Standing Tall In Babylon - Part 2

We read this, we are very familiar with the passage, but they stood still, their faces

downcast. You're looking at two of the disciples who had a difficult time given what had happened.

Scripture doesn't say much about what was going on except this line. It's a very important

line. They stood still when Jesus asked them, what are you discussing? They stood still,

their faces downcast. And then as Jesus spends time with them and later on in verse 32, after

Jesus leaves them, they say, they asked each other, were not our hearts burning within

us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us from being downcast

because of what had happened to a place where the heart is set on fire. Some of the songs

we sang today were along the same lines. And this is something only the Holy Spirit can

accomplish in our lives, where he has the ability to come alongside me and you and say,

it doesn't matter what has happened, I'm with you and he can set my heart on fire. He can set

your heart on fire. And on one hand, we're going to continue on with standing tall in Babylon.

So if you did not tune into last week's message or you weren't here, please watch that, see that

so that there is context to what we are talking about today. So on one hand, we'll do this,

that our Jesus is someone who sticks closer to us than a brother. He sticks closer than anyone

else. And he knows how I think what's going on inside my heart. He knows how you feel. And he's

not measuring you for how you feel. He comes alongside you and says, I'll set your heart on

fire again. Because like one of the songs that Tony sang and the team sang, the fire that he

gives life to in my life, in your life, it doesn't burn out. Because it's not made of earthly stuff.

It's made in heaven, given to me by my father. So just want us to recognize that this is part

of the package he has for us that he's saying, don't be distraught. Don't be worried. I'm with

you. I'll set your life on fire. If you feel like you don't have fire, I'll set your life upon fire

again. If you feel like you're lacking something, you never have to go and beg someone, I will give

it to you. If you feel like you don't have enough, I am your provider. Yeah. So let's go back to

standing tall in Babylon. So we've been talking about Daniel and three young men from the tribe

of Judah, who along with about 15,000 others were taken to Babylon. And last week, we talked about

the fact that, yes, Babylon was a place, a real place with real people. But for us who live today,

it's really a parallel to what happens in our world today. That Babylon then was the second part,

let's say, of the Tower of Babel, where people got together and said, we want to build for

ourselves this city and we want to make a name for ourselves. That was Babel. And completely

opposite to what God had for them, because God's desire is to always be with us. His desire is for

us to be with him. And men in Genesis 11, they got together and said, we want to build it for

ourselves, for our name. And we don't want God. And it doesn't stop in Genesis chapter 11. We

Genesis 11 · chapter mention

read through different passages in the book of Daniel, only to see that the same Antichrist

spirit operated in Babylon like it operates in the earth today. And so the whole point is,

you see these four guys who stood tall with resolve in the middle of Babylon, even though

there was an imminent threat to their survival. Nothing was easy. If they said, no, no, I don't

like that, they could be killed. But in the middle of that opposition, these were four men

who found the ability to stand, not just stand, stand tall, being confident of who they served,

being confident of the father of the God that looked after them. And so the whole idea is,

how can we live today, knowing that this is how they live then? What are the parallels we can draw

from the story to be able to live like them today, pretty much in the same setting? It's more so how

we look at it that differs. Because sometimes we don't really understand that these things that

are happening all around us, they're systems that are carefully designed, carefully designed to

assimilate us to the ways of Babylon. They're put together, the specifications were laid out

in certain ways so that I begin to be indoctrinated by Babylon. So two things that Babylon wants of

you, Babylon wants you to be assimilated to its systems. Babylon wants you to be dependent on its

systems. Babylon wants you to be indoctrinated by the way Babylon is and Babylon things and Babylon

forces. That's all it wants. And on the other hand, there is our father who said, I put you in this

world to be a witness for me. That everything that you see around yourself is not from me. Those are

things of the world. But I have overcome the world already. And because I've overcome the world,

I want you to be of a specific type. I want you to carry my DNA. It's already in you, but you need

to stand and talk and walk like you have my DNA. Yeah. So that's a quick summary of everything we

covered last week. So let's move on from there. If I can get my laptop to open. A few points we

covered last week. I'll just read through it. Babylon cultivates a one among many mindset, right?

It cultivates in you a one among many mindset, meaning you're just one among many other people.

Oh, this is happening to them. This is what's happening in the world and I'm one among many

people. That's all it wants because our father has a different statement, a different banner

over my life, over your life. Babylon wants you to think that you're just one among many,

whereas our father wants you to know you are mine. You're special. I have a plan and a purpose for

you like no one else. Plan for me, the plans that God has for me is different from the plans that

God has for Rachel. It's different from the plans that God has for Kezia. It's different from the

plans that God has for Pawen. But all Babylon wants is to make each of us think that we're just

one among many. When the truth is that there is a specific divine purpose that I was born with.

There is a divine purpose that you were born with. And so it cultivates a one among many mindset

and it also spotlights human abilities instead of your divine mandate. That was one of the four

things we talked about last week. Number two, we said Babylon aims to seat you at Nebuchadnezzar's

table. What's the idea? Because Nebuchadnezzar offers all of these delicacies, all of these good

rich meat. It offers wine. And the idea is that you would sit there, but while you sit there,

you become tethered to Nebuchadnezzar in his ways. You become dependent on him and that's all that

he cares about. But these lads, they stood up and they said, no, our dependency is first and foremost

before anything else on the Lord we serve. And so they said no to the meat, no to the wine. And they

decided that we are not going to lower the threshold of our dependency on God. We are not

going to lower the threshold of godliness. So that was two. Number three, we talked about Babylon

designed to hijack your identity. It's designed, again, carefully drafted to take your identity

away so that it can be replaced with something else. We went through the four names, what they

actually meant and how the names that Babylon gave to them were contrary to what God has established

for them. That was three. And then fourth, it talks about Babylon morphing everything and anything

that is good and it's a counterfeit system where if there is wealth, well, wealth in itself is not

bad, but Babylon has the ability to change wealth, morph wealth into greed. At that point, it becomes

something that's wrong. Faith is great and it is from the Lord, but faith, when morphed, becomes

religion, legalism. So that's the whole idea. So the next thing I want to talk about is in Babylon,

so this is probably the fifth one, in Babylon, there is a frontal attack on your morality. In Babylon,

there is a frontal attack on your morality. So let's define morality. Morality is defined as

principles or values concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and evil. I'll

repeat it. Morality is essentially principles or values concerning the distinction between right

and wrong or good and bad. So when we live in earth today, in the context of Babylon, there is

always not a hidden attack, not a step from the back, all around us, a frontal attack on your

morality. And when I say morality, let not your minds just go to sexual morality because that's

the way to naturally think about these things when we talk about it. This is way beyond sexual

morality. This is values and principles that allow us to discern, differentiate between good and evil.

Right and wrong. So what does Babylon want? Babylon wants you to conform, to conform to its ways.

A couple more things here. See, morals or these principles or values that we talked about, they're

never to be loosely held beliefs, right? Because you can sometimes have, and I can sometimes have,

certain values that are loosely held. Where, you know, five months later, depending on the

situation there is, it could twist and change a little bit. White does not need to be gray or

black essentially. It can be slightly gray and no one even knows except your heart. The whole idea

again is in this particular world that we live in, everything wants you to conform to the ways

of Babylon to a point where it wants you to have loosely held beliefs, loosely held convictions.

It's great to be convicted of something today, but six months later when it's really challenging and

it doesn't really work all that great, can I force them to let go of his conviction? Can I force her

then to let go of her conviction? That's what Babylon wants. And so morals or principles,

as we call it today, or as we talk through this today, they're not loosely held opinions. They're

not loosely held opinions. They're not loosely held beliefs that are adaptable to circumstances.

Morals or principles are convictions based on what God has already said. So this book lays out

what morals I should have. This book lays out for me the value system that I am supposed to have.

If any of you are dating or wants to date a girl or a boy, this book must be in the conversation,

because you can have a lot of people these days who say that I'm a Christian. And the word

Christian means many different things to many different people. So if you were to ever get

married to a person, you better make sure that this book is the book that they're talking about

and saying, yeah, yeah, every line in there is what I adhere to. Every line in there is what I

believe in. Because you don't want six months later to find out that their interpretation of

something in here is wrong. You need to always be sure that this book dictates, not me, not you,

this book dictates how we live. And so they are not loosely held. These are convictions that are

based on God principles. So just like Babylon, not just like, Babylon has a value system,

but as I said, there's nothing original about Babylon. There's nothing original about Babylon.

Babylon looks at what heaven has and then tries to hybridize it, tries to modify it,

tries to make a copy of it that tries to operate in parallel to what God has. And I'll explain that.

So heaven has a value system. And this value system is clearly outlined in the word. And that

becomes the foundation on which I stand on, on which you stand on and say, these are the

convictions that I live by. These are the principles that I live by. It doesn't matter

where I am, what I am doing, who is watching, who is not watching. I live by these principles.

One of the things that I like to think about is we may think that we get uploaded in heaven

based on what people see. The truth is what heaven often sees is the exchange and the

transaction that no one sees. Don't forget that. Heaven marvels at what you have to say and speak

and do when no one is watching. And once we get that right, I really loved all of the songs today,

inside out. It's more about what's inside me that's important than anything outside.

And that's the question. What is happening inside your being? What's happening inside my being?

Where can we, like these four guys, say, I belong to this King who bled and died for me. He has

given me everything I need to live. And let me put it this way, a playbook, a set of rules,

a set of, and there's nothing wrong with using the word rules, a set of principles, a set of

commands, a set of do this, don't do that. Sometimes we just get into this thing of,

oh, well, religion is do's and don'ts. No, this is not religion. Bible is very clear about things

you should do and things you shouldn't do. You can't change that. It's just not going to be

changed. It is about a relationship before anything, but it also comes with a prescription

of how I need to lead my life. You can't throw that out. Yeah? And so, what are those convictions

that you and I will stand up for and say, it doesn't matter. I will still live by these things.

So, Babylon is affecting culture, art, politics, sports, finance, business, parenting, religion,

everything. Babylon has a counterfeit system for all of these things. And in the middle of all of

this, can I inspect my life, you guys the same, to say, Lord, any areas where things have eroded,

where my value system has eroded, where my principles have eroded, where my beliefs have

eroded slowly over a period of time, I take it back. That's the idea. And this is something that

you and I should do, take time and go through it, because there is much to be done here. So,

to live in the midst of a people and display your beliefs and actions that convey the God you

worship. That's the charge on our lives. To live in the midst of a people and to display the beliefs

that you have, to display in actions what you believe. That's the call. So, you see here in John

John 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1, Jesus says, come and see. Why? Because there is something about you coming and seeing.

Jesus says, you follow me, you come and see how I live. You come and see how I am in my house. You

come and see how I am with other people. You come and see. And so, there is no standing up for your

conviction unless you and I lead an open life. Jesus led an open life. Jesus led a life where

things were open. And the thing is, with Christians, it's sometimes we have the tendency

to whitewash things. It looks too good from the outside. That the world out there, they can't

relate to you anymore, because you seem to speak something. The vocabulary is so different. There

is nothing that ties in with what they have. You don't need to speak their words, but you still need

to be able to communicate authentically where you were and where you are. But we sometimes have the

tendency to say, everything is so good. God is so good. He just takes good care of me. So right,

He takes good care of you. But can you also say when it was difficult and how your God brought

you out? Because if all you have to say is, God just takes good care of me, that's good, but not

good enough. You have to also communicate to them, I went through a difficult time, but when I went

through a difficult time, this God who is good, this is what He did. And what that will require is

you will need to speak of things that you may not want to speak of. Now of course you use discernment

and wisdom to do this, but it is, it must not be and should not be a whitewashed story. Make sense?

Make sense? Because there is a tendency to do that and sometimes we don't do it with any bad

intentions. It's just that the kind of setup wants you to do that. You don't have to say it how it was.

Because that's when someone hears what you have to say and they say, wow, that's exactly how I am

feeling. I just didn't even know how to put that in words. But as you were talking, something

happened inside me. But you are preventing others from having that experience because you choose

just to say that the final outcome, the truth that God is good, but not necessarily explaining

to someone how God brought you out. So you must lead an open life. This is why Jesus said, come and

see in John chapter 1. Convey God in a way that impresses people around you to want to know your

John 1 · chapter mention

God personally. Convey God in a way that impresses people around you to want to know your God

personally. So that's one. Number two, sub point one. The second point within that is you're not

just communicating who God is and what he has done. You're also expected to intervene on behalf

of God here on earth. So when things happen all around us, we become a people who stand up with

our convictions, stand up with what we believe in, not by just talking, but also intervening. When

you see something where you know that this is not God, this is not his ways, you intervene.

There's something we looked at probably in 2022. Priests, they intervene. And the call that God has

over our lives is not, you know, who are we? We follow after the high priest. We are a royal priesthood.

And in this earth, we are supposed to follow after the one who has gone before us, who always intervened.

He intervened. He looked at what happened and he stepped in. He looks at the prostitute who was

going to be killed and he says, not caring about what people think about him, not caring about what

they're going to talk about him tomorrow. He steps in and says, that's the idea where you and I begin

to have this conviction build up inside us so much so that we become bold. We become confident to be

able to speak and say, this is not how my God is. This is not how he operates. And so let me tell you

how he works. Isaiah chapter 58 talks about different ways we can intervene. Isaiah chapter 58,

Isaiah 58 · chapter mention Isaiah 58:6

verses 6 and 7. Start off by practicing 6 and 7. You can do more, of course, but this is a good

pattern in terms of how to start. Intervene by practicing Isaiah chapter 58, 6 and 7. Break

Isaiah 58 · chapter mention

bondage, feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the naked with dignity and clothes, become

sympathetic, aware and available. Do not disdain or dismiss. Pour out your resources yourself,

plus more. But you can begin to intervene like this. You can begin to intervene in what's happening

in lives right around you and say, well, that's definitely not God. And when I speak, when I

communicate this, they may even get me wrong, but let me do it. They may not understand me,

but let me with the wisdom that God has given me, intervene because that is the mantle on my life

and your life, that you are someone who must intervene on behalf of the King here on earth,

only because this consumes you. Inside you is this great solid recognition that you are not of this

kingdom, that you are from another kingdom. And what is incident? We call it morals, principles,

but these are all such poor words to describe this. Inside you is conviction that your Lord

operates differently, that your father sees it differently. And when you do that, you then begin

to intervene in the different situations and people's lives around you. You are therefore an

instrument for God to intervene. You are an instrument for God to intervene on earth. And

the truth is you cannot intervene without being interrupted. You cannot intervene without being

interrupted and being foolish. In August, a couple of us from here, a couple of us went to Victoria.

And so we were in Victoria. We were going there for a particular thing, but felt that we should

go to the Legislative Assembly, right? You have in Victoria? Yeah. So felt like we should go to the

Legislative Assembly and sit there and pray for a bit. And so we went there, we sat down, we prayed

for a bit. No, before I say anything, let me tell you this. I'm not political. So I don't wear anything.

I'm just myself. So I don't know this or that is not my thing, but God intervenes. And I'll explain

it. So we were sitting there and suddenly my friend wanted to read out from the Book of Isaiah

in a particular passage. And so as she sensed it, we said, okay, let's read it and pray along this

line. And immediately understood that God was saying that something needs to happen here at the

Legislative Assembly so that certain people must come out and certain people need to be removed

from their places. And that sense grew bigger and bigger over a period of two or three minutes. And

so we didn't go there to pray that we went there to do something else. And so because this conviction

was inside us and growing, we said, let's pray for this. And I don't know much about the politics in

BC, the history, but I knew that there were two parties and the elections were going to happen.

But God was saying it's important that certain people need to be moved, removed for certain

things that I need to accomplish. This happens all across the earth. BC is no special. It happens in,

God determines who is in power, who is not in power. And so we prayed for probably three or four

minutes, not long at all, very short prayer. And we prayed that this thing will happen. And the

moment we stopped praying, not kidding you, the bell rang, the exact moment we stopped praying,

the bell rang. And for us, it was like, wow, there must be something to it. We were just told to pray

and we prayed and we left. Two days later, two or three days later, I'm at home and on the side,

I had the global TV thing. It's streaming and it said something that's never happened in BC happened.

And instead of, you know, two political parties, one party just imploded and another party came in,

all of the details to continue on from there. What's my point? God loves to intervene through us.

Now, I'm not saying it's only two or three people. This could have happened across BC for all we know

about him because he uses people to intervene. This is how he works. What business do you have

there? What business do I have there? But the truth is he is Lord over everything. When he is Lord over

everything and he chooses because he loves to use you and I, we just go on a ride with him.

Convictions. It doesn't stop with you saying something. It also has to do with you moving,

you being interrupted, you deciding to follow the call to say, here, I will make this statement and

I'll do it this way because that's the God you serve. You obviously don't want to because these

days you need to, you need to say it. You obviously don't want to take this pendulum and put this on

the other side because that's what happens in the States where it's very, it's different because the

fabric there has been so intermixed, religion and politics, it's wrong. But we serve a God who has

clear, precise plans for nations, regions, and he will do what he needs to do whether anyone likes

it or not to accomplish those plans. And he then chooses us and others like us who are out there

to say, come my people, I want you to do this and he does what he needs to. So it's not just

opening up your life, it's also intervening. So be the first person in the room to stand up

for the weak and the poor. Be the, here's another thing guys. See sometimes when we talk about the

weak and the poor, there could be a thing that, well, this is kind of a cliche. It's not a cliche.

The reason it's not a cliche is because Jesus said, when you do this to these, you're doing it for me.

To the least of you, when you do it, you are doing it for me is the words of Jesus. So it's

never a cliche to talk about poor and needy or homeless is one of the many things he said.

And so we can all start from one place or the other depending on what he tells us. What are the

areas where you decide you're going to take a stand in? What are the areas where you decide

this is something God has continued to talk to me about and therefore I choose to take a stand.

Be the first person in the room to run to provide help when someone needs help. Be the first person

in the room to speak up for someone who can't speak. Ezekiel chapter 20 verses 41 and 42.

Ezekiel 20:41

Let me read it. As a pleasing aroma, I will accept you when I bring you out from the peoples

and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. Listen to this. And I

will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations.

There is something that our father really loves to make you and I a sight for the nations because

the only way, not the only way, the way he uses his desired way to influence people and systems

out there is to make you and I a sight for the nations. And Babylon knows that. It knows that

its agenda will fall apart as soon as there is a people on earth who know that they have a

distinctive aroma about their lives and the whole system works together to stop that distinct aroma

from spreading because if it is not stopped then others will take hold of it. If it's not stopped

then others will smell it and when it smells good, when the thing outside is ugly and nasty and bad,

why would they not choose the ways of Christ?

So I should choose to stand and practice these convictions publicly

and if I choose to do this, here is what will happen. Number one, God will give you

favor with eunuchs in the system. Daniel chapter one. God will give you favor with eunuchs in the

system. These are ones who are waiting to side with righteousness. They haven't spoken those

words yet but they wait. They've been long waiting to side with righteousness and one that God raises

on his behalf. So when you take a stand, when you do what God wants you to do, you will soon realize

that there are eunuchs in the system who will take a stand and they are divinely placed in those

places so that they can work with you to accomplish what God wants to accomplish. Number two, a zeal

for God positions you in the center of your purpose. A zeal for God positions you in the center

of his purpose and let's go back to what I started with. A fire that he plans inside your heart.

That no man, no woman, no system can shut down because it's a fire that he has lit inside of

your heart. This is a fire that every son has. This is a fire that every daughter has. See,

the thing about our kingdom is unlike what I read last week where Nebuchadnezzar says if you have

this, this, this, this, this, and this, then you come. Unlike that, our father created us a certain

way because he wants these things to be accomplished through you and I and if I don't step up and do it,

if you don't step up and do it, then some things can't be done. He can do it with other people but

the way he expected you to do it through your life because it's different from anyone else's.

It can't be accomplished that way. Does that make sense?

It's not the objective. It is the way it is done. So what needs to happen through May's life

when May yields to that, it gets done a certain way. If May chooses not to, he can use Liny and

do that but the way it would have happened with May will not happen through Liny and this is the

pleasure of the father that when he made you, when it says I knit you, it's more than just knitting.

It's designing, crafting, everything detailed and he wants it to be done this way through you, through me.

So it should light up our lives because this is the son's inheritance. This is the daughter's

inheritance. That there are certain things that only you can do with him.

There are certain things that can only be done by you with him. You have to say it like that

because it's easy to also say well if you don't do it, someone else will. Yes, someone else will but

not the way it was meant to be done with you and so we have this privilege, don't we, that because

our father is someone who takes care of us, we can therefore enter into it and this is no tears of

no. This is Abba, I am ready. I'm ready. Recruit me. Train me. This is why a shepherd boy then says

in Psalm 18, with him I will run over this wall. With him I will because there is something about

people like ordinary people saying this I want. There is a grace that is poured from heaven. Trust

me, there is a grace that is poured from heaven when a son or a daughter says I'm ready. There is

a grace, an equipping grace, a grace that empowers you that is ready to be poured right over you.

Let's call it anointing. Ready to be poured right over you when you say this is me and I am ready.

Not because you have something to show for it, not because everything looks pretty but because

you're compelled by the fact that he made you and you are his. He is good. He has a plan. He won't

leave you. He will take care of you but he also has purposes through you and you say without knowing

much I am ready. Then is there a grace being out poured on your life?

True, right? This is what happened with all of the guys in the Bible. They weren't special

but when we take a stand things happen. Let me quickly move on to the next thing.

When, let's, let me read that verse in Daniel chapter 1.

Daniel 1 · chapter mention

Daniel chapter 1 verse 17. So by this time Daniel had already said no to the meat and the wine.

Daniel 1:17

The three guys with him stood with him and in verse 17 it says,

As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom and Daniel

had understanding in all visions and dreams. Verse 17,

supplies needed for tomorrow. God did this in verse 17. Daniel perhaps started seeing dreams

and started understanding dreams then and thereby and then on but he did not know that Nebuchadnezzar

in chapter 2 was going to have a dream. He did not know that he would be called upon to interpret

the dream but in him standing up and saying we can't do this because we survey God and we are

dependent on him. In him doing that right there was fresh supplies being poured into his life for

tomorrow. A tomorrow he had no idea about but a tomorrow that he was already being prepared for.

My first step of obedience, your first step of obedience gives you fresh supplies for tomorrow.

One of the one of the verses I love in the Bible is Psalm 127 verse 2. Some of you've heard this

Psalms 127:2

before. Psalm 127 meaning in in Wali and such. Psalm 127 verse 2, it is in it is in vain that you

Psalms 127:2

rise up early and go late to rest eating the bread of anxious toil for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Beautiful. Beautiful. It is in vain that you that you rise up early and go late to rest eating the

bread of anxious toil for he gives his beloved sleep. What does that mean? It means that there are

because we are positioned in Christ because he is taking us from one day to another. He is taking

us from one day to another day because we are under his covering. He can give you things you need

for tomorrow in your sleep that you don't need to wake up. You know don't stop waking up early.

You don't need to wake up early and go to bed late in anxious toil. That's the word.

You don't need to because he gives his beloved sleep. Meaning in your sleep he gives you what you need for tomorrow.

I love sometimes when I can't think about what I have to do tomorrow. Sometimes I'll tell

up Abba when I sleep can you just give it to me because that's a good way to do it. Hey it's a promise.

When it says sleep it's not just sleep. It's sleep plus everything you need for tomorrow because

without that you can't function tomorrow. Yeah so to his beloved he gives good sleep meaning

that plus all the cares of tomorrow already taken care of. Your first step therefore of obedience

deposits in you spiritual, physical. What are resources you need for tomorrow? Next.

Next. In Babylon the contention is for your worship. In Babylon the contention is for your worship.

Can we read Matthew chapter four verse eight? Matthew chapter four verse eight.

Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and

their glory. So obviously if the devil had to show Christ all the kingdoms of the world and glory it's

not a physical place right. It's more than that. So the devil took him to a very high mountain

and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and he said to him all these I give to

you or I give you if you will fall down and worship then Jesus said to him be gone Satan for it is

written you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve. The devil tried it with

Jesus. Can you believe it? The devil tried it with Jesus to see if Jesus would bow down

and it's the same spirit that tries it with men and women today to cause them to worship to bow down

to Babylon. In chapter three you see this image that Nebuchadnezzar set up and Nebuchadnezzar says

everyone must bow down to this image. For them it was a golden image made a certain way 60 qubits by

six qubits or something like that. It was structured a certain way was set up in the plane of Dura and

everyone was supposed to bow down and worship. For us it's not a physical image. There are as

I've been saying systems and dependencies that are being formed on earth to take your eyes off

of the father who made you so that you are beholding another image. That's the idea. Can I

take his eyes away from beholding the father that he created him to have him look over and over again

at another image? And that image can be different for different people.

As long as you're distracted from the person of Christ, as long as your worship that belongs to him

goes elsewhere it doesn't matter where. That's the agenda. And so I have to look at my life,

you have to look at your life and say where are these places where we look to sometimes?

One of the things that I really need help with is how I start my days.

Sometimes for me it's a struggle because there's this thing there is this thing that's just waiting

and there's a tendency to just open that and look at all of the things that happened in the last

eight hours when you were sleeping. You become what you behold. We have heard that so many times

that acts right? You become what you behold and the idea is to cause you to look at things,

at anything that's not him. So the contention is for your worship. Everything worships something.

Sorry, everyone worships something. There is no man on earth. You know it doesn't matter if they

say I don't believe in God or I believe in God. Every man on earth worships something.

The question is what do you worship? What do you worship? I want to read 2 Corinthians,

you can just listen to me, hear me. 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18,

2 Corinthians 3:18

and we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same

image from one degree of glory to another for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

So I am being transformed, we are being transformed from one image, from one degree of glory to

another by beholding Christ. And again going back to Daniel chapter 3, the whole idea is that you

Daniel 3 · chapter mention

would bow down to those images that is in Christ. There's another thing, another thing to keep keep

in mind there. You see in chapter 3 in the in verse 2 or 3, Nebuchadnezzar doesn't give a decree

a decree out to everyone to bow down before this statue or this idol or this image

before he calls a bunch of people together. He calls all powerful people in the kingdom.

He calls magistrates, people in the treasurers, he calls setraps, he calls you know people who

are ruling different promises. All those guys are fetched first. After that's done, then comes

if you don't bow down it'll happen. And that's what's happening in the world where these systems

are first brought into subjection. Economy, this education, that, this, the other. Once the systems

are put in place and that's bowing down to the idol, then you go after the men.

Because we have developed a system, man has developed a system for man to live in.

Its ways are a lot defined by the fallen man who chose to deal things a certain way.

But that's interesting, interesting to note because that's kind of the way it happened there.

First you bring those guys and then there is a decree sent out so that everyone else in the kingdom

will bow down.

Let's wrap up.

A couple things I'll just read out. I may have mentioned this last week.

I may have mentioned this last week. Babylon rallies to cast a shadow on the father.

Its attempt is to cast a shadow on the father.

We talked about worship, that Babylon is contending for your worship.

Look at what happened with Paul and Silas when they were in the prison act, chapter 16.

I think Tuni talked about this maybe a couple of weeks ago. When, when circumstances were against

them, you see them praying and singing hymns to God because they, they like David knew this, that

chains are not powerful in the presence of God. The gates of this prison, it's not powerful in the

presence of my king. And so you have something to stand on because while the world may think

it's foolishness, it is truly foolishness to think that the God you serve will break the chains off.

And that's the foolishness that the Lord loves because he does say, I choose the foolish.

I choose them. I choose the weak. I have to rush through this all. I'll move on to

the last couple of things. There is this, Iris and I, we are reading a book and there is a line

in the book that says this, men are God's method. Men are God's method. The church is looking for

better methods. God is looking for better men. Listen to that. When I first read it, it's like,

oh wow. Men are God's method. The church is looking for better methods.

God is looking for better men. I'll explain that. See, all these things that we talked about,

it has also infiltrated the church of Jesus Christ. There are so many churches where you look at how

can we bring people in and the first answers can be social media, advertisement, this, that. I'm

not saying some things are, you know, it's wrong or not. My point is it's not the way you do it.

You look through this Bible and you realize that God is not looking for methods in the world to

find and do what he wants to do. He's looking as it says in Psalm 14 verse 2. He's looking

Psalms 14:2

to see if there is one. And so let's look at our lives and say, God, I am your method.

I am your method. I am the one. We are the one. The method that you want to use to affect

the systems of the earth. I am your method. I'll read that again if you want to write it down

because I love it. Men are God's method. The church is looking for better methods. God is looking for

better men. So the question is, can we become the better man? Not as striving by ourselves,

but a giving up of our will so that the spirit inside of us, his spirit inside of us, will cause

in us, will cause things to happen in us that will have us be part of this thing that God is after.

There should be a cry, right, inside of you and I that says, Abba, I want to be your method.

Abba, this place where I work, I want to be your method. Abba, in this church, I want to be your method.

But we often looking for other methods. What can we do? What's the other method to do it?

When God is saying, you are my method. You are the one I need because once I have you,

I can take care of the rest. You don't need better methods. You don't need better strategy.

I am the strategist. I am the one who can do it, but I need all of you. Did we sing a song like

that today? Maybe, maybe we did. I need all of you. I need all of you.

Guys, this is something that, you know, I actually had more notes, so there could be a part three,

but no, this is it. We're finishing this thing. Jacob is back next week. But the whole idea being

we can do this, right, with him. Yes, because this is what our Abba loves, that we just join him and

say, yes, Father, I'm ready. And as I said before, when we say, and it's not news, it's not news to

us. This is not a new thing. There are parts of it that's conveyed differently to us, but it's

something we have known all along. And can we take an extra next step with him to say, I am ready for

the next step. I'm ready for this next phase, if you want to call it. I'm ready for the next

change when it comes to this in my life, in our lives. I'm ready for your adventures. I'm ready

for where you want to take me. I'm ready for it, Abba. And if you don't have what it takes, that's

great, because then it means that he can fill you up even more than when you feel like you have

enough. And as I said, this is for every single one of us. There is not one man or woman who is

exempt from this. And the degree by which you say, I want more, to that degree you get it.

It's his principle. You knock, it'll be open to you. You ask, it'll be given to you. This is how

he functions. And don't forget, you are his method. That's you. Yeah, let's pray. Abba, we

we need more. We need more, Abba. We are also prepared to give you more.

So on one hand, we know that we need more, more of you, more from you.

We hold that on one hand. In one hand, we say, yes, we need more. But on the other hand, we say,

we will give you more of us. Abba, we will take time to think about areas in our lives where

we have accepted the ways of Babylon. Only to now take a stand and say, no,

I belong to my king. I belong to a different kingdom. I have a fragrant aroma about me

that he has given me. And I will not let that to be extinguished. Abba, inside of our hearts,

you know that we desire to move into next things with you, whatever they are, different things

with different people. Abba, we don't have what it takes to do it, but come upon us and fill us,

light up our hearts so that this church, so that we become a people who is sold out for you.

That we move from one thing to the other, like it is written in Ezekiel, that we move from

angle deep to knee deep to waist deep to a point where we begin to just, we are overtaken by you.

We desire this, Abba. Give us this. So we go out into the world knowing that we

belong to your kingdom, not just knowing it, but now in a new way, in a strengthened way,

in a refined way, living out what we know is true. Help us. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen.

Okay, if you need prayer, there'll be someone to pray here for you. Otherwise,

have a good week, everyone. Jacob will be back Monday, or sorry, midweek.