GOING TO BATTLE WITH THE PRINCIPALITY OF LUST

A Celibate Elder in Spiritual Warfare

• Ephesians 6: 10-12:  "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” 

• My most habitual phrase to God is..." but You know I can't do that!!” 

• I must have a kinship with Moses, Gideon and Elijah, all Biblical heroes who struggled with God over what they thought was their own  less-than-stellar abilities.  Moses told God " I cannot speak to Pharaoh, I stutter!", Gideon was hiding from the regional bullies who tormented his people and when addressed by an Angel  as " mighty man of God”, he said " where?", and Elijah fled into the wilderness after winning a great battle because he lost his nerve and became

  dispirited, wanting to die. I can certainly relate to Elijah, especially. 

• One thing I have learned from " flopping on the couch with Papa" for nearly 7 yrs ( daily hanging out with God with notebook and pen since December 2017, writing, asking and listening),  is that God is more focused than I am!  He, being God and my Heavenly Papa Who created me, knows things about me that I do not or refuse to see. He is also incredibly stubborn, even when I use my most masterful, handy-dandy W.E.W. negotiating skills to argue or persuade God to listen to my winning arguments (heavy sarcasm there...)  I am sure there is some rueful comic relief...but He still asks me to do some things I feel way untalented at. No matter, He sees what I do not. You can argue with God but He always wins…and then hands you the prize on down the road!

• Papa takes it all on stride. He  told me way back in 2007, when I lived in downtown San Francisco," I am calling you to do battle with the principality of lust."  Principalities are defined as part of the demonic kingdom of Satan and they live to harrass and hinder  and vex human beings and especially all those who follow God and His Son. They can be regional and related to specific areas, like war, crime,  racism, sexual madness, etc.  They are powers of darkness that have influence and must be dealt with seriously by those who follow God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

• I was not thrilled with God's directive for my life and admittedly have not pursued this very vigorously until I began on Substack in summer of 2022, writing about my own very visceral history of lust.  I was extremely promiscuous from age 18 to 28. Many years later, I struggled with “cybering” (having sex online via the written word). This was for several months near the end of my 40’s. I don't particularly relish this battle, now that I remain celibate as an Elder woman.

• One thing Holy Spirit told me a few days ago is that the dormant sexual energy I have is an actual tool to be used in this terrible battle in  2024.  Never before has humanity, especially the West, been so awash in pornography of all kinds and sexual obsession in all dark forms.  

• The more calming  state of simply not being sexual does strangely clear my mind and brings some  clarity.  It is a powerful resource to be utilized in times of desperate and raw battles.

• This is NOT me " declaring war "on sex or people. I am aiming no force whatsoever and no attempt at control or shaming. I am not pushing for celibacy en masse. This is purely spiritual warfare, not physical. This is my assignment and journey with God, as an advocate for those who have been profoundly harmed by lust in its various capacities, including myself. I have already discussed my many sexual partners in the decade of age 18 to 28.

• When I was caught in my own sexual obsession via cybering at the end of my 40s, it was not a pleasant journey.  Talking online with total strangers, discussing ribald things with a debasing purpose was one of the most unwise things I've ever done in my 72 yrs. I am skilled and gifted with words and unfortunately used that gift in an unwise manner. I was caught and ensnared especially by one dark and compelling man. For a few months I was obsessed with this person, broke the heart of my own dear male partner and ruined a good portion of my life. Even as only words on a computer screen, the negative power shattered my life .

• When I finally staggered out of the maelstrom, I had done so much damage, my partnership with my companion was in shambles and my entire life in unsettled upheaval. This was while I was still a Prodigal to my Christian faith, at least a few years before I came back Home to God and His Son. I am actually still recovering from this awful chaos.

• God created sex and designed one man-one woman marriage for two core purposes: to keep the human race going via reproduction and to provide a stabilizing and honorable way for a husband and wife to have sexual intimacy and holy fellowship between one another, in addition to the possibility of reproduction. Sex was not created for entertainment or obsession. This has felled so many people over the centuries and I am one. I can write about this based on my own tormenting and unhappy experiences. Lust is truly a hunger that does not get satisfied.

• This is not a subject I want to tackle.  Being a celibate in a rowdy sea of lust is very strange, to put it mildly. I am also a Scorpio.  While I no longer follow astrology, the 12 monthly signs are essentially descriptive "archetypes " and each one rules a part of the temperament or physical body, with Scorpio ruling the  "reproductive organs".  Having also lived in the sex-obsessed city of San Francisco for 31 years all told, beginning in 1979 and ending fully in both 2011 and 2016, I experienced up close and personal, the staggering intensity of sexual desire run rampant with no guard rails. I was not cautious and nearly assaulted, and I watched my beloved gay men friends begin to die from HIV in the eighties and nineties. It was a big and broken and sorrowful pile, a mess and a mass of sad hearts that did not get healed. 

• While there seems to be spirited defense for pornography and " sexual freedom" running at top speed right now in  2024, for me, it is all part of the devil's marketing machine and part of the principality of lust.  There is not one thing about it that I can defend. I am not simplistic...but I learned through sorrowful direct experience, that sexual obsession does not lead to peace and happiness. In fact, just last night, I found an article (not here on Substack) that spoke of the dark side of websites where "amateurs" display their sexuality for buyers.  Families who are not aware of one family member using such websites have been negatively affected by this, as well as sometimes the general public. This is a new bit of information for me. 

• I lived my own verstion of  the mess and can bluntly say lust tore my soul in half. 

• I will take the peace of God over all other pursuits.  I am still in development of what this assignment means to me and what the elements will be. It does begin with heartfelt prayer, compassion and being the empath that I am, as a conduit for the love of God. I will share more on this subject as I go along. As I said, this is not an attack on human beings but rather a battle with the demonic spirits behind things like this.  Main thing for me right now is to remain in core partnership with God and His Son daily, to deeply listen, to keep my heart and spirit clean and clear with daily repentance for anything I might have missed and to ask, seek and knock, so I can hear Holy Spirit's dear still, small voice of counsel and guidance. 

• Relationship with God is freedom, not being captured. This is not “religion”, this is relationship! Stay tuned to more of what I am experiencing on this journey.

• Wendy Elizabeth Williams    October 11, 2024

• --Consider becoming a paid subscriber at $5.00 a month ($1.25 a week)

  --Consider donating any amount from $1 up on my Ko-Fi page:

  http://www.Ko-Fi.com/wendyelizabethwilliams 

  --Consider hiring me for short hop writing assignments with my writing skills of what I call "emotional-descriptive" writing. Positive emotion can be a powerful and honorable selling tool to promote your work or small business. Very affordable rates and no obligation past one assignment

  --Pray for me that I hear Holy Spirit's voice clearly and follow what He guides me to do.