I am by nature a rascal who cultivates pride, lust, anger and selfishness. I am inherently dishonest and can be very spiteful. There is NO WAY the beast within me can serve God. When I am acting my best I’m still a phony and a fraud! I believe I am not alone in this.
Scripture reveals that if I am to be a real disciple I must “deny myself”. There is a reason for this. Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matt 16:24, ESV).
If I attempt to be a disciple without dying, I reinterpret the terms of discipleship. This is not possible. We trick ourself if we believe this, it is a devilish lie, demonic and it leads to eternal destruction. It can be forgiven if we repent.
For instance, we live in a generation where lust is so pervasive and acceptable that no one bats an eye at pornography. Christian men (and even pastors) are addicted to porn on the internet. It is one of Satan’s most powerful weapon to shatter families and destroy marriages. We don’t realize that we are committing adultery whenever we choose porn. We are feeding the beast.
Other sins have become acceptable by our culture. It seems we accept a lot of them, and point our fingers at a sufficient number as to seem righteous or holy. But we are only deceiving ourselves.
Romans 6 makes it all very clear.
“So, do not let sin control your life here on earth so that you do what your sinful self wants to do. Do not offer the parts of your body to serve sin, as things to be used in doing evil. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have died and now live. Offer the parts of your body to God to be used in doing good.”
Rom. 6:12-13, NCV
The beast within us demands fresh sin to feast upon, but we are told clearly not to do this. The beast cannot please God but only serves sin. We are to shut him down, and with the same intensity and effort we lusted after sin give God our life.
“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires”.
Romans. 13:14, ESV
We’re instructed not to plan on feeding the beast, but instead to deny him the sin he craves. We make provision for him to feed when we turn from God to do what is not fitting for saints. Temptation usually comes in through a door that has deliberately been left open.
I am so easily deceived and turned so quickly from the truth. I welcome your prayers for strength and discernment as I turn myself from the darkness and enter the light. I want to be “clean” before my Lord. I want to quit feeding the beast!
Related articles
- A Much More Comfortable Discipleship (brokenbelievers.com)
- The Lies of Lust and porn (rodiagnusdei.wordpress.com)
- Jesus and His Message (samuelatgilgal.wordpress.com)
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