Influencers Weekly Devotional

Don't Be Another Sucker

by

Rocky Fleming

“The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

Romans 13: 12-14 (ESV)

One of the most aggressive addictions in our society in America is pornography. It is not just in this country though. When a group of men and I led a men's conference in Egypt three years ago, we discovered that it is the same in that country, even the entire middle east, provided the internet can be accessed. One would think because of the strong forbidding of alcohol and drugs in the Muslim community, and their legalistic pursuit of purity of mind and body, they would have a better chance to stand against it, but they don’t. Truth is, it is a problem with all men, in all religions, in all parts of the world, and it is a powerful work of Satan to “seed” impure thoughts in a man. Then it will take root and become viral in our life as it touches most every part of us. Once in, like all addictions, it will demand more, and this seed will reproduce destruction in a man. Therefore, the questions need to be answered, “How does a Christian man combat something that is part of our nature to yield to? How can we stand against thoughts that trigger raging testosterones and draw us to this darkness? After all, men all over the world in every society have the same problem. Why cannot Christian men just go with it?” Why not? It is because we are Christian men that we do not. It is because we have been redeemed to be different from the rest of the world that we do not. It is because we have God’s power available for resisting that we do not. And, it is because it leads to great destruction in a Christian man's life that we do not. The good news is that Jesus has overcome what Satan has done and can do in God’s man, including pornography. But we, God’s men, must do our part by “making no provision” for Satan's seed to be planted in us. We have to stop it before it is sown, and if it has been sown, we must battle as if our life and the life of those we love depend on our winning against it. In meditating on the scripture referenced above I asked myself what Paul must have meant by using the words, “no provision.” What I concluded is that it means, “No room or place for it … no accommodation … no permission to come in.” As an example, consider someone knocks on your door and you open it. You see a person you've been warned will want to come into your house and steal all you have. He doesn't look like a thief, so you listen to his pitch a little, while convincing yourself he will not get in your house. He begins his “sales pitch” by offering you a taste of something he offers. You take a little nibble and it tastes good. It awakens a craving you didn't know you had. It makes you want more. He gives you more, while he moves through the entrance of your door and into your house. The two of you walk together into your home while he feeds you, and you both find a comfortable place to sit and converse, and consume his addictive drug. The craving is awakened in you and it turns to obsession, for each bite enlarges your appetite. His words begin to make sense to you. They appeal to every aspect of the nature you were born with, and you begin a downward spiral into his world, and his influence. Before long you are violating the codes of right behavior you had come to believe would protect your home and family. He tells you that they will not be hurt by something they do not know, and you take another nibble of his addictive offering. You believe him, even though you were warned that the man who would be knocking on your door is a liar, a thief, and his intentions are clear. He wants to steal from you all you have and corrupt your life. He wants to destroy all that is good in your life and when he does, he will put another sucker in his cage. The “sucker” is the man who takes the first nibble he offers, for it becomes a run-away train after that. There is only one way to not take his bait and get hooked, which is what the Apostle Paul was telling us to do. It is to “make no provision” for it in our life. Do not allow it into our life. Most certainly, this warning is meant for men today who are nibbling on pornography, and much more so, if you are God's man. Satan's appetizers stimulate our fallen, sexual nature and are all around us. They are eye candy to men, and we are drawn to them. We cannot walk in a mall, or read a magazine, or watch TV or go to a movie, without seeing some kind of soft porn being displayed. We cannot have an email account or surf the web without unsolicited email or pop-ups that attempt to draw us into their death pools. Have you come to understand that your enemy is soliciting you when these appeals come your way, and they are designed to take you deeper into his grasp? If not, it might help you to keep the door closed by understanding where his invitation will lead you. Look at the wisdom from Proverbs 5:1-6: My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding, that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. (Proverbs 5:1-6 ESV) If we need motivation to help us stand against pornography, or any and all sexual immorality, we would do well to consider that the path this evil allurement leads us to is headed for Sheol. Sheol, as mentioned in the above verse in the Old Testament, is translated as "grave", "pit", or "abode of the dead". It is a place of stillness and darkness cut off from God. So, when the evil man comes knocking on your door to seduce you into pornography or other sexual temptations, rather than answering the door yourself, why don’t you cry out, “Lord, will you answer that for me? You know how to deal with him better than me.” The Holy Spirit will be glad to do so and the enemy will be sent packing, you will be kept safe, and another of God’s men will be kept out of Satan’s cage. That is how you keep from being another one of Satan’s suckers. You make no provision for his influence in your life. Establish that there is no place for this evil to reside in you. Battle it. Stand strong against it, and with God’s help, you will surely prevail. Download file