Looking with intent…

One of the greatest stands a man can make against sexual sin is to appropriate the Grace of God for the purpose of self control of his eyes. We live in a highly visually sensual society where women are encouraged to be looked at and men are encouraged to look. Even in the Christian community, when appearance and modesty are brought up in conversation it solicits a reaction from both men and women. Women respond against being told that modesty should be considered because they interpret that as being told what they should wear by someone; and men respond against this conversation by saying it is no big deal how women dress because they can handle it.

Job 31:1 says, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman?” A covenant with my eyes? What does that mean, how is that done? A covenant is a binding agreement and pledge; it has depth, somberness and integrity. It is more that just waking up in the morning and thinking about being on guard about what you look at during the day. A covenant promotes a solid change of life and lifestyle, not just a cautionary warning that says, “you shouldn’t be looking at this.” A covenant changes the way you live and function in life. Consider the covenant of marriage; “forsaking all others and keeping only unto your spouse as long as you shall live.” Now that mandates a few things; no more dating, no more flirting, no more independence, no more availability for intimate friendships with a woman. It also mandates exclusiveness to one woman who is the focus of your desires, thoughts and attentions.

So when Job says he made a covenant with his eyes, he understood that the eyes feed his soul, whether for the good and benefit or the evil and destruction of his soul. Job understood that this meant a resolve to eliminate all unnecessary associations with environments which would promote any kind of temptation. Let’s face it, when a man is in sexual sin, the eyes play a significant part in that sin. Primarily the sinful heart is the issue, but the eyes are feeding the heart. And I have found that most men I counsel struggle at eliminating visual things from their life; television, movies, locations, internet… men will fight tooth and nail at keeping some access to these things justifying the reasonableness of doing so. They say that it is just, “unreasonable, not practical and too rigid to take such a strong stance concerning their entertainment and relaxation habits. Even wives resist at the thought of not watching their favorite programs or going to their favorite places for the sake of their husband who is in sexual sin. To me, that is just pure delusion. If you think you can overcome sexual sin while feeding the lustful heart you are deceived. This is a must, a necessity and a scriptural mandate to make a “covenant with your eyes.” And that means an absolute forsaking of all things which titillate the lusting soul. If you are serious about conquering sexual sin, then you must become serious about forsaking all other stimulus.

Psalms 101:2-3 says, “I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness.”

In this Psalms we see some important points for a strategy to live out on a daily basis, let me highlight them for you.

1. To be wise in our behavior; to be blameless in our motives and intents of our heart.
• Foolish reasoning will keep you in bondage. It is not foolish to know that you cannot handle something because of sinful propensities, that is wisdom! Foolishness and pride go together and lie to you saying you can handle it, and then ensnare you into sin.
2. You must rely upon the grace of God for every decision and stand you make to kill lust in your heart:  “Oh, when will you come to me?”
3. Most sexual sin and temptation happens behind closed doors, in secret and isolation. And it is because of the idolatrous heart of lust that men begin to worship at the altar of sexual idolatry in their homes or in places of reproach.
4. The covenant of setting nothing wicked in front of your eyes in a imperative, a command, especially for those who struggle and wrestle with sexual sin. The determination is this: “I will set nothing.” This is not a suggestion, and if you are serious about victory in your life, then you will walk this out in obedience and eliminate all the carnal reasoning in your mind.
5. You must begin to cultivate a “hatred” or at least a dislike of the “WORK” of those who are not serving God; not the people but their work. It is amazing how many Christians are enamored by the product of those who do not serve God; from the movies to their music and to their pornography,  Christians are a fan of the work of the wicked. You must begin to hate this work and do not allow it to take hold in your heart. A great barometer for your desire is if you cannot live without watching or viewing the work of the wicked. If you think you cannot live without seeing the latest blockbuster movie coming out, then you love the work of the wicked.
6. Create singleness of heart to love God, serve Christ and purify your heart and flesh. This becomes your primary motive of daily living.
7. Cleansing your conscience from dead works so that all of the remembrance and images of wickedness are taken out of your heart so that they are not easily accessed in your thoughts.

If you are serious about becoming free from sexual sin and enslavement you will begin to challenge the things which you look with intent at.

The Manly Stuff by C T Studd

A great video for men to rise up for the gospel…

This is War by Paul Washer

A great audio/video to watch and especially to listen to for motivation and encouragement to rise up and be a Man of God!

The Complacency of Men

One of the greatest hindrances for men is complacency. You know the stuff… delaying to do what you know you must do; making excuses for why this isn’t the right time to start; apathetic concerning your approach to life, what is going on in the world around you, what is going on with your family which you live with; and all the while you say in your mind, “I will get to it sooner or later” or, “It will be taken care of”. But some how you still never seem to have the right enthusiasm or motivation, and depression settles more upon your life as you retreat into media entertainment or your secret life which may or may not include sins which will destroy your soul and your loved ones around you. Just look at the headlines of our politicians and ministers who are dropping like flies from moral failures, embezzlement’s and just plain sin which have never been dealt with because of complacency.

In the Book of Proverbs it shows us men plainly that complacency will destroy our lives…  Proverbs 1:32 (NKJV) – For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them… When we fail to deal with that which needs to be dealt with in our lives and around us in a aggressive and timely way, then we are allowing the “demons” of life to come in and take abode and begin the process of eliminating us from masculinity, headship and effectiveness in what God has given to us. Remember the Garden of Eden? Adam failed to do what God told him to do, and that was to keep the garden. Adam was complacent with that which God had given to him. He started out good, Adam named the animals, yet he began somewhere to yield over to “Garden Life” and in the process did what God had told him not to do. And thus his life around him was destroyed, and his family line was impacted by his complacency; that is you and I! We have inherited Adam’s sin, imputed and passed down to us and we as men must begin to turn off the TV, quit worrying about what the final score was, quit being driven by modern media hype to see the latest and greatest movie or newest DVD release, and believe if we begin to fight complacency and once again tend our “Garden” that God will once again move upon our land in an awesome and mighty way to turn the tide of the deterioration that is happening before our eyes. Our families will benefit, our churches will benefit, our communities will benefit and most importantly you as a man will benefit because you will regain that “Honor” with which God has crowned you with. Look at what Hebrews tells us…

Hebrews 2:5-7 (NKJV) – “For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place, saying: “What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands.”

 What are some of the areas of a man’s life which complacency affects?

• Your relationship with your wife… (Do you spend time talking and listening to her; being a friend to her; and without any other distraction going on so she is your total focus?)
• Your relationship with your children… (Do you really know what is going on in your child’s private life? Are you helping them prepare for their future and aiming them in the path they are to go?)
• Your moral purity… (With all of the immoral visuals which surround and impact our society, are you keeping you thoughts pure and you eyes straight before you? Remember, immorality will reduce a man to a crust of bread… {Proverbs 6:26}… don’t get crusty!)
• Your business of life… (Are you being diligent with everything God has put into your charge? Or are you creating a vacuum by your complacency where others must fill the void you are creating. Especially in your home, a wife will automatically fill the void you create, and then you begin to blame her for being controlling and un-submitted to your headship…)
• Your faith… (Are you diligently and passionately seeking God in prayer and the study of His Word? Do you have “faith” in your life that is living and vital? Do you believe that God is active in your life leading you and desiring to manifest His blessings to you?)

God is searching out the men of His Kingdom and seeing who is diligent and passionate about His cause in the land. Look at what God says in His word to us men… Zephaniah 1:12 (NKJV) – “And it shall come to pass at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And punish the men Who are settled in complacency, Who say in their heart, ‘The Lord will not do good, Nor will He do evil.’… Are you even complacent about whether or not God will do anything at all? If you are nonchalant about God’s activity in the affairs of men, that is the height of being in complacency. When you are in the routine of religious duty, going to church and doing your religious duty, then going to lunch and being more excited about the ball game after the service, that is a sign post that your are in complacency… fight it, fight it, fight it! Call it sin in your life and begin today to do one thing that you have been delaying in. I am going outside and tearing up my lawn right now and starting the garden I have been talking about for a while now. Be blessed!