“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery;’ but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.” Matthew 5:27-30.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Your life is about your heart, and by that I mean about the inner and not the outer you. The inner you is the one I know. I have probed you and I know you. I am familiar with all your ways. And it is good for you to have someone that is so with you. David understood this, he sang, “Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Psalm 56:9-11. “This I know, that God is for me.” Do you know that? Do you have the blessed assurance of the salvation I have given you in Jesus Christ? Of the righteousness I have given you in Him? I have been well pleased to give you the Kingdom in Him. And this should have changed how you think, how you talk, and how you live your life. You are one with authority. You are one with purity. You are one with clarity of vision.
Never just let your mind wander. It will always go to negative thoughts and shameful things if it wanders—things that are not lovely and excellent, but give you offense at the actions of others, even long past, and, if not that, worries about your future, your present or your past. Things that are not joyful but painful memories. Your mind should be monitored by your spirit.
I tell you to pray without ceasing. This makes you control what you are thinking with purpose and communication with Me. It makes you watch what you are thinking and speaking for it will take over what is going around in your mind. You can live at a new level from where an undisciplined mind goes.
And that is what the teaching is about today from the sermon on the mount. Jesus told the disciples there on that mountainside, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery;’ but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.” Matthew 5:27-30. And you could call this lesson, “Take Control of an Undisciplined Mind.”
An undisciplined mind is not the mind of a disciple. “The LORD God has given me the tongue of disciples, that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens me morning by morning; He awakens my ear to listen as a disciple. The LORD God has opened My ear; and I was not disobedient nor did I turn back.” Isaiah 50:4-5. An undisciplined mind is open to the devil’s fiery arrows. The shield of faith and the helmet of salvation have not been put on. But you could be totally free from this trap for I have given you the mind of Christ, that is, an anointed mind. “But a natural man (mind focused on the flesh) does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:14-16.
In today’s teaching we are looking at the sin of adultery and how to avoid it. This is one of the Ten Commandments but My people knew it long before I gave that commandment to Moses. Jacob’s son Joseph refused to give in to the advances of Potiphar’s wife. She lived by her flesh alone and Joseph was a handsome man. As she daily tried to entice him into an adulterous affair with her, Joseph refused to be enticed. He had his mind set on Me. He told her, “Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” Genesis 39:8-9. He knew I was with Him and he refused to sin against Me or betray the trust of his master who had blessed him.
Why was he so strong in this way? He had never imagined or committed any impure acts in his mind. As your mind goes, so you will go. Be careful about indulging in sin in your imagination for soon it will become a reality in your life. When David fixed his eyes on Bathsheba bathing, his thoughts went wrong first and then his actions followed. “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” James 1:13-15.
Be careful what you look at. Above all, guard your heart and you will have peace. A lustful person is not at peace. The one is at peace who is in control. And if you want a beautiful and blessed life you will be firm about this. If he had been careful where he looked, David would have avoided so much heartache. He was out of control, well out of his own control and was at that moment in the devil’s control. And he never got over it because the devil never left him alone about it though I had told him I had forgiven him. But he would write, “My sin is before me always.” It had consequences that almost destroyed his family and line. Adultery is never a sin that only involves you, it destroys families, friends, workplaces, and nations. Why? Families are what nations are all about. I call all who believe in Me My family. “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom THE WHOLE FAMILY in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:14-19.
Avoiding sins like adultery is not difficult when you know and experience the vastness and purity of the love I have for you, My love is beyond human understanding, it requires the Holy Spirit in you to take you higher in this revelation of divine love, but the more you know this love as expressed in Christ Jesus for you, the more like Me you will become until you are filled up with My fullness, and I am love. Filled with pure love you are satisfied and need nothing more. And it makes you love, respect and honor others, not only spiritually but also physically.
“The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “The two shall become one flesh.” But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:13-20.
The world tries to make you think you are like a beast and that you evolved from such, giving no reason to restrain from sin. But this is not the case. “All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.” 1 Corinthians 15:39-41. There is natural and there is supernatural. Flesh differs but so do spiritual bodies. You are not from the same stock as beasts, birds and fish, I created them from the environment in which they must live but man I created in My own image and according to My likeness. I created fish, birds, and beasts such as cattle according to their own kind. But you I created according to My kind.
I did not create you to be corruptible but Adam’s sin corrupted his seed by the wages of death, and thus the corruptible flesh was passed down his line as seed of corruption but when you are born again your spirit is born again of incorruptible seed and later when Jesus returns for the redemption of possession you will change the corruptible body of death for the incorruptible spiritual body of life that will be raised up from your earthly body, from your DNA.
“So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.” 1 Corinthians 15:42-49.
And when you realize this, you will have new respect and honor for your body and the bodies of others. They house your spirit and your soul, and you want to walk in divine health, peace, and youthful vigor all the days you have on earth, but this is not the body you will have at the resurrection of your bodies. You should not give in to and obey your flesh above your spirit for it will pull you in the way it is headed—to death. But you will leave that flesh behind, so why should you let it rule your life? “And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you. Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:11-13.
And that is essentially what Jesus was offering to you as the antidote to an undisciplined mind. Stop looking at and touching that which will kill you, your dreams, and your destiny for a fleeting moment of sin. “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.” Matthew 5:27-30. After telling you that if you look upon others in lust it is just as much sin as when you actually commit the act, Jesus offers you the remedy of clearing your life of whatever you are permitting that is causing you to sin. That is the same Jesus told you about murder, if you hate in your heart you have already committed murder as far as your heart is concerned. In the age of grace, that of the New Covenant, it is not merely about physical restraints that keep you from harming your neighbor, it is about what sin does in you. You must not let it in at all. So whatever in your life is causing you to sin, you must cast it out. And that is where your heart comes in. You must guard your heart so the temptation never even gets in. You must enlarge your heart to run the way of My commandments. You must fill it with Me, that is, with the Holy Spirit, and then there is no room for sin, but there is room for fruitful creativity, the virtues, and, above all, perfect, pure, unadulterated love. And there you can walk always aware of My companionship and partnership with you. To the pure, all things are pure.
It is time to renew your mind. A renewed mind thinks like I do. “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourself and one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.” Ephesians 5:15-20.
You are a temple of the Holy Spirit, when you know this it will make you live at a whole new level of purity and praise.
And I want to talk to you about adultery in another way as well. When My people would turn their backs on Me for other “gods,” that is, for idols of the world, they would indulge in immoral sexual acts and even immolate their children. And this was labeled “religion” and how they served their idols. You see this now in your society where people have left their faith in Me and put it in the things of the world to satisfy them which results in immoral activity and the immolation of babies in the womb. But these things cannot fill their hearts with joy as I can. I called leaving Me to serve another god “adultery.” I called Myself their husband, source, and creator. The covenant with Abraham I was to be their God and they were to be My people. I espoused them to Myself in faithfulness and love, which I do with you today in Christ Jesus. But they would forsake Me and go off to worship other gods. Be careful you are not worshipping, that is, giving your attention, honor, and allegiance to the things of the world, the flesh and the devil. These will lead you into sin.
“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:15-17.
Be so careful what you are watching. Keep your eyes off the things that entice the flesh, avoid that type of entertainment, music, and conversation. Adultery may start with flirting and suggestive conversation. Do not indulge in obscene talk. Do not go there. It changes you into a different person, and it is a person you will not enjoy for you will have no peace. Sinful imaginations turn into addictions if not arrested immediately and cast out.
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and delightful and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2.
And I will continue on this in our next Life Lesson. I have given you enough to ponder for today. But tomorrow I would like to show you how to use your imagination to expand your life to all I mean for you to have and be.
I love you. I have something very exciting to show you. I am always revealing more and more to you as you advance on the Highway of Holiness.
“Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:50-58.