God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness…
I was a marine on aboard a navy ship on a military operation. I remember attending a roll call late one night on deck. It was the blackest night I ever witnessed. Not a light on the sea. Not a star, couldn’t see the moon, nothing, totally black. The lights on the deck of the ship were dim.
This was my first time on board a ship. Space was cramped, and the sailors curse and cursed and cursed constantly.
Sometimes, you can find yourself in a black place surrounded by blackness and bleakness on all sides.
The vast empty void
I imagine when God created the heavens and the earth, he looked at the vast empty void that was full of darkness, a watery abyss. The Bible says the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the deep. The Spirit of God moved upon the waters.
God said, “Let there be light: and there was light. God saw the light that it was good.”
Look at 2 Corinthians 4:6,
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath light in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
Keep looking into the face of Jesus Christ for answers
2 Corinthians 4:7
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”
The answer is in your heart and mouth!
“… Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (That is, to bring Christ down from above:) or, who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart, that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto righteousness.” Romans 10:6a-10
God had delivered you from the power of darkness and translated you into the kingdom of his Son Jesus Christ!
1. You have obtained an inheritance, Colossians 1:12, which includes resources to help you defeat your enemies!
2. Jesus came to earth to destroy the works of the devil, 1 John 3:8. Also see, John 12:28-32
3. Jesus paid for our redemption in full on the cross. All his suffering on the way to cross, at the cross, and on the cross was designed by God for us! See Isaiah 53:10.
His suffering in hell was for us. This is why Jesus could say, “I have the keys of death and hell.” Revelation 1:18
Jesus went into the blackness and the deepest part of hell and conquered the devil, Ephesians 4:8-10!
There is no place where Jesus isn’t Lord and master! He fills all things!
Jesus tasted death for all people, Hebrews 2:9
“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Hebrews 2:14-15
4. Jesus is the light of the world. Those who follow him shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life, John 8:12
5. Light shines into darkness, and darkness can not put it out! John 1:1-5
Truth
The power of darkness is in its ability to deceive you out of something. To take by convincing you that you have no power, no authority, no rights, and no choice!
God calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light, 1 Peter 2:9
We have obtained an inheritance. Inheritance is “substance” that has been willed to us by God. This includes resources that will help you defeat your enemies!
King David’s testimony of deliverance
Psalms 40:1-5
– God brought him up from a horrible noisy pit and miry clay, set his feet on a rock. Put a new sung in his heart
-How to walk, live, and abide in the light: Read John 12:35-36,
“While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light…”
Exercise
Confess:
I am born again, child of God. I am blood brought and blood washed. I have been delivered from the power of darkness. I am in the kingdom of God’s dear Son. Darkness, I renounce you in the mighty name of Jesus. I take my deliverance by faith!
“Men do not despise a thief, if he steals to satisfy his soul when he is hungry; BUT if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.” Proverbs 6:30-31
If the thief be found, HE SHALL RESTORE SEVENFOLD!
The big question that we struggle with, WHO IS GOING TO MAKE THE THIEF PAY BACK?
The Answer:
“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always have all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”
How:
“And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.” Psalms 9:8
“But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setters up another.” Psalms 75:7 (KJV)
“For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red, it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.”
“Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.” Psalms 9:19 (KJV)
“The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and the nations that forget God.” Psalms 9:16 (KJV)
“Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.”
You must have faith in God’s system
“O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained.“ Psalms 8:1-3
Ordained means, “yasat”, appointed, established, founded, foundation, set, ( Source; the Bible with Strongs #H3245)
Psalms 8 is very powerful chapter. However, Jesus uses this verse to illustrate the power of God to use little children to overthrow the works of wicked crooked people and bring forth the system that he put into operation in Genesis 1-2.
According to Matthew 21:12-16, (KJV)
Jesus kicked out the thieves out of the temple. Jesus sat daily and taught the people. The blind and lame came into the temple and he healed them. Think about the millions and billions of dollars made off of sickness and disease, yet God has already made provision for the lame and blind to be healed. These people didn’t have to pay a dime for their healing. Scriptures declare,
“… the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5
“And when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and they said unto, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?”
The God created the heavens and the earth to be a mirror of his glory. The system of creation was set in placed, “ordained of God.” A system was set up from the beginning and it is still fully functioning. A river went out of Eden to water the garden and it became four rivers and flowed into the earth.
The temple was to be reproduction of the Garden of Eden. God’s life flowing into the temple out to the people. Ezekiel 47:1-12 is a prophetic image of the temple functioning as the garden of Eden.
Thieve got into positions of power and began masking the purpose of the temple. They turned the temple into a money making operation, profiting off of the people’s misery.
Once Jesus drove the thieves out of the temple and RE-STORED God’s system people were healed and the little children began crying out to God in worship.
God had to by-pass people who have become compromised by the system of man. God worked through little children to manifest his glory. The scriptures declare,
“Let everything that had breath praise the LORD.”
“He created ALL THINGS and for his pleasure are and were created,” Revelation 4:11.
Praise is the saving health among the nations. When you praise God, you acknowledge him and his righteousness.
“Let the people praise thee, O God; let the people praise thee. O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon the earth. Selah.” Psalms 67:3-4
It was always God’s will for the nations to glad and sing for joy. But presently, the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) turns the nations into wilderness and will not open the doors of his prisoners, Isaiah 14:17.
You have to appeal your case before God
Parable of the wicked Judge, Luke 18:1-8
I had four tires stolen off my car in my driveway in the middle of the night. When I got up in the morning, my car was sitting on bricks. It was a rental car. I didn’t file a police report or an insurance claim. I was in the middle of a hard place. I went to several tire shops and everybody wanted cash, no credit cards. I went to a Good Year shop and they just happened to have four tires with rims setting in the shop. It cost me $2,100.00 to replace the tires and the rims on a rental car. I was extremely angry and mad. But I knew enough to appeal my case before the God of heaven and earth.
God answered my claim for justice. This initial claim for justice opened so many other doors. I am claiming justice and judgment in situations where my ancestors were denied justice and judgment. I am claiming sevenfold of all that were stolen from them. I am claiming sevenfold return from all that has been stolen from me through false insurance claims.
In the parable of the wicked judge in Luke 18:1-8,
Jesus taught a very powerful lesson about trusting God and having faith in his system.
“And he spake a parable unto them to this end that man ought always to pray, and not faint.” Luke 18:1 (KJV)
Jesus said people ought to always pray and not faint. Prayers don’t get fully answered because people faint in the beginning or in the middle of the process of justice! A widow woman, probably the most disadvantaged citizen in any country, sought justice from a wicked judge. A judge who didn’t fear God or man. She kept pressing for justice. She wore the judge down through persistent pursue of justice and she won her case. Jesus said,
“And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:7-8.
We look at our bills and our pay check and there is not enough to cover the cost of living because its been stolen through flawed and deceit. Have faith in God! Have faith in his system!
Grace & peace
Where is your treasure?
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal.”
The other side to this set of instructions are, don’t store your treasures on earth, For where your treasure is there will be your heart also.
Theft touches everybody everywhere, no matter who you are and what you do, thieves will rob you because all theft originates spiritual. We have stolen from God!
People steal because it is in their nature to steal. You might not steal candy from a candy store but you might sleep with your neighbor spouse. You might take office supplies from work or cheat on your taxes.
‘You are not your own. You are brought with a price.’ 1 Corinthians 6:14-20
God hates theft
“For I the LORD love judgment,I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.” Isaiah 61:8
The cost of theft is pass on to everybody through higher insurance rates and the cost of goods sold.
I am making less and paying double and sometimes triple the cost of goods sold three years ago. For example, I’m paying 5000 a year in auto insurance what use to be 2000, which the high end of insurance rates because I live in Detroit.
I learned years ago while serving as a police chaplain, there are rings of thieves. Gun rings, drug rings, and prostitution rings.
Jesus exposed a den of robbers operating in the temple of God. The thieves operated under the direction of the chief priests out of the temple. The thieves made money called money exchangers. They made money selling animals to be given to the priest as sacrifice.
Jesus dealt with thieves in the temple, John 2:13-17
He found them (a) that sold oxen and sheep (b) those who exchanged money.
He made a whip (a) drove them out of the temple (b) he poured out the exchangers money and he overthrew their tables
I hate robbery for burnt offerings, Isaiah 61:3
Will a man rob God? This whole nation has robbed me? You are cursed with a curse! Malachi 3:8-12!
People don’t understand God’s system. It is a partnership. It was created to be an irrevocable partnership! You have to “give” God the fruit of partnership!
Den of robbers, Jeremiah 7:11, “Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?”
Den of robbers– Matthew 21:2-16
Jesus loves the thief, he hates the sin. He was crucified between two thieves. One found fault in Jesus, the other asked for mercy and found it.
“I call heaven and earth to recored this day against you, that I have sat before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: that thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” Deuteronomy 30:19-20
God has restored the tree of life. That gift is found in John 3:16, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.’
According to John 4:14, ‘the gift of God is a well of living water springing up in everlasting life. It satisfies every thirst and hunger.’
The problem that most people encounter when it comes to receiving the promise is faith. They don’t know how to partake of the promises or the power!
The Spirit ofPoverty
Ephesians 6:10-12, says our warfare is not with flesh and blood, but against spiritual principalities, powers,rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places.
The spirit of poverty is a personality that strips the soul of any spiritual or moral value.
There are many battles being fought:
Battles of the soul– People who are inwardly tortured, suicidal, bipolar. Mark 9:14-29, young man who was thrown in the Fire and Water.
The man crying night and day in the graveyard and cutting himself with stones, Mark 5:1-19
Outward battles– prince of the power of the air! Demonic influences in and over communities. Matthew 4:16 (KJV) “The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.”
Battles of between the flesh and spirit– Romans 8:5-10
Spiritual battles– Jesus said, Luke 10:18, ‘I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning’
Cultural battles– The Hebrew & Greek widows, Acts 6:1
Corporate Battles– Union fighting against the move of God, Acts 19:1-41
Political Battles– Herod sought to kill Jesus when he was born! He murdered all the children two years and under that where in Bethlehem, and the coasts, Matthew 2:11-18
Racial Battles– The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans, John 4:9
Family Battles- Genesis 25:19-23
We are confronted with the same spiritual forces of darkness that our fore-fathers struggled against.
One common excuse I heard as a chaplain in the jail & prison ministry, “I sold drugs to put food on the table. I stripped houses to buy diapers. I gambled my retirement, pension, disability, and social services check to hit the lottery for millions. I’m waiting on my favored number to hit. If you don’t play, you can’t win.”
Global forces of the spirit of poverty, which is of the “power class” of the demonic power structureis driving population shifts
We are in a season where there is a massive flow of people! People are on the move! The spirit of poverty strips people of resources and the ruler of the darkness of world are pushing people into prostitution, sex trafficking, political corruption, drug dealing and much more!
Decisions are being made in high places. The Whore of Babylon, the kings of the earth and merchants are fornicating in high places. They are plotting and planning global commercial endeavors.
“For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.” Revelation 18:3 (KJV)
Watch population shifts– During the late 1880s Europeans migrated to the United States from many different parts of the world bringing their cultures with them. In Detroit, these nationalities were separated into different parts of the city.
During 1900s, stories of extreme poverty had rooted itself all over the nation, especially in the south. You heard stories of extreme poverty but you rarely heard stories of people who honored God, applied his word and prospered. People were pushed into the darker side of life. People prospered off of vice. Their prosperity was always temporary. They had to plunge deeper into darkness in order to sustained the flow of income.
I was born in Detroit Michigan. My father and his brothers migrated from Granada Mississippi to Detroit to find work in the car factories. They were running from racism and economic hardships. The Detroit Rebellion of 1967 was a manifestation of the frustration many felt during those times.
The forces of global of economics
During the 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, even into the 90s, the spirit of poverty drove people into darkness. The lifestyle of pimps and drug dealers was glorified as a way into riches.
Growing up in the north exposed you to a different kind of racism called corporate greed. The system provided certain population groups enough education to work as a laborer in the automobile plants.
As a young Christian, I remembered trying to fit into man’s system. I finished my military enlistment during the recession of the 80s when finding employment was difficult. I knew enough to give tithes and offerings. My faith in God kept me safe and blessed. I prospered but I didn’t know enough to keep prospering. As I look back on that time, I suffered from a lack of vision. I had other people’s visions. I amassed a large amount of unnecessary debt. All of that changed as God opened my eyes to his vision. Once I got God’s vision, means, and method, things changed for me.
Times have Changed
Times have changed, the spirit of poverty is still driving people into darkness. There are more millionaires and billionaires than ever before. A person can play $2.50 lottery ticket and hit the numbers for millions and millions of dollars. The same lie that the serpent sold Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden has not changed.
The Serpent said, “You’re not going to eat ‘Because God said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden! You shall not die, God knows your eyes shall be opened and you shall be like God knowing good and evil.’
Eve saw the fruit that it was good for food, pleasant to the eye and good to make one wise and she took the fruit ate it and turned and gave it to her husband!
After Adam and Eve experienced the consequences of what God told them would happen, Eve said, “The Serpent deceived me and I ate.”
According to Revelation 12:9, the same Serpent who deceived Adam and Eve is deceiving the whole world.
People are still buying into the lies of the devil and eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They want to be gods. They want to be judges of good and evil. It never works. It was always God’s will for us to eat from the tree of life.
Jesus said this about Satan: He was a murderer from the beginning, he doesn’t abide in the truth, there is no truth in him. He lies to take advantage of you. He is a lair. He is the father of the lie. John 8:44.
How can Satan be a murderer from the beginning? Satan used Cain to kill Abel because Abel was threat to Satan’s future. Satan thought that Abel could be “the promise seed” that would bruise his head, (Genesis 3:15). The truth is, he murders people!
The Lie
Over the years, I have heard the same lie over and over.
The American Pimps calls it “The game or Our Game”
The Mafia call it, “the Black Hand”; “Our Thing”
Adam Smith, the father of capitalism called it, “The Invisible Hand”
Old time Amway distributors called it, “The Business”
Internet scammers call it “The Black Hat”
Internet profiteers call it “The White Hat”
Rappers call it “M.O.E”, Money Over Everything
There are many names but its the same old lie
But really, “What is it?”
God says, “My ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-13
God gave Adam land in two places, in heaven and on earth. God gave Adam seed and fruit trees. Adam was to tithe the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as a sacrificial offering. Adam’s assignment was to transform earth into the garden of Eden.
God’s vision for earth has never changed. Whereas Adam’s assignment was producing beauty upon the earth; Satan turned the earth into a wilderness. He destroyed the cities and refused to open the doors of his prison (Isaiah 14:17).
Jesus does the exact opposite. He preached good tiding to the meek. He binds up the broken hearted, proclaims liberty to the captives and opens the prison cells of those who are bound, Isaiah 61:1.
Adam broke trust by eating the fruit of the sacrifice. The system judged him immediately because that’s designed of creation the beginning. Death began to manifest in their bodies. They applied the leaves of the garden as a healing balm.
The Serpent is now Adam’s new spiritual head and partner. The Serpent gained seed in the new partnership. The Serpent is enforcing his will on mankind.
God judged Adam’s sin in order to make a way out of eternal damnation. God never walked away from his vision for creation. God redeemed man to original purpose! He still hold people accountable.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 (KJV)
He still makes provision for the just as well as the evil, Matthew 5:45. God holds people accountable as in the days of Noah. Every person will judged according to their works, Revelation 20:11-15
Glorious Promise
Isaiah 55:8-12
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
All hell can be breaking out around you but the Word of the Lord shall stand forever. The Bible is full of examples of God’s ability to keep his word. One of the most powerful examples outside of raising Jesus from the dead is bringing 3 million people out of 400 years of bondage. He fed them 40 years in the wilderness. Their clothes did not wear out or their feet swell.
The testimony that came out of the forty year journey in the wilderness is, the people lived by trusting in the Word of God.Jesus spoke to this after spending 40 days fasting and praying in the wilderness. He testified when Satan tempted him to prove that he was the Son of God. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”
What is the Word? God so love the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life!
As is often the problem, people don’t go on to perfection.They stop growing. They don’t have God’s vision, “be fruitful, multiply, replenish, subdue, have dominion over the earth.”
Seed is pro-vision, “for the vision.”
They don’t have his means: Seed, fruit trees and eternal life
They don’t have his method: Seed time and harvest
I believe, if the immigrants that are coming to the United States, would invest their energies into the Word of God. They could turn any part of the world into an oasis. Why?
Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all those other things shall be added unto you! Creation was designed to be a partnership between God and man!
The Truth is many governmental leaders, as far as partnership is concerned are fornicating with the Whore of Babylon (Revelation 17-18) and the people are suffering the consequences.
Get a bigger vision
Jesus said, I am the vine and my Father is the caretaker. Every branch in me that bears not fruit, he take it away. Every branch in me that bears fruit, he cleans it that it might bring forth more fruit. My father is glorified when you bear much fruit!
“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7 (KJV)
Secrets from the Garden of Eden 
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