Ryan Swanson: Hello and welcome back to the Satisfied podcast here on the Thee Generation Network.
This is Ryan Swanson, and we are jumping into our final episode in this series entitled Prerequisites, the Prerequisites of Pornography.
And I think I called this a bonus episode last time, but as I’ve been preparing more for this segment, I think this is just as crucial as anything else that we have discussed during this series.

So I hope you’re excited to see what the Lord has for us in this lesson.
And we’ve been going through discussing the three primary areas that we need to focus our battle on if we are going to see victory in pornography or other forms of lust.
So specifically, we have dealt with the area of desire and how we need to focus on a relationship with the Lord primarily.

And that being the most important of the three areas, we emphasize that quite a bit last time.
Next, the area of availability and the importance of locking down devices, putting filters in place, and doing all that we can to take away the immediate temptation so that we’re not making provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof.

And then thirdly, we emphasized the area of isolation and the importance of having accountability, arguably daily accountability being what’s biblically prescribed for many of us.
And we discussed how the court app fits in and ensuring that we’re never alone.
So those three areas, desire, availability, and isolation, we have focused so much on those three things.

I don’t know how many times I have said those three things.
So hopefully you will not forget them.
But now we need to take a step beyond that.

We’ve already taken a step back last time and just looked at how these things fit together.
We discussed the idea of arrogance, how we can just choose one area and think, if I read my Bible and pray every day, then I don’t need to lock things down, and I don’t need to have accountability.

And just how unwise and arrogant and unbiblical that is, because we are having to set aside two-thirds of Scripture on the issue in order to just focus on that.

And the same could be said for someone who gets a hold of the Cord app and is saying, well, I don’t need to lock my devices down because I’ve got accountability, or I’m not as focused on my walk with the Lord because I’ve got accountability or someone that does lock their devices down, but they say, because I’ve got everything locked down, I don’t need accountability or I don’t need to focus on relationship with the Lord.

And we discussed all that in the previous podcast, how this is a comprehensive battle plan that is given.
It’s not to choose which battlefront you want to fight or you think is most convenient.
Now we need to take the entirety and the whole counsel of God on this issue if we were going to properly fight this battle against our lust.

And so with that idea of arrogance, that idea that the devil wants us to believe that we’ve kicked it, that we’ve figured it out, we’ve pegged the devil, we’ve got the strange woman figured out and backed into a corner, and there is just no way she could get to us now because we figured her out.

Well, one verse we didn’t discuss last time is from Proverbs chapter 5 and verse number 6, lest thou shalt ponder the path of life, her ways are movable, that thou canst not know them.
He’s saying, don’t get foolish about this.
Don’t think you’ve got it figured out.

Because the devil’s walking about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
And just because you spoil one of his attacks or plans, doesn’t mean he’s not going to try to find another way to you.
But as we conclude this series, here’s the question I want to answer today.

If we take precautionary measures in each of these three categories, desire, availability, and isolation, are we guaranteed the victory?
Is this a formula where if we check the boxes on A, B, and C, that we are guaranteed to have the victory?

So the question is, even if somebody has their devotions in a meaningful time with the Lord this morning, and then they’re sure that they’ve locked down their devices and they’ve got proper filters in place, They’ve done everything they can to decrease that availability.
And they have daily accountability to do everything they can to fight against that third category of isolation.
Maybe they’re on the court or they’re doing other things to be fully transparent and accountable.

So they’re never alone.
They’ve done all these things, taken all these steps.
They’ve done everything right.

Can they still fall?
The answer, of course, is yes.
Even if in all three of these areas you have fought, you have done what you can to prepare, you can at any point decide and choose to do wrong.

There is no automated victory.
Now let’s talk about this idea of automation.
This is a big thing today, and I’ll be honest, it kind of gets me.

I like discussing, looking into this idea of automation.
Of course, AI is the big thing today, but also the idea of the smart home.
I’m sure many of you are familiar with the idea of the smart home, where regular, monotonous, boring day-to-day tasks are automated.

They are essentially doing themselves with little to no effort from yourself.
It’s kind of a neat idea.
But in the smart home world, there’s a couple different levels.

So it used to be that the idea of a smart home was just doing things with less effort.

so instead of going around all throughout the house and finding every light switch and turning them all off I’m going to hit one button before I go to bed that shuts all the lights off now that’s pretty cool right that is pretty neat another button you push that and all the doors lock in the house and another one and it arms the system or you could have all that done on one button and that’ll all be done automatically.

So that kind of smart home is set up with the goal of having less effort.
Saves a few seconds, maybe minutes of a day, nothing big, but there’s some satisfaction there of just having less effort, pushing one thing and lots of things getting done.
But there still is some effort.

So that kind of smart home actually, smart home enthusiasts would say is not a true smart home.
A true smart home is automated.
It’s making the choices for you.

So for example, in our home, we don’t have many of these devices, but one thing I did think was pretty cool that we have installed is smart blinds.
So I can push a button and close all the blinds in my house and then push another button and open all the blinds and curtains in my house.
But that in and of itself is just less effort.

What’s really neat is an automation that I have set right now.
So every time it gets above 94 degrees, which is about daily this kind of year in Greenville, it triggers an automation, an event that it’s called, that automatically shuts all the blinds and all the curtains, which makes it darker inside, not as much sunlight coming in.

And so therefore my air conditioning unit doesn’t have to work as hard to cool down and work against the rays of the sun coming through the windows and doors.
And so essentially, I’m saving money on my electrical bill because of an automated system, not just something that’s requiring less effort, but something that doesn’t even require a choice.
And that’s just a simple one.

I mean, if you do research on these, on these things, enthusiasts in this area, they just go all out.
They’ve got lawnmowers out there that will mow their lawn whenever it’s needed and with no interaction at all.

There’s sprinkler systems now that will water not just randomly around in a circle, but will actually water in a direct line coming from your house, spray around sidewalks, around the driveway, just spot spraying any areas of grass or plants in your yard to not waste water or whatever, get things wet that shouldn’t be wet.

And then those systems even will look ahead at the weather forecast, And if it’s going to rain, then they’ll push pause and the system will delay because it’s going to be getting water anyway.
And so all these things that are automated in the smart homes of today require, once they’re set up, they require no further choices.
Now, some of you just may think that’s boring.

That’s a boring life.
But me, I hate decisions.
I hate choices.

So there’s something very intriguing about that.
And I think that’s kind of the way our culture is moving, for better or for worse, probably for worse, is just we want everything done for us.
And in this area of victory, wouldn’t it be nice if we just had a formula where if you did ABC, you don’t even have to make the choice in the moment.

It’s done.
It’s going to be done for you.
And we can misunderstand the truth of 0-100, 100% of trust on Jesus Christ, 0% trust on my own effort, a principle that is very commonly talked about on this network and has done a paradigm shift and changed many people’s lives.

We’ve heard probably more testimonies on that than almost any other single truth that has been discussed over this network here on Thee Generation because it is so important and it is so true to recognize that 100% of your dependence must be on Jesus Christ.
But there is, as my father-in-law would call it, a tension truth involved.
Where 0-100 does not mean sitting on your back waiting for things to happen in this automated Christianity.

I’ve checked all my boxes.
I’ve prepared in every way possible.
Desire, availability, isolation.

I got it figured out.
And so now I can just sit back.
There’s no way the devil can touch me.

Look out, buddy.
There’s still a battle and you still have to choose.
I was talking to a young man that is actually, I think, doing significantly better now.

And it’s really a miracle what God’s done in his life.
But at a very low moment in his purity journey, and it was not the beginning.
He had been on this journey for years, but it was still very much a struggle at a very low moment.

He told me that he’s decided that God can do this and deliver other people, but he will not for him.
God will not deliver me, he said.
He begins listing through everything that he’s tried, every single area, giving up his smartphone, hours, spending hours with the Lord, every way he could to get in accountability, daily accountability.

And this guy did all he could to prepare himself for the battle.
But he said, when the battle came, it was just like there wasn’t a battle.
He just gave up every time, even though he had so prepared.

And he didn’t understand that because he knew this was supposed to be a supernatural work.
And he said, I know I am 100% depending on Jesus Christ, because he said, I’ve fallen so many times, there’s nothing in me to trust in.
I have to trust in Jesus.

That’s all I’ve got.
And even though I’m putting 100% of my trust in Jesus Christ, I still fall over and over and over and for years.
He said, Ryan, I know God has saved people in the past that have depend on him, but he won’t do it for me.

He said, Ryan, every time the children of Israel put their trust wholeheartedly in God, God would deliver them every single time.
And he said, Ryan, you tell me why God won’t do that for me.
I’m putting my trust in him.

He won’t deliver me.
He did it for them.
Every time they trusted in God, he would deliver them.

He would defeat their enemy, but he won’t do it for me.
And I sat back in my chair and I didn’t know what to say.
Man, he’s got a point.

What’s the difference?
I don’t know.
And then it struck me what he had said a few sentences earlier, that when the battle came, he wouldn’t fight.

And I said, you know something?
Every time the children of Israel were trusting God to defeat a certain foe, they still had to fight.
They still had to take up their weapons and go into battle.

There still was sweat.
There still were sparks flying.
There still was friction.

There still was the heat of the battle.
And even though when it was all said and done, there would be no question that the result of that day was because the God of Israel had done a miracle.
If at any point the children of Israel said, I’m done, I’m not fighting, I’m taking a knee, they would have been slaughtered.

I read to this young man, Ephesians 6.13, which says, Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to sit down and watch a good show where God delivers.
That’s not what it says.
It doesn’t say you put on the whole armor and then grab a bag of popcorn and just see what God does.

No, that’s not what it says.
It says that you’re to take on the entire armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand, to stand against, to fight the friction, the heat of the battle in the evil day.
I said to this young man, you just told me that even though you prepared and you put all the armor on, when the battle comes, you take a knee.

And if at any point, when the battle comes in what this verse calls the evil day, if at any point, I don’t care how much armor you’ve put on, you just take a knee, you’re going to get slaughtered.
It’s still a battle, and God still expects you to fight.
There still is a choice to be made.

Every bit of the armor of God has a purpose.
It’s not just to scare the enemy away so there won’t be a battle.
It’s so it can be used for a very specific purpose in the battle.

God didn’t call us to suit up and sit down.
He called us to fight.
When the temptation comes, there is still a battle, and you still must make a choice before you’re going to see a miracle.

And this is a principle seen all throughout Scripture.
Moses still had to hold out his rod before the Red Sea parted.
The priest had to step into the Jordan before it parted.

Peter had to step out of the boat onto the Sea of Galilee before he could walk on the water.
David had to sling a stone before the giant fell.
Naaman had to wash in the Jordan seven times before his leprosy was healed.

The man born blind had to go and wash off all the mud that Jesus had placed on his eyes before he could see.
Well, why is that?
Why does Jesus do that?

Before Jesus does what only he can do, before we see that miracle happen, he expects something from us.
He expects obedience.
He expects commitment.

He expects effort.
We have to be willing to choose in that moment, not trusting in ourselves for some portion of the miracle, but to put ourselves in a position where we can see the miracle.
This is not flesh dependence or a 50-50 effort.

Just because the man born blind could wash mud off of his eyes does not mean that he has accredited some portion of the miracle.
He was blind and he now sees because of zero ability of his own.
The miracle is still 100% God, but if that man had refused to wash the mud off his eyes, he never, ever would have seen.

He could have laid back and said, Jesus, you started this thing.
You get the mud off.
He could have said, you’re the miracle worker.

Why do I have to be a part of this at all?
I’m blind.
It’s going to require some effort to get to the pool to wash this stuff off.

No, he was willing to do what he could do so that Jesus could do what only Jesus could do.

If at any point any of these men, Moses with the Red Sea, the priests with the parting of the Jordan, Peter and walking on the water, David and Goliath, Naaman and his leprosy, this man born blind and scores more throughout Scripture, if at any point they had decided to sit back and had refused to do what they could do, they would never have seen the miracle that God wanted to do for them on that day.

Do you know what we’re missing?
Listen, young person, you can do your devotions in the morning.
You can lock down your phone.

You can be accountable every day, but you still need to choose Jesus Christ.
He still expects a choice.
And for some of us, as one of my friends put it, we’re so used to the automated life that our chooser muscle has atrophied.

We’re not used to choosing anymore.
We’re not used to taking a stand and saying no to the devil, even when we want to, even when it’s available, even when we’re alone.
The Lord has given us a will and he expects us to use it.

And though your chooser muscle might have atrophied and it’s going to require more effort initially as you begin this part of your journey and choosing, choosing even when it appears that all odds are against you.
Jesus expects you to choose him.
So what does this look like in the moment then, to choose Jesus Christ?

Well, let me give you in conclusion a principle, a tool really, that I discussed probably over a year ago.
I don’t know that I mentioned it since then, but it is extremely helpful if you’ll get a hold of this and put this into place.
It’s something I read on in a book on purity, and it’s called the turn and cleave principle.

And the idea of it is every time you’re tempted, you’re in that evil day.
Instead of just gritting your teeth and having a white-knuckled battle with the thought pattern that’s coming in or the temptation to view something.
And a battle like that could easily start to feel like it’s self-dependent or flesh-dependent when we’re literally sweating.

Instead of that type of choice in the moment, when we’re remembering that the battle is the Lord’s anyway and it’s his victory, then why don’t we do something like this?
When the temptation comes, we just simply turn and trust in Jesus Christ, turning cleave.
It looks like this.

When the temptation comes, I’m turning to Jesus with a smile on my face saying, no, I don’t do that anymore.
I’m not going that direction.
There is no way I’m going to decide to go down that direction right now.

Not because I can’t, because I’m so prepared and I’ve checked all the boxes and I’ve listened to the Satisfied Podcast and done all of the three things that I was supposed to do to get victory in this moment.
No, it’s not because I can’t that I won’t fall to the victory.
It’s because I won’t.

And I’m turning and I’m cleaving to Jesus Christ. and taking a moment now because I’m turning from the devil and his temptation and I’m turning to Jesus Christ and I’m saying, hey, Jesus, let’s spend a moment together, can we?
Because I need you right now.

And so let’s spend a moment together, Jesus, and show me something about you I didn’t know.
Show me some aspect of your power.
I want to see it work right now.

Can we just take a moment, Jesus?
I’ve got a lot on my plate today and I want to share this with you.
I’ve got some burdens I want to share with you.

And every time you are tempted, you take an opportunity to draw closer to Jesus, turn and cleave.
You see, that’s a decision.
That’s a choice.

And it’s a choice to trust.
There may be another choice that’s a choice to move.
Maybe you’re in a position when you’re tempted that’s comfortable, maybe isolated.

You’ve got to get out of there.
You’ve got to do something about it.
And in many cases, we’ll sit there thinking, well, I’m just going to trust in Jesus.

I’m just going to pray this one away.
No, you’ve got to get up and move.
That’s part of the battle.

Maybe you’ve got to get some scripture memorized so that in that moment you can spout out not just a verse or two on purity that you’ve heard before and memorized in camp or VBS.
No, you need to have a stream of scripture ready to go.
Proverbs 5, 6, 7, ready to spout right back in the face of the devil to fight in that evil day.

Whatever the choice is, we’re going to make it.
We’re going to choose to do what’s right.
I think it’s a good thing when we have fallen or compromised in some way to ask ourselves, in what way was I not prepared in desire and availability and isolation?

But that better not lead us to a point where we are as this young man pointing our finger at God saying, it’s his fault.
He won’t deliver me as we take a knee and get slaughtered.
Friends, we’ve talked a lot about preparation, but in the evil day, you can’t blame your preparation.

It’s still your responsibility to do what’s right. and to make the right choice.
If you read on in that verse, Ephesians 6.13, it says, And having done all to stand.

You can find hope in the fact that there is a day when we can stand, when all apparent enemies have been slaughtered.
But it doesn’t say, And having done all to sit.
It doesn’t say, Let your guard down.

For many of us, we know what it’s like to be in the hand-to-hand combat. and to withstand, to stand against.
And that’s where we’re at.

And if any point we take a knee, the battle’s over.
We’re expected to fight.
We’re not doing it with our own armor.

We’re doing it with God’s armor.
It’s his miracle that’s happening.
But it’s hand-to-hand combat.

But I love the end of that verse.
And having done all, to stand.
There is a place of victory, friends.

Don’t let anyone tell you there isn’t.
But in between you and that glorious victory that is promised to you is a battle.
It’s time to choose to fight.

Well, this has been a powerful study, a powerful series, and I trust you’ve been helped by this.
A little bit of a unique thing.
I want to take next month’s podcast and give you an opportunity to share with others who are listening how this series in particular has helped you.

There may be a testimony that someone wants to give of just where they’re at in their journey right now.
And maybe how the Satisfied Podcast in general or some other truth has helped you along your journey.
And please share that as well.

I’d love to hear that.
But I know there are those that something in this series in particular has been life-changing for you.
And I want to give you an opportunity to explain that to others that might have missed it.

They might not have caught the angle that you did that was so helpful.
And I want to give you an opportunity to put it in your own words.
Here’s what desire, availability, and isolation and fighting those three areas.

Here’s what that means to me and how I’ve changed my battle because of that.
Or maybe it’s the area of arrogance like we talked about last month.
And here’s how that really challenged my thinking.

And maybe it was the area of the choice we discussed today.
And here’s what I’m doing to choose to do right.
And here’s where my thinking was wrong.

Let me explain this.
Would you just simply write me an email at ryanatsatisfied.org. and explain that to in so many words or sentences or paragraphs, whatever, so that I can share that with others as we conclude this series.

I think that’ll be a powerful thing in being sure that we catch everything the Lord has for us before we move on from this.
So shoot me an email at ryanatsatisfied.org with your testimony or angle of this truth, and we’ll look forward to sharing some of those with you next time.

But until then, look forward to the opportunities we have to choose to fight, to turn and cleave so that we can be less gratified and more satisfied with Jesus Christ.
Thanks for joining us for this episode of the Thee Generation Podcast.
If you’ve been blessed or helped in any way by this episode or any other episodes, please consider sharing what God has done in your life.

Your testimony could be exactly what someone else needs to take their own step out of the boat.
To share your testimony, please visit thegeneration.org.