Overcoming Lust: Embracing Purity and God's Grace

Devotional

Day 1: The Venom of Lust's Destructive Power

Lust is a powerful force that can wreak havoc on relationships, particularly marriages. It reduces the sacred bond between spouses to mere transactions, where individuals are objectified and consumed rather than cherished and loved. This destructive power of lust creates a personal prison of shame and isolation, silencing the voice of the Holy Spirit and damaging one's walk with God. The struggle with lust is often a silent battle, but acknowledging its impact is the first step toward healing and restoration. [04:02]

"Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." (Colossians 3:5, ESV)

Reflection: In what ways have you seen lust impact your relationships, and how can you begin to address this today with God's help?

Day 2: Jesus' Call to Inner Purity

Jesus challenges us to go beyond mere outward actions and address the inner imaginations and desires of our hearts. He calls us to take radical steps to remove the sources of sin in our lives, emphasizing the importance of inner purity. This call to purity is not about physical harm but about making intentional choices to align our hearts with God's will. By focusing on inner purity, we can break free from the chains of lust and live in the freedom that Christ offers. [07:32]

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10, ESV)

Reflection: What are the sources of sin in your life that you need to remove to pursue inner purity, and what practical steps can you take today to begin this process?

Day 3: Feeding New Desires

Overcoming lust involves feeding new desires and starving old ones. This requires reliance on the Holy Spirit, who gives us new desires and the strength to pursue them. It starts with drawing near to God, confessing our sins, and embracing His forgiveness. By focusing on the realities of heaven and allowing God's grace to transform us from the inside out, we can cultivate new desires that align with His will. [12:47]

"Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." (Colossians 3:2, ESV)

Reflection: What new desires do you feel God is calling you to cultivate, and how can you rely on the Holy Spirit to help you pursue them today?

Day 4: Practical Steps for Purity

To guard our hearts and minds, we must take practical steps such as setting up accountability measures and removing triggers from our environment. Tools like Covenant Eyes and VidAngel can help filter content and maintain accountability. By creating a supportive environment and surrounding ourselves with people who encourage us in our walk with God, we can take tangible steps toward purity and freedom from lust. [32:40]

"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." (Proverbs 4:23, ESV)

Reflection: What practical steps can you take today to guard your heart and mind against lust, and who can you invite into your journey for accountability and support?

Day 5: Grace Over Law

The journey to purity is not about self-righteousness or trying harder but about embracing God's grace. We are broken and loved, and our starting point is drawing near to God, who empowers us to overcome sin and live in freedom. By focusing on His grace rather than our efforts, we can experience true transformation and live in the freedom that Christ offers. [15:00]

"For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6:14, ESV)

Reflection: How can you shift your focus from trying harder to embracing God's grace in your journey toward purity, and what difference do you think this will make in your life today?

Sermon Summary

In today's message, we delved into the challenging topic of lust and pornography, exploring its pervasive impact on our lives and relationships. Lust, much like a venomous snake, injects poison into our spiritual lives, stirring and strengthening evil desires. It is a battle that many face, often silently, and it can feel like a relentless itch that never goes away. However, the focus today is not on condemnation but on encouragement and empowerment. We are called to be warriors, like Rocky or John Wick, who never give up despite the challenges.

Lust is destructive, particularly to marriages, as it devalues the sacred bond between spouses and turns individuals into mere objects of consumption. It also silences the voice of the Holy Spirit, creating a personal prison of shame and isolation. Jesus, however, calls us to a higher standard of purity, one that goes beyond outward actions to address the inner imaginations and desires of our hearts. He challenges us to gouge out the sources of sin in our lives, not through physical harm, but by taking radical steps to remove the things that lead us away from God.

The path to overcoming lust involves feeding new desires and starving old ones. This requires reliance on the Holy Spirit, who gives us new desires and the strength to pursue them. It starts with drawing near to God, confessing our sins, and embracing His forgiveness. We must also take practical steps to guard our hearts and minds, such as setting up accountability measures and removing triggers from our environment. Ultimately, it's about setting our sights on the realities of heaven and allowing God's grace to transform us from the inside out.

Key Takeaways

1. righteousness or trying harder but about embracing God's grace. We are broken and loved, and our starting point is drawing near to God, who empowers us to overcome sin and live in freedom. [15:00]
** [15:00]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:45] - The Venom of Lust
[01:52] - Warriors Against Lust
[04:02] - Impact on Marriages
[04:51] - Biblical Examples
[05:59] - Personal Prison of Shame
[07:32] - Jesus on Inner Purity
[08:44] - A Pornified Culture
[11:02] - Feeding New Desires
[12:47] - Starting with Jesus
[15:00] - Grace Over Law
[16:56] - Confession and Cleansing
[18:30] - Forgiveness and Healing
[20:53] - Setting Sights on Heaven
[22:37] - Elevating Our Thinking
[26:50] - Starving Old Desires
[32:40] - Accountability Measures
[35:24] - Responding to God's Call

Sermon Clips

"We're going to mention it. If you've got somebody that you don't want to hear that, now we're not going to go into any detail, we're not going to talk about anything specific, but it's a thing in this, like it's part of the subject matter. So if you don't want somebody to hear about that, or folks, you're watching online, you need someone to leave the room, that's totally cool." [00:00:04] (18 seconds)

"When people give themselves to an imaginary thought life that is not faithful to their spouse, or they're not faithful to their husband, or they're not faithful to their wife, or they are watching porn or doing something like that, what it is doing is it's removing the value of sex with their spouse. That's what it's doing. It's devaluing the currency, you could say, almost. I read this quote, 56 % of divorcing couples cite pornography as a major factor. You believe that?" [00:02:59] (31 seconds)

"It quiets the voice of the Holy Spirit because it hurts our walk with God. God, it doesn't cause him to leave us, but it causes him to quiet down because there's another God we've put in between he and us. So we enjoy him a little bit less. Here's the last one. It reinforces a personal prison of shame. And I think lots of folks know what this is like." [00:05:59] (22 seconds)

"We need to feed new desires and starve the old ones. That's our bottom line today. We need to feed new desires and starve old ones. We're going to tear out lust. Here we go. Tear out lust. We're going to gouge it out. Number one, by the spirit and faith, we're going to feed new desires by the spirit and by faith. We've talked about this even as recently as last week. It's got to be by the spirit. The whole Sermon on the Mount is done by the spirit." [00:11:18] (25 seconds)

"The spirit of God wants us to know, you can't really do this without me. And so I need you to rely on me, depend on me. And what that means is, it involves being born again. It involves being, hey, I need a spiritual rebirth in order to have the Holy Spirit inhabiting me to give me. And what does he do? He gives us new desires." [00:11:47] (18 seconds)

"Like, it doesn't say, okay, you feel bad maybe for your lusting. You feel mad for that porn binge you went on for an hour. You feel bad about that. Don't start with beating yourself up and trying to get your hands super clean. Instead, draw near to God. That's where you start. That's the first step. That's the very first thing you do. Draw near to God, and he'll draw near to you, and then we're going to talk about our sin." [00:15:38] (22 seconds)

"Truly, I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter. Some who've struggled with lust deeply, porn deeply. Affairs deeply. It's hard to believe that sometimes because we can feel so dirty. We can feel like we've let the entire world down, those we love down, and most of all, the God we love down." [00:18:26] (28 seconds)

"And he wants us to cleanse some stuff out. That's what revival really is. It's us getting right with God and with people. And so it might be that we need to take a challenge and just pour out what we've been hiding, what we've been keeping from public view, not so anyone else can see unless you're ready for that, unless you want to do that." [00:34:06] (19 seconds)

"Jesus, we run to you. We run to the cross. We think that you are here. We have no power to clean this up apart from you. So we come to you with all this food and we say, here it is. I can't fix this, but I really want to. Would you come and help me put in the steps, provide the power, provide the desire, help me get ahead of this thing rather than feeling like I'm always falling behind it." [00:35:32] (27 seconds)

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