Sins of the World - Lust Of The Flesh

At the end of last week as I spent my time in prayer and study God gave me insight into the following scripture.

I John 2:16 - For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.

He gave me all this information, enough to post at least three articles then when I went to write, He would lead me to write about something else. Since I started this blog I have followed His lead when writing so I went with it. Evidently He was saving this subject for today and I now know why.

I would like to talk today about the first way that the world corrupts our soul, it’s the lust of the flesh. The desires that spring from our appetites and passions. The lust of the flesh is in the physical senses, things we see, touch, smell, hear and taste.

Numbers 11:4-5 says Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: Who will give us meat to eat? "We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic..."

They had that taste in their mouth, remembering what they were able to eat in Egypt and were willing to go back into bondage for it. They had an intense craving and instead of running to God with it, they yielded to it. It lead them to weep and then want to go back to Egypt. They were willing to give up their freedom to satisfy the cravings inside them. They were willing to defy God and give up everything He had done for them just to satisfy the burning desires inside.

Was there ever a time where your taste buds were watering? Maybe a desire that was burning inside you? It is the kind of burning desire that starts inside and is so strong you can almost taste it, smell it, feel it or see it. These kinds of desires can consume us, overcome us and begin to drive our lives. In those moments we are willing to do anything to satisfy the craving, even give up our freedom. Sometimes even defy God.

I will go back to what I wrote at the beginning of this post. I know why God waited until today for me to write this post. You see, today was a day of surrender for me. Not a day of surrender to the lust of my flesh, but surrender to God. I believe I am not alone in my battle with the flesh. I would say we all battle some sort of intense craving, a lust of the flesh.

Mine is a battle with the body, I have always done things that were abusive to my body. I had no self control and used to always give in to the feelings of want, those cravings that burn inside. Before I accepted Jesus as my Savior and surrendered my life to Christ, I used many things to abuse my body, drugs, alcohol, sex, cigarettes, food.... Only through the power of God have I been able to give up these things. I gave up drugs, alcohol and ungodly sex, not a problem. Cigarettes were a hard one, but I made it through with the power of prayer. There are still several things that I struggle with though.

I am addicted to diet coke and food. I have not taken care of my body like I should and carry extra weight which is not good for my health. I can not, no matter how hard I try, make myself exercise and do the things I know I am suppose to do to take care of my body. I have struggled and prayed, dieted, given up things only to go back. This has been a horrible battle that has raged inside of me. Gluttony in the church is acceptable, which makes it even harder. There just seems to be no spiritual help for this one. We are allowed to give in to our cravings and it’s OK. But in Gods eyes it's not.

God began to do some changing in my heart over a year ago. He has given me new thinking patterns about the issue but I still have the internal cravings that burn inside. Cravings that would drive me back into bondage and take away my freedom.

Today was the day I finally placed it at God feet and truly meant it with all my heart. There is no going back and picking it back up. Today as I read about the prayer Christ prayed, asking for the cup to be taken from Him, here is what broke me into pieces. Christ, before He went to the cross, got on His face, before His Father, crying tears of blood and asked to be release from His burden. He got on His face.... In complete submission.... lying all at His fathers feet.... with everything He had.... crying tears of blood.... Then He made His request.

I have asked for this power over me to be taken away but never like that. Today I did just that. On my face... before my Father... In complete submission... I laid my burden down.... and I made my request. He has answered and I will lean on His power. Today is a day of surrender and deliverance for me.

It is a day of deliverance from the lust of the flesh that has plagued me for a lifetime.
It can be a day of deliverance for you too.

Will you go to Him today and lay down your burden? Will you surrender to Him and make your request?