Whenever I find a good book to read, I forget the whole world, I mean I literally forget the rest of the world, including myself.
And Joshua Harris who is one of my favorite authors successful makes his readers get lost in the Truth of God. As you flip the pages, you get socked, drowned and lost in awe of God and His Truth! For me personally, reading Pastor Harris’ book is like having a wonderful devotional time with my LORD and God. Breathtaking!
If you didn’t read his books such as “sex is not the problem (lust is)” or “not even a hint” or “Boy meets Girl” or “I kissed Dating Goodbye”, well, you are missing out. If you may not know this, Pastor Harris’ books are one of those “must-read” books for singles! So, if you are single, get these books and you will know what I am talking about.
Let me share with you two paragraphs which took my breath away from his book, “not even a hint” (p.34-35):
“The sinless Son of God, who perfectly obeyed God’s commands for purity and never lusted, was completely human. That means Jesus was a sexual human being. God didn’t fudge on the Incarnation. God became one of us – a living, breathing, sweating, desiring, feeling human being. Jesus wasn’t a sexless, lifeless half-man. He had sexual urges and desires. He appreciated the beauty of women. He noticed the beauty of women. He was really a man . . . and none of this was sinful.
The truth is that Jesus didn’t come to rescue us from our humanity; He entered into our humanity to rescue us from our sinfulness. He didn’t come to save us from being sexual creatures; He became one of us to save us from the reign of sin and lust, which ruins our sexuality.” Joshua Harris
How comforting it is to know that Jesus knows our sexual struggles! It is not like He knows about that because He read it somewhere in heaven; but because of his personal, hands-on experience as a human being. Yes, by His own choice, He became one of us and personally experienced all of our struggles, including our sexual struggles!
That is why the Bible says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” Hebrews 4:15
Wow! Did you hear that? He was tempted like you and I, IN EVERY WAY. But Jesus never sinned. Because He never sinned, He is able to help us not to sin. Because He felt the pain of being tempted with lust and all the sexually perverted practices which reject God to the core, He empathizes with us whenever He sees us struggle with them. He never says, “How dare you get tempted with this?” Oh, never! He comes along as a big brother and strengthens and enables us to stand the test. When we stumble and fall, He doesn’t say, “I’m thru with you! I’m out of here.” Oh, no! Jesus never says such a thing to us, us He gave His life to. When we confess our sin and give our back to our sinful lifestyles, He picks us up with His grace and mercy and puts us back again! (1 John 1:9)
Oh, if Jesus is your Portion, Hope and Confidence, join me then as I sing to Him this morning saying:
“You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.” Psalm 63:1-5
