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As human beings we are creatures of emotion. We have feelings. Ever heard that someone is as hard as a stone? Even that hardness is an emotion. The only person without emotion is someone whose feelings are dead, and they are only found in the grave.

Lusts of the flesh has destroyed many legacies such as Samson, Amnon, Napoleon, Mark Anthony, Catherine of Russia, Profumo, Ingrid Bergman, Clinton, etc.

Your emotions control your desire, which can ultimately become the dominating obsession of your life; it can be either creative or destructive. Sexual desire is the greatest of all human emotions. The reason is because God made it so and has the capacity to:
1. perpetuate mankind (Gen 1:22)
2. maintenance of health (Son 2:17)
3. creative influence (Gen 29:18)

It is a natural inborn phenomenon that everyone possesses, however, to varying levels. It is an emotion that can build up like a volcano and senselessly seek a forum for expression. It would suffice to say that this emotion can generate so much power that it becomes an irresistible force! When driven by the emotion of sex, a man can abandon his reputation and risk his destiny to indulge in it.

To destroy a man, all you need to do is remove his sexual emotion, and he will become as lifeless as a castrated animal. In fact, when an aggressive bulldog is castrated, it becomes docile; all the aggression is taken away by the exercise of castration.

As powerful as this emotion is, is there any chance of overcoming its negative results such as fornication, adultery, homosexuality, masturbation, pedophilia and other forms of promiscuity? Yes, there is a strong chance, and it won’t cost you castration or mutilation.

Evil sexual desire is a result of lust – lust of the flesh. It is usually boosted by lust of the eyes. Blind people, while not exempted, are far much less prone to evil sexual desire.

As in my previous article (How to Overcome Lust), the only way to deal with lust is to starve it. But you need to know how, when and where to apply the starvation. I will explain this a bit more so that you have a solid understanding of how to deal with this powerful emotion.

Fire In The Laps
The devil likes to get people into lust as young as possible, and many youths are captives to lusts of the flesh, Christian or not. I was reading a book by a famous preacher when I was a young Christian and when I discovered he was encouraging the masturbation as sinless, I stopped reading it and never looked back on it. Masturbation is sinful. Here is why.

Masturbation is as a result of the urge for sexual gratification. Where does that urge come from? It is as a result of the lust of the eyes and lust of the flesh. It is the product created from what you fed your mind (emotions) through your eyes. Masturbation is a physical manifestation of the sin that has already been committed in the heart.

Jesus said, …whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (Mat 5:28)

A young man recently told me that he was struggling with masturbation, Noel (not real name), said, “Any time I want to masturbate, I would get a magazine with nude pictures and stare until I get aroused and then masturbate, but afterwards I would feel terrible …. Yet I don’t want to commit fornication.”

What Noel was simply doing is feeding information into his mind; his mind makes his body to release chemicals that arouse his organs and then uses that to get a release from the “irresistible force” inside of him. That is what I call the burning effect.

Can a man carry fire in his lap without burning his clothes? (Pro 6:27 GW).

You will experience the burning effect if you stay in the enemy’s (sin) territory to fight. You can never win in the enemy’s camp because you will be overwhelmed. Light and darkness cannot mix.

How Lust of the Flesh Develops
The human mind is powerful and responds to stimulation. Your mind controls the function of the body especially automatic nervous system. It controls your heart beat, blood circulation, breathing, sweating, and all other systems in the body. Another function of your mind is to think. Your mind thinks by receiving signals from the receptors of five senses such as seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching respectively.

Couple of years ago, Coca-Cola brought out an ad, it was the first of Diet Coke’s adverts to feature women in office blocks looking at a particular muscular man. In the video, several women claimed to have an 11:30 appointment to gain access to view the torso of a builder have his 11:30 break. You may say that was just an ad, but I know several Christian sisters who were “smitten” by it, too. You know what that is called? Lust. Their eyes fed their emotions and it created a response.

The organs associated with your five senses send signals or information to your mind for the interpretation of events they are experiencing. Then your mind responds by releasing chemicals that energize the nerves in your body, thereby generating an urge in your organs to create an action. In one word, your mind makes you do something in response to stimulation through your senses.

Now the issue is how do you stop the stimulation in the first place? Deny the mind access to the information. The fastest way it can acquire information is through your eyes or what you see. Starve it of the visual effect. Prevention is better than cure.

But then with all the sensual ads on TV, billboards, in magazines, newspapers, Internet pop-ups and pop-unders, etc, your mind is bombarded and pressured to accept the junk that propagates lusts of the eyes and lusts of the flesh. What can you do?

2 Corinthians 10-4-Fighter

Fight For Control
First, you need to realise that you have a great degree of control. For example, while watching a good documentary on TV, they decided to show a sensual ad, get your remote control and switch channels!

With no good program to watch on TV and having your exhausted all your DVDs, a suggested thought comes in, “Why not have some fun and activate one of those porn channels on your cable or sky channels, just a little fun?” What! You should reply, “I will not set any wicked thing before me.” Switch off everything, take a break, go out for a walk or just get on your knees and start worshipping God. You will have the last say by doing these things.

Or as you reach to buy your favourite magazine, you notice some nudity on the front cover, just put it back and keep your money in your pocket.

Is it on the Internet? Since you don’t visit porno sites, let’s say you got tricked into clicking a link that opens up porno pages. Shut the whole thing down! Is it on the billboard near your office or your high street, look away!

There is so much power of control within you that you can easily terminate the dirty information that is targeted towards your mind. In fact, when God sees that you’re making an effort, He will make sure that your mind gets stronger and He will strengthen you. He will surely empower you and would also protect you from temptations that are too strong for you.

If you still feel pressured to give in to lust, you do have a very practical way of escape. Pick up the phone and call a Christian whom you know is serious with his/her walk with God or go actually go to their house. Tell them what you want to do (to the hearing of the devil and all the spiritual forces around you), “I want to go and buy a porn magazine, walk me to the store or I want to watch porn, come and see me watch porn.” It will never happen! The tempter will be defeated as the other Christian joins hand with you to pray for/with you.

This is what Paul meant when he said, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1Co 9:27). Only God knows how many preachers will be castaway in the end, just because they fail to keep their bodies under through indulgence or gratification of the flesh.

One major way to make sure that any dirty information does not enter your mind is meditation. Meditating with God’s Word; …. then the Devils will become afraid of you!

Apart from the spiritual benefit, there are physical and medical benefits of meditation.

Superb Benefits
Recent compelling evidence from scientific researchers at Yale, Harvard, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology* revealed that meditation can allow us to “grow bigger brains.” The brain is the thinking part of the mind. Though this isn’t the same thing as neurogenesis, meditation could very well be an activity that boosts the birth rate of neurons.

Researchers also discovered that meditators literally had an altered-physical brain structure compared to non-meditators. Brain scanning technology [i.e. MRIs] showed that meditation boosted thickness of brain structure dealing with attention, sensory input, and memory functions. The thickening was found to be more noticeable in adults than younger individuals. It’s interesting because the same sections of our cortex that meditation thickens, tend to get thinner as we age.

Meditation is known to boost brain activity, coherency of brain waves, strengthen neural connections, and thicken gray matter. In fact, the scientists were compelled to start further research if meditation is not contributory to slowing down the process of ageing (my observation: now you know part of the reasons why Moses at 120 years was strong enough to climb a mountain with strong eyesight).

What science is yet to discover is that when you meditate, using God’s Word, as new paths are formed in your brain, it will be filled with the scriptures and these will form gates in your mind. When junk information tries to pass through your mind to create lustful desires, those scriptures will start reading the rules that govern your mind, if the junk can’t pass, it gets thrown out quickly.

“Prevention Is Better Than Cure”
Are you married and feel you want to surprise your wife by buying her some lingerie? Well, no harm, go to a lingerie store and tell them what you want to do. It’s that simple. Don’t sit in front of the PC searching lingerie Internet sites for the lingerie, you will see nudity and seeds of lust will be planted in your mind and before you know what is happening, evil desire will pervert your mind.

If you still prefer the Internet, then call your wife and sit down together to do the search; don’t do it alone, one thing will lead to another, and soon you’ll either be pleading for deliverance from lust or flirting.

Paul suggested, “Abstain from every appearance of evil.” While the picture of a pretty woman has no evil about it, if she is covered up; the nude or semi-nude image is an appearance of evil (lustful desire) for the man. David, after his fall into sin of adultery decided to get to grips with himself by declaring, ” I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.” Psalm 101:3.

Watching X-rated programs or movies is the same as setting a “wicked thing before [your] eyes”, and sooner or later, it will turn you aside and cleave to you. These are spiritual laws that cannot be swept under the carpet.

Listen To God’s Word and Pray
One of the reasons I would forever be grateful to God for Keith Green is the track, “Until That Final Day”. I first listened to it when I was bombarded with porno and struggling with lustful desires, as I heard him sing: “ … One sleepless night of anguished prayer, I triumphed over sin. One battle in the Holy war, God’s promised me to win…”

When I heard where he said, “I triumphed over sin”. I went on my knees and spent the night in personal prayer. Oh the joy of fellowship at the feet of Christ! Did I gain victory that day? No. I went back again and again, until one day after another night of prayer, I knew the chain of lustful desires that held me bound had broken loose, and I was totally free!

God had sent His angels to visit me and break all the invisible chains that tightly held me down in lust. “And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Luk 22:43-44

Since then I have made sure, my mind would not feed on lustful information, and no devil would compel me to feed on the junk of lust. I won the battle! It was the fight of my life, I needed to win. Yes, I won!

You need to know that this is the fight of your life, you must win this fight and guard your victory jealously. Believe it, you can win.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Phil 4:8

**Please SHARE and make comments, it helps other people as well, it may be your SHARE/comment that will help another person get his/her much needed victory!

Should you be interested, you may listen to the Keith Green track by clicking the image at the very top of this article. Also, it may help better if you get a copy of the album through his ministry – LastDaysMinistries.org (I have no direct relationship with the ministry except that I just love Keith). The Lyrics to the song are provided below.

Until That Final Day Lyrics
Performed by- Keith Green
Album- Songs for The Shepherd

My flesh is tired of seeking God,
But on my knees I’ll stay.
I want to be a pleasing child,
Until that final day.

My mind is full of many thoughts
That clutter and confuse.
But standing firm, I will prevail,
In faith that I’ll be used.

Amen! I’m asking once again.
Won’t you help me my friend, Lord Jesus?
Holy Lord Spirit, set us free,
From chains we cannot see,
Come release us.

I wrestle not with flesh and blood,
My fight is with the one,
Who lost the keys of hell and death,
To God’s most precious Son.

One sleepless night of anguished prayer,
I triumphed over sin.
One battle in the Holy war,
God’s promised me to win.

Amen! I’m asking once again.
Won’t you help me my friend, Lord Jesus.
Holy, Lord Spirit, set us free,
From chains we cannot see,
Come release us.

My flesh is tired of seeking God,
But on my knees I’ll stay.
I want to be a pleasing child,
Until that final day.

*(see http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/02.02/11-meditate.html)

**Please SHARE and make comments.

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Brother John

My name is simply Brother John. Saved and delivered by Jesus Christ just before my 16th birthday, nothing better could have happened to me in my entire life! Read a little more about my encounter with Christ here: Satan Taught Me... https://brotherjohn.org/satan-taught-me-jesus-mastered-me/ .... When I see that something has blessed me in one way or the other, then I want everybody to hear it and get blessed as much, if not much more. I worship with other believers at the The Platts Road Fellowship. In the truest sense of it, BrotherJohn.org is now more than the personal blog of the person who started it, it has evolved into a TEAM of some world-wide believers, who prefer to remain anonymous. This blog has one purpose: give you practical steps in walking with God. The steps can be found in the fresh Letters From God.

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6 Comments

  1. Dayle Hennigh September 11, 2012

    I just added this feed to my bookmarks. I have to say, I very much enjoy reading your blog. Thanks!

    Reply
  2. Fran August 7, 2013

    How do you get away from lust for food, when your refrigerator is full and your cupboards and you are in the same general vicinity as the kitchen? You can’t leave your house all the time and when you do leave the house, you have the temptation to buy stuff out in public. I was just wondering.

    Reply
  3. Brother John August 8, 2013

    Dear Fran, this is probably the best lust to deal with, many people think that lust of the flesh is is only about sexual immorality, but it covers over-eating or surfeiting as well.

    What would I do, if I were you? I’d spend time in prayer and fasting! That will subdue the flesh (human nature) that is making you to overeat.

    Reply
  4. Brother John September 3, 2013

    Dear Friends, I strongly recommend that you read the articles on Advanced Spiritual Warfare, this will greatly help you in your fight against lust.

    https://brotherjohn.org/advanced-spiritual-warfare-taking-the-battleground/

    https://brotherjohn.org/advanced-spiritual-warfare-spiritual-guerrilla-warfare/

    https://brotherjohn.org/advanced-spiritual-warfare-overcoming-the-strongman/

    God Bless.

    Reply

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