You’re fooling yourself and diminishing grace if you think you can pursue sinful behavior even in secret and still be in right fellowship with God. Your prayers are vain and useless and your guilt will not purge your sins. Confess your sins to God. Choose to abandon your sins. Ask the Lord for the strength.
Faith To Go!
7 Points Regarding Sexual Sin
The following points are from an article in Churchleaders.com
1. Who or what you pursue will ultimately determine what you do and who you become. It is a spiritual impossibility to pursue Jesus AND sexual sin at the same time. (Psalm 25:15)
2. As a friend of mine has often said, “God is not after our begrudging submission but rather our joy!” And long-term joy, peace, and fulfillment are never the result of pursuing sexual sin. (Please read Proverbs 5, Proverbs 6, & Proverbs 7 for further confirmation in regards to this point.)
3. Sexual sin is not something that can be “prayed away,” nor can we simply read Bible verses about grace after committing it in order to feel better. NOR can we simply promise God over and over that we won’t do it again (how’s that working for you?). We CAN be set free from it…but it will not be pretty. It must be confessed (James 5:16) and repented of (Revelation 2:21-23!). (I did not overcome my nearly 20-year battle with pornography until I confessed it and asked for help!)
YES, it may “cost you” when it comes to your reputation…but remember, the costs of concealment are far greater than the costs of confession…and repentance is WAY more important than our reputation.
4. Sexual sin costs us our spiritual esteem…people who are involved in sexual sin feel disconnected from God, guilty, and spiritually dead.
5. For those who want to STOP sinning sexually…a decision MUST be made to renew your mind (Romans 12:1-12), to FIGHT the battles in your mind (II Corinthians 10:5), and to ask GODLY men and women to come alongside you and both encourage and spur you when necessary (Hebrews 10:24-25).
(PS…this means you have to stop saying, “I messed up sexually.” OR “I made a mistake!” Call it what it is…sin. AND stop meeting with people who are doing the same things that you are doing and so when you get together to “hold one another accountable,” you are actually hoping that the other person “messed up” so that you don’t feel bad about doing so!)
6. Understand that IN CHRIST, you CAN have victory over sexual sin! (See Romans 8:37, I Corinthians 15:57, Philippians 4:13!) IN CHRIST, you are NOT a victim but rather a receiver of VICTORY! If Jesus overcame DEATH, then Christ in you can help you breakthrough the stronghold of sexual sin! (Luke 1:37!)
7. For those who belong to Christ and are trying their best to pursue Him on a daily basis but are still haunted by a sexual past…remember that is who you WERE; it is not WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST! (II Corinthians 5:17!) Do not allow what used to defeat you to define you! You are no longer defined by what you did but rather by what CHRIST did for you on the cross!
Rules for the Road.
Before you start operating: Get a proper license. Get what you need for accountability. Keep your belt on and properly tightened. Operate in wisdom and safety. Stay in your lane. Follow the signs. Obey the operating rules. Yield to authorities in emergency situations. Avoid reckless operators. If someone is hurt, lost, or stranded call for help. What out for hazards that come up. Carry an emergency rescue kit at all times. Remember let your light shine so others can see where you’re going and follow you if their lights go out.
The Christian life and ministry. Oh, you thought I was referring to driving a car.
Walk By Faith.
For we walk by faith, not by sight: 2 Corinthians 5:7 (KJV)
The words of Apostle Paul to the Corinthian Church. He was letting them know believers must defer to God for all things. This requires the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. Without Him, a person is confined to what their physical eyes can see. When that happens choices and decisions are subject to emotions, experience, expectations, etc. Personal experience or insight cannot know the unknown or the unknowable. You might succeed in the flesh and still be a spiritual failure. On the other hand, God is sovereign, He knows all, and His judgments are sure. He sees the beginning and end of all things. He is not limited by time or space. He can’t be blind-sided, exploited, or fooled like we can, which means He can’t fail and He can’t lose.
To walk by faith and not by sight is to forgo conventional eyesight and rely on spiritual insight. Spiritual insight is dependent on faith in God’s will. It’s not blind faith. It’s faith based on the evidence of God’s person and performance. He provides us with evidence of His sovereign ability so we can willingly put our trust in Him.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)
When we walk by faith we accept His provision, His timing, and His direction. It means we set aside our personal expectations, preferences, and will for His. We choose to accept His choices. We desire to meet His expectations. We want to fulfill His will. We learn to be content with His provision and choose not to blame, complain, or whine. We seek Him in times of difficulty, pain, and uncertainty rather than defer to self or the world. In those times God offers comfort, peace, and the ability to endure.
In short, to walk by faith we have to deny ourselves and take the path He leads to instead of the path we want to take. Yes, taking His path may cause us to encounter confusion, frustration, loss, or even pain. But in the end we will become stronger in our faith, more content in our physical circumstances, and more confident in our service.
When we walk by faith we have everything to lose (that is worldly and useless) and we have everything to gain (that is godly and eternal).
I once was blind but now, I see!
To Him who gives sight to the blind be all glory, all honor, and all majesty.
It Just Makes Sense.
Abiding Faith: Men, if you have or want a Proverbs 31 woman for a wife then you need to become a Psalm 1 man.
Freedom Requires Total Honesty.
When you spend time getting to know God you have to be honest with who you are. It isn’t because God’s doesn’t know the real you, it’s so that He can free you from trying to hide behind your old man, old nature, and your old sins. Come clean with God and you’ll find out just how much He really loves you.
God Heals His Children When They’re Wounded.
Abiding Faith: To those in the body of Christ who are hurting behind the failure of highly respected and influential pastors, deacons, preachers, teachers or other believers – I don’t know you personally and I don’t know happened to cause this horrible situation and the huge pain in your heart. BUT the Lord has a Word for you if you will receive it.
Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:6-8 (KJV)
Don’t give Satan a bigger foothold than he already has. Fill the cracks with the Word, fasting, and prayer. Deny the Devil any more conquest and refuse to become a willing victim by caving into the temptations of the flesh and becoming angry, bitter, resentful, vengeful, or distant.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39 (KJV)
Worship, it isn’t just for Sunday Morning.
Jesus told the woman at the well the Father was seeking those who would worship him in spirit and truth. Your worship should be a daily individual engagement of God as well as engaging him corporately on a regular basis. Your worship begins with your personal devotion, meditation, and prayer. Worship then moves to your daily routines, personal relationships and your personal ministry. Worship then connects with other believers in corporate learning, corporate ministry, and corporate praise/worship services. THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!
Genuine Transformation Displays Obedience
Do you love God or just the idea of God? Do you believe in Jesus or do you just believe in the story of Jesus? If you merely love the idea and believe the story then you live as you choose. If, however, you truly love God and believe in Christ then you live is submission and service to Him.
Breaking Strongholds Requires Intentional Obedience.
Does Satan have a stronghold over you, your family and your relationships? James tells us to draw close to God and He will draw close to us; resist the Devil and he will flee. Satan gets his stronghold when people: fail to pray about all things; fail to study the Word of God; fail to practice God’s Word; refuse to follow the Holy Spirit; fail to love the brethren; try to satisfy the flesh rather than please the Holy Spirit.
If you want to be free from the stronghold of Satan you must reverse the curse by returning to God. Confess the sins you currently practice or have failed to acknowledge. Repent of your sin and obey God’s Word. Forgive those who’ve wronged you. Read Psalm 51, 73, 37, 32, & 27. Pray for guidance and strength. Daily put on the full armor of God. Get to a Bible teaching, Bible Living, Discipleship Training, Body of Christ loving Church.
If you begin with these things the Holy Spirit will give you peace and guide you to what He wants from you. Of course, you can ignore these instructions and be content to needlessly suffer the fiery darts of Satan.
The Choice is yours. Abundant Life or abundant strife.