Kingdom Case 24: Battling Lust as a Christian - My Experience and Advice

In this episode of Case by Casie Kingdom Secrets to Success, Jethro Casie reflects on his personal journey of overcoming lust, sharing his testimony, struggles, and the wisdom God has imparted to him.

Key Points Discussed:

1. Testimony of Struggle and Transformation:
   • Jethro shares his battle with lust, which began at a young age, involving pornography, unhealthy relationships, and a lifestyle driven by worldly pleasures.
   • He emphasizes the emptiness he felt despite indulging in these desires and how his life began to transform after surrendering to Christ.
2. Biblical Insights and Personal Revelation:
   • Jethro reflects on several Bible verses, including 1 John 2:15-16, Romans 12:2, and 2 Corinthians 10:5-8, which inspired him to focus on rejecting worldly pleasures, renewing his mind, and aligning his identity with God’s Word.
   • He distinguishes between being "set free" and "made free," highlighting the importance of true spiritual transformation.
3. Practical Steps to Overcome Lust:
   • Transformation begins with the renewal of the mind, allowing God to change thoughts and desires.
   • Shifting identity from being bound by sin to embracing a new creation in Christ is key.
   • Building new, holy habits to replace old sinful ones is necessary for lasting change.
4. Encouragement for Others:
   • Jethro vulnerably shares his journey to connect with listeners who may face similar struggles.
   • He reminds his audience that victory over sin is already achieved through Christ and encourages them to allow the Holy Spirit to take the place of worldly cravings.

Closing Prayer:
The episode ends with a heartfelt prayer, asking God to bless the listeners, transform their thoughts, and align their identities with His Word, leading them to live in freedom and holiness.

This inspiring episode underscores the importance of vulnerability, spiritual growth, and dependence on God to overcome challenges and walk in His power.

Transcript

 ethro Casie (00:01.226) Welcome back to another episode of Case by Casie Kingdom Secrets to Success. I'm your host Jethro Casie, and this podcast is set to help you discover Kingdom Secrets to Success so you can walk into the power of the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah. I just want to give God a praise because you guys might be seeing something different to this microphone right here. And I received a prophecy back in 2020. 3, 2022 that I would have a studio. And maybe I'll put in a video here of like what my studio looks like while I'm still in my house. And yeah, I just have like three lights and a microphone and a headphone. I'm getting camera soon. Camera soon. So I want to say thank you, Jesus. His word never returns on to this void. this episode just wants to come on real quick and give a quick testimony, share what God's been bringing me through in terms of a journey of lust. And not sure exactly what I'll title this, but I think it's going to be along the lines of how to defeat lust. And what I've learned, it's been a long journey for me. I don't know if I've shared this on the podcast, but I was initially introduced to pornography back in. And when I was a kid, so like third grade, I don't know how old I was in third grade, but back in third grade. And I remember my brother out of he didn't really know, but out of, I guess, ignorance. kind of showed me what porn was. then since then, it's been a battle. I was going to say on and off battle, but it's been a battle for the last, Jesus. Man, I don't know how old you are in third grade, maybe nine years old, all the way up to 23 years old, which is how old I am now. And the reason why I want to come on and share this is because I do think vulnerability is something that the Lord's bringing me even more to, because I want to connect with the audience. I want to connect with you guys as I speak with you because I want to be a dialogue, not just me speaking at you. And throughout these years, lust has looked differently or my battle with lust has looked differently. At first, it was never even battled, something that I enjoyed to do. And the verse that kind of inspired this episode was first John two verse 15. Do not love this world nor the things it offers you for when you love the world. Jethro Casie (02:27.31) You do not have the love of the Father in you. Verse 16. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And verse 16 really spoke to me, both verses, because what I realized is you can be... saying that you love God, but still loving the things of this world. And that's called being lukewarm, right? And I think many Christians, me myself included, don't realize how lukewarm you are being when you have this secret sin that nobody else knows about, that you're constantly doing, and you'll repent and ask God for forgiveness. But true repentance is a changing of your mind, right? And what I'm learning is throughout this, the sin has evolved in my life. And... when it came from, necessarily just stemmed from just masturbation. And then I started watching pornography. I got into watching, can't believe I'm to say this, Lord Jesus, thank you. wow. Watching things such as like hentai and anime stuff like that. Really a lot of deliverance. And then when I got into college and I started realizing like, yo, I'm good looking and getting better at talking to girls. And I think I told you guys this, but I'm in a fraternity or I was in a fraternity. I guess still part of I'm not really sure. I've kind of renounced myself from all the vows and stuff like that. But I'm being in a fraternity, drinking a lot, being around the party environment. Then I started to lust after woman and like the physical. And it says for the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see. And if somebody's listening and they're going through this battle of lust, what I realize is that when I was seeking out pleasure in the world, and this was before I was saved, right? But when I was seeking out pleasure in the world, whatever I saw out was still empty. I never felt fulfilled. That's why I could watch pornography or I could sleep with a woman and I wouldn't feel anything. It would feel good for a second, but then the after effects, I would feel so much worse after. And as I gave my life to Christ and started to grow in the understanding of who Jesus was, something that had to shift, Jethro Casie (04:48.79) was that I had to find my pleasure not in the world but in the things of God. And what does that look like? How do we do that? And honestly, this past month has been one of the best months I've had in terms of being set free in a sense. there's the Bible verse that says, who the Son sets free is free indeed. But in another translation, it says, he who is made free. Right? There's a difference between being set free because you can still be captive, but there's a difference between when you're made free, there's nothing that you can ever do again to keep you captive. And then the other verse that God gave me was Romans 12, 2. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. And this is actually some giving me clarity because I was asking God about a personal thing like, Lord, what should I be doing? I want your will to be done, but I feel like I should be doing this and this. it was between two options. Right. And I just want to read that verse again. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. And see the whole time I was dealing with lust while I was in God and trying to pursue Jesus, right. Was I was trying to change the way I think. I was never letting God, not for extended periods anyway, change the way I think. And there's another Bible verse that says, have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus that was in you. And I believe it's 2 Corinthians 10 from five to eight, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ Jesus. So when we're going through this battle of lust, it's not a physical battle. Yes, your flesh is there and it's natural to have sexual thoughts and all that, But the difference is it's a battle of the spirit, it's a battle of your thoughts. It's to be holding your thoughts captive. It's to be holding your thoughts captive so God can be there, where that space where lust was, that spirit of lust, that's where the Holy Spirit will now be. So the biggest thing that I've learned on this Jethro Casie (07:12.738) battle of us is that one, it's already our victory. And then two, the transformation is from your thoughts and from your identity. Because when you're in the world, you have the identity of the world. That's who you are. And then once we're born again, we're now baptized onto the death of Jesus and to the resurrection. So now we are now new creations in Christ Jesus. But the thing is that the spiritual resurrection that we have... is instant, but the soul, the mind, your will, your emotions, that is the part that needs to catch up as well as your body, right? That's why there's the part of us becoming living sacrifices onto God. Because when you're in this place of dealing with something for so long, like such as myself, right? It's been over 10 plus years of building a habit, doing something consistently. Your soul becomes to crave that thing. But now the transformation needs to be in having your soul crave the things of God, crave things that will make you holy. So it's replacing one habit with another habit. But the main thing is because you can try and replace a habit to another habit. But if that's still what you identify with, if you still identify as I'm somebody who master rates, I'm somebody who watches X, Y and Z, I'm somebody who does X, Y and Z, then it doesn't matter how much. You pray, it doesn't matter what you do, you won't accept what God is now saying about you. And the Word of God cannot truly enter you. It might enter into your heart, but that's where Jesus talks about, where the devil will come and pick up the seed. Because you can be quoting scripture, but until you shift your identity to align with scripture, it will never last. So I just want to come on here and quickly testify for what God's doing in my life and share. the wisdom, the understanding that He's given me and I hope this blesses you guys. I just want to end off in a quick prayer. Father God, we thank you Lord for this day. This is the day that the Lord has made. Father God, I pray that whoever is listening to this podcast, Lord, will glorify your name or to walk into the power of the Holy Spirit and more than anything Lord, will find a new identity in you, Christ Jesus. Father God, we thank you. You are the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the name above every other name. Father God, bless this word. Jethro Casie (09:37.39) bless your word into people's hearts, Lord Jesus, where your word says casting down imaginations in every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, that we may bring into captivity every thought to obedience of Christ Jesus. Father God, we want to be more like you. We want to serve you. We want to have your character. And we know that it begins in the mind. So Father God, give us the ability to keep our thoughts captive. Father God, bring our awareness to thoughts that do not align with your word. In Jesus' name, Amen.