Leaving Babylon pgs. 81-83

Cain’s choice led him to kill his brother. He chose to grasp jealousy over
repentance before God. We have learned in Babylon not to celebrate the accomplishments of others, even our own families, but to hate them because of it. Murder in humanity began with two brothers: one brother who would not celebrate the success of the other when he pleased God. Cain knew he had deliberately cheated in the eyes of God, and, yet, he would not celebrate his brother’s hard work and accomplishment.

Another sad by-product of jealousy is underdevelopment of a life. Engrossed in jealousy, Cain refused to develop the gift God placed in him. His eyes were fixed on his brother’s gift. He coveted what wasn’t his. God distributes gifts to each of us according to His perfect wisdom and love for us. He knows the purposes for which we were created: plans to give us a good future and a hope ( Jer. 29:11).

Many times we are like the child on Christmas day who wanted the toy car his brother received instead of the toy boat that he received. He could have learned and explored all of the things his boat could do. A boat can take you places that a car cannot. But instead this brother just sat and watched his brother play with his toy car. During this time, a seed of Babylon is growing in the heart of the boy with the boat. As the seed grows, it begins to manifest itself as small comments against his brother. Sometimes this seed would display as light jokes about the brother with the car. If left unchecked, these comments will grow into resentment and hatred until the boy with the boat is engulfed in the demon of jealousy. The boy with the boat may eventually seek to destroy his brother’s car or even his brother. Therefore, Babylon may be successful in leaving one gift dormant and another destroyed.

How often have we seen the story of boys with the car and boat played out in human affairs? It would be the story of Cain and Abel being relived over and over again. As a child, I wanted to sing like my sisters, but singing was not my gift. But I coveted the gift my sisters had. We had a singing group, and I wanted to sing the lead. On more than one occasion, I ended up embarrassing myself as I insisted on singing the lead in a song without the voice capabilities. Till this day people still laugh as they remind me about those songs I tried to lead. I am so grateful that the Holy Spirit finally got my attention and taught me about the gifts of teaching and writing that God had placed in me. I would not be writing this book today had I failed to respond to Him. My gifts would have lay dormant and undeveloped trapped by a jealous heart.

We see every day how Babylon thwarts the growth, development, maturity, and unity of the human race. She teaches us, “If I can’t have it, then no one will have it. If I cannot succeed, then neither will my brother.” She will never teach us to face our sin, repent, and do better the next time. She will never encourage us to lift our brothers up. She will only drag us deeper into sins of lying, resentments, murder, and cover-up as she did with Cain.

God warned Cain of the sin that was waiting, crouching at the door (Gen. 4:7), to destroy him, but he did not heed the warning and plunged headfirst into fratricide. He chose to believe this is how you get ahead—get rid of the competition even if he is your brother! After this horrible act, Cain went further into the sin of lying and covering-up. With each act of sin, Babylon sent more of her demons to accompany Cain. What began as a suggestion, from the demons of sloth and jealously, ended in Cain’s oppression with the demons of murder, lying, deceit, guilt, and any other demon Babylon could send to torment him.

In believing the first lie, he brought a curse on his life and found himself alone and afraid. We can never cover up our sins from the eyes of God, and we can never isolate our sin from the manipulations of Satan. There will always be consequences for our deceit. Only under the blood of Jesus Christ are our sins truly covered.

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In loving each other I go through for you and you go through for me as we all come into the unity of the Spirit. I wait because of you and you wait because of me. This is our second most important work on the planet! We rush around everyday doing and doing and miss loving.

Sessions in Pain pg.185  I go through for you

Author’s Comment: During this Christmas Season, remember to love along the way. From the cashier at the check-out to the little one who wants to play a silly game, take the time to spread His love.

“And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself”. Matt. 22:39

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Leaving Babylon pgs. 74-76

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. (Romans 12:2, nlt)

Another common and great sorrow of the stagnation in Babylon is living your entire life with a warped and twisted will—a will born out of the wounds, failures, and disappointments of this world. You are naturally a product of your experiences. Your experiences mold your drives and desires into your will. Your will directs you down certain paths. The hope of your will and the tragedy of your will is that it is free. It is free to move you in whatever direction you desire. God will not violate your will; that is His gift to you, and Satan cannot.

The hope of human free will is that, in the midst of all of the pain and suffering we encounter in our lives, we can choose God; and the tragedy of human free will is that, in the midst of all of the pain and suffering, we can choose evil. The very definition of freedom is the ability to choose. Whether we are in the swamp or the River, we face choices every day that are weighed and decided upon by our wills.

Your will can carry you to heaven or hell. It is the single most important aspect of you, not God or Satan, but of you, which determines your destiny. I have seen men and women rise and fall because of this single aspect of themselves known as their will.

Although you may try to hide it or make it appear to be what it is not, your will will show itself eventually. It is fashioned out of the way you think, out of the way you have learned to process the world as you grew up in Babylon. The question is, can you face your will? Can you look it dead in the eyes and see what it is, what it wants, and what drives it?

For many of us, the answer to what drive our will are fear, lust, greed, or pride—oh yes, always pride! These, the crops of Babylon, are ever seeking to drive the wills of humanity.

Also, in the contest to drive our will is our heavenly Father. He sees our warped wills, and His desire is to cleanse our minds. Unlike Babylon, His purpose is founded on love. It is God’s love for us that began His plan to save us and heal our destructive wills. His desire is to restore us to Himself through the cleansing of our minds and the redirection of our wills. He desires for us to take on His good, acceptable, and perfect will for our lives. This is the abundant life that Jesus talked about. Jesus laid out a vivid contrast of His will versus the will of Satan for humanity. Jesus taught that the will of the thief is to kill, steal, and destroy us, but His will is that we might have an abundant life—a life that lacks nothing ( John10:10). But the decision for which will will drive our lives lies in our will, our choice.

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In seasons of pain, disappointment and tragedy, we struggle so much with the question of God’s love for us, His concern for us and His promises to us. For a Christian friend to point out what they feel our life should be in God, in contrast to our current situation, is often unbearable. This is why so many run away from the Church at times like these.

Sessions in Pain pg. 126 Unconditional Love

Author’s comments:                                                                                                       Beloved, I encourage you at such times to tune into the One voice of the Savior who loves you unconditionally. Don’t run away from Him but into His arms where you can rest, finally rest, in His unconditional love.

” But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom.5:8

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Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.                —Psalms 27:10 (nlt)

Leaving Babylon pg. 125                                                                                                 
Engaged to the spirit of competition is her undercover sister, insecurity. Let us park here for a moment and expose this one. This offspring of Babylon hides very well. She thrives behind the walls of denial that we erect every day as we interact with each other. She is usually the foundation of strife in many human relationships. She opens the door to stifling and paralyzing fear, keeping us from reaching for our destinies and causing us to thwart anyone else who would dare reach for theirs. When all is said and done, these watchmen of Babylon keep us in a state where it is almost impossible to have good and healthy relationships with anyone.

Every day we see the headlines reporting the horrible crimes and terroristic acts we commit against each other. We hate and destroy each other, often for causes that rarely make sense to the ones who have been injured or hurt. Men and women are continuously afraid of things that have been whispered into their imaginations. We act on the dictates of ghosts. Afraid to trust, afraid to love, we hide from each other, displaying a facade of who we wish we were.

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The interesting thing about experiencing shame is that it somehow liberates you to a new place; you no longer feel the need to ‘put on airs’ after you have been exposed. There is no longer a need to pretend or ‘keep up with the Jones’ because everyone knows your truth.

Sessions in Pain Pg. 85

As difficult as it may seem, being exposed is a great relief. Keeping secrets and hiding sin is hard work. Jesus taught us the awesome Word that the “truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Be free, beloved…

Be free!

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Leaving Babylon: pgs. 45-47.

We grew up in Babylon, and her teachings pervaded every aspect of our existence. She taught us how to relate to our parents, husbands, sisters, brothers, children, friends, and coworkers. She redefined our families. Her rules reigned in the workplace. Babylon always taught us the easiest way to have relationships — the paths of least resistance, which was the most pleasurable to our flesh. She instructed us in selfishness and greed. She coached us in deceit. We saw how easily it came to our children. They learned to lie as early as they learned to speak. Many of us can recall asking a child as young as three years old if they took some candy or other desirable item that was pleasurable to them, only to have them respond with, “no,” as we see the sticky residue of the candy on their face and hands. As early as possible, our lying mother prompted us into the darkness, for she hates the light of truth.

This lying mother instructed us how to prosper and to love money and power over people. She taught us that worldly success is the most important thing, and anything and anyone are expendable in obtaining it. She taught us that God will not help us. Therefore, we must help ourselves. Lies are the foundation of her curriculum.

The sweet milk from the breast of Babylon is more addictive than any drug or habit that we could ever indulge in on earth. In fact, these things are only by-products of her milk. The greatest power of her breasts is twofold for humanity.

First, is the power of her camouflage. Her breasts appear beautiful, and her milk tastes sweet. She must hide her true self from us, because as long as we live on the earth, we have free will to choose her or God. She knows this. Therefore, she must keep us deceived until we die, and then her master can claim us for eternity.

The second is the power brought to her because of mankind’s vulnerability when we were separated from God. Without God, we are totally exposed and helpless before her evil. We were born into sin and helpless to fight it. We are like babies born on crack cocaine—craving the poison that kills us. The only tools we have to work with came because of God’s mercy. It is our free will and the measure of faith, He has given to all human beings, to believe the truth and be saved.

The choice is yours. It will take that measure of faith to release the breasts of Babylon and reach for the one true and living God who sacrificed His Son to save humanity. It is only through the light of God’s Word that we can discover her lies before it is too late.

Will you trust Him? He awaits your decision.

Picture: Mother Gothel goes evil – Disney’s Tangled.

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Pain is spiritually therapeutic in that it quiets and humbles our flesh. Sometimes, true humility comes when we have no arguments left to defend ourselves against the “Eliphazes”—when only God alone can redeem us. Humility before God is a good thing, but self pity and listening to the voice of despair is not.

Sessions in Pain pg. 129  Humility Therapy

Author’s Comments:

Eliphaz was the “friend” of Job who repeatedly accused him of sin as the reason for his suffering. I believe that God deliberately brings us to the place of emotional exhaustion through the Eliphazes or situations in life – it is a place where we surrender our human fight and take up the Sword in our spiritual fight. We finally bow our heads to the Rescuer of our souls…

And rise up in power!

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Leaving Babylon pgs. 36-39

That day in Eden, our hope changed. Hope is our feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. Hope is our grounds for believing that something good may happen. Hope is our feeling of trust. This comforting and reassuring ingredient of the human heart was forever altered that day in Eden. It was the day we were introduced to doubt, unbelief, and despair.

Hope is what we owned in Eden. It was created within our essence as children of God. With that hope came a perfect peace in our souls and spirits as we were united with our Father God. The hope that we had in God left no room for worry, for we totally trusted that He would be there for us.

Before sin we were blessed by God and given a fruitful and abundant plan for our lives. In addition, we had God’s complete approval. We had the protection, support, assurance, and love of the Creator of the universe. We lived in complete peace and joy and had great hopes for the days ahead. We had no fears about tomorrow, for God was with us. He was our hope, He blessed us and saw us as good, according to Genesis 1:28 and 31.

After our sin, our hope and peace was arrested and replaced with all types of fears and stresses about the days ahead. We began to live each day with overwhelming insecurity—afraid of everything and everyone under the sun. We became consumed with the thought of losing what we had gained the day before. This led to arguments and fighting with our fellow man about the essentials we needed for life. Before our sin, there was always enough, for God saw to it. But after our sin, the fear of starvation, homelessness, and mistreatment were ever with us. Our hope was based on our own strength instead of God’s (Gen. 3:17–19, 23–24).

Through thousands of years of struggles, we have learned that living is about more than having comforts to our flesh for the day or having the “knowledge of good and evil.” It is about hope for tomorrow—a secure hope that cannot be stolen, destroyed, or lost to despair. We have learned the value of living in peace—the peace that we lost in the garden when we gave away our hope.

We had relinquished our hope to an evil taskmaster— someone who hated us as much as he hated our Creator. This is the definition of true hopelessness, to exist in the hands of evil with no way to rescue yourself or for anyone to rescue you. There was no one in the entire human race who could stand up to the evil we chose in the garden. We were utterly hopeless until God sent Jesus Christ! Jesus restored our grounds for believing! Jesus restored our Hope!

Because of Jesus, we can now hope in the glory of God. Our fears and insecurities can be arrested as we turn our lives over to Him. Jesus replaced our hopelessness with His glory! He makes our lives symbols of praise, worship, and thanksgiving to God. In His glory, we can enjoy magnificence and great beauty, as He restores to each of us the distinctiveness for which we were created. Hope lives in God.

We do not have to exist and die unfulfilled and blending in with the common sorrows of human living. He calls us out of Babylon to our hope and destiny. He takes the broken pieces of our lives and makes them into icons of His glory on the earth.

Our lives are like a beautiful vase originally designed to hold the glory of God. But then we were smashed to pieces by the hands of cruelty—our glory and hope lost to us. Then came the Potter, the Creator of the vase, offering to restore that which was broken and filling us again with His glory.

Some dear friends of mine capture the essence of the lost and restored hope and glory of humanity in the artwork and poem below. The drawing is the work of the artist Kay Singleton, and the poem is by her mother-in-law, Gaylee Singleton.

The Blue Vase

A beautiful Blue Vase, treasured and loved made to adorn the Master’s house.  A beautiful Blue Vase, stolen and cast to the ground by a stranger’s cruel hands       Broken, shattered in so many pieces. The beauty of the Vase as it was before. No hand of man could ever restore        

A beautiful Life treasured and loved. Made to adorn the Father’s house. A beautiful Life stolen, bruised and abused by this life’s cruel hands. No hand of man can heal this wounded heart, Can mend the broken life and make the vessel whole again.

 But God is not a man. He alone can do what no other power can! He alone can bind up wounds, can heal, restore a broken vessel, shattered life or wounded heart.

He can find each piece, gently bind it in place, and make it more beautiful than ever before. Till once again a vessel pure, treasured and adored.

A multifaceted work of art, sparkling all around. A vessel filled with light and love will now adorn the Father’s house. A vessel f it to show the World

The handiwork of God!

(Gaylee Singleton, “The Beautiful Blue Vase”)

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