Faith Fights

Leaving Babylon pgs. 123-124

Competition becomes irrelevant in Christ because Jesus holds our treasures. He knows that our bodies are weak and perishing, yet He chooses to dole out His light, His knowledge, to us. He died so that you could have all that the Father has for you. When He died, the veil separating the holy of holies from the rest of the temple of God was torn in two, and you were invited in into His presence to receive directly from Him and to live in true freedom and according to His purposes. No one can have your purpose. God designed it and keeps it just for you (2 Cor. 4:1, 7).

In the other system, Babylon would make you scratch,struggle, and compete to receive good things. The problem is magnified by the fact that our bodies are decaying more every day. Each day we grow older and weaker, but the battle remains just as intense, or even more intense than the day before. Logic dictates that without help, you and I will one day lose the battle in Babylon. Someday someone will be better, stronger, and faster than you. It is just a matter of time. There is no game plan you can create that will keep you on top in this world’s system. When you are used up, she will retire you or toss you aside for the younger model. Remember, she is all about profit for herself, and if someone else has a better plan for her to gain more, she will replace you. There is no loyalty in her ranks.

In deepest contrast is the plan of God for you. He calls you to His great purpose, and as you grow older, you grow stronger in Him. As you walk with God through life each day, you become more sound and mature in His Spirit. When it is time to leave a work, you will leave fulfilled and ready to move on to the next work, or even to your heavenly home. You will be able to claim the same words as the apostle when his life was coming to a close, I fought a good fight, I finished my course, and I kept the faith! (2 Tim. 4:7).

{ 0 comments }

STANDING!

Job declared in chapter 23 that, “He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold” (verse 10). There is a place where God tries you and tests you so that He can bring the impurities in your soul to the surface in order to deal with them.

Sessions in Pain pg. 165 When He has tested me.

 Author’s Comments: How well do you stand up under testing? A friend once told me, “If you’re squeezed and lemon juice comes out you must accept the fact that you are a lemon!” I found that God will allow squeezing in your life to show you yourself.   Not to shame you, but to bring  you to a place of allowing  Him to work in you.

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Phil. 1:6 NKJV

{ 0 comments }

According to Genesis 3:17–18, that day in Eden, our planet changed and, with it, our lifestyle. The earth was cursed along with Adam. It is important to group the changes on planet earth with the changes in the way of life for humanity, as these changes go hand in hand.

Before, we were kings and queens who walked the earth free of stress and toil. Our food was made available to us by God, freely. God gave man work to do, but it was stress-free, peaceful work. He was to care for a beautiful garden. Springs of water came up from the earth and watered the vegetation for there was no rain. Man’s work was enjoyable (Gen. 2:5–6). There was no need for clothing or shelter, for we were clothed in the glory of God. The earth’s climate was perfect for human life. Humanity was created to live stress- and worry-free.

We should not be surprised at all of the human ailments that are related to stress. In medicine, there is a whole category of disorders call psychosomatic illnesses. These are illnesses that cause physical symptoms and diseases but have their origins in mental stressors. From heart disease and obesity (the two major killers in the United States) to headaches, ulcers, many types of psychiatric disorders—all have been found to be related to stress in our lives.

After our choice to sin, the planet was changed and, with it, our way of life—from peace to pressure.

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:57). (ADDED 1.29.16)

{ 0 comments }

BUY BOOK: LEAVING BABYLON

Leaving Babylon pgs. 131-132

In addition to the issue of her lost beauty, Eve pines for the attention and love of Adam. After the curse, her eyes were turned from God to Adam. “Yet your desire and craving will be for your husband, and he will rule over you” (Genesis 3:16b, amp). She longs for him to notice her and for him to tell her she is beautiful. Eve competes with her sisters for his attention. They all pine after Adam and fight as the spirit of insecurity dictates to their hearts. She longs for him, desperately, although he is imperfect and will eventually hurt her. He rules over her with flaws. Adam does not always hurt Eve intentionally; he will hurt her because he, too, is cursed. He must work by the sweat of his brow to provide for Eve and his family, but the provisions will elude him, for the world is fallen. What was given to him in the garden must now be worked for. We will explore his curse later.

Previously, Eve was infused with the Holy Spirit, and, therefore, she had all of the perfect attributes of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22–23). She was balanced in her love for Adam, because her first love was God, and she believed in His perfect love for her. She loved Adam through the love of God, peacefully and fulfilled. She put no pressure on him, because God was her source of provision and security.

In Babylon, Adam is burdened with trying to please Eve who is never satisfied. Eve is ever nagging him to do better and to perform for her, to love her better, to protect her better, and to make her more secure. Adam tries, but he can never fulfill the longing in Eve that was once met by God in the garden.

Sometimes, Eve becomes bitter because Adam has disappointed and hurt her too many times. In Babylon, she learns to resent and sometimes hate Adam. She continues to pine for Adam, but she is afraid of him and, therefore, walls herself in to protect herself.

Now as Eve lives afraid and walled in, Babylon offers her ways to control her life and the people around her. As her heart craves the imperfect and fallible Adam, she learns to lie and manipulate him, believing this will help her feel safe as the spirit of insecurity is her constant companion.

{ 0 comments }

You, too, can become a champion of God! The journey is difficult and takes all of the faith you can muster, but do not be discouraged. You have enough faith; we all have enough, for God has given to every one of us a measure of faith.

Sessions in Pain, pg. 31 A Measure of Faith

Authors, comment: Your faith may start tiny and trembling but hold to it, and fight for it in prayer. Christ is faithful to grow it into a strong and productive tree with branches that will shade others and produce the sweet fruit of the Father!

{ 0 comments }

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.

{ 0 comments }

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

{ 0 comments }

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.

{ 0 comments }