When tempted, no one should say,
“God is tempting me.”
For God cannot be tempted by evil,
nor does he tempt anyone;
but each one is tempted when,
by his own evil desire, (lust)
he is dragged away and enticed.
Then, after desire has conceived,
it gives birth to sin;
and sin,
when it is full-grown,
gives birth to death.
Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.
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Lusting can easily become a stronghold within our life.
All forms of lusting is sin. My focus within this teaching will be to highlight how lusting sexually is the “foundation” for sexual addiction. I want to show how, if we allow any lust within us, it can grow into the primary ingredient of sexual strongholds within our lives
(There is a teaching just on the topic of Strongholds, on this site)
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Today, we have replaced the biblical word Stronghold,
in the area of out-of-control sexual behavior with the words; Sexual Addiction.
Therefore:
Lust in relationship to
Strongholds.
Equals
Lust in relationship to
Sexual Addiction.
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A question to ponder;
Do you believe that a man
who has had an ongoing out-of-control sexual thought life
consciously chooses to become a sex addict?
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Definition for Stronghold:
a mindset that accepts as unchangeable conditions
which are contrary to God’s will and the Bible.
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What are Strongholds?
says:
For though we live in the world,
we do not wage war as the world does.
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.
On the contrary,
they have divine power
to demolish strongholds.
We demolish arguments
and
every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,
and
we take captive every
thought to make it obedient to Christ.
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We Take Captive:
Every –
Reasoning
Every –
Imagination
Every –
Daydream
Every –
Fantasy
Every –
Feeling
Because if we don’t take these thoughts captive and if we let them run out of control. They can turn into unreasonable ideas or feelings which can turn into the beginnings of a lustful disturbing preoccupation or a persistent obsession that is habit-forming.
Therefore the battle takes place in our mind first.
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Sexual addiction originates first and foremost in our inner world through lust. If you are consumed by lust that in and of itself, that does not necessarily mean that you are a sex addict.
That is you are not a sex addict
in your
Outer world…
Yet.
for all intents and purposes
you are one in your
Inner World.
* * * * *
Addiction & Lust Are Alike!
Because,
they always take more and more
energy and focus to be satisfied.
yet the reality is they do not satisfy.
Both are a bottomless pit.
To say it another way;
Lust is the foundation that
the stronghold of Sexual Addiction
is build upon.
* * * * *
When men lust this is what is going on in their Inner World. With lust they allow themselves to be deceived into believing they are:
Feeling-
Loved
Feeling-
Accepted
Feeling-
Affection
Feeling-
Affirmation
Feeling-
Approval
Feeling-
Validated
Feeling-
Strong
Feeling-
In Control
Feeling-
Connected.
Escaping for a while from any:
failures or rejections
anger or loneliness
or
low self-esteem
which is another way of saying self hatred.
* * * * *
Christian men can look great on the outside and be totally drunk with lust on the inside.
* * * * *
The reality is that sex addicts choose to use lust as a drug, a medication.
* * * * *
My hope is that you take some time and meditate upon these quotes:
“Before God Can Deliver Us
We Must Undeceive Ourselves.”
Saint Augustine
* * * * *
“My Great Concern Is Not Whether
You Have Failed
But
Whether You Are Content
With Your Failure.”
Abraham Lincoln
* * * * *
“One Can Have
No Smaller Or Greater Mastery
Than The Mastery Of Oneself.”
Leonardo De Vinci
* * * * *
“While We May Not Be Able To Control All That Happens To Us
We Can Control What Happens Inside Us.”
Benjamin Franklin
* * * * *
The reality is that lusting completely distorts God’s intent for sex. Sex, as God planned it, is for only within marriage. The act of sex is about the relationship because desire for sexual intimacy is the way God has planned it.
It’s about the Relationship.
A true son of God, first and foremost, wants to know that his bride is:
Satisfied
Fulfilled
And
Content.
But with lust,
the bottom line is a naked body.
The man who is always consumed with lust, is doing nothing less than teaching himself to treat his wife or his partner as a sex object… Because often within his inner world he is comparing his wife or partner to a sexual fantasy. There, in his inner world, he views the act of sex as,
Cheap and Valueless.
* * * * *
There is absolutely nothing relational about lusting,
* * * * *
It’s not about his wife,
it’s not about the other person.
It’s only about the climax.
* * * * *
The man who is always lusting, is addicted to doing… it’s the activity, in and of itself –it’s about the activity. The reality is that a man who is always preoccupied with lust will develop sexual behaviors or patterns that can greatly alter his life. What happens is there is an increased tendency for him to act out his sexual fantasies… Because he is consumed by these illusions, these deceptions, no matter how bad the consequences. They can even increase the possibility of him committing a serious sex crime.
You may be thinking,
I am using fear.
Or
that I am trying to scare you,
Or
that maybe I am exaggerating in what I am saying.
Well, ask the hundreds of thousands of men now living with Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD’s.) …
Or
those who are now marked for life and imprisoned because of sex crimes.
With an equal amount of men who are now registered sex offenders.
Or
the over 4,000 aborted babies just in the U.S. every day.
Or
the countless destroyed marriages and families.
Or
the countless homes that are marked with pain and sadness… all this because the man has chosen to embrace lust, once again as a medication, a drug, to the point it has become a stronghold.
Men who allow themselves to live in a lustful fantasy world, give no thought to the possibility that they can destroy their lives with a diet of ongoing lust.
* * * * *
This is just a little understanding of placing the words
Lust and Strongholds (Sexual Addiction) next to each other.
* * * * *
Mike takes this teaching on lust further in his seminar;
“The Choice and the Challenge.”
The main focus for this site is to equip you with the biblical tools for resolving any lust within your heart. Here on this site are Christian disciplines, intended to aid your walk with your heavenly Father God, Your Wonderful Savior, your brother Jesus Christ and our precious Holy Spirit who desires to lead you into all truth.
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