The last couple of weeks have been very busy. Issues at work are becoming more and more intense. I can’t seem to place them in the proper perspective. Gateway is undergoing monumental changes. Our family has had two surgeries and (to put it bluntly) I’m a bit frazzled. Blogging has not been on my radar screen. This week, I’m back however.
I couldn’t disagree with Dr. Tripp any more than I do this week.
”You and I will only ever be holy by God’s definition if we put the moral fences where God puts them.”
“… A lustful heart craves the actual experience and will only be satisfied when it experiences the thing for which it lusts.”
Let’s deal with the fence issue. As soon as you attempt to put a fence around your heart for any reason two things happen (at least they did to me). The first thing is my heart starts to sing “don’t fence me in ….” Then I notice the fence isn’t secure enough and so I start to add to it and before you know it, my fence is a wall. Wall’s get me in trouble. I don’t’ want walls anymore. I’m doing everything I can at this point in my life to remove my walls, not start them under a different name. If I have a problem with a particular behavior, setting limits on the behavior doesn’t work for me and I’ve been to enough 12 step meetings to know it doesn’t work for anyone else either. At least it doesn’t work as the hedge everyone hopes it will. Clearly boundaries need to be set in our lives; I’m not saying they shouldn’t be. What I am saying is setting a boundary won’t stop the problem.
The second thing there is nothing in my experience or anything I’ve ever read that gives me the slightest confidence of ever being satisfied with anything lustful. I speak from a vast array of experiences on this subject. I’m what they call a “SME” (subject matter expert). It simply doesn’t work that way. Before we go farther on this subject, I would like to deal with the definition of the word lust as I was taught it. Lust is pressure on the five physical senses. While it certainly could be sexual in nature (what most people think of) it can apply to other areas as well. That is the working definition I use.
One final thought on this week. I don’t think there is any evidence that fencing your heart works as Dr. Tripp seems to be describing it. You have to win the battle of the mind. That is where the action is, in your mind. Romans 8:5-6 places great emphasis on this.
For those who are according to the flesh {and} are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on {and} pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit {and} are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on {and} seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit. Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever].
This is Waterloo, Stalingrad, Gettysburg and D-Day all wrapped up in one. All the chips lay on this. If you can win the battle of the mind, you can win the day to day battles. I call this process “Blue Water Theology”. If you have a glass of blue water and you want it to become clear, you have to pour in enough clear water so that over time, the blue water fades and becomes less and less dominating. That’s the only way you can over come it. Of course, if you keep filling the glass with blue water, then it becomes bluer and never really has a chance to clear up.
Lord: Please help me to focus my mind and thoughts on your thoughts. Help me to become aware of evil as I contemplate it and to reject as soon as I recognize it.
