Down But Not Out - Dealing with Persistent Temptations
Down But Not Out - Dealing with Persistent Temptations This is a teaching that one of the men gave at the 1998 Men's Retreat The USS California was sunk at Pearl Harbor. One hundred seven days later, she was raised. Three months later, she was repaired enough to make her own way to the States. One year later she reentered the war. Later, in a single battle, she put 1500 shells into a Japanese battleship.
By the end of the war, she had earned 7 battle stars! You may be beaten down, but God can raise you up. I started my study of temptation in 1994. Two books standout as having been used by God for my healing. Winning the War Within by Charles Stanley, and The War Within by Robert Daniels. I recommend both.
I opened myself up to porn at a young age. My mind is polluted. Call it a habit, a stronghold, or an addiction -- What it is is sin. I have been looking at cyberporn about once a month for the last year. I didn't seem to want to fight it when I was weak.
In between periods of sin, I would repent and beg God to give me the "want to" to fight this. In Feb, he did. I have been wanting to fight this temptation since then. I waited and the Lord moved his hand over my life. I don't know why but His timing is perfect.
This verse comes to mind: Psalm 40:1-3 -- 1 ... I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD. If you're in a slimy pit of sin that you've caused...
a. Accept the consequences of your sin like a man. b. Know that God still has a wonderful plan for your life. Part of this plan may be that you will be used of God to minister to other sinners who have similar struggles.
Two verses come to mind: Psalm 51:13 -- Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. Luke 22:31-32 -- Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. When you are in the middle of giving in to a temptation, that is not the time to devise a plan of action.
You must plan ahead of time when you're strong. Before I discuss this plan, however, let me talk briefly about what to do when temptation strikes. You may have only a moment of strength. Look for a way of escape. An escape route is a promise from God.
Consider this verse: 1 Corinthians 10:13 (personalized version) No temptation has seized me except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let me be tempted beyond what I can bear. But when I am tempted, he will also provide a way out so that I can stand up under it. There are thousands of wondrous and even humorous stories about how God has provided ways of escape. One of the funniest is one that happened to me.
I was taking an aerobics class and just as class was starting, the last remaining spot, which was in front of me, was taken by a beautiful woman wearing an outfit that left little to the imagination. I prayed for a way of escape but told God that I really didn't want to leave the class. The thought came to me to remove my glasses; I did. Aside from being a little clumsy, I did fine for that hour but couldn't focus on the woman in front of me. Praise the Lord.
God is so cool! My 8 point battle defense plan. [Most of these are basic Christian disciplines. God gets all the credit]. You must implement these NOW while you're not in the midst of a temptation. 1.
HAVE A CONSISTENT QUIET TIME. Since there are books on this subject, let me mention just two prayers that should be a part of your routine. First, pray for strength and more reaction time when tempted. Second, admit your total failure at handling this problem in your own strength. BEG God to intervene.
When God sees that you're sincere about needing His help, you have experienced brokenness and He is now in a position to help you. 2. SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION. If Marines went into battle without bullets, they may be successful with only bayonets and hand grenades. But they certainly would be somewhat unarmed and very foolish.
Be fully armed for battle by memorizing relevant scripture. Jesus in Matthew 4 is our example. When tempted, he had several choices. He could have debated Satan and won. But we wouldn't win, so he didn't give us that example.
He could have shown Satan His glory and blown Satan away. But again, we wouldn't be able to repeat this. Instead, he did something that we can and should do: Hit Satan with the Word. Do you realize that Jesus did not have one original thought during the exchange? Be armed with scripture. When tempted, say it OUT LOUD even if you must whisper.
I also recommend you personalize it. Substitute your name or a personal pronoun for words like "you" and "we." 3. CONFESS YOUR SINS TO A BROTHER. When a modern submarine shoots a torpedo at a surface ship, it has the torpedo explode underneath the middle of the ship.
The ship bends up, away from the blast and then bends down, back into the temporary air pocket. This breaks the back of the ship. Even if the ship miraculously stays afloat, it is so badly damaged that it is 'easy pickens' for a final attack. Many sins have a back that you can break. Once broken, the sin is more easily defeated.
This backbone is "secrecy." Frequently, the power of the sin is in its secrecy. Break the secrecy and you're on your way to breaking the sin. One of my best friends says, "You're as sick as your secrets." Many of our sins are respectable in the eyes of other Christians so we don't mind confessing them.
For instance, "I yell at my kids." Big deal, we all do that. Let me tell you about real secret sin. After a talk on sexual sin given by author Robert Daniels, a fellow military officer, who was as committed a Christian as I was, asked if he could talk to me. He knew of my problem with lusting after women.
With head hung low, he confessed that he lusted after other men. I was floored! I thought people with that problem lived in San Francisco. I had never known a Christian man could be tempted in that way. The Lord taught me a powerful lesson that night: We all have sin buttons that Satan likes to push and one sin button isn't more respectable than another. My friend took a tremendous risk in confiding in me but the Lord used it for growth in both our lives.
4. WORSHIP GOD. Imagine a 5 year old boy not having money to buy his daddy a birthday present so he writes a song instead. As the boy sings the song, his dad sits with a grin from ear to ear. The dad never even considers that the boy is off key.
Don't worry about how you sound when you sing to God. Look up, close your eyes, and sing a song of worship to your heavenly father. A former pastor made the following comment about prayer but it applies equally well to worship: "The closer I get to God, the more childlike my prayers become." 5. COMMIT TO RUNNING FROM TEMPTATION.
Most sins of the eyes are geographical. In other words, these sins are in a certain location and you can simply change your location to get away from them. Consider Paul's words...
2 Timothy 2:22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. It isn't unmanly to run from temptation; it's smart. This verse also exhorts us to get with other Christians. Remember, there is no Biblical basis for Spiritual Lone Rangers. 6.
BUILD WALLS OF DEFENSE IN YOUR OWN TERRITORY. What about temptations from which you can't run? How many men have spent time staring at the partially scrambled Playboy channel. Get it fully blocked! Is cyberporn your temptation, either get rid of the World Wide Web from your home or change to a Christian Internet Service Provider that blocks the stuff. Remember, there is a way of escape [1 Cor 10:13]. While greeting people after church, a particular woman gave the pastor a very passionate hug.
She repeated this again next week. The pastor prayed for a way of escape. He had a duty to perform and could physically run. He prayed. The next Sunday as the woman approached, a small child ran between them.
Quickly, the pastor scooped the child in his arms thus providing a barrier to the passionate hug. Each week thereafter, the Lord provide a small child nearby for the pastor to lift up. The woman finally got the message. 7. TAKE A FEW STEPS BACK FROM THE LINE.
When we see a police car while we're driving, what do we do? We slow down to the exact speed limit, right? When a Christian man who struggles with lust walks passed the so called "soft porn" magazines in a convenience store, what does he do? He frequently pauses and looks at the covers without picking one up, rationalizing that he really hasn't crossed the line into sin. If we want to look down into the Grand Canyon, would we walk right up to the edge of a sheer cliff and look down? No, we can see just fine by taking a few steps back from the edge. We must learn to do the same with our temptations. If there is a clear line between sinning and not sinning, we must stay a few steps away from the line. Once your toes are on the line, it takes very little effort for Satan to draw you over.
When faced with a situation where you're approaching a line, the question to ask yourself is "What's the wise thing to do?" Normally, the wise thing is to take a few steps back. 8. FINALLY, BE VERY CAUTIOUS ABOUT SAYING "GOD HAS HEALED ME OF...
." It is much safer to say, "God is healing me of ..." I see at least two reasons for this.
First, God may not have totally and completely healed you from your stronghold. Just because you haven't been tempted in your weak area for a year, doesn't mean God delivered you from it. It may just mean that Satan is waiting for a more opportune time in your life. If you brag that a certain sin is behind you and it really isn't, you will be doubly discourage if the sin comes back into your life. I speak from experience here.
Secondly, if God is still healing you then you are still dependent on him. This is as it should be. We need to be aware of our constant dependence on him for healing in all our weaknesses. Here they are again, in summary..
. 1. HAVE A CONSISTENT QUIET TIME. 2. SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION.
3. CONFESS YOUR SINS TO A BROTHER 4. WORSHIP GOD 5. COMMIT TO RUNNING FROM TEMPTATION. 6.
BUILD WALLS OF DEFENSE IN YOUR OWN TERRITORY 7. TAKE A FEW STEPS BACK FROM THE LINE. 8. FINALLY, BE VERY CAUTIOUS ABOUT SAYING "GOD HAS HEALED ME OF..
.." Remember, battle plans must be rehearsed. Practice, Practice, Practice. Guy Stuff Page Your Guyness Quotient Internet Pornography Letter to the Editor Freeing the Sex Addict Weapons Against Lust Overcoming Masturbation An Impossible Boss Work -- A Holy Calling If We Worked for Jesus Modern Day Business Command & Family