{"id":643,"date":"2010-11-08T21:42:40","date_gmt":"2010-11-08T21:42:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chphministries.wordpress.com\/?p=490"},"modified":"2017-09-01T01:06:04","modified_gmt":"2017-09-01T01:06:04","slug":"the-truth-about-masturbation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/divine-romance.com\/blog\/the-truth-about-masturbation\/","title":{"rendered":"The truth about pornography, masturbation, and fornication&#8230; Despite what the psychologist say."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The truth about masturbation, porno and fornication... despite what the psychologists say\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/n0mX7Wo_Dak?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Not long ago I made a status on my personal fb page that said, \u201cPornography, masturbation and fornication are stripping young people of the authority and power to lead this generation in holiness. And it&#8217;s partially due to the lie that it&#8217;s just expected of young people to deal with those issues. I don&#8217;t care what people expect of you. God expects you to live holy and He paid a high price to empower you to do it. His grace (empowerment) is enough!\u201d That status led to a discussion (if you go to my page and scroll down a couple pages you can read it for yourself) and that discussion led to emails being sent to my inbox. Some people were for what I was saying, some against. One person expressed gratitude to me for addressing the issues of pornography and masturbation because they said no one else was willing to address it even though it was so needed in the church. That person asked me to put a message together for a mass mail out so that they could copy and paste it and send it to others. Anytime someone else gets inspired to start preaching the word to others I\u2019m going to help if I can. So here is the mass mail out that was requested. I hope that all of you will carry the message of holiness to your personal circles of influence.<\/p>\n<p>This issue came up when I was reading a supposed \u201cChristian\u201d book by a \u201cChristian\u201d psychologist on \u201cunderstanding the men in your life.\u201d I was just curious what this doctor was gonna say about my gender. So I picked it up and started to read. I was enraged when I began to read that everything this man was saying completely focused on nothing but the fallen nature of mankind while completely ignoring the regeneration to God\u2019s nature that we have received by the grace of God! He said that out of men polled that 97% of all men masturbated, and that he believed that the other 3% were lying. He encouraged all women reading the book to just accept that fact and not be bothered by it or make it an issue with their husbands or sons because that would just make the problem worse. He said that it was no big deal and just a part of being a man. That is the VERY attitude that is keeping so many people enslaved to their addicting behaviors! I was enraged by the gall of this man to announce to his audience as a \u201cChristian\u201d author that sin is no big deal and should just be accepted as normal! \u201cNo big deal\u201d?!? \u201cNormal\u201d?!? Since when is living a life enslaved to habitual sins considered \u201cnormal\u201d in the Christian lifestyle?! So what happened to Christ\u2019s command that even just looking at a woman lustfully was committing adultery with her in your heart? Is that ok now? Why didn\u2019t I get the memo? That\u2019s part of the very reason that sins such as pornography, masturbation, and fornication have so enslaved the Christian community. Because subconsciously people have mentally assented to the idea that those issues are a part of \u201cnormal\u201d life for this day and age. And if you are one of the people that believes that then the devil has already won in your life. He has already squelched the desire in you to fight. He\u2019s deceived you into believing that it\u2019s ok. Well, I\u2019ve got news for you. SIN IS NEVER OK!!!! Pornography is not ok, masturbation is not ok, fornication is not ok. It will rob you of your destiny if you fail to deal with these issues. Which is exactly why satan has worked so hard to convince you that it\u2019s no big deal.<\/p>\n<p>The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:20-21 \u201cIn a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.\u201d Notice the \u201cThose who cleanse themselves.\u201d Do not be deceived by the false prophets out there teaching that your lifestyle doesn\u2019t matter! If you have been called into the ministry or have a desire to be used for extraordinary purposes or want to do ANYTHING other that just be normal than you are going to have to kick it up a notch! If you\u2019re not cool with just being a clay pot for common purposes than it is time to cut off all the sins in your life. At least start fighting it! Stop accepting that it\u2019s normal. If we want to do extraordinary things for God it starts with living in extraordinary godliness and purity. So what if everyone else lives in compromise? What did God command YOU to do? God cannot place a weighty mantle on your life that your foundation of character is not strong enough to support. If your foundation of character has major cracks in it than God is limited by the weight he can give to you because He knows anything to heavy would crush you. There is POWER and AUTHORITY in purity that God wants and that our world NEEDS for us to walk in. We can\u2019t be tearing down satan\u2019s kingdom while at the same time having a love affair with him!<\/p>\n<p>I have paid a price to be able to preach this message, and fought long and hard with my body and for years in order to defeat these things in my life in order to gain the power and authority to come against these giants that mock God\u2018s kingdom. But just like David that marched up to the giant Goliath that had the gall to mock God\u2019s chosen people I too am slinging stones of truth at the modern day giants of lust that have held the bride of Christ at bay through fear and intimidation. And I believe that we are going to live to see the fall and death of those giants!! And that the army of God is going to rise up and become a pure and holy force to be reckoned with! Rise up army of God! I\u2019m here to cut off some giants heads. Rally together with me and help me spread this message of love, purity and holiness to our beloved generation. There is victory waiting for us if we will just have the courage to step out and fight. It has already been assured through the power of grace! Let me assure you, God is not mad at you, He is not disappointed in you, but He has better for you than living enslaved to addictive behaviors! He wants you to walk in victory! Holiness is not a work of the flesh, it is a product of His grace! So if you are ready to live free of those sins we\u2019ve been discussing here are some scriptures on grace below that explain practically how to live in freedom!<\/p>\n<p>The main problem I was trying to fight with this message is the ideology of, &#8220;Oh, people just deal with that. Everyone does. It&#8217;s normal. Just part of being a human and living in this weak flesh.&#8221; That&#8217;s garbage. I&#8217;ll tell you what you are.\u00a0 You\u2019re a child of God that has been made ONE with Him (1 Cor. 6:17) destined to rule WITH Him in this life and the next! (Romans 5:17) His power flows through your veins because it is the spirit of Christ that lives in you! (Galatians 2:20). Temptations no longer have a hold on you because your flesh has been crucified and now you are dead to sin. (Romans 6:11) The Bible says, \u201cAnd those who are Christ\u2019s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.\u201d Galatians 5:24. Sin has lost it\u2019s attraction. And even your mortal body has been restored to life according to Romans 8:10-11.<\/p>\n<p>One of the main definitions for grace is \u201cGod\u2019s divine empowerment.\u201d And it is that divine empowerment that enables us to live Godly lives and keep Christ\u2019s commands. It is IMPOSSIBLE without it. And that grace (or empowerment) is accessed into our lives through faith. (Ephesians 2:8) That is why it says in Hebrews 11:6 \u201cWithout Faith it is impossible to please God.\u201d Because without faith we can\u2019t access grace, and without grace we can\u2019t successfully live the Christian life! So how do we put that to work practically? Simply BELIEVE what the Word says! I know I\u2019m free, so I live free. That\u2019s not\u00a0 arrogance or pride, that\u2019s FAITH in what God\u2019s word says, which is \u201cSo Christ has really set us free.\u201d Galatiain 5:1. I believe the Word! I\u2019ve been set free! And it\u2019s that belief in God\u2019s word that unlocks the grace to flow in my life to empower me to do what I\u2019m incapable of doing in my own strength. It\u2019s God\u2019s free gift that is given to us all who simply believe what He has said.<\/p>\n<p>Proverbs 23:7 says, \u201cFor as a man believes in his heart so is he.\u201c To paraphrase that I would say, \u201cHowever you see yourself living is what\u2019s going to become the reality in your life.\u201d People really are self-fulfilling prophecies. That\u2019s why it is SO important to view yourself and think of yourself as God views and thinks of you. Because however we see ourselves determines the actions and decisions we make. If you believe that you are a guy or girl that struggles with pornography, or that you\u2019re \u201conce an alcoholic always an alcoholic\u201d than you are going to keep living that way. BUT if you believe and have faith in what God says about you, that you have been set free and are now ONE with God than you will live that out. The God of the entire universe is now joined with us empowering us to live lives of righteousness and complete freedom. This fact MUST become more real to us than the ground we walk on or the water we drink. Not just mental assent, but truly believing it at the core of our being. To not believe that God has set you free and empowered you to live a holy life is to call God a liar and it\u2019s prideful, because it assumes that you know better than God does. If we believe our flesh is dominant, overbearing, powerful, and we\u2019re at its mercy, then we will reap accordingly. However, if we believe God\u2019s Word, that His Spirit infuses life into our flesh and we\u2019re not subject to it any longer, then it will be done according to our faith!<\/p>\n<p>To anyone reading this be free in Jesus\u2019 name! Accept the gift of grace that is freely offered to you. His grace is sufficient for you, and where sin abounds grace much more abounds! No matter how much sin is abounding in your life, I promise that the grace of God is abounding even more empowering you to live free of everything that has held you captive! Purity is a direction, not a line. People want to walk up to the edge of the line of compromise and try not to cross over it. That doesn&#8217;t work. If we as Christians choose to do things like watch inappropriate movies with sex scenes, nudity, lustful images, etc, or tell perverted jokes, or go parking with our girlfriend, etc, than we are not pursuing the direction of purity. This is not just about pornography, masturbation, and fornication. It\u2019s about pursuing the direction of purity and ridding ourselves of ALL compromise, which seeks to trap us back into the old ways of the fallen flesh. If you play with fire you\u2019ll get burned, if you keep walking up to the line of compromise eventually you\u2019ll trip and fall over it. Flee temptation! Run the opposite direction towards purity! God\u2019s grace will empower you to do that!<\/p>\n<p>Living to touch God\u2019s heart,<br \/>\nChris Ulery<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.chrisulery.com\/\">https:\/\/divine-romance.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Not long ago I made a status on my personal fb page that said, \u201cPornography, masturbation and fornication are stripping young people of the authority and power to lead this generation in holiness. And it&#8217;s partially due to the lie that it&#8217;s just expected of young people to deal with those issues. I don&#8217;t care [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/divine-romance.com\/blog\/the-truth-about-masturbation\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The truth about pornography, masturbation, and fornication&#8230; Despite what the psychologist say.<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,36,306,1,3],"tags":[14,16,148,116,118,119,243],"class_list":{"0":"post-643","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-blast-archive","8":"category-fire-in-my-bones","9":"category-men-untamed","10":"category-uncategorized","11":"category-upcoming-events","12":"tag-chris-ulery","13":"tag-christopher-ulery","14":"tag-clean-hands-and-pure-hearts-ministries","15":"tag-fornication","16":"tag-lust","17":"tag-masturbation","18":"tag-pornography","20":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/divine-romance.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ashamed.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p94i1z-an","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/divine-romance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/divine-romance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/divine-romance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divine-romance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divine-romance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/divine-romance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1930,"href":"https:\/\/divine-romance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643\/revisions\/1930"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divine-romance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/divine-romance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divine-romance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divine-romance.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}