You want God's blessing on your life, not the hard consequences that come from a bad thought life. Not the negative fallout from living independent from the Lord in a lifestyle of sin. Right?
Sure you do. God has a better plan for you. I think we're livin' in the Last Days as the Bible describes--there's really no time for besetting sins, for mad or for blame shifting this days. Too much is at sake. We prayerfully want to see our family and friends convinced.. won to Christ. The Bible says...
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23
Love can wait (on God's timing and will), but lust says it can't and won't wait. Lust selfishly demands, 'It's about what you can now unrighteously do for me!' Loves selflessly asks, 'What can I righteously do for you?'
Love can wait (on God's timing and will), but lust says it can't and won't wait. Lust selfishly demands, 'It's about what you can now unrighteously do for me!' Loves selflessly asks, 'What can I righteously do for you?'
80% of men watch porn.90% of kids see porn by age 16.50,000+ people are sex-trafficked here each year.
The world says JLo's nasty Super Bowl (2020) crotch grab pole dance was "empowered."
Man, that’s so like the world isn’t it? Those of the world push lust and seek to gain money off of it. We aren’t to be like the world though. God is holy and calls us to that kinda lifestyle in His Son.
Culture wars sure aren't popular these days, but “how do we expect men to respect women when we degrade women as sex objects?” ~ Liz Wheeler
The dictionary definition of lust is "1) intense or unrestrained sexual craving, or 2) an overwhelming desire or craving." The Bible speaks of lust in several ways. Exodus 20:14, 17 (NLT), "Do not commit adultery... Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else your neighbor owns," or Matthew 5:28, "But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Job 31:11-12 (NLT) sums up lust quite nicely: "For lust is a shameful sin, a crime that should be punished. It is a devastating fire that destroys to hell. It would wipe out everything I own."Lust has as its focus pleasing oneself, and it often leads to unwholesome actions to fulfill one's desires with no regard to the consequences. Lust is about possession and greed. The Christian faith is about selflessness and is marked by holy living (Romans 6:19, 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 1:2, 30, 6:19-20; Ephesians 1:4, 4:24; Colossians 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, 5:23; 2 Timothy 1:9; Hebrews 12:14; 1 Peter 1:15-16). The goal of each person who has put his/her faith in Jesus Christ is to become more and more like Him each day. This means putting off the old way of life of which sin was in control, and conforming one's thoughts and actions to the standard put forth in Scripture. Lust is in opposition to this ideal.
Nobody will ever be perfect here, or attain sinlessness while still on this earth, yet it is still a goal for which we strive. The Bible makes a very strong statement regarding this in 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8, "God has called us to be holy, not to live impure lives. Anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human rules but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you." If lust has not yet gripped your heart and mind, ready yourself through a life lived above reproach to combat the temptations of lust. If you currently struggle with lust, it is time to come clean before God and ask for His intervention in your life, so that holiness can be a mark of your life as well.
It's always better NOT to feed lust, but instead to starve it to death. Denying yourself is a choice.. but only from sin and places where you might be tempted. That's just smart. Why sow to your flesh and reap corruption.. in this corrupt world that keeps growing more so that way?
But Kurt, what can I practically do. Look to to the Lord and remain dependent upon Him (remember to apply Matthew 6:33-34 with God's wisdom). Believer, sow to the Spirit diligently (in reading the Bible, prayer, fellowship, and in sharing your faith as a overflow of the joy) and not to sow to your old fleshly nature.
Christian, rather than look down on sinners, think this way when you talk to someone really into their pet sins. But for the grace of God go I (a saved sinner). Sure, you and I are not better than any, but in Christ we are better off. The Bible says in Romans 7:18 "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find." Beware you who think you stand lest you fall.
Daily chose to..deny yourself confess repent pick up his cross daily. Be careful eyes what you see, be careful ears what you hear.
Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your old man (inner nature), to the burial of your own independence. Sure consider or rectify your old man as dead. Mortify the works of the flesh. Chose to.. simplify your lifestyle overcome evil with good..even on the web. Perhaps there's a reason they call it the web?
Find a healthy church. Hang out with on-fire growing Christians a lot. Have them as your close friends not the worldly, carnal or lost.
Jesus basically said, If you hang on to your life to lose it but if you lose your life side of the old nature mortify The works of the flesh. If your right eye causes you to sin pluck it out.
Faith is choosing to live as if the Bible is true regardless of cultural trends, feelings or what's popular..cuz it is. It's primarily a relationship with Jesus Christ...type of thing. Real victory springs from that. Stand firm on the promises of the Bible in Christ.
In Context Pray Over, See...
--Pro 27:20 – Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.
--Pro 6:25 - Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids.
--Pro 11:6 - The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, but the unfaithful will be caught by their lust.
--Eze 23:11 - Now although her sister Oholibah saw this, she became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister's harlotry.
--Mat 5:28 - But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
--Rom 1:27 - Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
--Rom 13:13 - Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
--1 Co 10:6 - Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.
--Gal 5:16 - I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
--1 Th 4:5 ..not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
--Jas 4:2 - You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
--2 Pe 1:4 - ..by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
--2 Pe 2:10 - ..and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,
--1 Jo 2:16 - ..For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
--1 Jo 2:17 -..and the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Q. Believer, if I was to say slide or shove my book across the table to the very edge and then keep going with it, why should I get surprised or ticked off at God when I hear that book go smack onto the floor?
One guy actually did. It wasn’t really a book he was dealing with, but it was a choice he made. Then he was all mad at God for allowing him to fall into sex-sin. It happened right after his work with a co-worker who had been flirting with him..like is so often the case. Flirting often happens in the workplace and he sadly fell. Didn’t have to.
So many have questions about their heart condition, resisting temptations, their thought life and all what comes from all that.
What does the Bible say about purity?
Be pure in your thoughts. It’s also a choice. Be holy cuz your God is Holy, believer. Purity is freedom from anything that contaminates. Purity is the quality of being faultless, uncompromised, or unadulterated. Pure water is free from any other substances. Pure gold has been refined to such a degree that all dross has been removed. And a pure life is one in which sin no longer determines the choices one makes.
Purity is important to God, who alone is truly pure. Purity is often used in Scripture as a means to communicate holiness or perfection. When Moses was building the tabernacle, God specified that the lampstand and other items inside the Holy Place be made “of pure gold” (Exodus 25:31; cf. 37:2, 16). The oil used in the tabernacle was to be pure, as was the frankincense (Leviticus 24:2, 7). The Lord has “pure” eyes (Habakkuk 1:13) and speaks “pure” words (Psalm 12:6). The New Jerusalem is described as a “city of pure gold, as pure as glass” (Revelation 21:18).
When God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1 — 2), everything was pure. There was no death, decay, pollution, or sin. God creates pure things because He is pure. In Him, there is no confusion, contradiction, or compromise. Everything He does is good (Psalm 18:30; 145:17). He created human beings to reflect His image and to live in pure, unbroken communion with Him (Genesis 1:27). However, sin is the corruptor of purity (Psalm 14:3). Impurity is often listed as one factor that will keep us away from the presence of God (Colossians 3:5–6; Galatians 5:19–21; 1 Corinthians 6:9–10). Impurity renders a person or a nation unfit for entrance into God’s presence (Joshua 3:5; Revelation 21:27; Ephesians 5:5; James 4:8). In order to have fellowship with a holy God, we must reclaim the purity that He originally intended for us: “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart” (Psalm 24:3–4).
In the Old Testament, people reclaimed purity by sacrificing animals in the way God specified. God had declared that He would purify them (Leviticus 22:32) if they kept all His commands (Leviticus 22:31), His Sabbaths (Leviticus 26:2), and His sacrifices (Exodus 8:27). Repentance and faith in a coming Savior, as shown in their obedience to the Law, were sufficient for God to pronounce people righteous. In the New Testament, purity is reclaimed by placing our faith in the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3–7). We cannot be pure enough on our own to see God (Romans 3:23). We must have Christ’s righteousness credited to our accounts (2 Corinthians 5:21). That’s what it means to be a Christian.
The term purity is often used today in relation to sexuality. Sexual purity is freedom from immorality or perversion. Girls sometimes wear purity rings to indicate their commitment to saving sex for marriage. Purity is closely related to holiness, and those who walk in holiness will keep themselves sexually pure: abstinent before marriage and monogamous within marriage.
When we have been born again through faith in Jesus (John 3:3), we desire to live in purity (1 Peter 1:15–16). That purity is not limited to our sexuality, although that is important (Ephesians 5:2; 1 Corinthians 6:18). God desires that we live purely in all our dealings with others (Ezekiel 45:10; Luke 6:31). Purity should define our thought life (2 Corinthians 10:5), our words (Ephesians 4:29), and our actions (1 Corinthians 10:31). Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). When our hearts are clouded with impurities, we cannot experience God’s presence or hear His voice. But when our claim to righteousness is based on what Jesus has done (Titus 3:5), we will strive to forsake sin (1 John 3:9) and live in purity of heart, enjoying fellowship with the God of purity.
Do you allow things or people to distract you away? Have you been caught in the web? There are so many distractions these days. What's your spiritual situation like? Are you stone cold chilly and hard-hearted inside, or lukewarm carnal (looking half to the world to meet your needs instead of 100% to God to?) for where are you living red hot on fire for Jesus Christ today? I wrote this in my Bible: "Sin will keep you from this Book but this Book will keep you from sin." Think on that for a moment.
Q. So when was the last time you picked up your Bible and what is the besetting sin, pet sins that are keeping you from it.. at a distance from the Lord actually?
When God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1 — 2), everything was pure. There was no death, decay, pollution, or sin. God creates pure things because He is pure. In Him, there is no confusion, contradiction, or compromise. Everything He does is good (Psalm 18:30; 145:17). He created human beings to reflect His image and to live in pure, unbroken communion with Him (Genesis 1:27). However, sin is the corruptor of purity (Psalm 14:3). Impurity is often listed as one factor that will keep us away from the presence of God (Colossians 3:5–6; Galatians 5:19–21; 1 Corinthians 6:9–10). Impurity renders a person or a nation unfit for entrance into God’s presence (Joshua 3:5; Revelation 21:27; Ephesians 5:5; James 4:8). In order to have fellowship with a holy God, we must reclaim the purity that He originally intended for us: “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart” (Psalm 24:3–4).
In the Old Testament, people reclaimed purity by sacrificing animals in the way God specified. God had declared that He would purify them (Leviticus 22:32) if they kept all His commands (Leviticus 22:31), His Sabbaths (Leviticus 26:2), and His sacrifices (Exodus 8:27). Repentance and faith in a coming Savior, as shown in their obedience to the Law, were sufficient for God to pronounce people righteous. In the New Testament, purity is reclaimed by placing our faith in the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3–7). We cannot be pure enough on our own to see God (Romans 3:23). We must have Christ’s righteousness credited to our accounts (2 Corinthians 5:21). That’s what it means to be a Christian.
The term purity is often used today in relation to sexuality. Sexual purity is freedom from immorality or perversion. Girls sometimes wear purity rings to indicate their commitment to saving sex for marriage. Purity is closely related to holiness, and those who walk in holiness will keep themselves sexually pure: abstinent before marriage and monogamous within marriage.
When we have been born again through faith in Jesus (John 3:3), we desire to live in purity (1 Peter 1:15–16). That purity is not limited to our sexuality, although that is important (Ephesians 5:2; 1 Corinthians 6:18). God desires that we live purely in all our dealings with others (Ezekiel 45:10; Luke 6:31). Purity should define our thought life (2 Corinthians 10:5), our words (Ephesians 4:29), and our actions (1 Corinthians 10:31). Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). When our hearts are clouded with impurities, we cannot experience God’s presence or hear His voice. But when our claim to righteousness is based on what Jesus has done (Titus 3:5), we will strive to forsake sin (1 John 3:9) and live in purity of heart, enjoying fellowship with the God of purity.
Do you allow things or people to distract you away? Have you been caught in the web? There are so many distractions these days. What's your spiritual situation like? Are you stone cold chilly and hard-hearted inside, or lukewarm carnal (looking half to the world to meet your needs instead of 100% to God to?) for where are you living red hot on fire for Jesus Christ today? I wrote this in my Bible: "Sin will keep you from this Book but this Book will keep you from sin." Think on that for a moment.
Q. So when was the last time you picked up your Bible and what is the besetting sin, pet sins that are keeping you from it.. at a distance from the Lord actually?
Are you a basically mugwump now.. with your mug on one side of the fence and your womp hanging down on the other? Do you have too much of the world in you to be happy in the Lord, or do you have so much Spirit allowing Jesus to be Lord that you won't live worldly? Jesus said that he would that you and I.. be cold or hot.. otherwise he'd spit us out of His mouth.
You might think you well-know the Christian experience, but you know it not well if the world-changing torrents of the Spirit, those rivers of living water are not flowing through to alter the landscape so to speak around you.
There have been times where I was somewhat afraid to relinquish full control of my life to the holy Spirit as if I couldn't really trust him that much. Fear dominating just means fruitless wasted time. Do you need a refill believer, or do you need to be filled?
Are you in the will of God takin' territory by faith or are you wandering aimlessly in the wilderness so to speak? Are you now a meaningful specific, blessed and empowered by the Spirit or a wandering generality doing your own thing? The long wilderness wanderings of the Israelites represented their defeated life-experience of the flesh, in crossing the Jordan into the promised Land didn't represent going to heaven per se, it represents that victorious Life in the Spirit. So where are you living?
I want Jesus to be Lord for me, for you.. not just in theory but in practice where the rubber meets the road. That's the life where blessings are found.
"For the perverse person is an abomination to the Lord, But His secret counsel is with the upright." Prov. 3:32. "For the devious are repulsive to the Lord; But His private counsel is with the upright those with spiritual integrity and moral courage." amp
"For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil.." 5:3-11
The grace and truths of God's Word (His promises with all the councils of God) can keep you from falling. The Word can "keep you from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a seductress. do not lust after her beauty in your heart nor let her allure you with her eyelids. For by means of a harlot a man is reduced to a crust of bread and an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be seared? So is he who goes into his neighbor's wife whoever touches her shall not be innocent" Proverbs 6:24-29.
"He who does so destroys his own soul (due to a lack of understanding, see the context). Wounds and dishonor he will get and is reproach will not be wiped away." vv. 32-33
Having a desire for what what is good, and even working to gain what is good is normal. Duh, but in our hearts things could quickly get out of hand ..if we each allow it to. Refuse to allow it to.
Having a desire for what what is good, and even working to gain what is good is normal. Duh, but in our hearts things could quickly get out of hand ..if we each allow it to. Refuse to allow it to.
What does the word.. “lust” mean? It's to have a very strong sexual desire. That's once use of the term. Yes, it's having a strong craving for sex. It's a stout desire for someone, some place or for something.
It also can mean a having strong want or hunger for anything, like a lust for power. People have seen much of this in DC and in other cities.
They said, "That person really lusted after me in those days -- (he or she) was such a total drag to be around!"
While lust isn't a dirty word per se, it is a strong word. You don't have lust for something you don't really give a flip about. Lust is a stout, it's a powerful desire, whether it's a noun or verb: you lust for things, places or people that you deeply crave. Someone greedy lusts for money. Some worship something or someone other than Who they really need to wholeheartedly worship (God) and are never satisfied inside. They demand more of what they want. Even good things can become bad things for you and me if we love it more than loving Him. Someone is gluttonous, and growing in very unhealthy ways -- yet they keep lusting for more food.
You know that healthy food is needed by all and is good, but this too can become a bad thing for people. Why daily bow at that altar? Just deny self, restrain you, discipline your body (the Spirit’s control can help you have self-control). Yes in Him, you can practically help and judge yourself first and then help others who are open to this.
Of course there’s nothing wrong with appreciating the beauty of God’s creations or of creative art. So many have made wonderful art to be enjoyed. Duh.
I say be regenerated inside first and then discern what is helpful. Do not be conformed to this world system -- be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That’s where the battle is waged. Change in good ways, a daily choice -- this is the best way (John 3:3). The most basic meaning of lust is an unquenchable desire for sex (a good thing that God wants married people to enjoy and glorify Him with), but all around us people today lust for all sorts of things and people..even animals, strange flesh and little children. It's serious Yet this world system keeps trying to tell the masses that this is normal -- it's not, it's very wrong and so destructive! What does God say on this topic?
--1 Th 4:5 - For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.
--2 Pe 2:10 - ..then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries.."
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes (so SO prevalent today), and the pride of life—it’s is not of the Father but is of this corrupt world system.
--1 Jo 2:17 -..and the world is passing away, and the lust of it..
There's so much at stake. Life here is so short for us sinners (yes we all are, but we can be forgiven, made clean and new inside). Time is short. Each one really needs to make the most of their time here..as we were created to.. in order to properly grow. Yes, to help us and others grow up, and to get in a place and condition where each can start doing that.
"You might as well try to see without eyes, hear without ears, or breathe without lungs, as to try to live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit. " ~ D.L. Moody
Why be filled with the Holy Spirit? One reason -- God commands it. He wants you to enjoy abundant eternal life ..with great joy. Wants that for your friends as well. You are SO loved and the Cross wasn't in vain. Go tell. The Bible says...
"See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.." Eph. 5:16-18
"I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery (married, but unfaithful sex), fornication (sex before marriage), uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." Gal. 5:16-21
Why diligently sow to the spirit and then to the fleshly nature daily. Why to both, believer? You don't need corruption inside -- you weren't born for that. I say sow to the Spirit and opt not to sow to the flesh or to the world. Pure sowing (in and to the Spirit) edifies. It beats such mixed sowing. God wants us each to be pure-minded, holy, good godly examples, effective witnesses for His glory while we can be here on earth before the Rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus.
Thanks.. Got Questions. Need a sound resource on this topic?: Overcomer by David Jeremiah
