  "I never expected this," "I'm just a puppet, or a robot w/ no way to refuse my programmer," or, "I wonder if I've ever had a thought that was my own, or performed an action by my own choice." A lot of believers struggle w/ the concept of fate when they become spiritually aware and experience the level of influence that spirits have in our lives. They think it's pointless to try to manage their lives, because their futures are already determined, so all they can do is pray and hope. But they don't strive for perfection, remain vigilant, or even avoid sinful situations. But we do have free will. Good spirits, and evil spirits are always communicating w/ us, whether we realize it or not. For most of us, it's a lot harder to hear the still, small respectful voice of God than it is the shouts, lies, and threats,etc., of the devil's minions. It's harder to hear God (until He reveals Himself) because He refuses to usurp our free will (out of love for us). The devil wants robots, slaves, and puppets, so he's always running interference, trying to stop us from hearing God's call, and he's a dirty, merciless deceptive fighter. It really is just like those old cartoons where there's an angel on one shoulder and a demon on the other. We choose who we follow - which promptings we accept. With everything I've learned, I don't even believe in coincidence, at all. That's how much spirits are behind the scenes in our lives. EVERY decision we make is incredibly important, no matter how seemingly small, or trivial, because every decision leads to a slightly bigger one until, eventually, that original, tiny decision becomes a giant decision, and often w/ no easy solution. Demons'll frequently attempt to get people to embrace the most despicable views and actions very gradually, step by step, even over the course of years or decades, as this helps them to remain less noticeable, and they don't want people to know of their existence. God knew the end from the beginning. God is outside of time. He chooses those who He knows will choose Him, but He calls everyone because He's just and He loves everyone. He never would violate our free will, but even if that weren't the case, strictly hypothetically speaking, He doesn't have to. He sees the whole past and future simultaneously w/ the present, and He knows how to mould us w/out usurping our will. When a person makes a choice that gives a demon a foothold in their lives (unless they repent and ask for forgiveness right away) then they're a little more under the control of the evil one and it makes it harder to make the right choice next time, or to avoid a higher degree of degeneration. Plus, more demons are drawn to them, and eventually, if they've been yielding too much for too long, it'll lead to possession. Every second of our lives we are at war, spiritually, and every second of our lives (even after we have a relationship w/ God) we have to make the choice and expend the effort to follow and obey God, because He won't take away our will. If someone chooses the devil, it'll break God's heart but He'll honor the decision. But God showed me what I'd become and where I'd go if I ever chose the devil; it's horrible beyond words. The fallen Angel's are always worried that a human'll come to know God some day. If they see a person really changing their life in ways that'll enable them to have a relationship w/ God, they'll try to destroy or recruit them (really the same thing) before it happens. But, our whole lives they're weaving webs of deceit as a backup plan, in case God reveals His Holy Spirit to us. One of the many lies they'll use is that it's all out of our hands, we have no free will. But we do. Once a person becomes possessed, they can't say,"No," or,"I'd rather not." I know this from experience. However, it is the person who chose to let the demon in in the first place. Even when we're being sorely tested and it feels like there's nothing we can do, we have to still fight and be vigilant or we're choosing to surrender.  In the Word, it says,"God knows how to deliver the just from temptation," and it also states that He won't give us more than we can bear. But if we accept the devil's lie that we have no free will, we may miss the escape hatch God provides us (because we're not looking for it).

Edited April 26, 2019 by Co - heir in Christ
Typo

[Willa]

While you are welcome here, I again mention that this is a place where we greet each other.  It is not a place for long testimonies or teachings. 

[Jean74]

Hope you enjoy it on here. Welcome to the forums. Feel free to post. God bless! Do not be shy at all.

[shanee]

[fairylover]

Hello and welcome 

[BorderCowboy]

Howdy n welcome, Ya obviously are a typist!