…Or does He? Have we ever wondered if God really wants to help us live a holy life? If God does help us, then why is it that we are unable to live a life that is pleasing to Him at all times? Do we not have the grace to be holy?
At times, you may have felt like you have no desire for prayer, church, or God. Could it be that your desire has been taken away? The shocking truth is that God may allow you to lack that desire for Him when you compromise His Truth and yourself along with it.
We need to understand that the godly desires can be taken away from us until we decide to turn aside from every compromise. But how do we reach that crucial decision-making point in our lives? Tighten your seatbelt for this ride, this may be long but it’s worth it.
Desire deconstructed
How do you know when a desire is godly? Let’s first take a good look at what Desire means.
God and man had a direct connection in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were spiritual beings, alive by the Holy Spirit, thus their only need was God. In the Garden of Eden food wasn’t a need. Clothing and shelter weren’t a need for them, for they were covered by God’s glory.
The strategy that the enemy used to cut the connection between God and man was to introduce desire. We know that Adam and Eve birthed sin by eating what their eyes desired over the Word of the Lord.
There is a difference between basic needs and desires. In Genesis 3:6 the Bible give us an understanding of desire’s core: “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it”
The moment they sinned because of their desire, the needs and wants switched:
- Needs (fellowship with God) became wants
- Wants (what you choose) became needs
Food, shelter, and clothing became their need, therefore they had to start working hard for them. In consequence of Adam and Eve’s sin, we all became slaves to work and to our needs.
The day Adam and Eve disobeyed God because of a desire was the day they died spiritually.
What causes the spirit to die?
The enemy introduced a simple thing – a Desire – to turn our Heaven into worldly hell. Disobedience came along with it, and adulterated our desires. Such desires give birth to sin.
It is human nature to fall in sin, but when we live in it without repenting we are disobeying God. Sin becomes fully grown and gives birth to death. “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:15)
The day we disobey God is the day we die spiritually by severing our connection to God. It causes us to completely lose access to Him. Hence, backsliding begins when our dead spirit can no longer hear from God. We fall into the hands of satan.
Yet, the Bible tells us that God is not willing that anyone perish. We know this is the Truth, but then why doesn’t God prevent us from sinning?
For us to understand why, we need first to understand how God responds to man’s disobedience.
God’s response to disobedience
I’ve been reflecting back on the stories of King David and king Abimelech, trying to understand why God kept the gentile king from sinning.
The Bible tell us the story in Genesis 20:3-6 : “But that night God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are a dead man, for that woman you have taken is already married!” But Abimelech had not slept with her yet, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘Yes, he is my brother.’ I acted in complete innocence! My hands are clean.” In the dream God responded, “Yes, I know you are innocent. That’s why I kept you from sinning against me, and why I did not let you touch her.””
This is exceptionally powerful – God is intervening in an unprecedented way! God speaks to this gentile king before the sin even happens.
On the contrary, we see that King David, whom God calls as a man after God’s own heart, received absolutely no help from God when it came to sin. He started falling into it with Bathsheba, who was also a married woman. King David wanted to sin because of the ungodly desires in him, and to my surprise, God didn’t interfere. He abandoned the King to his shameful desires.
Why does God abandon us to our desires?
Although we wish to not sin, our desire for sin is fed subtly or intentionally. The flesh is strengthened and the spirit grows weak when we entertain a desire instead of ferociously fighting it. [tweet this]
To be abandoned to one’s desire is to receive no help from God when it comes to getting rid of sin. To be abandoned by Him is to be lost in temporary pleasures that lead to an eternal damnation. [tweet this]
“Because we knowingly or unknowingly celebrate, admire, and entertain a lie”. Pause and ponder.
You see more evidence of this in Romans 1:25-26, “They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires...”
Apostle Paul puts it this way, “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.” (Romans 7:15)
As much as we would like to blame God for not intervening and not stopping us, we must also understand the greatness of the King who gives his subjects the freedom to choose to serve Him or to fight Him. And in the same context, the subjects should also be prepared to receive the blessings or the curses that come from their own decisions.
Why did God give us free will?
God gave man free will so as to experience the true love from His creation. He wanted man to desire Him willingly. That’s why God gave us free will.
In order for God to be fully committed to man’s freedom of will, He cannot force a particular desire. He can only empower a desire for God.
That is why in the case of king Abimelech and King David, one desired to do the right thing and the other desired to do what pleased his own eyes. Dangerously, they both saw their desires manifest…one to his rescue and another to his condemnation.
Here’s another interesting verse of a gentile king’s order. Esther 1:8 ESV “And drinking was according to this edict: “There is no compulsion.” For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired.”
In fact this was another reason why God withdrew His Kingship over the Israelites. Judges 21:25 Says, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
Here is another scary verse of God abandoning the Israelites to their own desires: Deuteronomy 18:16: “..just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.'”
The people chose a human voice over God’s direct voice and God agreed and let them indulge in their desires. #JawDrop
What do you desire the most? An even deeper question to ask yourself is what do you desire in secret? Replace all your desires with the desires of the Kingdom of Light lest you are impregnated with darkness.
The battle for your heart starts in the mind. Be proactive. Set yourself apart for the King of kings. Guard your heart.
How do I guard my heart?
Here are 3 practical ways to guard our hearts:
- Firstly, stay away from desires. Old or new. Don’t entertain a desire. Rebuke the thought in its infancy. Repent of everything that’s not from God continuously until it’s fully flushed out of your system and replace it with His thoughts. [tweet this]
Desire only the things from above! Abandoning ourselves into God’s desires over ours is a path of eternal glory over temporary pleasures. [tweet this] Abandoning us to ourselves is the biggest punishment humanity received in the Garden of Eden.
The solution to not being forsaken comes down to guarding not only our good desires, but even our secret desires. Desires that pop up when our focus is blurred. 1 Peter 2:11 says, “Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.”
- Secondly, when thoughts that don’t please God come your way, make no provisions for them. Kill the oxygen in the room. Remove their access. Throw away the keys. Do whatever it takes to flee and mercilessly block their path.
This is where we need to fall on our knees and cry out, “God no, no, no! Not my will but yours be done.” We all have wrong desires, but let God’s will be done.
Jesus prayed in this manner: “yet not my will, but yours be done.”
- Thirdly, fill the void. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Replace the pursuit of these desires with the glorious pursuit of His holy presence. Note, the third is impossible to fulfill if the first and second are not followed.
Remember, desire always conceives. Whether it’s in a beautiful or an adulterated way, it always conceives. Always! Rom13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” The New Living Translation says, Romans 13:14, “Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.”
If you desire God above everything else He will not abandon you, He will be with you in everything! God will refine you and test you because you are still His child and He still loves you. “Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says: “See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people?”” (Jeremiah 9:7)
Take time today to meditate on God’s heart for you. Let those revelations cause a full change of heart, from a ‘heart of stone’ to a ‘heart of flesh’. Let that become the foundation of the desires in your life. With His grace, we can!!
I hope this article has given you some insight into walking closer with Jesus. Leave a comment & share this on your favorite social media.
Video on this topic coming soon on Youtube.com/ReviveNations
May the grace & mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied to you. Amen.