Your Journey Blog

Our Enemy's Tactics: Sexual Temptation & Substance Abuse

This week we continue to answer the following question: How does God’s enemy come after His people and His leaders for the sole purpose of distracting, disrupting and derailing them from being involved in God's great mission?

As we survey Pauline literature we will discover fourteen tactical strategies that the enemy will use to come after God's people along with specific antidotes in addressing that problem.  See the introduction to this series to receive an overview of this subject.

2.  Sexual Temptations, Abuse of Christian Liberty & Addictions

"Sexual temptations are lurking around every corner in our lives today!  Resisting the temptation to gratify the flesh is a full-time job." - Gary Rohrmayer

Text: I Corinthians 5:5 – “When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?”

I Corinthians 6:12-20 - "Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything. "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"—but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.  Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Problem: "Satan can destroy a life by controlling a person through immoral sexual addiction along with other additive substances such as food, alcohol, medication, etc." J.Robert Clinton

Antidote: "Avoid situations that can lead to sexual addiction and frequently ask the question 'Am I being controlled by these substances, sexual impulses or the Spirit of God?'"  J.Robert Clinton

Reflective Questions:

• If the enemy of God were to attack one area of your life do you know what area he would try to exploit?
• What are you actively doing to release the stress build up in your life?
• Are your actively crossing a moral line in your thought life? (Mathew 6:27-30)
• When is the last time you did a rigorous spiritual inventory of your life?
• Have you ever said “I really need...” or “I really deserve...”?
• Have you ever attempted a “spiritual fast” to break “bonds of wickedness” in your life? (Isaiah 58:6)

Prayer: Father in Heaven, I praise You for not only redeeming my soul but for redeeming my body as well.  Through the death and resurrection of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, my body is now a temple for Your Holy Spirit to reside. Holy Father, grant me the courage to deal with sin in my flesh and in the church rigorously.  Righteous Father through the power of the resurrection help me to seek want is beneficial and not what is simply permissible.  Loving Father, I surrender my desires and sexual impulses to You as I seek to honor You with my body.  Father, I desire to treat my relationships with the opposite sex with caution, care and in an honorable way.  Heavenly Father You are my master and I desire to be controlled by You and Your desires alone.  I come to You in the strong name of Jesus, Amen

Next: Unmet sexual needs within a marital relationship

To view the entire series of posts on Spiritual Warfare

Our Enemy's Tactics - Part 1 - Relational Viruses

Over the next couple of months we are setting out to answer the following question: How does God’s enemy come after His people and His leaders for the sole purpose of distracting, disrupting and derailing them from being involved in God's great mission?

As we survey Pauline literature we will discover fourteen tactical strategies that the enemy will use to come after God's people along with specific antidotes in addressing that problem.  See the introduction to this series to receive an overview of this subject.

1.  Relational Viruses or Relational Strife

"Suspicion is like a cankerworm that slowly eats away at relationships."

Text: Romans 16:17-20 – “I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”  (NIV)

Problem: "Satan upsets Christians’ inner life attitudes, taking away peace due to divisions in the church." J.Robert Clinton

Antidote: "Strive for unity and maintain inward peace, as God works through your relationships. Learn to speak the truth in love.  Look behind the divisions.  Surround yourself with people of spiritual wisdom and discernment."  J.Robert Clinton

Reflective Questions:

• Who in your church are you having negative thoughts about? Members? Leaders? Staff?
• Are these negative thoughts based in reality, rumor, personal bias, or cultural prejudice?
• Are these negative thoughts being generated out of some sense of insecurity on your part?
• What are specific action steps that you can take to change these negative thoughts and feelings into peaceful thoughts and feelings?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, grant me the inner strength and mental toughness to fight for the unity of the church, relational harmony and the progress of the gospel.  Help me to live securely in Christ who is greater than my insecurities.  May I continue to walk in the spiritual blessings that Jesus Christ has achieved for me through His death, resurrection and defeat of the evil one. Grant me the ability to admit when I am wrong, speak the truth with love and promote peace even when it involves personal sacrifice.  Grant me the courage to take positive steps towards protecting my relationships with my spouse, my children, my partners in the gospel and within the church.  Father of Peace we rejoice in your victory over the father of lies.  Amen.

Next: Sexual Immorality & Addictions

To view the entire series of posts on Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual Dependency: Prayer - Part 1

Over the next couple of months I am going to write a number of posts on spiritual dependency that will work in harmony with those I am writing on spiritual warfare.

One of the values I have sought to live as well as promote thoughout our movement of churches is: We are prayer warriors who advance on our knees!

A book that made an impact on my prayer life this summer was Dutch Sheets’, "Watchman Prayer." In this book he gives an excellent explanation of the mysterious partnership we have with God through prayer.

He writes, "This is the God and family synergistically working together for the good in the earth. Second Corinthians 6:1 says, ‘And working together with Him’. Working together is the word sunergeo, from which we get the English word ‘synergism’ or ‘synergy’. Synergism is the combined action of two or more which have a greater total effect than the sum of their individual effects. I’ve been told that a rope made of three strands woven together is 100 times stronger than one strand. That’s synergism. Can you imagine God saying there is a synergistic effect when we work together with Him? All the multiplication of power must come from His strand."

He continues by telling a story reported by Rusty Stevens of Virginia Beach, Virginia. "As I feverishly pushed the lawn mower around the yard, I wondered if I’d finish before dinner. Mikey, our six year old, walked up and without even asking, stepped in front of me and placed his hands on the mower handle. Knowing that he wanted to help me, I quit pushing.

The mower quickly slowed to a stop. Chuckling inwardly at his struggles, I resisted the urge to say, ‘Get out of here, kid. You’re in my way’, and said instead, ‘Here, Son. I’ll help you.’ As I resumed pushing, I bowed my back and leaned forward, and walked spread-legged to avoid colliding with Mikey. The grass cutting continued, but more slowly, and less efficiently than before, because Mikey was ‘helping’ me.

Suddenly, tears came to my eyes as it hit me: This is the way my heavenly Father allows me to ‘help’ him build his kingdom! I pictured my heavenly Father at work seeking, saving and transforming the lost, and there I was with my weak hands ‘helping’. He chooses to stoop gracefully to allow me to co-labor with Him."

We desire to see a spirit-filled synergy at work amongst our churches…but first we must see a synergy take place within our relationship with God. May we be a movement of prayer warriors who advance on our knees.

Check out more prayer resources on Inspirational Prayer Quotes

Free Church Planting Webinar - Designing Your Worship Service

Mark Your Calendars!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 2 pm Central (3 pm Eastern/12 pm Pacific)

Over 400 people have signed up for these free Church Planting webinars and the response has been encouraging.

Join us for Part 5 of the FirstSteps webinar series with Gary Rohrmayer as he provides a deeper look at another critical step of planting a missional church: Designing Your Worship Service and Initial Ministries. We will be providing insights on:

• Eight Basic Elements of a Public Worship Service
• "Response Filter" Principle
• First Impressions
• Childrens Ministry Insights

Register Here

Learn More About the FirstSteps Network

FirstSteps for Planting a Missional Church