The Bad Thing About Lust

            Actually, there are probably a lot of bad things about lust. But the following, according to one practical book, is one:

            Lust treats people like football players treat a football in a ball game. How does a running back treat a football?            

            He cradles it; he cuddles it; he risks life and limb to take that ball to the goal line. But once that football crosses the goal line and he scores a touchdown, what does he do? He will spike it. He'll pound it to the ground; he'll dance around proclaim his conquest. Finally, when the game is over, he will ignore it.

            The purpose has been served. It has simply been an object to accomplish a goal. If you have been the object of someone's lust, you know how demeaning it feels.

            Make no mistake; it is the lust in the heart that drives one to dehumanize people. Maybe that is one reason Jesus said,  “You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Mt. 5:27-28.) NLT

Source: THE 7 SINS OF HIGHLY DEFECTIVE PEOPLE by Rick Ezell

The Switchyard and Purity

            There was a large railroad switchyard in St. Louis, Missouri. One switch, which commenced with a slender piece of steel, headed a train from one main track onto another.

            The first track, if followed, would have taken the train to New York City. The other track took the train to San Francisco.           

            The thoughts we choose are like that. The choice we make concerning potential thoughts may seem insignificant (like a slender piece of steel seems insignificant). However, one “train of thought” could lead us to purity; another could lead us down the track of impurity.

            Carefully guard your thoughts 
because they are the source of true life (Prov. 4:23.) CEV

Source: THE 7 SINS OF HIGHLY DEFECTIVE PEOPLE by Rick Ezell

The Virgin

Several years ago, radio evangelist, David Jeremiah, told of a pure teen age girl, who was being accosted by some of her more promiscuous girl girlfriends at school, Her reply? "I can be like you whenever I want, but you can never again be like me."

Those girls will one day discover: the less the sexual experience before marriage, the better the sexual experience after marriage.

God’s teachings are not designed to hinder, but to harness all there is out of life.

Band-Aids

In the book HOOKED, Joe McIlhaney and Frida McKissick Bush offer a gripping illustration. An individual can take a Band-Aid and put it on a wound. A Band-Aid is a wonderful tool to help in a fallen world. It is literally a band of flexible material that offers aid and comfort. The gauze of the Band-Aid protects the wound. The adhesive of the Band-Aid, attaches to the skin of an individual, thus allowing him to cope with his wound and begin the process of healing.

Watch out, though. If that person should take the Band-Aid off, reattach it, take it off, reattach it, take it off, and reattach it, the Band-Aid will begin losing its ability to attach. Sex is like that. It is a beautiful gift from God. God designed it for marriage. It had various purposes before Adam and Eve fell. After the Fall, sex gained additional importance.

It became one means of coping with a fallen world. Ever after, a man and woman could marry and literally attach themselves spiritually, socially, emotionally, and, of course, physically with each other. This relationship became one of God’s blessings to help us heal from the wounds a world of sin brings.

God wired us to attach ourselves sexually to one other person—our spouse. And, as new imaging technology is now showing us, our brain emits chemicals during our sexual experiences that help us attach to another person. This is great if that other person is our spouse. However, if we attach to someone, detach ourselves, and then attach our selves to another person, detach ourselves from that person…, then we ultimately, chemically, begin losing our ability to attach ourselves socially, emotionally, and spiritually to another person.

It is important to note that our brains do not simply release these chemicals during sexual intercourse, it releases the chemicals any time it senses we are engaging in a sexual experience.

All of this information reinforces in my mind the importance of guarding our hearts, reserving them for our spouses, either future or present. Perhaps, the Bible’s teaching on our sexuality reflects the fact that God truly understands us.

The Mobro 4000

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded (James 4:7-8.)

On March 22, 1987, the barge Mobro 4000 set sail from Islip, New York. It’s destination was Morehead City, North Carolina. There, it would turn over its cargo to the proper authorities. The mission failed.

A WRAL-TV news crew had flown by helicopter to investigate and on April 1, 1987, revealed in a newscast the contents of the Mobro 4000’s cargo. Outrage required that the Mobro 4000 sail on. The barge sailed along the Atlantic coast all the way to Belize. In port after port, the ship was not allowed to unload its load.

Back up the coast the Mobro 4000 sailed, finally arriving at the New York City suburb of Brooklyn in October—seven months later. What was the Mobro 4000 carrying that caused every port to reject her entry? 3,168 tons of… garbage.

I wish Satan had it that hard. Every day he seeks to unload garbage in our minds and hearts. He transports his garbage on vessels as big as billboards, and as minute as a mass media messages in our email accounts.

If we stopped him there, things would not be so bad. Instead, if we are not on guard, we invite him into our ports and invite him to unload his garbage—and leave it behind. We promise to take care of it. But too often, we never get around to incinerating it.

Lowell Harrelson and Salvatore Avellino were the two who contracted with the owners of the barge named Mobro 4000. Maybe next time they would have better success contracting with the devil.

When There is Nothing Left to Shock

I got a good laugh when I read several years ago in NEWSWEEK that at a Nudist colony in France, a frustrated fifteen year old girl donned a bikini at the beach. The reason?-"When I'm nude, the boys don't look at me!"

The poor girl reflects a problem that is starting to be addressed in our culture in the U.S.—what does a permissive society do when it runs out of shock value? Our society hasn't quite reached the point of being a nudist colony, although in some cases we are getting close.

Jesus words two thousand years ago ring louder than ever today, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”