The Other Side of Love

I have been reading in the Psalms the last few days, and I have been sharing what the Lord is teaching me through these psalms as lessons that can be applied to our lives today. And he has placed in my mind this morning a particular theme (message) which he wants me to convey, and so this may be a little different from the usual today, but we will see what the Lord has in mind for me to share today. For I am sensing he wants me to alter Psalms 18:1-3 to make it from the perspective of someone addicted to specific sin.

From the perspective of the sinfully addicted:

“I lust after myself, O god of my flesh, my strength. The god of my flesh is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer. For the god of my flesh is my sinful addiction – my idolatries, and adulteries and sexual immorality and lies and trickery and manipulations. This is what delivers me and makes me feel good when I am down and when I am tempted with evil. I take refuge in this idol of my flesh, and my lies are my shield of protection which keep me from being found out and discovered for the evil I commit.

“The lusts of my flesh and my sinful practices are my salvation, my stronghold (sanctuary, iron grip, stranglehold, control, sway). My sexual idolatry is the lord that I call upon, which is worthy to be praised in my eyes, for my eyes are full of adultery and the lusts of the flesh and the lusts of the eyes and the pride of life. And so my enemies are those who are walking in truth and in righteousness, and not in sin, who are following the Lord Jesus, and not the lusts of their flesh. I hate them for their uprightness in Christ.”

Now, please understand this is not me speaking about myself, but this is for illustrative purposes in showing how those whose god is the flesh are really thinking, which is reflective in their life choices and in their attitudes and in their beliefs, which is evidenced in their actions and in their behaviors. And slavery to sin is also under the control of Satan, so Satan is really the one being worshipped here in addition to the flesh and the lusts of the flesh and the pride of those who will not yield control of their lives over to God.

But sadly, this speaks of many professers of faith in Jesus Christ, too, who are professing faith in Jesus Christ with their lips but who are still living under the grip (stronghold) of Satan and of the flesh. And sexual immorality and sexual idolatry coupled together appears to be the number one sin which has a stranglehold on the lives of so many people on planet earth, including a large majority of those giving lip service to the Lord, many of whom are also pastors and elders in the gatherings of “the church.”

Yet, they will claim that they know love when they don’t really know love at all, for they habitually engage in what is the exact opposite of and on the other side of love, which is all about self and the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life and has nothing absolutely to do with real biblical love, the kind that we are to have for one another. For it is all about serving self, and not serving God, and not treating others with biblical love. For biblical love prefers what God prefers which is what is morally pure, honest, and faithful.

So, they don’t live in the real world, but they live in their own dream world, their world of fantasies, misconceptions, and deceptions. And that is where they dwell, not with God. And that is what controls their lives, not God. And what they call “love” is really the opposite of love, for it is selfishness, impurity, dishonesty, hatred, evil, maliciousness, trickery and deceit, etc. For these “lovers” are lovers of self, and not of God, who are the self-indulgent, the idolatrous, and the adulterous who live in rebellion against the Lord.

So the person looking at both sides of love and life is disillusioned with life and love, and so it would appear that he is experimenting with the “other side” to try to satisfy what he feels is lacking only to come to the realization (or not) that he doesn’t really know life or love at all. For all he recalls is the fantasy of what he thought was life and love, but it wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. And in his search for love, he suppressed the truth of God by his evil deeds and by him saying “NO” to God over and again and again.

And this is an extremely sad and grievous situation that so many professers of faith in Jesus Christ are finding themselves in today. Yet they are totally responsible and answerable to God for what they do, as we all are, make no mistake. But “the church” has played a huge role in this situation skyrocketing as it has because so much of today’s “church” is altering the gospel message to make it more palatable to human flesh. And so their altered gospel is granting “believers” permission to keep living in their sin.

So, all of this is completely backwards of what it is supposed to be, which is why the Lord had me temporarily alter this passage of Scripture in Psalms 18 to illustrate the “other side” of what so many are calling “love” these days. But they don’t really know love at all, because what has been described here is the opposite, i.e. the other side of love, which is not love, but which is selfishness and self-indulgence and godlessness and hate. For idolatry and adultery and sexual immorality are not love, not even close!

And there are many married couples here in America where one spouse or the other (or both), usually the men, but not always, is living in this sexual idolatry and adultery, and perhaps for a very long time. And so their spouses pay the consequences, whether or not they are aware of what is going on, for they are not the “beloved”, but the adulterer is his own “beloved,” or his (or her) sexual addiction (idol) is his “beloved,” instead. And so the faithful spouse gets the “short end of the stick,” so to speak. And that’s not right!

But there is a way out of sinful addiction. Jesus Christ died on that cross so that we can be crucified with him in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves (addicts) to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And so we are to no longer let sin reign (have control) in our mortal bodies, to where we obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, and not obedience to our Lord, it will lead to death, not to life eternal with God (Romans 6:1-23). So we need to take this to heart.

So the way out of slavery (addiction) to sin is via us bowing the knee to the Lord in humble surrender and submission to him as Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives. We must choose to let go of our sin and to let God take control in our lives, and then daily by the Spirit we must say “NO!” to sin and “YES!” to God. And we must leave all those sinful practices behind us and we must now follow our Lord in obedience to his commands in living in moral purity, honesty, faithfulness, and godliness – all in the strength and power of God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

Broken Cord

An Original Work / August 29, 2018

Your bond is broken with your Lord and Savior

And your testimony is separate from Him.

Your words not matching your actions today.

Repent of your sin and bow down and pray.

Live what you testify in truth always.

Purity’s lacking in your life and witness,

For you profess one thing, but other you do.

Not moral, spiritual. Still of the flesh.

Not living in truth to what you confess.

Lying about it puts you in a mess.

Living a lie is your practice, ‘tis true of you.

Masquerade righteousness – none of it true.

Your heart is not given to your Lord God.

Because of how you live, you are a fraud.

Turn from your sin and give your life to God.

https://vimeo.com/287303934