Dillman, I will pray for you. I can pray with great understanding because this is something that plagued me from as early an age as 5 years old. I would sneak a playboy out of my moms beauty shop (which was in our house) and go hide under the couch and look at it (this was in 1965) Even at such an early age there was a great draw and fascination. Obviously not according to the design God has set for us. I battled everything that came with this and eventually it played itself out into many a relationship that was based on my sexual satisfaction. I left much damage in my wake! The fight for purity is a daily one since coming to Christ.

I wanted to clarify what I posted earlier so as not to be misunderstood. When I spoke of clearing the land, and you may already understand the reference, I meant to clear or restrict all the sources of temptation you can, cell phone, computer, TV, Movies, books, magazines, and situations with girls that will place you in a setting that can initiate as well as feed lust. Joseph ran from temptation. Job hid his eyes from it. We should do the same. Feel free anytime to email me here.


lyle

You are beloved by your Heavenly Father dear brother!
Hoping the following words (by Charles Stanley) will encourage you. And you will receive strenght, by the Holy Spirit, Keep on reading the Word and be in prayer so you are able to, by His grace "live out the Christian life victoriously."
Shalom,browny,


The Power Within

Ephesians 3:14-21

Bertha Smith, a missionary to China, once expressed some of the most discouraging words I’d ever heard. “Charles, I want to tell you that you’re as good as you’ll ever be. You’re as good as you’ve ever been, and you won’t ever be any better than you are.”

I had grown up believing a falsehood—that believers were to pour effort into turning their flesh around and doing right all the time. Thankfully, Bertha wasn’t finished. “God never intended for you to get better, because you can’t improve flesh,” she said. “But the Holy Spirit, who is living inside you, will enable and live through you.”

She was right. My flesh hasn’t changed one bit. But the Holy Spirit releases His supernatural power in my life, and I find myself going beyond what is inherent to the nature of man. And that’s why He indwells every follower of God.

Although the works of the Holy Spirit are many, four are basic to the life of faith: 1) The Spirit illumines the mind, enabling believers to understand the things of God. 2) He energizes physical bodies to serve the Lord. 3) He enables the will to follow through on doing what is right. 4) He quickens emotions to feel and express the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).

Bertha Smith passed on an important truth to me: Flesh is insufficient. Only the Holy Spirit living inside us has the strength and wisdom to live out the Christian life victoriously. That’s why God gave Him to us. Through the Spirit, we reap all the benefits of a righteous and godly life.

Dr. Charles Stanley,

for those of you who read this and prayed for my strength: tonight in your prayers please praise God and thank him for delivering me from weakness.

tonight after youth group my accountability partner and I asked my youth pastor (Matt Soulia) if we could speak with him in his office. Surprisingly just going into his office was the hardest part, but talking about mine and my accountability partner's problem was easy! May this little miracle of faith spur you on to do those challenging things God asks, you'll find that they're much easier than you think.

thank you for your prayers and please continue, for the battle may be won but the war has just begun for me.

_________________
Isaac Dillman

Praise the Lord! Thank you for sharing this. Will continue praying...

Blessing GOD, Isaac.

We don't realize that the warfare is between Satan and GOD and that Satan hates us so much because he Hates GOD with a horrible passion and desires to bring down what GOD loves and rejoicing that he's hurting GOD by getting us to fall or make us forget that we've been given GOD's very nature, being Blood bought Saints.
Satan writhes in hatred that we've now been given the nature of the Last Adam and not the Adam that he was able to help to fall in the Garden. Boy does he have fury over what Jesus has done in us -- but Greater, Much Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in this world.
Satan may be the god of this world, but he's only a created being that hates the rest of GOD's creation - the earth and everything and everyone in it. As "GOD is Love" - Satan is nothing but 100% putrid Hatred.
If he could get us all lowered to the nature of animals, only seeking food and other things that only concern the body, he'd rejoice that he's the victor over GOD's creation and thinks it's his slap in GOD's Face. Oh no - it won't be a slap in GOD's Face, because those who understand this warfare between Satan and us is over GOD's Love and receiving HIS nature - than we understand what GOD meant by saying that we're MORE than conquerers through Him that Loves us.
We don't have to be Satan's slaves anymore. We have the Spirit of the same Creator GOD Who created All things, even the angels - fallen and otherwise. We have that much power resident within us - but the enemy tries to cloud our understanding of that fact and to keep our minds on only the physical desires. Satan's ideal finished product is what The Word calls twice - "brute beasts" ... mankind lowered to mere animals - with only bodily & self-centered functions & desires governing their lives. That's his finished product ... but not with the Blood bought Saints that prefer GOD's Love over Satan's temptations [products of his hatred toward GOD], the LORD GOD Almighty is Powerful to save.
1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also 'make a way to escape', that ye may be able to bear it.

Jesus used the Word against Satan in the wilderness. That is our weapon - the Sword of the Spirit.
Temptations only need to be fought by recognizing now that those temptations are pure lies.
Our replies to those temptations would be - "That's a lie that is NOT coming from me, because I confessed it and He was faithful and just to forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness, period - so it's not in me now, and it's a lie against this new & cleansed creature that Christ died to make me." Resist the devil and he will flee.

Amen, recognizing 'Satan's devices' - knowing he just wants to reduce mankind to mere animals, brute beasts that are governed by their own desires only, as animals are, and all because the enemy is governed by just pure hatred alone for GOD & His creation and wants to destroy it all - we suddenly realize that the warfare is more against GOD and His Love than anything else.
Love Incarnate was on that cross.


Praising The King with you for the victory won in Heaven!
Bless you - Until we all meet Him Face to face in Glory. Amen.