The Revelation of Desire
The Genesis narrative teaches us that desire and need occur only by means of revelation, either demonic or divine. The human soul exists between two revelatory options when it comes to desire; the devil seeks to reveal to us that we desire the things of this world, and the Spirit of God seeks to reveal to us that we desire the things of God. Each time we embrace a particular desire we come to faith in one teaching or the other.
Adam was alone, but not lonely. To be lonely is to consciously grieve the absence of others. Adam did not yet know grief, and so he did not yet know loneliness. He was not conscious of any personal needs...in fact he was conscious only of the fact that God was the provider of all his needs. God had to tell him that he was alone and that it was not good for him to be alone. Adam's need for a woman was a revelation from God. Because God was responsible for revealing Adam's need, he also took responsibility for meeting it, and this is paradigmatic for the life of faith. Whenever God reveals a need he does so because he fully intends to meet it. So he put Adam into a deep sleep and brought out of him the answer to his need. The whole process was instigated by God, executed by God, and completed by God. Adam was passive on all accounts. All that was left for him to do was to yield to the sleep that God brought over him and then rejoice in the woman God brought to him when he awoke.
This is what our lives are supposed to look like. We are so busy trying to figure out what we want from God that we don't stop to listen for what God wants for us. At the end of the day we really don't believe that God wants anything good for us. We think he wants us to be broke, sick, lonely, hurt, and discouraged, and this way of thinking is so unworthy of a God who gives us all things freely to enjoy!
Eve, on the other hand did not desire the fruit of the knowledge of the tree of good and evil. All she knew was that God had commanded them not to eat of it, and that was enough for her! She did not naturally desire to disobey God. In fact, she wanted to obey him! She was content with what he had given her and was completely fulfilled. Just as God had to tell Adam that he was alone and needed a wife, so the devil had to tell Eve that she was incomplete without that particular fruit. Temptation always begins with deception! In fact, temptation is a form of satanic revelation. Satan is constantly trying to reveal a lie to God's people! The lie is that you want sin!
This is where the rubber meets the road, and this will set you free if you truly get it! Most believers who struggle with sin issues think they are struggling because of their evil desires! This is the greatest deception that the enemy has sent to the people of God, and I'm exposing it right now! Hear this and hear it well: If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have been regenerated by the power of the Spirit and your flesh (sinful nature) has been put to death. The new nature of righteousness has been born in its place and you have been completely cleansed of your sin. You do not desire sin anymore! Now you desire God and his Spirit and his kingdom and his righteousness and his power and his love and his blessing and his favor and his will and his ways! In order to get you to sin, Satan has to convince you that you still want it! But that's a lie!
Then why, you might ask, do I still feel the desire for sin? You still feel the desire for sin because you still believe that you want it. You are no longer under the power of the devil, but you still think you are. You are no longer in your sins, but you still think you are. Once you unmask the power of the deception of sinful desire, you have virtually conquered sin because you are now established in the truth that your soul thirsts for God, for the living God!
How do we do this? Easy! Its called repentance. But most believers repent for the wrong thing! Don't just repent for committing the sin and walk away believing that you still desire to commit the sin. Real repentance is a change of mind (that's what the word metanoia means, after all), not saying sorry for an action. To change your mind you need to repent for believing that you desire to do what you have done. Sin requires faith. Repentance is the rejection of faith in the demonic teaching on desire. Jesus commands us to repent and believe the gospel. Stop believing the demonic lie that tells you that you are still bound by the desire to sin and begin to believe the truth that Jesus has set you free...and not only has he set you free from the act of sin, but from the desire for it! The Spirit of God is ready to release that revelation into your life, and if you receive it you will not only conquer sin, but you will find that your desire for God and for the things of God will jump off the charts! But the truth is (and I speak by revelation) your heart's desire is for God and God alone.
Adam was alone, but not lonely. To be lonely is to consciously grieve the absence of others. Adam did not yet know grief, and so he did not yet know loneliness. He was not conscious of any personal needs...in fact he was conscious only of the fact that God was the provider of all his needs. God had to tell him that he was alone and that it was not good for him to be alone. Adam's need for a woman was a revelation from God. Because God was responsible for revealing Adam's need, he also took responsibility for meeting it, and this is paradigmatic for the life of faith. Whenever God reveals a need he does so because he fully intends to meet it. So he put Adam into a deep sleep and brought out of him the answer to his need. The whole process was instigated by God, executed by God, and completed by God. Adam was passive on all accounts. All that was left for him to do was to yield to the sleep that God brought over him and then rejoice in the woman God brought to him when he awoke.
This is what our lives are supposed to look like. We are so busy trying to figure out what we want from God that we don't stop to listen for what God wants for us. At the end of the day we really don't believe that God wants anything good for us. We think he wants us to be broke, sick, lonely, hurt, and discouraged, and this way of thinking is so unworthy of a God who gives us all things freely to enjoy!
Eve, on the other hand did not desire the fruit of the knowledge of the tree of good and evil. All she knew was that God had commanded them not to eat of it, and that was enough for her! She did not naturally desire to disobey God. In fact, she wanted to obey him! She was content with what he had given her and was completely fulfilled. Just as God had to tell Adam that he was alone and needed a wife, so the devil had to tell Eve that she was incomplete without that particular fruit. Temptation always begins with deception! In fact, temptation is a form of satanic revelation. Satan is constantly trying to reveal a lie to God's people! The lie is that you want sin!
This is where the rubber meets the road, and this will set you free if you truly get it! Most believers who struggle with sin issues think they are struggling because of their evil desires! This is the greatest deception that the enemy has sent to the people of God, and I'm exposing it right now! Hear this and hear it well: If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have been regenerated by the power of the Spirit and your flesh (sinful nature) has been put to death. The new nature of righteousness has been born in its place and you have been completely cleansed of your sin. You do not desire sin anymore! Now you desire God and his Spirit and his kingdom and his righteousness and his power and his love and his blessing and his favor and his will and his ways! In order to get you to sin, Satan has to convince you that you still want it! But that's a lie!
Then why, you might ask, do I still feel the desire for sin? You still feel the desire for sin because you still believe that you want it. You are no longer under the power of the devil, but you still think you are. You are no longer in your sins, but you still think you are. Once you unmask the power of the deception of sinful desire, you have virtually conquered sin because you are now established in the truth that your soul thirsts for God, for the living God!
How do we do this? Easy! Its called repentance. But most believers repent for the wrong thing! Don't just repent for committing the sin and walk away believing that you still desire to commit the sin. Real repentance is a change of mind (that's what the word metanoia means, after all), not saying sorry for an action. To change your mind you need to repent for believing that you desire to do what you have done. Sin requires faith. Repentance is the rejection of faith in the demonic teaching on desire. Jesus commands us to repent and believe the gospel. Stop believing the demonic lie that tells you that you are still bound by the desire to sin and begin to believe the truth that Jesus has set you free...and not only has he set you free from the act of sin, but from the desire for it! The Spirit of God is ready to release that revelation into your life, and if you receive it you will not only conquer sin, but you will find that your desire for God and for the things of God will jump off the charts! But the truth is (and I speak by revelation) your heart's desire is for God and God alone.
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Amen. I'm gonna have to dwell on this for a bit! =)
ReplyDeletenice!! bless you PB!
ReplyDeleteAmen, this is so powerful! We so often think we desire what are spirit doesn't & that which are spirit craves we don't believe we want... wow! I want what God's word says I want & I have what God's word say I have... i'm entering into that!
ReplyDelete"Temptation always begins with deception." Funny, I see this similarity in the FastFood industry, with advertisement billboards. Although I doubt their intent is satanic, it is clear what that their true intent is to make you think you are hungry when you may not necessarily be. Chewing on this and letting it digest in my spirit. Thanks so much PB!
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