Desires

Strongs: Of uncertain derivation; to ask (in generally): - ask, beg, call for, crave, desire, require.

Encarta: Wish for something, request something, craving, something wished for.

We are creatures of desires. Mankind does good or he does evil based largely on his desires

1.) Why should we be careful with our desires?

           a. Yes, it is so easy for us to feed our desires, and whatever we desire will take us

                down certain roads.

                      i. If we desire for things of the world then we will go down that road, but if we feed
                          desires of God then we will walk down the Godly road.

           b. As humans it is part of our nature to sometimes dwell upon things. Satan finds those

                people who beat themselves up and so he tempts them and then they begin to beat
                themselves up for it and they dwell upon it and get themselves into a knot. We must go
               back to the beginning and realize he was the one who tempted us, but we dwelled
               upon it.

                      i. God is not a condemning God as Pastor Frank said last week. He wants us to
                             stand up and brush the dust off and move on. Live and learn!

            “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.”

                      - Proverbs 4:14-15

                   i. Avoid it: intentionally stay away from evil

                   ii. Pass not by it: plan to take a different route

                   iii. Turn from it: when you see it, turn away
                         (“thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil”)

                   iv. Pass away: let it always be behind you, in other words put distance
                            between you and it.

In other words, it all begins in the mind (the gates for the mind)

      "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, or of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

                   -Phillipines 4:8  

Who/what should our desires be focused around? Why?

         a. The “who” is God! If we plan to hit the high mark of the high calling we must look to
                the one who hit that mark. Have the desire to be like Him and to please Him.

                     i. When you see two children playing together generally they have fun when the like
                           to do the same thing. When we have a relationship with God we must make
                           sure that we like to do the same things as Him. We are following Him, He is
                           the leader, and so we must make sure that we are

          b. What? This discipline takes sanctification of spirit which comes from meeting with God
                     through

                    i. Prayer: strong crying

         "Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayerse and supplications with strong

crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;"

                           - Hebrews 5:7

                     ii. Study of God’s Word: By the washing of water by the Word (Eph 5.) You are
                           clean by the Word I have spoken (John.) By the renewing of the mind
                           (Rom 12:2, Titus 3:5, and Isaiah Butter and honey-chose good refuse evil.)

                     iii. Actions:

                     iv. Mortification: of the flesh

                              "Mortify therefore your members which ae upon the earth; fornication,
                                  uncleanness, inordinate, affection, evil concupiscence, and
                                 covetousness, which is idolatry:" 

                          - Colossians 3:5

                     v. Sanctification: from the world

                              "And be not conformed to this orld: but be ye transformed by the
                                    renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good,
                                    and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

                          - Romans 12:2 (Jesus prayer)

                     vi. Putting on the Armour: standing against the devil

                              "Put on the whole armour of Gd, that ye may be able to stand against the
                                 wiles of the devil...Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God,
                                 that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all,
                                  to stand."

                          - Ephesians 6:11,13

                     vii. Deliverance: sometimes the things one suffers, a particular weakness or an
                             area that cannot be overcome, are because of a curse handed down
                             generationally (this is more common than you might think!)

When does one know that their desires are now sins?

          - When the enemy (Satan) temps us with desires (ex. Sex, disobedience, relationships,
                   etc...) we must try our hardest to put them to death. In the Bill Wise
                    “3o minutes in Hell” he tells us how the that the strength of the enemy is
                    1000 times stronger than us. Sometimes we take those desire and try to kill
                   them our self, but we need to realize that we only have the power to
                   decide and give not destroy. God is the only one powerful enough to defeat
                   the enemy and we must give it to Him.

What should one do with their desires?

          - We have a certain knowledge of what are good and what are bad desires.

       When we know we have bad desires we must be careful and quick to get rid of them because if we dwell and feed upon them then it becomes a sin.

§ Bad desires:

* Anger (a strong feeling of grievance and displeasure)

* Disobedience (refusal to abide by the rules/laws)

* Idolatry (excessive admiration or love shown for somebody or something)

* Covetousness (long for somebody else’s property)

* Fornication (consenting sex involving somebody unmarried)

* Uncleanness (unchaste, religiously or ritually impure)

* Inordinate affection (excessive/unrestrained feelings)

* Evil concupiscence (wrong/bad lust or strong desire)

Why should our desires for God be strong?

       Eve in the garden: Her desires were tried. When she was tempted to eat from the forbidden tree her desires were tried. She listened and as she listened her desire for power was planted and watered and she gave into it.

       Eve had an evil concupiscence for that greater power, and she did not put to death that desire she fed it. That I believe is one of our generational curses. What we are given does not really matter, but more of what we do with it! We are given curses do we put them to death and receive something greater, or will we keep them and pass them on stronger?