The enemy convinces you that the only way to survive is to remain in a weakened state; he does not want you to know that Christ came to set the captives free. Perhaps you have come close to being set free and then retreated into your comfort zone because, just as the townspeople with the demon-possessed man, you are afraid of change (see Mark 5:1-20). I encourage you not to send Christ away but let Him set you free!
Sessions in Pain pg. 177
AUTHOR’S COMMENTS: My favorite quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. is, “Fear knock at the door; faith answered; there was no one there.” I encourage to not to stay bound by fear, but answer the door and Christ is faithful to set you free.
LEAVING BABYLON PG. 108
Our Lord God is calling us to a better way. He commands us to be a people of His love, and His love compels us to give our very lives to Him. His Love asks us to do the very opposite of what we have learned in Babylon. Give. Give of ourselves, our money, our time, and our gifts to whatever He has called us to give to. God calls you and me to see the weary and hurting souls around us every day and carry out His purposes for them.
If you will seek Him and His righteousness first; then all of the other things that Babylon would have you working yourself to death over will be added. But it will take faith—faith in the fact that His promises are the only promises that are true and reliable. Babylon will break her contracts with you when it means more profit for her. This is the foundational principle of her work ethics: to gain more profit. But God’s promises are ever faithful.
During this season of waiting, it is important to be careful to speak the Word of God concerning your situation. Speak words of life, not only to yourself but to your accusers also. Job answered his accusers with the Word of God.
Sessions in Pain pg. 163
AUTHOR’S COMMENTS: It is critical as you wait before the Lord for relief, for peace, or for resolution, to keep you spirit well fed in His Word and in Prayer. As your accusers condemn you hold to Him and fight, not with your emotions, but with His Word.
For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12 amp).
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.
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)
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).
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.
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.
