One of the most powerful gifts given to mankind, before the fall, was authority over the earth. God gave Adam and Eve complete control of this planet (Gen. 1:26–31).
Authority is the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience. Authority translates into having dominion, being a master or having complete rule. That day in Eden, we gave this power away to Satan. To understand our life in Babylon, we need to understand the precious gift of authority over the earth that we lost that day. We also need to understand that we relinquished this great power of authority to evil.
Before the fall, we tended a garden unencumbered by any malady. All plants grew strong and beautiful. After the fall, when we planted seeds and waited for them to grow for our food or to beautify the earth, the plants that were produce were subjected to all kind of hardships, such as weather, insect infestation, or animal plundering. It is only God’s mercy and grace that protect our food supply! The knowledge human beings have obtained over thousands of years to develop methods of food growth, food protection, and food preservation came from God. Although we chose evil, He chose to sustain us, protect us, teach us, and feed us. Before our sin in the garden, we had dominion over all animals, all birds, all life in the sea, and vegetation on the planet. We were masters over all life. All life on earth was commanded by the Creator to obey man. We were truly kings and queens of the planet—children of the Most High God in every way. We lived and walked on the planet in the authority of our Father, and there
was perfect peace on earth.
As we seek God for directives and walk by the Spirit, we need to accept that there will be times when we will be rejected and may need to find another place to live. Jesus warned us that the world hated Him and would also hate us. At times, this spirit of the world can be found in our own home. When the Jews rejected the message of Paul and Barnabas to the point of expelling them from the region, they got up and shook the dust off of their feet against them and went to another city (see Acts 13:49-52).
Sessions in Pain pg. 159 shaking the dust
Author’s Comments: We shake the dust off of our feet with a broken but burning heart. Christ’s message compels us and restores us as we continue His work. We are living in the time when we will be called to stay and comply or shake the dust and leave.
Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Ephesians 6:13 not
Leaving Babylon pgs. 61-62 We are offered opportunities to lie, cheat, and deceive in exchange for unearned privileges, promotions, sexual pleasure, and to boost our bank accounts. Our allegiance to God and all other relationships that require our loyalty are traded, every day, in her marketplace.
Often, we do not recognize our disobedience as being the result of exchanges in Babylon, but that is exactly what it is happening. The serpent continues to offer humanity what is forbidden by God in hopes of gaining control of our lives. Just as he deceived Eve in the garden, Satan paints a picture of God depriving us of power and pleasure. And like Adam and Eve, we gradually sell ourselves into greater and greater captivity to Babylon. Like the great Samson, she plucks out our eyes and slaps more and more chains onto our souls with each agreement to accept her indulgences ( Judg. 16). The thief becomes the slave of his accomplices; the adulterer becomes entrapped by his mistress, ever fearful of being exposed.
At first these offerings of Babylon seem appealing. The fruit looked pleasant to Eve; Delilah was desirable to Samson. A lie is often more appealing than the truth. It must be for you and me to believe it and taste it. When a person is offered cocaine for the first time, it comes with the promise of making him or her feel better—a false hope that is carefully prepared and presented to anyone who will taste it. The dealer often offers the first dose free of charge. Once it is tasted, the handcuffs are latched on, and the poor soul is taken into captivity.
We thought if we had enough faith, bad things would not happen to us — but they did. We were wounded badly. For some of us it felt like utter destruction with no chance for recovery; our emotional death was imminent. Where was God in all of this? How can this wound ever heal? Before we can begin to see the path to emotional wound healing, we must go deeper. Sessions in Pain pg. 212
Author’s Comments: We must go deeper, beloved, to understand the plan of God for our lives in the face of great pain. We must go deeper, beyond the physical and emotional, to breech the spiritual, and the eternal to find the peace we need to reconcile our pain with the love of God.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23 NKJV).
Living between murder and suicide is a temporary place; and one must eventually choose an exit. But there is a third door—the door to the Savior’s love! This door you can only access through faith. Sessions in Pain Pg. 80
AUTHOR’S COMMENTS: Beloved, sometimes there are no words, only prayer and faith, when hopelessness grips your heart. In this day when it appears that many are losing hope and carrying out desperate acts, I plead with you to join me in prayer for humanity to find the third door of the Savior’s Love.
Leaving Babylon pg. 124
Beloved, the veil has been torn, and you have been invited into the innermost chamber with God. It is the greatest of privileges bought for you with the blood of Jesus Christ. It is the very essence of purpose in our existence: intimacy with the Almighty (Matt. 27:50–51).
It is most crucial that you understand the relevance of the torn veil and the invitation to come closer to God. Soiled, fooled, and confused, humanity has been invited back into the presence of God. No longer is there a barrier between you and God. Jesus’s death represented the opening of the door to the holy of holies, the very presence of God.
Quietly and securely, you can come in. There is no need to compete with anyone else. He holds your treasure for you. No one can take it from Him. All you and I need to do is remember that God is holy, and you and I must decide to be holy in order to come into the Holy place and receive what He has for us. To compete or trust, to spend your life spinning the wheels of Babylon or fulfilling your great destiny in God, to live each day in fear of loss, or to live each day in the peace and safety of Christ— the choice is yours. The future is yours. Christ is yours.
As I recollect one of the greatest sorrows of my life in which I was betrayed by someone I dearly loved and trusted, I can vividly recall a voice in my spirit saying, “Now we’ll see what you really believe.”
Sessions in Pain pg. 48
AUTHOR’S COMMENTS: Whether it was done by someone you loved or by someone you trusted, betrayal exposes the foundation of our hearts. As the forces of evil entices us into strife through random and deliberate acts of violence, again we must face the question, “What do you really believe?” Will you surrender your will to Christ; praying for the nations to surrender their hearts to Him, or join the fight on human terms?
For He Himself is our peace and our bond of unity. He who made both groups—[Jews and Gentiles]—into one body and broke down the barrier, the dividing wall [of spiritual antagonism between us] (Ephesians 2:14 AMP).
Leaving Babylon pg. 30 That day in Eden, our relationships changed. The most significant change to our relationships was our unity with God was severed. This severing also led to a change in our relationships with each other. Before their choice of sin in the garden, Adam and Eve were unified with God. They walked with Him in the cool of the evening. Their thoughts were of perfect love and peace. Adam and Eve, being unified with God, loved each other perfectly and were as one flesh. They were naked, totally opened and exposed to each other, and unashamed.
Before the fall, both Adam and Eve answered to God. Their spirits were one with His, and there was no need for any other governing structure. God, man, and woman lived in perfect harmony, connected by the Spirit. As with all of creation, man and woman came into being by an act of the Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). God spoke, and the Son acted through the power of His Holy Spirit to bring it to pass (Gen. 1:2b). Being connected by God’s Spirit caused Adam and Eve’s motivation for everything to be based on love. There was no embarrassment or shame of being naked before each other. They were never insecure. They saw each other through the eyes of God, and they loved each other. Adam loved Eve as himself, and she loved him, understanding that she was a part of him and God—in perfect unity.
He who does not love does not know God, for God is love (1 John4:8 NKJV)
Our agendas can become perverted and destructive when they are not submitted to God. If we bring our issues to God, He will give us the discernment to recognize that we are not struggling against a person but against a spirit of destruction.
Sessions in Pain, pg. 113
Author’s Comments: It easy to get caught up in the race of this world without praying and inviting God into our plans. But after you have fallen into the pit of destruction a few
times, like me, you learn that Christ’s counsel on our agendas is priceless!
Commit your works to the Lord [submit and trust them to Him], And your plans will succeed [if you respond to His will and guidance].
Proverbs 16:3 AMP
Leaving Babylon pgs. 50-51
To gather those that would return to Him has been God’s unrelenting plan since our fall in the garden of Eden. We see His plan recorded throughout the Word of God. It unfolds in Genesis in the story of Noah, and it remains in John 17 in the great prayer of Christ.
Christ’s love for humanity is the most significant part of this plan. Without this critical piece, God’s plan of rescue for us could not exist. I invite you to ponder on Christ’s prayer to His Father in John 17.
In this prayer, Jesus lays out the plan of the Father for the gathering of His people out of this world. He comments on every aspect of the rescue of mankind. He begins by declaring that He would be departing from the world through His death, His death that would set the foundation of the entire plan of rescue. Christ continues His prayer with a heavy heart, knowing that as He leaves, we would be staying. Therefore, the provisions for our deliverance from Babylon must be completed.
Please come by and say hello and grab an ice coffee at the Broadway Cup ‘n Cork as I do a BOOK SIGNING for “LEAVING BABYLON”, next Saturday, June 18th, 2016, from 1:00 PM – 3:00PM.
Address: 100 Broadway Ave., Pueblo, CO
