Word for Today, Fri, 04 Oct 2002: Outside the Boundary of God's Design
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>
Today's message from Neil Anderson reminds us that God has a
design for everything, including the use of our bodies. I've had
to struggle for quite some time with the way I used my body. I
had allowed myself to go outside of the healthy boundaries that
God, in His righteous way, had set up, for our own well being and
for His honor and glory. I've since come to see how totally off
and foolish my actions were, and how long lasting the
consequences have been for my thoughts and actions.
There certainly is hope, and there certainly is a future, even if
we have misused our bodies instead of following God's plan. But
often the consequences remain.
If any of you have dealt, in your own private lives, with
inappropriate uses of your body, perhaps today is a good time to
examine yourselves privately, against the Word of God. If you
are not living according to God's ways, confess it as sin and
turn away from it. If you seem trapped in something you know is
wrong, take a decisive step, but seek counsel and help from
someone trustworthy who can hold you accountable to what's right.
Ultimately, of course, each of us remains accountable to God. We
can be forgiven of the things we do because of the gracious
provision of Christ, but at no time is that ever a license to
continue going against the will of God.
I pray for any of you who currently battle with an issue that
affects the body. I pray that you will recognize the conflict
against God and turn away from what inhibits you from the
fullness of what God has for you. I pray for healing and
restoration if you are sincerely trying to change some
behavior. May the healing, forgiving, and restoring power of
God's grace to do good, and His mercy to forgive what's wrong
empower you to move toward God in wholesome, healthy ways, for
God's eternal honor and glory, Amen!
Your Brother in Christ,
Brian
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N E I L A N D E R S O N D A I L Y D E V O T I O N A L
from Freedom in Christ Ministries
October 3, 2002
BEYOND THE BOUNDARY OF GOD'S DESIGN
Every other sin that a man commits is outside his body, but the
immoral man [fornicator] sins against his own body (1 Corinthians
6:18).
Sex glands are a God-given part of our autonomic nervous system.
Normal sexual functioning is a regular, rhythmic cycle of life.
But when Jesus said, "Everyone who looks on a woman to lust for
her has committed adultery with her already in his heart"
(Matthew 5:28), He was describing something beyond the boundary
of God's design for sex. The word for lust is epithumos. The
prefix epi means "to add to," signifying that something is being
added to a normal drive. Jesus challenged us not to add onto the
God-given sexual drive by polluting our minds with lustful
thoughts. The only way to control your sexual drive is to control
your thought life.
Sexual lust demands physical expression, and that's where Romans
6 comes into play. We are not to let sin reign in our mortal
bodies (verse 12) by using our bodies as instruments of
unrighteousness (verse 13). Whenever you use your body wrongly
through a sexual offense, you give Satan a foothold and your
sexual problem becomes a spiritual problem. A missionary shared
with me at the end of a conference that he was finally free after
20 years of bondage to lust. He sought counseling for his problem
during his preparation for missionary service and on every
furlough, but he never gained lasting victory until he realized
that it was a spiritual problem which needed a spiritual
solution.
Scripture indicates that sexual sins are in a class by themselves
because they require the use of the body. Virtually every person
I have counseled regarding a spiritual conflict has confessed
some kind of sexual aberration.
Lord, I yield my sexual life to You as an expression of loving
worship. I choose today to assume responsibility for my thoughts.
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This daily devotional is published and distributed by
Crosswalk.com. It is written by Neil Anderson at
< http://www.ficm.org >.
Additional devotionals are available from Crosswalk.com:
< http://www.crosswalk.com/faith/devotionals/>.
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Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/
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