Enticement, alluring,
Comes back to bite, reveals shame, nakedness
Increases suffering
Comes at a week moment
Look at what happened in the Garden of Eden back in the beginning of man. God told Adam and Eve that they should not touch or eat from the Tree of the knowledge of good in evil or else they would die. You must know that he told them they could eat from all the trees but this one. Imagine the cherry, apple, peach, grapes, avocado trees, and tomato vines. There was more than enough to satisfy their appetite and nourish their bodies. God provided for them “every tree that was pleasing for sight and good for food” – Genesis 2:9. Even abundant rivers flowed through the garden to water the trees. There was no lack, no need to desire anything else, until the serpent came alluring her to eat of the very tree God hold them not to eat of.
It is important to recognize that the snake came to seek her out and entice her with something that God new was detrimental to their idyllic life in the garden. The snake slithered in, initiated the conversation with the woman. He sold her on the benefits of eating off the tree, saying “your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing Good and Evil”. He even told her that she would not die. She did not walk up to the snake and ask him for advice; the serpent craftily slithered and started speaking.His message has not changed, your not satisfied, that is not enough, there could be more, just go for it. Sounds like a self help drive to get you to step it up, Move up a level or two, but in the end it still the same the if to kill steal and destroy – John 10:10b
The snake was so smooth that in an instant Eve was deceived and went from NO to YES in regards to the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Keep in mind not eating or touching the tree was a direct commandment from the Lord. The maker’s commands are life giving not life taking. God always gives commands not because he wants to obey the rules but, because he wants to protect us from the costs associated with following the advice of the serpent. She looked at the tree considered what the serpent had told her and forgot all about what God had said. The way the serpent incited conversation, made a quick statement to get her to pull the fruit off the tree sink her teeth into it is not different than he works today with any sin. Then he slithers off to watch the ensuing consequences.
If Adam recalled what God had commanded and threw up his hand as Eve was reaching for the fruit this would be a different story. Instead of being a passive bystander leading to the fall of man he could have been a warrior standing in the gap for the preservation of his family. He could have stood in between Eve and the serpent and told him to keep in moving out of the garden, but he didn’t. Would Adam have been mentioned in the greats of Faith in Hebrews Chapter 11 if he had stood in the gap? He didn’t and they both ate the fruit. Check out the list of consequences.
16 Then he said to the woman,
“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
but he will rule over you.[c]”
17 And to the man he said,
“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.” – Genesis 3:16-19 NLT
This is the fall of man, Paradise Lost, and all it took was a bite from the forbidden fruit. Right after this God covers their shame with animal skins and banishes them from the garden.
What can we learn from their mistakes that relate to lust and porn?
There is one voice that you should be listening to tell you what’s right or wrong. That is the voice of God. There is no other. Best way to know the voice of God is though the Word. If it does not line up with Word its not the voice of God.I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. – Psalm 199:11. Storing up the word is not only a defense mechanism against the lies of the enemy but a life-giving source. When Adam and Eve sinned by not listening to God they lost the paradise of the Garden. Question is what do you loose when you look at porn?
The snake will make it seam like he is giving you something, but keep your guard up against him because he is actually trying to take something from you. He tries to take your purity, your time, your mind, your relationship with others, your relationship with God. If you follow this advice and look at porn you immediately you feel guilt. Jesus said the eye is the lamp of the body, that if our eye is bad our whole body will be full of darkness. – Matt 6:22-23. This verse relates directly to porn use today. What do you think this could mean? We looked at this verse in the last blog but lets dive deeper. Darkness produces sickness, from the common cold to depression. If you have an on going hobbit with porn that is not actively being pushed out of your life it gives darkness a greater grip. When they ate the apple little did they know that they would soon realize their nakedness and hide from God. Before the never realized they were naked and had no reason to hide. Don’t we do the same after looking at porn by not feeling worthy of communing with the almighty? We hide from him by doing other things and leaving God out.
They got kicked out of the garden and lost all the benefits, with porn its not different. In your garden so to speak, you loose your purity, your time, your mind, and your relationships. Keep your guard up and the deceiver out. The snake was a deceiver a liar and still is. “He hopes he can deceive you into living a life that is all but impossible for God to bless. He wants your future to be so wracked by bad decisions and foolish choices that you can’t enjoy what Jesus died for you to have”. – Swipe Right, LEVI LUSKO. You must recognize that every action has consequences. So make choices realizing that every click of the mouse or tap of the finger to check out some smut online is like throwing coals on to the fire of your garden. If you realize this it’s never too late, God is a God who says I will restore to you the years, that the swarming locust has eaten. – Joel 2:25a
The devil always offers silver lining, like a burrito, all warm, wrapped in tin foil that you that peel back and sink your teeth into, except there is actually something worthless and life sucking underneath. Like a burrito that is has been sitting out in the hot desert sun for about 3 weeks. It’s moldy, smelly and you wouldn’t even think about eating it. But it was all wrapped in the same tin foil they use at Chipotle, right? He makes porn look so good on the outside but underneath there is poison. In fact if you ate it you’d get very sick. But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. – 2 Corinthians 11:14. The devil does not want you to just eat this burrito and get sick but he wants to keep feeding you. So how can you recognize the disguise? Look at the lie; did it come in as an enticing one liner? Now follow it in your head (think about what’s under the tinfoil) without actually giving in. Think about the last time you looked at porn, how did it make you feel? Did it help or hurt your personal growth? What did you think about the women around you and does that glorify God? IF you did what the snake suggested does it fall in line with God’s word? Ask yourself these all-important questions before you even reach for the sliver lining.
Some people can quit a diet of porn on the spot, for others with a more ingrained habit it can take more time. If it’s a deep seated vice for you it will be hard to resign form looking at porn, but it’s worth the effort. Here are two things you can do now.
- Find an accountability partner, someone who is more spiritually mature than you, possibly a pastor at your church or someone you admire in their faith walk. This should be someone that you trust sharing your battle with. Have him check in daily or weekly with you to ask how you’re doing staying porn free. This person should also be one to help and encourage you spiritual growth in this process.
- Sign up for one of two Internet accountability software companies. This allows them to see what you’re doing online and will alert them when your off track or block pornographic content all together.
covenanteyes.com “Your online values should match your offline one. Break secrete habits with online accountability reports”
X3watch.com “live free from all that weighs you down”
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