Take Cover Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Take Cover------------------------- Date: 11/13/2001 Keywords: "refuge" "temptations" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: Psalm 7:1-2* 1. O LORD my God, in You I have taken refuge; save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me, 2. Or he will tear my soul like a lion, dragging me away, while there is none to deliver. Questions 1. Where do you find safety or comfort? Possibilities might include having money in the bank, having friends, escaping into a porn habit.   2. What pursues you? What dogs your or tempts you?   Practical help If verse one is true for you and you have taken refuge in God, then you have what it takes to resist the temptation to view Internet pornography. Do you realize that every time you are tempted you are being pursued? Porn is a trap someone has set to snare you. Verse two is a graphic description of what I would call "soul trauma." Think about a time when you were completely at ease and happy. Now think about what you are feeling right now. If you are feeling guilt and shame, then you are suffering from soul trauma. Your heart has been injured. Now the good news. The writer of this psalm has been there before you. He is saying, "I have taken refuge in God because I know what it is like to have my soul torn open and the helpless feeling of being dragged away from what is good and toward what is ultimately destructive." How can the writer know this, unless he has discovered God’s mercy somewhere along his life’s journey? So don’t consider your state as permanent. You can call out to God in your suffering and He will deliver you. Final thought. This Old Testament picture of the roaring lion shows up in the New Testament in a letter by the Apostle Peter. He tells us who this roaring lion is: "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world" (1 Peter 5:8-9). Hang in there. We are all in this together. eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2001 by eXXit *"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."