Abstinence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

September 10, 2014

I know when you saw the title of this blog some of you thought, “Oh my, she’s going to use the S (sex) word” and my sistas out there were probably thinking “Girlfriend has gone crazy.”

This blog and statement isn’t about sex. The abstinence that I’m referring to is the things that the world tempts us with that at times cause us to lose sight of GOD and the things of GOD and we begin to think and act in ways that aren’t pleasing to GOD. This world has a bag of tricks bigger than Lake Michigan and there’s always something in that bag of tricks that can look real good when you’ve lost your job, when the kids aren’t acting right, when your spouse is more like a roommate than the one you pledged to live the rest of your life with or when your boss is pushing every button to get you to blow your top like St. Helens. But wait, there’s more. What about when your best friend deceives you, when you look at your bank account all you see is a single zero not a number and a string of zeros but a solid, single zero? Or when the car you love and you gave a name to suddenly dies right in front of your eyes, or the tip of the slowly melting iceberg, what happens when your health begins to fail and it’s all downhill from there?

It’s easy to say we’d never have a thought or action that would intentionally grieve the heart of GOD. Any of these circumstances and others can cause a shift in our thought process, and a lapse in our faith. The enemy loves to put thoughts in our minds and cause us to hear voices that try to lead us to do just the opposite of what we know is right during our greatest time of weakness and need. That voice that tells us it’s alright to do this or that and to have pleasures in the things of the world is a voice that has every intention of causing us to think thoughts or do an action that hurts the FATHER. 

It’s not always easy to abstain from doing the things that the enemy pushes us to, but it’s necessary. 
When we abstain from thoughts and actions that troubles GOD’s heart our hearts grow fonder for the things of GOD and HIS place in our lives. GOD as all powerful as HE is has a heart that can become troubled. Genesis 6:5-6 (NIV) 5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 

From the very beginning of the world man began to trouble GOD’s heart in his evil thoughts and actions and it only took 6 chapters of the first book of the 66 books in the book of Genesis to get to a place where man turned his back on GOD and succumbed to his evil thoughts.

Evil has gone rampant it’s everywhere. There’s no nation that doesn’t have its fair share of the wickedness of man which is still great and is alive and well on the earth in 2014. Our thoughts are important to GOD. Our thoughts exhibit what controls us. This is important because wrong thoughts control actions and wrong actions become sin. Our willingness to abstain from the thoughts and actions that aren’t in line with GOD cause us to press towards the mark, keep our step, remain on track and the destined path that has been set for us. When we abstain it brings victory to us and a joy to GOD’s heart and it sets the stage for us to grow. 

Our standard in how we live has to become GOD’s standard. And we know that HIS standards are high and HE doesn’t compromise. The only way we can be victorious in abstaining from thoughts that aren’t in line with GOD’s is found in 2 Corinthians 10:5-6: 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. The answer is clear: WE TAKE CAPTIVE EVERY THOUGHT AND MAKE IT SUBMIT AND BECOME OBEDIENT TO CHRIST. This is abstinence in the highest degree.

Where do we start? We start in the Word. We have to have a discerning spirit to help us distinguish the thoughts that we have, find the source of those thoughts and get rid of it. The thoughts we have that aren’t in line with GOD’s thoughts can’t be left to continue to control us. Where we get into trouble is when we negotiate with our thoughts and try to make an excuse on why it’s ok. Remember this WE DON’T NEGOTIATE WITH OUR THOUGHTS. Treat any evil thought or thought not in line with GOD as if it’s a terrorist. Our thoughts terrorize us and ruin our lives and the lives of those around us if not taken captive and we all know we don’t negotiate with terrorist. Run, run, run like the wind. We must flee any evil thought that comes into our heads. We must dig deeper into spiritual things, gospel music, reading the Bible, fellowship, attending service, serving, fasting, prayer ANYTHING that keeps us busy and our hearts and minds occupied with the things of GOD. 

I believe the closer we get to GOD, the more our hearts become sensitive to the things of GOD and the things that concern GOD, the more captive we must become over our thoughts. Our thoughts must become POW’s because it clearly states in Ephesians 6:12 (NIV) 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. We are at war.

So then how shall we live? We live according to the word- we know that a man acts in accordance with how he thinks. “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he:” Proverbs 23:7. So let’s give that abstinence thing a chance. Let’s control of our thoughts and remove all power from the enemy.

GOD BLESS!