Many times pastors point to passages of Scripture that tell us to fight the enemy. Put on the full armor of God! Take your stand! Storm the gates of Hell! You are more than a conqueror!
Those are all true, but…
There is also a time to run away from a battle.
Flee from sexual immorality … Flee from idolatry …(1 Corinthians 6:18; 10:14).
These two enemies usually form a two-headed monster. Look throughout the Bible and you will see that when the Israelites worshipped anything other than God, they did it with idols and illicit sexual practices.
The Greek word for “sexual immorality” is porneo. This is where we get our word pornography. And isn’t pornography nothing more than idolatry of the naked human body?
Porneo is defined as:
Prostituting one’s body to the lust of another
Unlawful sexual activity
Being drawn away by another into idolizing something illicit
Defiling yourself sexually
What do we do with this? FLEE!!
You cannot fight the two-headed monster of Porneo with your willpower. You must run away!
Porneo is not something to be tamed or controlled. It’s a monster from which you must flee!
This is not a temptation you can control. It’s one you must avoid at all costs!
Look at Joseph: He left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.
Don’t resist the urge—FLEE!!
Don’t take a cold shower—RUN AWAY!!
Get out. Stay out. Get as far away as possible from this two-headed monster.
You cannot win this fight; you must by all means avoid this battle.
These words are usually said after we have messed up something. We look back and say, “What was I thinking?!”
The truth is: you were thinking, it was just wrong thinking.
The Apostle Paul writes this:
Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (Romans 13:14)
The King James Version, instead of do not think, says, “make no provision for the flesh.” In other words, the idea here is forethought.
We have a filter at the base of our brains called the reticular activating system (or R.A.S.). This is what lets in the important things, and keeps out the unimportant things. But here is the vital issue—
YOU CAN PROGRAM YOUR R.A.S.!
You tell your RAS what’s important and what’s unimportant. Paul says that if we use our forethought to consciously decide to clothe ourselves with Christ, we are programming our RAS to spot the things that glorify Him and ignore the things that gratify our fleshly desires.
A phrase that I use often (hat tip to Dr. Richard Dobbins) is: I need to think about what I’m thinking about.
By doing this, I’m able to see how I’ve programmed my RAS. It’s either programmed to look for God-honoring things or flesh-gratifying things.
Try it for yourself. Make the conscious decision to read the Bible every day. Then in your prayer time, ask the Holy Spirit to help you think about God-honoring things. If you will do this, you will notice that you are noticing more things that please God, and that you are ignoring more things that please your sinful nature.
I’ve been re-reading some of my notes that I made on a collection of essays from C.S. Lewis. He is one of my favorite authors, always helping me to see the spiritual realm in a whole new light.
These are just a few quotes that have me thinking…
“A live body is not one that never gets hurt, but one that can to some extent repair itself. In the same way a Christian is not a man who never goes wrong, but a man who is enabled to repent and pick himself up and begin over again after each stumble—because the Christ-life is inside him, repairing him all the time, enabling him to repeat (in some degree) the kind of voluntary death which Christ Himself carried out.”
“There are two ways in which the human machine goes wrong. One is when human individuals drift apart from one another, or else collide with one another and do one another damage. The other is when things go wrong inside the individual—when the different parts of him either drift apart or interfere with one another.”
“Those cautions which the tempter whispers in our ears are all plausible…. That is the truth in the temptation. The lie consists in the suggestion that our best protection is a prudent regard for the safety of our pocket, our habitual indulgences, and our ambitions.”
“When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse he understands his own badness less and less. … Good people know about both good and evil: bad people do not know about either.”
If you haven’t read C.S. Lewis for yourself, he writes in so many different genres that you can find something for almost any taste: science fiction, children’s fairy tales, theology, apologetics, and on and on. He was truly gifted by God to see our world in a different light, and you will be greatly enriched by reading as much as you can from this master author.
Twice in Romans 7, the Apostle Paul uses the phrase “but sin, seizing the opportunity” (vv. 8, 11).
Sin always seizes any opportunity it gets. The devil always prowls around looking for an opportunity to tempt and destroy. And my flesh is always only too eager to give in to the pull of sin and the devil (v. 25).
If we want victory over sin and the devil, we have to be AWARE and be PREPARED.
“When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left Jesus until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13).
The devil will bide his time.
“…satan has asked to sift you as wheat…” (Luke 22:31).
It’s not always the big shakings that will cause us to sin, but the little siftings can wear us down.
“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
“Keep awake and watch and pray constantly, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38).
If you haven’t been tempted lately, or if you’ve recently overcome a temptation, stay humble. “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:12).
And then stay ready: “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11).
A warrior in a combat zone never has a single day he is without his armor.
“As a Man, without using any of His divine powers, Jesus defeated temptation in the same areas where Eve failed and where we fail. … By this He condemned sin in sinful man, that is, He showed we sin, not because we have to sin, but because we choose to sin and because we ignore the help available through the Word and the Spirit.” —Stanley Horton
We don’t have to sin, but we choose to sin.
Ouch!
“In His temptation, Jesus did not use His divine power to defeat the devil. Still identifying Himself with us as Spirit-filled human, He defeated satan by the same means that are available to us — the Word, anointed by the Spirit. Eve, tempted in exactly the same areas—the lust of the flesh (appetite), the lust of the eyes (desire), and the pride of life—failed (Genesis 3:6; 1 John 2:16). In these areas, which John says together comprise the things of the world or worldliness (1 John 2:15). Jesus won a complete victory for us. He has truly overcome the world (John 16:33). We can do the same by our faith (1 John 5:4).” —Stanley Horton
We can do the same thing. Instead of saying, “I gave in to temptation,” we can say, “I gave in to the Holy Spirit, Who helped me defeat temptation!”
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
In probably the best-known prayer, the one Jesus taught us to pray, there is a line I have breezed past way too many times without thinking more about it. It says, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13).
This prayer is addressed to our Heavenly Father, the One Who is all-loving and all-powerful. God loves us and He gives us His power. Even power to defeat temptation.
Sometimes we have to battle the same temptation again and again and again. Perhaps we have seen that we are overcoming that temptation more times than we’re being overcome by it; perhaps not. Sometimes it’s a totally new temptation that sneaks up on us each time. In either case, God knows what temptation we are going to face.
This line of the prayer is really saying, “God, please don’t bring me into battle with a temptation I’m not ready to face. Help me to be ready to overcome that temptation when it comes” (see 1 Corinthians 10:13; James 1:13-17).
NEWS FLASH—Instead of waiting to pray for help until I’m facing a temptation (a reactive prayer), I can pray for God’s help before I even face the temptation (a proactive prayer).
In my mind, proactive is way better than reactive!
Check out what John Bunyan learned about this—
“…I did not, when I was delivered from the temptation that went before, still pray to God to keep me from the temptations that were to come; for though, as I can say in truth, my soul was much in prayer before this trial seized me, yet then I prayed only, or at the most principally, for the removal of present troubles, and for fresh discoveries of His love in Christ, which I saw afterwards was not enough to do; I also should have prayed that the great God would keep me from the evil that was to come. … This I had not done, and therefore was thus suffered to sin and fall, according to what is written, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. And truly this very thing is to this day of such weight and awe upon me, that I dare not, when I come before the Lord, go off my knees, until I entreat Him for help and mercy against the temptations that are to come; and I do beseech thee, reader, that thou learn to beware of my negligence, by the afflictions, that for this thing I did for days, and months, and years, with sorrow undergo.”
What would happen if the next time you are facing a temptation you could say, “Hello, temptation! I’ve already prayed about you, and my Heavenly Father has already given me strength to defeat you”? Don’t you think you would be much more successful? I do!
In order to grow muscle, it has to be stretched beyond what we usually use. Muscles don’t grow unless they are worked out.
The same is true for us spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. If we only do easy things—if everything is rosy all the time—we’ll never grow. In fact it’s worse than that: if we’re not challenged, we will actually atrophy and shrink back.
So with that in mind, here are some encouraging words for your spiritual work out.
“By affliction God teaches us many precious lessons, which without it we should never learn. By affliction He shows us our emptiness and weakness, draws us to the throne of grace, purifies our affections, weans us from the world and makes us long for heaven.” —J.C. Ryle
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. …Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. —Apostle James
“God does not give us overcoming life—He gives us life as we overcome. The strain of life is what builds our strength. If there is no strain, there will be no strength. Are you asking God to give you life, liberty, and joy? He cannot, unless you are willing to accept the strain. And once you face the strain, you will immediately get the strength.” —Oswald Chambers
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love. —Apostle Paul
I pray that you will gain strength in your spiritual work out today.
This post is especially for the men (but, ladies, feel free to read along too).
No, I’m not talking here about the series of Left Behind books that tell a story about people who may miss out on the rapture of the Church. I’m talking about you leaving the protection of your friends and being exposed to a serious defeat.
Most times when I am counseling men who have given in to a temptation, or those who are battling the same old perplexing problems, I find a common theme. It’s not something new—it’s been around a long, long time.
In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites.
You probably know the rest of this sad story: David cannot contain his lust for Bathsheba (another man’s wife) so he seduces her, sleeps with her, gets her pregnant, and then kills her husband to try to cover it up. But look where it all started: David was alone. When he normally would have been with his brothers-in-arms, he stayed behind.
I’m a big believer in accountability, so I’ve written before about a brother who makes sure I stay on the straight-and-narrow. What about you? Are you trying to stay pure all by yourself? Are you battling temptations on your own?
Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)
Don’t try to go into battle all by yourself. If David—a man after God’s own heart—couldn’t win on his own, what makes you think you can?
The little boy was all dressed up in his brand new clothes for Easter Sunday. He was pretty excited to be sporting his new duds on this special day. And what a beautiful day it was! A rain shower the night before had given way to brilliant sunshine on this Resurrection Sunday morning. The birds were singing, the flowers were so fragrant, and the puddles were shimmering like diamonds. A picture-perfect morning!
While waiting for the rest of his family to finish getting dressed for church, the little boy ran outside into the sunshine. He breathed deeply of the fresh spring air, closed his eyes as he turned his face upward to feel the warmth of the sunshine on his freshly-washed face. Ahhh!
He opened his eyes again and saw those shimmering puddles. He just had to get a closer look!
He ran over to the edge of a puddle and poked a stick into the water. Then he spotted some pebbles and picked up a handful to throw in the water and watch the splash. Cool! He looked for something bigger to throw in the water, when he saw a really big rock in the garden. He ran over, grabbed it, sprinted back to the puddle, wound up to make his biggest throw yet, swung his arm forward with the rock, and as his foot slipped on the wet pavement, he and the rock sprawled right in the middle of the puddle. His new Sunday-best clothes were ruined for Easter Sunday!
It doesn’t seem that hard of a concept: To avoid falling into something, stay far away from it.
Parents lecture their kids on this all the time. And our Heavenly Father warns us about this too:
Let your way in life be far from [the seductress], and come not near the door of her house [avoid the very scenes of temptation].
I have people tell me all the time, “I slipped up,” after they have said or done something wrong. Yes, they slipped and sprawled and ruined something beautiful, but if they hadn’t been so close to their puddle in the first place, they probably wouldn’t have slipped.
Solomon wisely said don’t even get close to the danger zone … stay as far away as you can.
The Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl XLV. Or did the Pittsburgh Steelers lose Super Bowl XLV? The Steelers committed three turnovers in the game, which led to 21 points for the Packers. Could the Steelers have pulled it off if they had eliminated those interceptions and a fumble?
Have you ever had a “turnover” (gave in to temptation) and said, “The devil made me do it”? Maybe he did make you do it. But I know that the devil is not omnipresent; that is, he’s not with you everywhere all the time. But you are with you everywhere all the time.
So maybe it’s more accurate to say, “I made me do it.” When it comes to “turnovers” (sin), I think I am often my own worst enemy.
Both the Steelers and the Packers got to the Super Bowl this year largely because of their defensive skills. And when you and I are trying to fight against temptation, defense is the best offense.
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)
Submit to God (defensive) before you try to resist the devil (offensive). Don’t be your own worst enemy! God can help you live a turnover-free life!
Many times pastors point to passages of Scripture that tell us to fight the enemy. Put on the full armor of God! Take your stand! Storm the gates of Hell! You are more than a conqueror!
Craig T. Owens 