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DECEMBER 1, 2023
Lust Always Brings Death
My beloved child follow My advice, always treasure My commands. Obey My commands and live! Guard My instructions as you protect your own eyes. Tie them like a string on your fingers as a reminder. Write them deep in your heart. Love wisdom like a sister; make insight a beloved member of your family. Let them protect you from an affair with an immoral woman, from listening to the flattery of a promiscuous woman. (Proverbs 7:1-5 NLT) King Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, and he gave us this advice. Live your life by the Word, for the Spirit of lust robs you of wisdom and understanding. The Word for ‘desire’ in Greek is neutral, and it can be positive or negative, and it means lust, to long for and to show focused passion as it aptly builds on – so lust also means desire. A spirit of lust will lead you to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and take you into bondage.
The King was at the window of his house, looking through the curtain, and he saw some naive young men and one who lacked common sense. He was crossing the street near the house of an immoral woman, strolling down the path by her home. It was at twilight, in the evening, as deep darkness fell. The woman approached him dressed seductively; she had the attire of a prostitute and was rebellious at heart. The enemy always comes through lust – a man struggling with a spirit of lust must understand this is a temptation of the enemy to take you into further bondage. She threw her arms around him, kissed him, and with a brazen look, she said, ‘I’ve just been to church, paid my tithes and offerings, I even have money left over so after we have sinned, we can go with our offerings and repent! (Proverbs 7:6-20) Seriously! This is the height of deception to think you can knowingly sin, then go into the holy of holies and repent! There are always consequences for rebelling and not obeying My commands.
This shocked the young man! When you are shocked, this is a sign from God, that you need to turn tail and run as fast as you can away from her. Lust is an imitation of love, it’s from hell, and it all begins with a desire that you follow through on. It’s deceptive – lust says, ‘you won’t get caught’ – you will be the first who doesn’t. The King of Kings is watching! You will always end up getting caught, and it will cost you everything – her house is the way to hell, and her bedroom is the death chamber! All men slain by the Spirit of lust are strong men. (Proverbs 7:21-27) Satan turns everything good into evil – immorality or lust is deception, and it never satisfies; you always want more; however, in a godly marriage, you are always satisfied. So, I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. The Spirit gives you desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. (Galatians 5:16-17)
Lust always brings death; it may not happen immediately, but it will happen over time. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased with being ignored. (Galatians 6:19, 8:5-6 Message) You can’t cast out the flesh, and you can’t disciple a demon. (Romans 13:13-14) If you struggle with a spirit of lust, seek deliverance and discipleship from someone godly – who walks the walk and talks the talk.
Begin retraining the way you think; that’s how you are delivered from the lusts of the flesh. Retrain your mind by filling yourself up daily with scripture. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. (2 Corinthians 10:3-6) Every time you have a lustful thought, you must take authority over it by repenting and speaking scripture over yourself until you conquer and defeat the enemy who has tried to take you out! Fight fire with fire! Fight this Spirit by speaking the Word! You will be an overcomer by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of your testimony! (Revelations 12:11)
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