Lust

​The Manchurian Tiger is the largest member of the cat family.  A large male can reach twelve feet in length!  A leopard ambushes its victims by staying camouflaged and it is so strong it can carry its prey high into a tree where other animals cannot steal it.  Lions, unlike other cats, operate within a community called a pride and work as a team to bring down their hapless victims.  The Lynx, a smaller bobtailed cat, will hunt its prey tirelessly for hours and are capable of catching fish.  Ocelots often hunt in pairs mewing to keep in touch with one another. Pumas, also known as cougars or mountain lions, live among rocky fortresses and can jump 20 feet or vertically leap 15 feet.  Jaguars are excellent swimmers and are so secretive, little is known about their habits. They will fight, kill and eat alligators.  

There is another member of the cat family that roams the planet.  It is comprised of two basic breeds the Obsessalot and the Cheatsex. For centuries man has mistakenly dismissed this invisible stalker as harmless--a natural resident of the mind. How foolish!  Their real home is in the heart and unlike most cats who hunt to survive, these creatures are preyers of holiness who hunt for the pure thrill.

HOW THEY HUNT
The obsessalot cause people to crave material possessions or money.  They build in the heart an insatiable greed while snarling the words “more, more, more”.  The cheatsex hunger for flesh and are subtle in their cunning.  They pretend to admire beauty while secretly sowing pick-up lines. They refuse to accept monogamy by rationalizing incompatibility, or the deceptive ruse that “what no one sees no one can be hurt by.”  If those lines don’t succeed then they go on the offensive and label the resistant as judgmental, bigoted or unenlightened.  

WHAT DAMAGE THEY CAUSE
An obsessalot attack can cause people to gamble away everything they own in an attempt to get rich; like spending money they need to buy food for their children on lottery tickets. These lust-manufacturers are so stealthy many people have no idea they were even attacked.  They miss the tell-tale signs of credit card debt or being over-leveraged until they are enslaved to work or give-in to bankruptcy. 

Cheatsex fracture marriages, often infect people with embarrassing diseases, and trample over trust and faithfulness—the innards of holiness.  They deprive children of parents and nations of leaders all in the name of fun.  If obsessalot or cheatsex are allowed to roam unchecked they will destroy everyone around them to include themselves.  

HOW THEY CAN BE DESTROYED
First, we must acknowledge their presence.  No person on earth has not been attacked by obsessalot or cheatsex.  To pretend they are not a threat is a sure way to ensure they will be.  

Second, we must recognize the danger they pose.  Hollywood has glorified these creatures and in doing so become full-time breeders. Jesus said if a man lusted in his heart for a woman he had already committed adultery.  He said this because He knew that adultery never begins in bed but rather in the heart.  We ought to take heed to God’s warning.

Third, we should know that these villains can be captured and corralled.  Paul the Apostle said, “We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4b,5).  Paul was either a good liar or he was passing on to us valuable spiritual insight.  Disobedient fascinations can be conquered with God’s help—Philippians 4:13.
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Finally, if relying on God for our help is our gun, accountability is our ammunition. Creatures of lust hate coming out in the open.  Find someone you trust and weekly (daily if needed), make yourself accountable for your thoughts and actions.  Every week a friend I meet with asks me for my grade and I ask him for his.  What we grade is our thought-life.  Knowing he will ask me how I did helps me keep shackled what I know cannot run loose.  God will not share residency with a prurient priest.  It’s time for the priesthood of believers to declare a holy fast and starve the claw-clinging, fur-raising, hiss-producing, legion-growing, monsters of lust!
 
Meditation
Proverbs 6:25--Don’t lust in your heart for her beautyor let her captivate you with her eyelashes.
 
Inspiration
One’s natural life is a fury of desire for the things one can see.  That is the meaning of lust—I must have it at once, a fury of desire without any regard for the consequences.—Oswald Chambers in He Shall Glorify Me
 
©1998 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box. Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)