Preparing for a Future Valentine

How to Use "The Lust Dare" Day #24: Whatever is Pure “ But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”   –James 3:17 Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever is pure ...   Is it just me, or does that last word sting a little? After all, if we are going through this dare to rid ourselves of the lust of the flesh, what are we but impure? But I believe that God grants us a new purity, and that once again our slate is wiped clean and we are undefiled once again. “ Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.” -2 Corinthians 4:16 We are renewed day by day. And we are reminded to also think on that which is pure. As it is the impure thoughts that we are trying to replace, does it not make perfect sense that in their place we should be

How to Use "The Lust Dare" Day #23: Whatever is Just. “ But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” -1 Corinthians 6:11 The third thing mentioned in our passage about thinking on better things, is the word just. Many translations write that word as “right.” It is a word that we see all over the new testament. It is used to refer to righteous people such as Joseph, Zacharias and Elizabeth, John the Baptist, and even Jesus. It is used to refer to “the righteous” in general. (Matt 9:13; 10:41; 13:17,43; 25:46; Mk 2:17) It is used to refer to that which is fair or just. (Matt 20:4) It is used to refer to righteous blood. (Matt 23:35) This word is really used in a multitude of different ways. This one is not as cut and dry as some of the other words that are used in the passage and thus it leaves us a little more flexibility. We are left with a multitude of

How to Use "The Lust Dare" Day #22: Whatever is Noble “Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably.” –Hebrews 13:18 As we move on in the passage that tells us what to set our minds on, the second thing placed there right after truth is “whatever is noble.” Another word that is often used in the place of noble in this passage is honest or honorable. But the original Greek word, semnos , that Paul used in Philippians has even a more unique meaning. Spiros Zodhiates, a scholar in the original Greek explains it in his lexical aids. “Semnos; from sebnos(which in turn is from sebomai, to worship, venerate). Venerable. Semnos does not merely indicate the earthly dignity lent to a person, but one who also owes his modesty to that higher citizenship which is also his, being one who inspires not only respect but reverence and worship. There lies something of majestic and awe-inspiring qualities i

How to Use "The Lust Dare" Day #21: Sin Shall Not be Master “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”  –Romans 6:14 3 weeks! Congratulations! For the last 3 full weeks, you have been actively fighting the battle against lust. You have continued on till this 21 st day and have conquered enemy after enemy. You no longer are letting sin have dominion over you, but are beginning to live under grace instead. The passage above comes from a very poignant passage of scripture. “ What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if

How to Use "The Lust Dare" Day #20: Whatever is True. “Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy- think on these things.” –Philippians 4:8 The biggest part of the struggle is often in our minds. We can keep our eyes or our hands from straying, but our thoughts will just not stay where we want them to, and they love to stray those places that we are trying so hard to avoid? So what do we do? Well, I have been told that in order to truly get rid of something evil, we need to replace it with good. This is even a biblical concept: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Rom 12:21) The Bible does not tell us to replace all that is evil, the lusts of the flesh, and the temptations. It does not say “You have a problem, get rid of it r

How to Use "The Lust Dare" Day #19: Sound Mind. “ Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” -1 Peter 1:3(ESV) Going back to the verse from 2 Timothy one more time, we are not given a spirit of fear. We discussed the courage we are given, as well as the love, but the third part of that equation is a sound mind. Some versions use the word self-control. When we are afraid, our minds grow fuzzy. It clouds our judgment, and our thinking, and just makes it a lot harder to think in any amount of capacity. We lose sight of truth, of reason, of logic, and of succinct thinking. But God has not given us a spirit of fear, but has given us a sound mind. “ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be co

How to Use "The Lust Dare"   Day #18: Aid Guys in Their Battle “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” –Galatians 5:13 Yesterday we talked about love, and today I want to continue that idea in the area of loving our fellow believers by aiding them in their own battle against lust. Specifically, I want us girls to understand that we have the chance to either be a great roadblock in the way of a guy conquering his battle with lust, or we have the opportunity to help them in their battle. See, God created men and women to work the way that they do, and He created them differently so that they would compliment each other. “Isn’t it wonderful how God has made men and women to interact with each other? He made men visually oriented, then made women beautiful. He made men initiators, and then designed women to enjoy being pursued. In the heart of a

How to Use "The Lust Dare" Day #17: Perfect Love “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.” -1 John 4:18 A couple of days ago I talked about how God does not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of courage, love, and a sound mind. I then went on to expostulate on courage. Today I want to address the second part of that equation: love. As John said in one of his books, perfect love casts out fear. The fear of temptation, of the devil, of the battle, of falling into lust; all of this fear can be very prevalent in our fight against the lusts of the flesh. I have had so many fears in my own battle. Fears that I would never conquer it, fears that others wouldn’t understand, fears that my impurity would be a blot that would never wash out, and that I would be rejected or unloved because of it. Fear wanted to rule my life so bad. But Timothy tells us that God goes not give us a spirit of fear, but of love