That day in Eden, the purity of our flesh was lost. We were

originally created in the image and likeness of God. Humanity was made a perfect union between flesh and spirit. We could enjoy the living on earth and have communion with God. We were created with the power of God to be masters of the earth. Our mind and thought processes were in line with His. We had perfect peace and unity with the Godhead. 

The Matthew Henry Commentary notes: It is the soul of man that especially bears God’s image. Man was made upright, (Ecclesiastes 7:29).

His understanding saw Divine things clearly and truly; there were no errors or mistakes in hisknowledge;  his will consented at once, and in all things, to the will of God. His affections were all regular, and he had no bad appetites or passions. His thoughts were easily brought and fixed to the best subjects. Thus holy, thus happy, were our first parents in having the image of God upon them.

Following our choice for sin, all of this changed, and humanity became contaminated with all kinds of evil thoughts  and behaviors. Our flesh became vulnerable to all types of sicknesses, diseases, and disorders, and we began to age.  Our peace with the Godhead was lost, and we began our walk in the way of Babylon. We began to live in conflict with God, conflict with the earth, and in conflict with each other.

Leaving Babylon Pgs. 27-28
Picture Credit: michaelberg.net

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Leaving Babylon pgs. 56-57

The nation of Israel continues to serve as God’s wedding ring to humanity, a symbol of His love for us. And just as a wedding ring tells everyone that we are committed to someone, the presence of the nation of Israel speaks to Babylon that the earth and mankind belong to God. This is why Babylon continually seeks to remove this wedding ring from the earth. Babylon will be judged for this. Once a wedding ring is removed, the promises made are soon forgotten. Married people who chose to commit adultery will often remove their wedding ring first. This act tells them and everyone else that I belong to no one, and I am free to be intimate with another.

Most of the Bible is about this tiny nation that contended with God through thousands of years of human history. Israel’s presence on earth is a constant reminder that the Scriptures are true and that mankind has a covenant with God that can never be broken. However, Babylon continues to try to remove God and mankind’s wedding band. Through thousands of years of war and captivity, as recorded in the Old Testament, to contemporary times, as recorded in world history, about the holocaust during World War II, Israel battled to exist. Today, she continues to battle in the Middle East as Babylon tries to remove the wedding ring. Babylon wants to remove the reminder of our covenant so that she can wipe God’s memory from our hearts and the hearts of our children’s children!

Israel, though physically small as a nation, is all God needed to stamp the earth for His beloved humanity. Wedding rings are small, but they shine bright as a symbol of promise and commitment. I believe God created Israel small, deliberately. So as Babylon, in her arrogance, rises up against this tiny nation and fails to destroy her, there will be no doubt that God is on the throne and will forever protect His covenant with mankind.

Many Christians comment that the majority of Israelis and Jews do not accept Christ as the Messiah and Savior of the world. However, without the faith of the Jewish disciples of Jesus, we would not have the New Testament. Jesus’s prayer for this remnant is recorded in John 17. I am especially moved by verses twenty through twenty-one,

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me because of their testimony. My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as you and I are one, Father—that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me” (nlt).

June 23, 2017 Headline from “The Times of Israel” story: 

Unveiling clock showing 8,411 days left for Israel, Iranians rage against Jewish state

See link below

http://www.timesofisrael.com/iranians-parade-missiles-shout-death-to-israel-in-annual-rally/

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In the presence of God there is peace and resolve for our weary souls. We cannot understand this place because it is only found by faith, not by understanding. We only know that when we are prostrate and broken in worship before Him, everything is all right. The cares of this life dissolve in His magnificence. I am in Him, He is in me and everything is all right.  Sessions in Pain pg. 108

AUTHOR’S COMMENTS: There are times when the peace of the day can only be found in the presence of God. The stresses of this world may continue around us and there is no end in sight, but there is a place found in God’s presence where everything is ALWAYS all right.

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All the days of my hard service will I wait, Till my change comes (Job 14:14b).  

Written above are the words of a righteous man living in physical, emotional, and perhaps spiritual agony. The only comfort he may have had at this time was in his belief that God is faithful and holy. Like Job, we should take comfort in the fact that God is holy and just; because His holiness dictates that He will do what is right concerning our lives.                                                                      Sessions in Pain, pg. 151

AUTHOR’S COMMENTS: Waiting for change is not easy; especially when you are in pain. But when you are waiting before God, know that He sees you. Before God your waiting is not just waiting, but it is also a cultivation of your faith. Faith that He knows will empower you to conquer in His Name. Therefore, wait before Him beloved – wait until you are changed!

You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy (Psalms 30:11 nlt).

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Leaving Babylon pg, 56

Anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord becomes a part of “spiritual Israel.” This is an act of faith in the one true God. They become a part of the ones who contend with God every day through their failures and mistakes. They hold on to Him because of their faith in the work done on the cross by the God-man.

God had a plan from the time we were deceived in the garden by His enemy. That plan was to reconnect with mankind through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the God-man. The Holy Scriptures refer to Jesus Christ as the Bridegroom, and the church or witnesses of Jesus as the bride. Jesus is the embodiment of the great marriage between God and humanity as is demonstrated in Matthew 25:1–12. When God accepted the sacrifice in Jesus Christ’s death and suffering for the sins of His bride, the marriage was complete. The bride could be saved. The bride could be rescued from Babylon.

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As you submit to being examined by Christ, you will learn that He knows what is in your heart more than you do. This is why Peter made such a bold confession to stand by Jesus before His arrest, only to blatantly deny that he ever knew Him several hours later.

Sessions in Pain, pg. 236

AUTHOR’S COMMENTS: Christ brings us to a place of knowing ourselves. He will confront us as He did Peter; telling us the truth about where we are in our relationship with Him.

“before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.” (Luke 22:34 niv).

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Paul wrote exhaustive texts on the battle between the flesh and the spirit. He implored us to “Walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15). I like that word “circumspectly”; it literally means to look or see in a circle or all around you. You must be constantly aware of the battle you are in by maintaining your spiritual relationship with God. No one who walks in the flesh is exempt—no one!                   Sessions in Pain, pg. 147

AUTHOR’S COMMENTS: By far the greatest and most precious gift given to any human being is salvation. Salvation literally means “deliverance or escape”.  Our salvation is a gift that must be cared for like an infant. If protected and nurtured it will grow keeping  us safe  from present and future evil. But we must be watchful, careful, and sober looking around us –  “walking circumspectly”.

“How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” Hebrews 2:3a

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Leaving Babylon pg. 64

Jesus taught us that the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, would come to guide us into all truth. He will guide us into true peace, love and joy, and all of the other aspects of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23). The “comforters”of Babylon are counterfeits of the true “Comforter,” the Holy Spirit. We are utterly helpless without the guidance of the Holy One.

Our world stands today entrapped in the bondages of Babylon because so many have failed to be guided by and submitted to the Comforter. We took the job, the money, the position. We voted for the bill and became involved in the relationship, without a word of request to the Holy Spirit for guidance, and now we exist with the shackles of Babylon around our necks. We work all day and half the night to prove ourselves to her. We cannot go home from work or walk away from our electronic devices because of her demands. Meanwhile, Babylon ravages our spouses, children, family, and friends as we have abandoned them for her pleasures and dictates. We live in constant fear and insecurity of loosening the trappings to which we have become addicted. Our minds are bound to her persuasions as to how our lives should be lived.

Our future is bleak as Babylon continues to string us along with the promises of more things and a better society. She constantly works to comfort our flesh or bodies, for she can never comfort our spirits. She is rarely overt with her seductions but rather comes at us subtly with distracters and threats of failure, poverty, and rejection if we cease to serve her.

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LEAVING  BABYLON PG. 67

Our rescue from Babylon is the most precious gift ever given to mankind, but it must be cared for. You must care for and cherish your relationship with God and your inheritance that was bought with the precious blood of Christ. You must be careful not to allow the thief to rob you of its riches through the neglect of your great salvation. You neglect your salvation when you allow it to become stagnant, unproductive, and it fails to carry out the purposes of God. As you remain in Babylon, the risk of robbery remains great as she actively seeks to take from you, daily, through the choices she will continually offer   you.

The Scriptures describe her master as a roaring lion that is looking to seize upon any unsuspecting soul (1 Pet. 5:8). The lion’s impending attack is not always obvious. Sometimes it is insidious—creeping gradually into your life through good ideas and hopeful plans. You keep telling yourself that things will get better once I accomplish this thing or obtain that thing. The things I’m called to do for God can wait, and you ignore His voice as Babylon continues to gobble up your time and attention until all of your life and all of your time is gone. Her appetite is insatiable. She will take everything!

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