How To Overcome Lust. Part [14] 08/12/2024 (Morning thought)

Matthew 4: 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

[1] Question: When a Christian man, who might be struggling with lust and porn, prays to God for help, does God remove the cravings, or does He give us the strength to resist the cravings? Question: When Jesus was in the wilderness, He did fast and pray, as all of us must, so, did God remove Christ’s craving for food, or was He strengthened to resist the craving. In other words, after Jesus had fasted and prayed for strength to overcome hunger, did He still remain hungry?

[The Desire of Ages pp 118] For forty days He fasted and prayed. Weak and emaciated from hunger, worn and haggard with mental agony, “His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men.” Now was Satan's opportunity. The Savior was faint from hunger, He was craving for food, when Satan came suddenly upon Him.

[Redemption Bk 2 pp 54] After Satan had ended his temptations, he departed from Jesus for a little season. The foe was conquered, but the conflict had been long and exceedingly trying, and Christ was exhausted and fainting. He fell upon the ground as though dying. Heavenly angels who had been with intense, and painful interest watching their loved commander, now came and ministered unto him. They prepared him food and strengthened him, for he lay as one dead.

Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!

How To Overcome Lust. Part [13] 08/12/2024 (Evening thought)

Matthew 5:29 And if thy right eye offends thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

Men cannot prevent any Bathsheba from appearing out of the blue, and there are times when the one who is struggling to overcome lust might be stung with stunning external beauty, but he must not even linger, or drool after her, because doing so would be the equivalent of David “Sending” to enquire after her”.

This will call for stern self-denial, through the grace and power of the indwelling Christ, for if we were to give loose rein to lustful cravings, the problem could become so endemic, that involuntary actions would follow. And wherever this is the case, uprooting lust becomes all the more difficult.

This is not to say that next week we should see any one-eyed saints walking around, it just means that very stern self-denial has to be incorporated into one’s daily experience, so as to facilitate God’s work in the heart. This will lead us to two very important questions as men seek to overcome lust:

Proverbs 7:25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. 26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. 27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!