A Tale of Two Cities
Most people have heard of the classic book called, "A Tale of Two Cities". In the Bible there is a story that could easily be subtitled the same. It's the story that begins in Genesis 12 when God spoke to Abraham about leaving the city of his fathers and family and go to a place that He would lead him. Abraham leaves with his wife, children, servants and animals, and also a nephew names Lot. Later, after months, maybe years of traveling to this unknown location God had destined for Abraham, this uncle and a nephew, both wealthy with sheep, cattle, and many tents (servants) came to a place of parting. A time of decision was thrust upon them. They had to separate because together there was not enough pastureland to support all of their stock. Abraham, then called Abram, let Lot choose first and Lot chose to move towards the plains of the Jordon Valley. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like a garden.
Abram stayed in Canaan and Lot moved all of his family, herds, and servants to a place near Sodom. In Genesis 13:13 it says, "The people of this area were unusually wicked and sinned greatly against the Lord." This wasn't a surprise to Lot. Their reputation was known throughout the lands. Sodom was the playland of the perverse; the place to go for wine, endless parties, and orgies - homosexual and heterosexual.
To me, looking at this, I thought, "God, why would Lot choose this place when Canaan was an available choice. Abram let him make the first choice so why did he choose to pitch his tents toward the most vile city in the regions? Even if he hated Canaan, he could have gone in another direction."
But he didn't. And God's response to me was only to tell me that a lot of people today are living with choices that they made, like Lot, that turned out to be destructive to not only themselves but to the others around them.
I John 2:15 says, "Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only the lusts for physical pleasure, the lusts for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from this evil world."
Lot was at a crossroads in his life and in choosing unwisely, he lost so much. He looked at the lush green, well watered grounds and liked what he saw. Perhaps it looked much better than Canaan or any areas in the other three directions. One thing we know: he looked at and saw something and it appealed to him. Ignoring the fact that it was located by Sodom, he moved there. From that time on, when he walked out of his tent, he saw Sodom.
Abram, on the other hand, chose to stay in Canaan - the Promised Land of God. Wars broke out in the regions, but Abram stayed blessed. His tent didn't open its flap to wickedness. Sin didn't seep into the eyes of everyone around him. The lust of the flesh wasn't flaunted in his face day in and day out. That was the life Lot had.
Wickedness, when you first come upon it, is repulsive to any Christ filled believer. But if that person chooses to stay in that place of vile addictions and lifestyles, slowly it will become more acceptable. Slowly that person goes from interceding for those people to talking to them, to going to a party with them, until they finally begin to look like them.
I've seen this so many times and over the past several weeks have watched it consume my brothers and sisters in Christ. When any of us stand at a crossroad - just like Lot, we all have to make a choice. If we make our choices strictly by what we see in front of us, rather than in the presence of God, we can easily see what Lot saw only: well watered lands that would support his family, servants and belongings. In the end, it cost him all that he owned, his wife and his children who began making ungodly decisions because of the lessons they learned by watching their father.
We live in an evil world and are surrounded by it everyday. There is nothing new under the sun. It may be new to you but there's nothing new to God. He has seen sin just like this for millennia. Perversions and sin of every kind were tempting man when Jesus walked this earth. Granted Jesus didn't have cable TV, but He had eyes. Orgies were commonplace in some of the cities He was sent by God to. Prostitution, homosexuality, drunkenness, murder, and much more were available to anyone at anytime. Adultery was not boasted about like it is today, but it was still taking place. Sin was creeping into the lives of people then who, at a crossroad in their life, took the wrong path. Gossip and slander were then and still are today all too common.
Since we are in this world to stay until we are either called to go home to glory or ruptured out of here, there are two things God calls us to do. Abram did both. Jesus did both. And we are called to do both.
First, we are to live uncontaminated by this world and in fellowship with the Lord. God never called us to live a lifestyle that we were unable to live. Our choices determine our walks and our relationship with God. Staying in communion with God and refusing to get caught up in the "lusts and pleasures that this world offers" (I John 2) are our choices. Sin, temptations, wickedness, and the pull of an evil world didn't just happen in the last 20 years. It didn't just happen in the last 200 years. All of that has been here since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden and was very present in the time that Jesus walked the earth. Yet in His life, He showed us how to live like him: 100% in the flesh while still living 100% holy. 100% in the world but 100% not of the world.
Abram didn't just talk to God and fellowship with Him, but he also saw the need to intercede for and rescue the ones he loved as well as those he didn't to keep them from destruction. Jesus has called all of us, not just the five fold ministry, to rescue those that are perishing every day. They are all around us.
Jesus didn't keep His disciples around Him, teaching them more and more until they just popped from being fed so much. He told them to take what they had been taught and sent them out to tell others the Good News. What is the Good News? That The Kingdom of God is at hand and you can be free from the bondage of sin.
God rescued Lot from his bad choice. If you have made a bad choice and are camping near Sodom, God is calling you to return to Canaan. He has sent His angels out for you. However God cannot drag you back. God can't make you chose the right path. God can't make you walk out before destruction falls all around you. Only you can make that decision. Only you.
This may be you or it may be someone you know who is walking toward Sodom. Perhaps there is someone you love who has been camping there so long that they no longer feel the conviction of the evil anymore. It has become a common thing to them. Tell them that today is the day to return to Canaan. Today is the day of decision. Are they (or you) ready to take a loss and return to the camp of God? Are they ready to take a good look (through the eyes of God) at what their (or your) life really looks like to Heaven?
This is a Tale of Two Cities. Everyone is traveling to one or camping in one. I want my tent to open to the city of God every morning. I want to see His face in the beauty, rest and peace that fills my mountains and valleys. And I want to stand up and call for those who chose to camp in or near Sodom to return to the mountain of God. Today is the day to come home. The angels of the Lord are ready to escort you back. Will you go with them?
Michelle Molina
Most people have heard of the classic book called, "A Tale of Two Cities". In the Bible there is a story that could easily be subtitled the same. It's the story that begins in Genesis 12 when God spoke to Abraham about leaving the city of his fathers and family and go to a place that He would lead him. Abraham leaves with his wife, children, servants and animals, and also a nephew names Lot. Later, after months, maybe years of traveling to this unknown location God had destined for Abraham, this uncle and a nephew, both wealthy with sheep, cattle, and many tents (servants) came to a place of parting. A time of decision was thrust upon them. They had to separate because together there was not enough pastureland to support all of their stock. Abraham, then called Abram, let Lot choose first and Lot chose to move towards the plains of the Jordon Valley. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like a garden.
Abram stayed in Canaan and Lot moved all of his family, herds, and servants to a place near Sodom. In Genesis 13:13 it says, "The people of this area were unusually wicked and sinned greatly against the Lord." This wasn't a surprise to Lot. Their reputation was known throughout the lands. Sodom was the playland of the perverse; the place to go for wine, endless parties, and orgies - homosexual and heterosexual.
To me, looking at this, I thought, "God, why would Lot choose this place when Canaan was an available choice. Abram let him make the first choice so why did he choose to pitch his tents toward the most vile city in the regions? Even if he hated Canaan, he could have gone in another direction."
But he didn't. And God's response to me was only to tell me that a lot of people today are living with choices that they made, like Lot, that turned out to be destructive to not only themselves but to the others around them.
I John 2:15 says, "Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only the lusts for physical pleasure, the lusts for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from this evil world."
Lot was at a crossroads in his life and in choosing unwisely, he lost so much. He looked at the lush green, well watered grounds and liked what he saw. Perhaps it looked much better than Canaan or any areas in the other three directions. One thing we know: he looked at and saw something and it appealed to him. Ignoring the fact that it was located by Sodom, he moved there. From that time on, when he walked out of his tent, he saw Sodom.
Abram, on the other hand, chose to stay in Canaan - the Promised Land of God. Wars broke out in the regions, but Abram stayed blessed. His tent didn't open its flap to wickedness. Sin didn't seep into the eyes of everyone around him. The lust of the flesh wasn't flaunted in his face day in and day out. That was the life Lot had.
Wickedness, when you first come upon it, is repulsive to any Christ filled believer. But if that person chooses to stay in that place of vile addictions and lifestyles, slowly it will become more acceptable. Slowly that person goes from interceding for those people to talking to them, to going to a party with them, until they finally begin to look like them.
I've seen this so many times and over the past several weeks have watched it consume my brothers and sisters in Christ. When any of us stand at a crossroad - just like Lot, we all have to make a choice. If we make our choices strictly by what we see in front of us, rather than in the presence of God, we can easily see what Lot saw only: well watered lands that would support his family, servants and belongings. In the end, it cost him all that he owned, his wife and his children who began making ungodly decisions because of the lessons they learned by watching their father.
We live in an evil world and are surrounded by it everyday. There is nothing new under the sun. It may be new to you but there's nothing new to God. He has seen sin just like this for millennia. Perversions and sin of every kind were tempting man when Jesus walked this earth. Granted Jesus didn't have cable TV, but He had eyes. Orgies were commonplace in some of the cities He was sent by God to. Prostitution, homosexuality, drunkenness, murder, and much more were available to anyone at anytime. Adultery was not boasted about like it is today, but it was still taking place. Sin was creeping into the lives of people then who, at a crossroad in their life, took the wrong path. Gossip and slander were then and still are today all too common.
Since we are in this world to stay until we are either called to go home to glory or ruptured out of here, there are two things God calls us to do. Abram did both. Jesus did both. And we are called to do both.
First, we are to live uncontaminated by this world and in fellowship with the Lord. God never called us to live a lifestyle that we were unable to live. Our choices determine our walks and our relationship with God. Staying in communion with God and refusing to get caught up in the "lusts and pleasures that this world offers" (I John 2) are our choices. Sin, temptations, wickedness, and the pull of an evil world didn't just happen in the last 20 years. It didn't just happen in the last 200 years. All of that has been here since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden and was very present in the time that Jesus walked the earth. Yet in His life, He showed us how to live like him: 100% in the flesh while still living 100% holy. 100% in the world but 100% not of the world.
Abram didn't just talk to God and fellowship with Him, but he also saw the need to intercede for and rescue the ones he loved as well as those he didn't to keep them from destruction. Jesus has called all of us, not just the five fold ministry, to rescue those that are perishing every day. They are all around us.
Jesus didn't keep His disciples around Him, teaching them more and more until they just popped from being fed so much. He told them to take what they had been taught and sent them out to tell others the Good News. What is the Good News? That The Kingdom of God is at hand and you can be free from the bondage of sin.
God rescued Lot from his bad choice. If you have made a bad choice and are camping near Sodom, God is calling you to return to Canaan. He has sent His angels out for you. However God cannot drag you back. God can't make you chose the right path. God can't make you walk out before destruction falls all around you. Only you can make that decision. Only you.
This may be you or it may be someone you know who is walking toward Sodom. Perhaps there is someone you love who has been camping there so long that they no longer feel the conviction of the evil anymore. It has become a common thing to them. Tell them that today is the day to return to Canaan. Today is the day of decision. Are they (or you) ready to take a loss and return to the camp of God? Are they ready to take a good look (through the eyes of God) at what their (or your) life really looks like to Heaven?
This is a Tale of Two Cities. Everyone is traveling to one or camping in one. I want my tent to open to the city of God every morning. I want to see His face in the beauty, rest and peace that fills my mountains and valleys. And I want to stand up and call for those who chose to camp in or near Sodom to return to the mountain of God. Today is the day to come home. The angels of the Lord are ready to escort you back. Will you go with them?
Michelle Molina
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