In the genealogical line of Jesus listed in Matthew Chapter one,.. 40 plus people are named, 5 of them females.
The first is Tamar, who posed as a prostitute and slept with her father-in law. The second is Rahab, a prostitute. The third is Ruth, a Fourth generational descendant of incest. the fourth is Bathsheba, who had an affair, and the fifth is Mary the mother of Jesus. A virgin.
Sexual sin does not scare God. Rather, He is in the business of bringing purity out of sexual brokenness.
Purity out of sexual brokenness.
Jesus is model for sexual purity.
The devil came after Jesus when he was tired, lonely, and hungry. He questioned His identity twice before he offered Him what ever sensuality's He desired. But Jesus knew who he was, where he was going, and was full of purpose. His answer to the temptations? "I'm good, there is nothing you have that I need because my Father is providing for me, I'm just going to worship."
That temptation cycle sound accurate? Coming after you when your defences are down, asking you to flash your ID to get you off balance, then offering a little flesh? It's all to familiar and I know I am connecting right now because it's happened to you, it's happened to me.
Jesus showed us how it's done gentlemen. He is the model for sexual purity. He took it like a man and didn't run but connected to His Father. Then he headed out of isolation, and temptation and pushed into relationship with Peter, James, and John the men He later chose to climb the mountain with to get a touch from heaven.
Let me summarize with 5 smooth giant killing stones.
1. Recognize when your defences are down i. e. hungry, tired, or lonely, and do something about it.
2. Love yourself, know who you are, live with purpose.
3. Worship.
4. Have fathers.
5. Push into relationships.
The hard work to purity
I have been doing land restoration for over 10 years now. What we do is remove invasive species and plant back native natural habitat in wetlands, forests, and riparian areas. Invasives are hard to get out and the hardest invasive in my opinion is Scott Broom. I have seen them grow as tall as 20 feet, and left untouched they will form a nearly impenetrable wall and choke out native vegetation. Back in the 1940s some one brought them over from Scotland to Vancouver Island as an ornamental and they have since spread over a 1,000 miles clear down to California.
Removing Scott Broom is no easy task. They must be cut out and burned and new sprouts must be sprayed with herbicide several times to clean up an area. You might think, "oh that's no big deal," and you would be mostly right but you didn't know this little bit of information. Those beautiful yellow flowers that fill the bush of Scott Broom in the spring explode and carry seeds in the wind for as far 75 yards and can lay dormant for up to 7 years.
Recently we bought two properties in the foothills a few miles out of town. Beautiful place, great views, but full of Scott Broom. After several work days this winter and with a lot of help we got them cut out, piled up, and burned. The new shoots popped back up this spring and we sprayed them. The place looks great but it will still take vigilance for the next 7 years as we will have to keep checking the hill sides for any new plants trying to work their way back in. The hard work is done, but we have to keep checking and spraying, checking and spraying.
OK, sounds like a great plan, but wait, 3 of my 7 neighbors have Scott Broom too! That means even if I do everything perfect on my place those seeds will keep popping over here and infecting my property and I will always have to be spraying. So since I knew my neighbors would greatly appreciate it, we removed and sprayed some of their plants as well.
Most of the hard work to purity will take place in your first year of going after it,..but you are not done. Long term watchfulness, care, and maintenance are on going. But not to fear, just be aware and also encouraged because the work will ease over time. And when we get clean, we naturally get those around us clean as well.
Nothing left but the real you
In the next one minute I want you to use every word you can think of for penis. Stop reading, time yourself and do it. Ok, very nice. Now do the same thing for every word you can think of for anger. Ready,? Go. Ok, now that you're back it's very telling isn't it how many more expressions that you have for penis. One minute isn't enough time, you could have kept going, yet 20 seconds was enough for Anger. My point? Is that men feel with their penis because they haven't learned to talk.
If your a birder, or know the names of native plant species, it's amazing how much more connected you feel out there in the woods. Our favorite word in the world is our name. We love to hear it, over and over again. Our feelings are the same way they love to be called by their name because it makes them more real. You must feel to get free, ...so...learn to put them in words. Practice with men you trust, and fear not your emotions, God gave them to you and He wants you to use them.
Men cry around me all the time, I love it, and do it myself frequently. In fact, I have cried longer, and harder than anyone I know (my wife says I always have to make everything a competition). Just ask any of my friends who have known me for 20 years now. We honor those we cry with, and it brings us together. Ashamed of it, ha! No way. Crying is statement of courage. If we voted on the most popular men in this group the top 5 would be the ones who cry the most. Wait a minute! That's not what I was taught. Of course not, that's why I'm writing this blog at 2 am because you need to unlearn it. A good cry is as good as great sex. It's a function of your body and you have shut it down and now you're feeling with you penis. Remember the one you have all those names for?
To get where you need to go start by praying this prayer. "Jesus, help me to feel." This is what the back side of that prayer looks like. The decade before I went for it with God I cried 5 times. The decade following it was so frequent I couldn't possible count them. The first two years it was a daily event because I was making up for lost time, and by embracing it, it got me well.
Crying is a natural part of being human, so...get yourself prepared to fall to pieces and have a good cry when you can. We can't make ourselves cry or control when it is going to happen, so embrace it when it does and don't stop until you're finished, because sexual addiction is a failure to grieve. And know this, that men who cry have power, because when a man cries it's an event. When you speak people will listen because all the logic and politics have been washed away with the tears and there is nothing left but the real you.
A team sport
I used to play a bit of football in high school and some in college. I love the game. We play the game on the weekend just like we practice during the week. It would be ridiculous for a bunch of guys to get all dressed out in pads and helmets then circle up in the locker room and start pumping each other up with chants, hitting each others shoulder pads, and team prayer. You can pray all you want and do great chants roaring like a lion and no matter how good you do it, you are going to lose every time. Unless you do lots of blocking and tackling drills, know your plays, have studied the opposing team, and play like one yourself you have no chance.
No different in sexual purity. This is a team sport, not an individual event. You must know your basics and no amount of talking/preaching is going to help you. You must practice, and practice with others. Its work, and the trick play only works when the rest of your game is on.
Grabs a knife, and saved their life.
God loves us and He knows us. He knows how many hairs are on your head, and He cares what you do with your penis. His first directive to us was,...use your penis all the time, and use it appropriately,...i. e. "be fruitful and multiply." His second directive to us was to be set apart and Holy. That is Gods covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17 when He says "hey Abe, here's the deal, I will bless you and all the generations after you. What I want you to do is to circumcise your self and your household, now, and for the generations to come after you, so that you will a people Holy to me. The covenant was made. The knife came out, and blood was spilled from the tip of the penis.
Now lets jump ahead to Moses, the man God chose to set his people free from slavery. Moses had spent his time in the desert, he had a audible conversation with God, and he even has the staff of God to do miracles. So now he is on his way, blessed by his father-in law, prepared, and empowered when an angel shows up to kill him. Then Zipporah the wife of Moses grabs a knife, and the angel spares there life. What? Why would God send an angel to kill the man he had just picked to free his people, and then changed his mind following the act of the circumsision of a child? Because though gifted, prepared, and blessed, Moses could not accomplish the long term mission of saving a great people because he had not separated himself as holy.
We have churches full of annointed, gifted, and blessed people with a directive to save the lost who have not yet separted themselvs as a holy people. There is a place in us put there by God that burns to achieve great things, but to do it and make it last we must be in covenant with our God who says "be holy because I am Holy."
Your mission, should you decide to accept it?
The real mission field is sexual purity. The lost are among us,...every where. You can't find a stat that says any less that 50% of men inside and out of the church are addicted to porn. So...basically more than half of everybody you see walking down the street is caught in this thing and the shame of it is keeping them there.
If you got saved and filled with the Holy Spirit when you were in the world and you got all lit up and got your friends saved too,...that's a natural response to the grace that produced your freedom. When you get free from sexual garbage the excitement of your freedom will be contagious. Freedom looks a lot like rebellion to those that are in bondage. Want to make a bunch of folks really nervous? Get sexually free. It's very intimidating, because to get there you must be confident, honest, love your self, be humble, and love God. Great place to be. Most are plastic fantastic so it throws them off balance around you and this gives you the missionary's advantage to go for it. Release a passion for purity where ever you go, and because you know who you are you effect change where ever you go. This is your mission, should you decide to accept it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
