Living in the Flames

A moment of humility. It is never my intention to set myself up as a god to anyone. I need Jesus every morning more than ever. I still get offended and fall prey to my anger and brokenness. Jesus Christ is the end all be all for all of our lives. My mission in life is not to fix broken people, but to instead lead them to Jesus, using the road map of my own emotional scars. The other day, two of my friends who struggle with SSA, were struggling with visuals of the male physique, at the gym locker room. After hearing their stories, God woke me up the next morning with some visual analogies of the struggle. God showed me the Temple and The Holy of Holies (HH) and He transposed it with a locker room. The HH was a place where "man" came face to face with God. Locker rooms are places where as active SSA strugglers we come face to face with our earthly 'gods'. The HH was a place where "man" came 'face to face' with God in order to receive redemption for his sins. God restored man into rightness, because of His Holiness and power to do so. In the locker room we are looking for that same sense of redemption and connection with a god of our choosing. We are looking to bring balance to a life out of balance. Our history shows our great need for God and our consistent effort to find 'Him' elsewhere. That same day I got the visual of the devil and Enoch. I don't know why I didn't think of Jesus, but anyway stick with me. Probably because the life of Enoch is shrouded in mystery and has always fascinated me. So here we have the most evil being that ever lived and a man from the Old Testament who was so righteous that it is said of him, 'Enoch walked with God; then he was gone because God took him'. Genesis 5:24. Polar opposites! I began to wonder at what point on the line between the two that I fell? Imagine living a life like that of Enoch. What does it look like to truly "walk with God"? Walking with God might mean there are places He would never lead us or choose for us to go. In all honesty brothers, we have to come to the realization that we will never be strong enough to go some places or watch certain movies. That we may always struggle with the sight of a naked male physique. That we are weak and prone to lapses in judgment, because of our eyes and our evil hearts. I pose this question to all strugglers seeking a life of freedom in Jesus. 'Are you being honest with yourself about what you can handle?' Should you shower at home after a workout? Should you watch Christian movie reviews before going out? I believe it's better to have a heart and mind that's a little sheltered than a heart God has to continually "do surgery" on, because we keep exposing ourselves to visual garbage. Just some thoughts. I'm so not telling any of you what to do. Think about this- Are you nullifying people's prayers by the life your leading? Or do their prayers simply enhance your sold out life for Jesus Christ? If your hand offends you cut it off. If your eye offends you pluck it out. We can't continue to eat at the trough with the pigs my friends. It's time to give up and return home. Daddy's waiting with arms wide open, ready with a new life custom built just for you.