Words of Life spoken with a heart full of faith and determination blaze the path to overcoming. Speak truths from the Word about yourself and your future. Don’t allow your emotions to control you but let faith plan your actions. Set your face like flint and speak His truth in the face of those who seek to intimidate you. Sessions in Pain pg. 164
AUTHOR’S COMMENTS: When struck against steel, a flint edge will produce sparks. As the prophet Isaiah spoke of setting or making “My face like flint” he was describing our Lord. Of all the rocks he could have chosen in this description he chose the one that produces “sparks” when struck by steel. Sparks in turn will produce a flame and then a fire! Fire purifies. The first “Flint Face” finished the work He was sent to do and…set this world on fire with the Holy Spirit! In His name may we do the same. 
“Go forth and set the world on fire.” Ignatius of Loyola
For the Lord God helps Me,
Therefore, I have not been ashamed or humiliated.
Therefore, I have made My face like flint,
And I know that I shall not be put to shame (Isaiah 50:7 AMP).
Leaving Babylon pg.90
As children of God, we must be careful when we waffle on the edge of not embracing our new identity. It does happen as our hearts ache from the rejection we now face in Babylon. People who once accepted us now turn a cold shoulder as we become someone they no longer recognize. Our choices are different as our perspective on the world has been infused with truth. With these changes will come a spurning from the Babylonians, but take heart, beloved. The love of God is more than enough to soothe the pain of the losses of Babylon. As you embrace this new life and step into the light of God, you will find the complete fulfillment your soul has always longed for. You will literally falls in love with Jesus as you actively cultivate your relationship with Him.
As you come to know your new identity, it will guide every decision you make. But knowing is a process—a process riddled with doubt, fear, and failure, but also with His mercy and the seed of faith brought to life in your heart the day you came to believe. You will sometimes deny your Father and His Holy Spirit when your emotions are high and your faith is low.
But His Word has said, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; because He cannot deny Himself ” (2 Timothy 2:13)
Leaving Babylon pgs. 79-80
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” No other commandment is greater than these. —Mark 12:30–31 (nlt)
By default, we were all born the children of Babylon. The sin in Eden left humanity with an unpaid debt, leaving all human beings to be born in sin. In Eden, we were taken into captivity and forced to learn at the feet of the Great Prostitute. We took on her nature, and we began to live and work under a shroud of strife. We were taught that we must fight for everything to survive. Therefore, we fight. We fight each other within every aspect of our existence. In our families, our work, our religions, and our governments, we fight. We reject God’s way for peace on earth, seeing the fight as the only way to live.
As we look back through human history in the book of Genesis, we see the first acts of strife in the story of Cain and Abel—human against human, brother against brother. Cain, the older brother, resented Abel because Abel was more careful and excellent in his work. Abel presented to God a sacrifice that he developed in obedience and reverence. Cain, having had the same opportunity as his brother to please God, chose to do his work halfheartedly and in disobedience. When his work was rejected, he became angry and resentful of his obedient brother. God reached out to Cain to teach him what was right and to warn him of what would happen if he continued in this attitude. But Cain chose to embrace the ways of Babylon. This embracing cultivated within him a murderous heart, and Cain eventually attacked and killed his younger brother (Gen. 4). Here we see the first offspring of the demons of jealousy and sloth in human history called murder.
As we fast-forward through human life on planet earth, we see the same scenario of Cain and Abel lived out over and over in the children of men. Our curse of sin has been encapsulated in three terms: the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.
God seeks to accomplish several things in our pain and these things are always good. This is where our faith in His goodness must go to work. The Bible says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26 KJV). God desires for your faith to be made alive by you using it!
Sessions in Pain pg. 131 Faith Strong
Authors Comments: There is an old saying in medicine concerning muscles, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” Muscles will atrophy or shrivel if they are not used. The same is said of faith – without works or use it is weak or dead. God will deliberately push you to use your faith to make it strong and vibrant!
Leaving Babylon pgs. 139-140
As difficult and as painful as it is, we must be willing to look into the face of our fallen relationships. Otherwise, we will remain in denial and neglect our great salvation. We have to acknowledge our own walls before we can deal with them. For many of us, this is a painful process, but our Savior has told us that He stands at the door, our door (our walls), and He knocks, and He knocks, and He knocks…and if anyone opens the door, He will come in and share a meal with him (Rev. 3:20). To eat with someone, you usually have accepted an invitation to do so, not only for the purpose of nourishment, but also for engagement. Dining is a time of communing with another person. We refill at the dinner table. We take in that which will nourish and sustain us. This is the invitation Christ is making to humanity, to nourish and sustain us.
God the Father extended the invitation with the words, “Come now, let us argue this out,” says the Lord. “No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it” (Isa. 1:18, nlt). God wants to restore your standing as a child of the Most High God, with all its benefits and privileges. But it will take a truthful look at that person in the mirror. Will you sit down to dinner with God? Will you take in the nourishment He is offering your soul?
Leaving Babylon pg. 69-70
The thief ’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness. —John 10:10 (NLT).
With all we live with in Babylon, some will still ask the question, “Why must we leave her?” Many are convinced that they are doing okay and even have a promising future within her walls. Denial is a false comfort that many people wrap themselves in, because it is easier than facing the battle for their souls. There is a great sorrow attached to this state of mind. It is the sorrow of the continued robbery of human lives and the impending death of souls who fall into eternity every moment. Currently, over 155,000 human beings die each day. Over 1 million souls each week slip into eternity. How many leave this earth unfulfilled? How will you leave?
The effects of Babylon run deeper into our lives than we realize. Her roots dig deep and wrap around our past, present, and future existence. She is a thief. She always has and always will steal from humanity.
One of the major ways in which she robs us is through stagnation. This spirit brings the sorrow of unfulfilled destiny. Stagnation keeps a soul silent, unchanged, and cold. It is a stillness that keeps pain hidden, festering, and unresolved. It is the inertia or drug that calls us to procrastinate. Its greatest allies are the spirits of unforgiveness, fear, and sloth. The great minister, Myles Monroe, commented that “the richest place in the world is the graveyard.” The graveyard is filled with people who have lived and died caught up in the games and distractions of Babylon and never experienced the great purpose of their lives. They put off leaving Babylon for her promise of something better. She promised them resolution, comforts, possessions, and prestige. But in the end, having ignored the voice of God, they had nothing of eternal value.
The truth of Job, and of many of us, is that he was handpicked by God for cultivation. God searches for hearts. He looks past our accomplishments, our money, our family lineage and He searches for hearts—hearts which could be after His own—hearts that would put aside its own agenda to follow His.
Sessions in Pain, pg. 149
From the beginnings of humanity God has chosen men and women out of the crowd to served His special purposes. He scans the Earth and finds that single heart that is ready, that is ripe, to be chosen. A heart like His that has endured suffering and pain, and has kept the heart of God.
“Many are called but Few Chosen“. – Jesus Christ (Matt.20:16)
Therefore, as you have taken on this new identity, you must resolve to know that you know nothing. The apostle Paul came to this conclusion as he wrote to the Corinthian and Philippian churches. Although he was an educated man and had a position of power, after his encounter with Jesus Christ and as he grew in the knowledge of his Lord and Savior, he concluded that he knew nothing! He resolved that all he had learned in Babylon was nothing in the light of the knowledge of God and His Son, Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 2:2 and Phil. 3:4–7).
Paul finally realized that anything that he had obtained in Babylon meant nothing and would attain to nothing. He would live and die without purpose and meaning outside of Jesus Christ. Paul discovered that Christ is the Vine of purpose and meaning in this world. Christ is the source all true knowledge and power, and without Him, he could do nothing! As we revisit John 15, we see another aspect of the truth of the words of Jesus:
I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. ( John 15:5, amp)
I like to call this truth in John 15:5 the Nothingness Principle. It is a vital aspect in grasping your identity in Christ. As human beings, our biggest obstacle in living for God, without question, is our pride and arrogance. Remember this is where we fell in the garden of Eden. We can be prideful about any and every aspect of our existence: our intellect, our appearance, our families, our status, our race…This list is endless. Therefore, to think of ourselves in light of the Nothingness Principle is most difficult.
Paul finally did come to embrace the Nothingness Principle, but it was only after undergoing so much training from the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, his first lesson involved knocking him off a horse and blinding him (Acts 9). Strong-willed, arrogant Saul of Tarsus (Paul’s former name) was on his way to put an end to these new believers called Christians. After all, he was well versed in the Jewish faith. He had been schooled in it for years. And then he met Jesus, and everything he once knew meant nothing.
I’d love to quit smoking but my dad won’t let me.
I realized then that when we are disobedient to God in our giving and sacrifice, we not only jeopardize our own lives but the lives of those we interact with at work or home—anywhere. In certain fields of work, like medicine, or anywhere you are leading others, your disobedience in giving can have severe consequences.
Sessions in Pain pg. 206
I was moved by some of the quit smoking ads that depict how children suffer from various lung diseases due to secondhand smoke from their parents. They made me consider, who am I putting in jeopardy because of my disobedience to God? Are their blessings forfeited because of something…
I won’t give up?
The Salt of the Earth
Leaving Babylon pg. 98-99:
You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world… Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matt. 5:13,14, and 16, nkjv)
God desires to build a nation of people who exude, discharge, release, or emit His love by revealing their identity in Christ daily. He wants a people who love beyond the barriers of nationality, race, status, money, etc. He wants a people who are about people. He wants a people who work and fight for the thing God loves passionately, which is humanity. God wants people who salt the earth with His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Salt is a preservative. God’s salt preserves the spirit and saves the soul. God’s salt changes the flavor of this earth. In the midst of the turmoil, strife, and hatred, God’s salt can be tasted by the people of this prodigal planet.
Are you salty, or are you a bland seasoning on the shelf of Babylon? Babylon seeks to hide the salt of God or put the light of God’s children under a basket. She seeks to diffuse the flavor of the children of God as she brings confusion and division wherever she can—within our races, our families, and our nations. She divides us and conquers anywhere she is allowed. Her only loyalty is to evil. Whereas, God brings love and unity within everything that is touched by His Spirit through His Son, Jesus Christ! Are you touched by His Spirit? What flavor are you bringing to the earth?
