LUST - SIGN OF DANGER AHEAD PT2

MEMORY VERSE: for all that is in the world, lust of the flesh, and lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.1 John 2:16

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Lev 21, Ps 26-27, Eccl 4, 1 Tim 6

BIBLE STUDIES: 2 Samuel 13:1-21

In part one of these series, we highlighted the difference between love and lust. One of the major differences between love and lust is that, lust is impatient but love is patient. We learnt that lust often leads to unwholesome actions to fulfill one’s desires with no regard to the consequences. In 2 Samuel 13:1-21 is an unfortunate story of Ammon and his sister-Tamar. The spirit of lust entered into Ammon and he raped Tamar. At the end of the day Ammon was murdered. If we carefully study this story, we will see that the end of lust is always a sad one. Untimely death, shame, loss of favor, disappointment, unhappiness, e.t.c. are all end results of lust.

There are two types of lusts – lust of the flesh and lust of the yes. 1 John 2:16 says for all that is in the world, lust of the flesh, and lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. What is lust of the flesh? It is an evil desire for the things of the flesh or desire for things which are forbidden. The desire doesn’t have to be for sex; it can be for any pleasure. Lust of flesh is a sensual and impure desire. The lust of flesh employs our sense of tasting, smelling, touching and hearing. Examples of lust of flesh are overeating, laziness and slothfulness, fornication, adultery, oral sex ,pornography, online sex, gambling, given to drugs – marijuana, cocaine, heroin e.t.c, homosexuality, homosexuality and so on . Romans 13:14 says but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts there of.

What is the lust of the eyes? It means having an inordinate desire for something that someone sees. The lust of the eyes employs our sense of seeing. It was the lust of the eyes that put Eve Into problem in the Garden of Eden. This also resulted in not only in her spiritual death but the spiritual death of her husband- Adam. The bible records that the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, Genesis 3:16. Watch what you feed your eyes with because the enemy could use it to destroy you. The enemy used the organ of sight to reap Eve of her destiny. Eve who used to live in heaven on earth, now began to live with weed, thorns and wild animals. The end of all lust is untimely death as we see in the case of Ammon. The death may not come physically,it could come financially, spiritually, maritally or materially.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please rid me of carnality.

LUST - SIGN OF DANGER AHEAD PT1

MEMORY VERSE: Do not lust after beauty in your heart not let her allure you with her eyelids. Proverbs 6:25

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : Lev 20, Ps 35, Eccl 3, 1 Tim 5

Love is a Spirit. John 4:24 says God is a Spirit. 1 John 4:8 says God is love. If God is a Spirit and God is love, then Love is a Spirit. According to 2 Timothy 1:7 fear, power and love are all spirits. Just as love is a spirit, lust is also a spirit. The fashion world today is run by the spirit of lust. You may not believe it but that is the gospel truth.There are many who follow fashion without understanding. They do things because everyone is doing it without knowing the intentions behind them.

What the world calls love is not love but lust. When you begin to feel funny around a particular brother or sister you are not married to, that is not love but Lust. When all you love to do is be alone with someone you are not married to in a room or dark place, that is Lust.

What is the difference between love and lust? Love always wants to give but Lust always want to possess. John 3:16 says for God so loved the world that He gave. Love always want to share but lust always want to take. Love focuses on the individual but lust focuses on the looks and body.My sister if all a brother is interested in is in your looks and body, that brother has the spirit of lust . He may tell you he loves you but the truth is he is lusting after you.Love always think of the other party's happiness but lust does not. Lust focuses on pleasing oneself alone.Lust often leads to unwholesome actions to fulfill ones desires with no regard to the consequences. Lust is about greed and possesion. Most importantly Love is of God and Lust is of the devil. Love is patient but Lust is not. Lust is all about sex. If you are involved in a relationship and you begin to notice Lust instead of love, you better leave that relationship because Lust is the first sign that the relationship will end in disaster.

KEYWORD : Lust is about sex alone. Love is patient but Lust is not.

Foxes in the vineyeard

Songs of Solomon 2:15 :Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
Anyone who know foxes will tell you they are opportunistic feeders. Everything about them is destructive.They kill for fun for example they might go into a poultry and kill the birds just for the fun of it.They kill pets like cats just for the fun of it. One thing about them is they are very intelligent.A place you do not want them is in your vineyard. Just a visit is enough to destroy the whole vineyard.The good thing is you can decide not allow them and put measures in place.
In our lives too there are little foxes that spoil the vineyard the Most High has prepared for us.They are character defects or bad habits we permit.No matter how small  they may be,  they are able to destroy us if we do not do something about them. They are like untreated wounds that begins to fester if not treated . For Moses it was anger ,the display of anger that robbed him of the promised land in Numbers 20:8-12 started in Exodus 2:22 when he killed an Egyptian. Judas Iscariot started with stealing from the money bag ,John 12:6 and before you know it he sold Jesus his mentor and father in the Lord in Matthew 26:14-16 . By the time he realized his error it was too late so he committed suicide.
For Samson it was indiscipline ,he started with disobeying God on a small scale(judges 14:8-10)  and he graduated to sleeping with prostitutes(Judges 16:1), in the end both of his eyes were plucked out(Judges 16:21). In the case of David, it was women ,Abigail was still grieving her husband when David forced her into marriage(1 Samuel 24:1-44) this lust for women grew to the extent David finally killed a soldier to take his wife(2 Samuel 11:5-27) and that almost cost him his kingdom. His son Solomon inherited this habit from him.
Many of the bad habits we have today started very little, habits like pedophilia, masturbation, fornication started from watching pornography tapes, looking at naked pictures and all.Most of the people who lack integrity today started with telling little white lies. There is a poem i will like to share with you.
Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become your character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
Lets do something about those little bad habits before they destroy us.Lack of integrity and coming late to church finally destroyed Ananias and Saphira in Acts 5:1-11.
PRAYER POINT: Father in heaven, anything that could cost me Your plans for my life please take it away today.

Lust or Love

Thursday 26 July                                          Bible in one year: 1 Kings 5-7

Memorise : God commendeth his love toward us , in that , while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.Romans 5:8

Read : 5:7-8

A discuss on love would normally focus on a minimum of two people-the lover and the loved. The lover is the subject while the loved is the object. In a true love situation, the subjects seeks the welfare of the loved, whether the object deserves it or not. Romans 5:7-8 says Jesus Christ died for us at a point no one else could have. While we were separated from Him as sinners with enmity between us , He died for us. How many of you can die for your enemies? If anything , most people would want their enemies dead this minute. What love can be greater than that of Jesus Christ? Most times, we misunderstand the word “love”. A man telling a lady,”i love you”,might really mean “I am lusting after you”. This is a counterfeit of God’s love. Lust is selfish, self-centered and seeks to exploit the object. Lust is dirty and does not care how it satisfies its ungodly desire, hence you find men raping ladies or being involved in incestuous sex, same sex intercourse or bestial sex. The one in lust is seeking for somebody to use. To him, the object of lust is only an object-just like any tool or machinery used for work.

When a subject is lusting after an object, he will show a lot of interest, shower gifts and feign care for the object. The man will do anything to convince the lady he loves her. But as soon as he gets what he wants, the object will mean nothing to him. In some cases, after the man has succeeded in sleeping with the lady, the so called love turns into extreme hatred(2 Samuel 13:1-15). Just as it is in human relationships, so it is in our relationship with God. Many people who claim to love God but do not love Him but are only desirous of what they can get from Him, He has become an object they can use to get what they want(John 6:25-27). Do  you love God? Why do you love God? Examine yourself to see that your love is not really lust?

KEY POINT:  Are you seeking God or His works?