Spread the Fire - March 2008 - (Page 25)

So here’s how it works. We can fix our eyes on Jesus, our everlasting reward, rather than on our neighbor’s “flesh.” As we gaze upon Jesus, our passions become His passion. We cut off the root of lust, which is “getting” and turn our eyes to “giving.” When our eyes are riveted on our prize, temptation fades. my heart, “Duncan, so you’re just about to put your hands on your “manhood”, masturbate in the secret place, then go out in the public place, and lay those same hands on my children’s heads?” Suddenly my appetite for masturbating in secret dried up right there in that moment! Now, whenever I face those old urges, I remember how precious it is to God that I remain clean so that He can use me to touch a broken world. When I fix my eyes on the precious worth of Jesus Christ, a passionate love for Jesus wells up on the inside from the Holy Spirit within me and conquers those urges. I have decided that God’s presence and friendship are of far higher value to me than a few minutes’ lust. May the Holy Spirit forever continue to make it so for you and me. Prizing him is a much better way of staying free from lust than trying to fight lust. So my friend in Christ, be filled with the warm comforting love of the Father that is yours in Christ, poured into your heart by the Spirit, draw all your comfort from Him. Be filled with His presence, glory and love and live in the transforming grace that saved you on the day you invited Him into your heart and found Him to be your first love. Why not make this verse of scripture your home? “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24) BUT WHAT IF I STUMBLE? If you do sin, immediately say to God, “Jesus I’m so sorry for my sin. Thank you for Your wonderful grace. I step back into faith in You alone.” 1 John 1:19 says, “When we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Receive His cleansing by faith. Do not wallow in guilt. What God intends as conviction to move you to repentance and restoration, can turn into feelings of guilt, which produce shame and put a wall between you and God, a wall of your own making. Instead of experiencing the Father’s love again, one who lies in guilt gets into the mindset that he is a lawbreaker and cannot go to God. Then he finds himself headed towards the condemnation that he was in before he was saved in the first place. The Bible does not deny that sin is pleasure. Hebrews 11 talks about how Moses “gave up the fleeting pleasures of Egypt.” Why would we want to give up the eternal pleasures of Jesus Christ for the fleeting pleasures of a moment of sin? Why spoil a precious friendship and love affair with Holy Spirit that leads to sharing in God’s secret life and the powerful unhindered flow of His anointing through us? The good news is that Jesus is real. He is alive and his power is greater than any force of sin. WHAT SET ME FREE The desire to masturbate was once a problem for me. One day the Lord whispered into “I have decided that God’s presence and friendship are of far higher value to me than a few minutes’ lust.” S TF - 2 5

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Spread the Fire - March 2008

Spread the Fire - March 2008 Contents In the River Save Sex? Simon’s Story The Key To Overcoming Lust It’s Time for the Double Blessing International Itinerary Resource Center Catalogue Upcoming Events Visitor Information

Spread the Fire - March 2008

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