part0014

There are ninety-eight Bible verses about lust. In Matthew 14:3–8, John the Baptist had been arrested because he challenged the legitimacy of Herod’s divorce and incestuous remarriage. Herodias was the daughter of Aristobulus, a half brother of Antipas. She had been married to her uncle, Herod Philip, and had borne him a daughter, Salome. However, she divorced her husband and married Herod Antipas, her husband’s brother. Herodias was a guilty and vindictive woman who wanted John dead, and she devised a plan to get rid of him. At the king’s birthday party, her daughter performed a provocative, enticing dance, which so appealed to the drunken Herod that he promised with an oath she could have whatever she wanted. She asked for John the Baptist’s head in a charger (a table platter). Although Antipas respected and feared John, because of the sin in his life and the power of lust (power of the pussy) for his wife’s daughter, he was tricked into murdering an innocent man. Lust does not work alone. It comes with other demonic partners. “So I say, walk by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16 NIV ).

Samson was a hero of Israel known for his great physical strength as well as his moral weakness. The last of the judges, or military leaders, mentioned in the book of Judges, Samson led his country in this role for about twenty years. He was a Nazarite from birth, like Samuel and John the Baptist. This meant that Samson should have served as an example to Israel of commitment to God. Through most of his life, he fell short of God’s standards with his sin and disobedience. His life serves as a clear warning against the dangers of self-indulgence and lack of discipline. In spite of all his heroic acts, he fell because of his lust for an ungodly woman. He knew Delilah was no good for him and saw his relationship with her as some type of a game (Judges 16:5– 16). Delilah used sex and sweet talk to get Samson to reveal the source of his strength, and he was ultimately destroyed because he played with the devil. It was only because of his true repentance that God restored Samson’s strength so that he could destroy those who mocked him. It is my belief that Sampson could have done a greater work for God had he heeded the warning of his parents (Judges 14).

In 2 Samuel 11, it is written: “And it came to pass in an eventide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself” (v. 2). Let us examine this account and see what is happening here. First of all, Bathsheba was seen bathing in front of a window. She knew that her bathroom or chamber was directly in front of the king’s palace. No doubt she had seen the king walking up on the rooftop many times and therefore wanted to be seen. David was being enticed—set up. Brothers, you need to recognize when you are being set up!

The Bible says she was bathing. She was rubbing her body sensually with soap, and this was arousing the king to the point of him having to send someone to inquire after her. According to the Word of God, the sin had already been committed. The spirit of lust had entered into both David and Bathsheba. “And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” (v. 3). Bathsheba was exercising her power over David. After David took this married woman, he was convicted and immediately began to cover his mess. The deception began. When a married man cheats on his wife and his family, he tries to cover up the sin. Like Herodias, David went from lusting to sinning to deceiving and finally to murdering, all because of the power of the pussy. This thing that David did displeased God. The child that was conceived through the sin was allowed to die. This lets us know that nothing good comes from sin. David and Bathsheba grieved over the death of their child. God did not want there to be a constant reminder of what David had done once he repented. What are you doing that is displeasing God? What tragedy has to occur in your life that will cause you to have to grieve and suffer the way David and Bathsheba did?

While my family and I were stationed in Hawaii (my husband was active military), we were members of the City of Refuge, located in the city of Wahiawa. I received a letter from a young woman in the church. I did not know this woman. I believe that God had this woman write me for advice concerning her marriage. In the letter, she stated that she was pregnant and had two other children. She stated that her husband, who was in the military, was in an adulterous relationship with a local woman and that she’d taken her children and left the island. She wanted my advice. I responded by telling her that by her leaving she had given the other woman the power; if she wanted her relationship to work, she needed to be with her husband. I never heard from this woman again. You know you have the power when you discover that your mate is cheating on you and you release him to go be with the other woman and he begs for forgiveness. This is an indication that there is hope for your relationship and the power of God is the third cord that is holding your relationship together. I have been married for thirty-four years. Has everything been a bed of roses? No! There have been situations that have made me want to walk away and never return. However, I trust God, and as a believer, I recognize the tricks of the enemy and therefore intercede not only for my marriage but the marriages of others that God places on my heart. I refuse to let the enemy destroy what God has joined together. If God has joined you together, no one and nothing should be allowed to come between you and bring division. It takes years to build a strong marriage and relationship. The first three years of marriage are trying times because you are transforming from being just one person alone into two who are coming into oneness. A partnership is being formed: teamwork makes the dream work! “‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’” (Ephesians 5:31 NIV ).

Two months after my husband and I were married, he started receiving mail from an old fling from his past. She started writing him on a regular basis and sending pictures of her child. I began to ask questions: Who gave this female our new address, and why was she writing and sending pictures of a child? I asked my husband if it was his child. He assured me it was not. We found out who had given this person our address in hopes of breaking up our marriage. When my husband joined the military, he provided financial assistance for his family. He came from a single household of four younger siblings, This person saw our marriage as a threat to the family’s financial stability. Needless to say, I confronted the situation and stopped all forms of communication from this woman.

When you make a marriage vow, you walk away from past relationships with those of the opposite sex. If you are a married man, in order to have a successful relationship with your spouse you must walk away from past relationships with those of the opposite sex. Keep other men and females out of your relationship. If he or she is a true friend, she will end the relationship.

A few years back, while I was visiting my parents a relative came by. We shall call him John. John was a trucker and decided to stop by to say hello. He had a woman riding with him. My mother began to ask questions about the woman. I began to talk to the woman as my mother and John walked into the house. He proceeded to tell my mother that this woman was a nurse and that she was married but separated from her husband. He stated that her husband was abusive and she was going to file for a divorce. Notice I said “was.” My mother was like a mother to John, so she brought him back outside where I was still talking to the woman and began to talk to both of them. She told the woman, “You need to stop fooling around with John and go home to your husband.” The woman became angry and proceeded to return to the truck. I told John that nothing good was going to come out of this mess and that he needed to take that woman back to where he found her. Three months later, I received a phone call. John and the woman were in jail for the murder of the woman’s husband. This is what John stated to me after his release: It seems that on the night in question, the woman called John and told him that her husband had beaten her. John, high on cocaine, decided to go to the woman’s home. There he confronted the husband. He pulled out a gun. The unarmed man fell on his knees and begged John not to kill him. John stated, “I had to kill him because he could identify me.”

When John went before the judge, he admitted to pulling the trigger. To his amazement, the judge did not believe he pulled the trigger. The day of the murder, he had taken the woman out to teach her how to shoot a firearm. Therefore, they both had gunpowder residue on their hands. It was revealed that this woman wanted her spouse dead for the insurance money and land. She lied about the abuse to get John to commit this hideous crime. Because this woman had threatened the judge, he threw the book at her. She is still serving time in prison. John was released from prison after serving a two-year sentence with parole. The warning came before the destruction. Wisdom made her presence known but was rejected. The outcome was devastating for John, his family, the woman, her children, her family, their community, and the innocent life taken.