Lust

[RichkCt]

I'm 33 and a married Christian male with 2 kids.

Do anyother Christian males notice the flood of sexual images,messages, pop culture being poured out into our faces.

Seems like the amount of soft porn mags like MAXIM FHM and a few other keep growing. Its seems like its everwhere.

Anyother guys here relate..How do you do with resisting. Just seems lto me looking at these covers often in disgust they cant seem to keep there chest in there clothes, then again most are hardly wearing any clothes..

In Christ
Rich

[Shammu]

I'm 33 and a married Christian male with 2 kids.

Do anyother Christian males notice the flood of sexual images,messages, pop culture being poured out into our faces.

Yes I have noticed, one of the reasons I don't really watch TV. The garbage on TV is generally, "garbage." Allow the Bible to be your TV Guide.

Seems like the amount of soft porn mags like MAXIM FHM and a few other keep growing. Its seems like its everwhere.

I don't know what MaximFHM is?

Anyother guys here relate..How do you do with resisting. Just seems lto me looking at these covers often in disgust they cant seem to keep there chest in there clothes, then again most are hardly wearing any clothes..

In Christ
Rich

For me it is easy to resist these temptations. I am generally in to much pain to care about them. The only thing I can do is pray. To ease the thoughs out of my mind. Lust is one of the 7 deadly sins.

[Soldier4Christ]

I agree it is everywhere. Standing in line (or sitting in my case) at the grocery store, the magazines are there with it all over the fronts covers.

For a normally healthy person this can be a problem. Not a problem for me but I am not normal or healthy.

As with any sin that wants to control our lives, the answer is in God. Use the tools that He has given us. Emerse ourselves in His Word and in prayer each time the temptation arises.

[Illuminati]

You can't really blame Maxim, FHM, Playboy, MTV or any other media outlet.  If you give into temptation, and I don't care what religion you are including atheist/agnostic, you have no one to blame but yourself.  As far as christian theology goes, don't blame Satan if you give into temptation, he is just offering you an alternative.

[Bern]

Wise words as usual...  

Rich, yeah, I think most Christian men have noticed it. You can't not notice it really... and at times it can be difficult to handle. Like dreamweaver was saying, TV is full of rubbish these days. It will only get worse in time to come aswell. The thinking of today is humanism, if it feels good ..do it... this is nothing new either.. its the age old sin of self gratification. As in the days of Noah.... as it says in the bible.

[Getting_Real]

I don't think people are blaming others if they give in to the temptation.

It's more they're just noting the increased proliferation of temptation.

[Bern]

What Satan offers people is not an alternative. It is a desperately wicked attempt to draw people as far from God as he can get them. The humna heart being what it is, will if left to its own ends naturally give in to temptation. This si somethign i am realising more and more profoundly the older I get as a Christian... no matter how much will power you have.. you CANNOT resist sin. It is not possible. You nkow, in the past I've even cried for hours over my sin wishing to be free from it... only to discover later on that what I was really so upset about was that I was frustrated at not being able to resist it in my own strength.. almost seeing the Holy Spirit as a boost to my own will power! Well that just isnt right!! How desperately wicked and decietful the human heart is. Praise God that if we are truly seeking, he will guide us into all truth though.

[gary cook]

GOD put with in every being on earth certain desires .to have these desires is not sin .But normal !
But if the inner man is not feed ?The outter man is in control .He will ,desire the things of the flesh .More than He should ?
So the ansure is ?Feed the inner man a big meal .Then you will not desire ,to over do anything in the flesh .
How can I do this ?
Very easy .You need 3 days .The 1st day you can work ,the 2nd day your mind will be mixed up .You can not work .The 3rd day ,your mind is perfectly clear .fast ,no food or juice ,just water .THE 3rd day ,JESUS CHRIST will talk with you freely and clearly .About once a month and you will not desire the things of the flesh .except to please your wife .You will grow more in one fast than ,since you came to JESUS CHRIST .IT IS GODS WILL FOR US TO FAST .fasting does many things and is very important to a child of GOD

[Bern]

Gary, seriously, stop it. That is not biblical. You know, I'd be worried if after one fasting session, I grew more than the whole time since I had known the Lord. What would that say about my previous life in Christ? I agree that fasting is a good thing and is necessary to spiritual development, but to say "this is the solution" to lust... just do this in 3 days... is wrong.
The way we are washed clean is by the Word.

Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Also:
Galatians 5:16  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

They key to resisting temptaion is not to do some little ritual then have a friendly chat with Jesus, expecting Him to go along with your once a month plan.... it is a daily walk with God trusting in His Holy Spirit for your strength. It is of course vital that we get to know our Saviours voice and commune with Him as often as possible, but He is not bound by our methods, rituals and demands.

 If you are going to suggest these things as fact then you need to be able to back them up with scripture.. in context.

[gary cook]

What I am saying is the inner being must rule ,and most people do not even know of the inner man .as long as the flesh is in control ?You will never see the power of GOD has it should be in your life .You will never raise the dead ,heal the sick or cast out demons .These things are automatic in the born again child of GOD .Because the KINGDOM of HEAVEN is POWER .THE LORD does not have a dead church .HE HAS A CHURCH OF POWER .I don"t believe most fast ,or even know how .This would be bring the flesh into subjection .What I do see .is a whole nation falling away here in america .Oh there are still many who love the LORD .But most with out any real power or desire to do the works of JESUS CHRIST . We as a people feel we are righteous .of course we are not .We are failtures in CHRIST .The world around us is going to hell .even our own childern .Do you understand .The 1st church had very few people and was winning the whole world .we claim to have millions and can not bring our nation back .So where is the POWER ?Where is the power with in you ?Tell us something that will cause us to grow in TRUTH ?Tell us who you have healed today or led to the LORD or any work for the KINGDOM ?Did you stop and help a broke down driver or visit a fatherless family ,or cast out a demon .Who have you blessed today .I pray many ?ANY ?I am not knocking YOU !But the church must awake .OUR TIME is short here .Those who stay will suffer greatly .It will be worse than any time before .millions will die bad deaths .We MUST help draw them closer to JESUS CHRIST before it is too late .BE TRUTHFUL ?HAVE YOU FASTED for 3or 4 days that you could be used of GOD MORE PERFECTLY ?

[Bern]

"Very easy .You need 3 days .The 1st day you can work ,the 2nd day your mind will be mixed up .You can not work .The 3rd day ,your mind is perfectly clear .fast ,no food or juice ,just water .THE 3rd day ,JESUS CHRIST will talk with you freely and clearly "

Where did you discover this?

[gary cook]

by fasting .I could talk clearly with JESUS .My mind was clearer than ever .I could tell what people would say before they spoke .I could see if they were of a righteous spirit or evil .I could look at the same color and see any differeance ..These flesh eyes can not see TRUTH ?Our inner being can see everything .our battles all take place in the mind 1st .our battles are all spiritual 1st our weapons are all spiritual. We are not what we appear to be ?
I can not in the natural see you ?You are a spirit as GOD IS .as the angels are .The spirit is nothing like the flesh .Our spirit desires to serve GOD ,even before the new birth .after the new birth ?we have full access to GOD though JERSUS CHRIST .We have the powers of heaven in us and for us .

[kdr22]

I use a lot of scripture to combat the lust of the eyes.  For example:
Pro 4:25, "Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you."
Psalm 101:3, "I will set before my eyes no vile thing."

Those verses seem to help me a lot.

As men of God, we need to be like Boy Scouts, in the sense that we need to "be prepared". We need to have a plan of action - know ahead of time what we can and *will* do - when we are tempted.

God wired us guys to be visually stimulated. Having select verses of Scripture memorized, as you said, is a great piece of the *whole armor* of God that we can use when we are visually tempted.

Another suggestion to those who are married is -when visually tempted- think back to what it was about your wife that first attracted you. Then thank God for His blessing your marriage to her, as you also consider some small way you might be able to personally thank your wife for blessing you with her commitment to you. You'll be surprised how fast the lust goes away when you turn your thoughts to God and the woman He blessed you with.
 

If you are single, set some time aside to consider and write out the qualities you would like your future wife to have. If you find your list tending to emphasize physical attributes over Godly attributes, prayerfully ask God to help you gain a good understanding of His plan and purpose between a man and a woman. I would also strongly suggest to prayerfully consider if it is God's will for you to have a wife. Be sure of your calling and God's will for you. Make sure that you truly desire to seek to know and love and please Him *first and foremost*.

It is good for all of us guys, married or single to keep in mind that our time on earth is temporary. We were not created to live for ourselves, but for God. We were created to worship Him, not His creation(s).  

See Romans 1:18-25

Blessings in Christ,
kdr