Morning by Morning, January 29 - Out of Babylon, the Ways of the World
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are my Good Shepherd; let me hear Your voice and follow the leading of Your Spirit in these first moments of my morning in prayer with You. ...
"After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with splendor. He called out with a mighty voice, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! ... Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, 'Come out of her, My people, so that you do not take part in her sins, and so that you do not share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities" (Revelation 18:1-5).
"Babylon" seems to speak of the ways of the world, the flesh, and the devil. We are tempted to become a part of her, tempted to give in to her ways and compromise with our faith. Toleration can soon become participation. Then our participation requires our rationalization. And sooner or later, our rationalization will ultimately lead to feelings of condemnation. If it were possible, our regret and shame would finally leave us dejected and defeated in a pit of despair, believing we're only deserving of the sentence of our ultimate damnation.
But Your heart says, "No!" And Your Spirit says, "Come out of her, My people! Before your conscience is too seared and your heart is too hardened, before you've given over too much of yourself to the ways of this world so that it's almost too hard to turn back, come out of her and come to Me!"
There is no sin You will not forgive, no defilement of our spirit You will not cleanse (1 John 1:9). Like the loving father always longing for the return of his prodigal son, never giving up, never letting go, You're always reaching out to bring us back into Your embrace (Luke 15:11-24).
Lord Jesus, in one of Your final prayers in this world as the Son of Man in the flesh, You said to the Father, "I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but I ask You to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in truth; Your word is truth. As You has sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world" (John 17:14-18).
We live everyday in the midst of this broken, fallen world because that's where You've sent us. But You've never intended us to be overcome by the world. You warned of the challenges we'd face as we seek to stand firm in the faith and the truth of Your word, but also declared the power of Your grace to bring us through it all in final victory. You continue to declare, "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33, NKJV). Because You have overcome, we can overcome because we are in Christ and Christ is in us (Colossians 1:27).
So even as we live in the midst of the world, because that is our calling, bring us out of the ways of the world, cleansed from the defilement and free from the ultimate judgment of the world, because that is our destiny. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
My Friend, may you you be empowered to overcome and come out of the ways of the world, even as Christ in you shines His light to the world around you. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
Praying for you,
Tommy
Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257
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