Is God Judging us now?

I hear people ask or wonder if God is judging their country, the world or their city, etc. They generally site things like the transgender garbage or abortions or both or other things like them. The thing is that God began judging most of the civilized countries a while ago and no one seemed to notice it. Well, we noticed it, we just didn't realize it was a judgement. I'm speaking of how there seems to be little true discernment in the Church; like it disappeared some time ago. This is in fulfillment of scripture. It's easy to know why there's no true discernment, which is why the people are swallowing false teaching and even outright heresy whole. It's because they no longer read and study their Bibles daily as the Lord commands us to do. He even tells us that is the only way we can get discernment. But because of the lack of discernment and all the false teaching and heresy that's now in the church and every part of our lives the Church is going through what's usually called "the great falling away" (1 Timothy 4:1). That is a judgement of God on His children who haven't obeyed Him. Remember, 1 Peter 4:17 tells us that judgement always starts with God's family. The great falling away is actually preparing the way for the Antichrist.

Then, on top of the great falling away, as though that wasn't enough, we have the fact that sin has gone rampant all over the world. By this I mean all sin, but we see it especially in sexual sins which is another indication that the end is near. This is because God first allows those who have rejected Him and His Word to have a sexual revolution. He simply stops restraining sin and that causes the sexual revolution. We saw that as far back as the 60's, but people didn't turn back to the Lord. Then the Lord lifts his restraint even more and allows the sins of homosexuality and transgender etc to increase, a homosexual revolution if you will, as judgements on those who refuse to accept His gift of salvation. (see Romans 1:18-32)  Still in Romans 1, when people still don't return to Him, He gives unbelievers over to a reprobate or depraved mind. This is a mind that's marked by corruption and evil; it's perverted. When we take even a quick look around today, it's very easy to see that this mind is what is at work in unbelievers today, including those unbelievers that are pretending to be Christians. 

So all of these particular sins are happening today as a judgement of God - again, preparing for the Antichrist. Romans 1:24-28 is especially relevant here. Finally, God tells us what else will happen because He's given them over to these sexual perversions, and here we see all the other sins that we're seeing in abundance today: “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.” (Romans 1:29–31) Another good list of what people are like today can be found in 2 Timothy 3:1–5.

In conclusion we can see that the falling away is God's judgement on the Church, and the sexual sins and perversions etc are His judgement on the unbelievers. Both of which are preparing the way for the Antichrist. That does not mean the Tribulation has begun - it hasn't. This is preparing for it to begin though. Just as all the so called "natural disasters" are also preparing for the antichrist and are like mini previews of what will happen during the Tribulation. They are therefore warning His children that play time is over and they need to get really serious about their faith, as well as judging those who don't believe. The problem is that in most judgements, including these, true believers also get hurt because of them.  Believers can be hurt by these judgements because unsaved family members will have the depraved mind, so there is more division in families; Christians will also face more persecutions. But we are safe from the depraved mind, because we have the mind of Christ.  The difference between a believer and unbeliever being hurt by a judgment is that the judgment that harms a believer will be used for His good by the Lord to make him more like Christ; so it has a purpose. 

While being made more like Christ is always the best thing that can happen to us - to be made more like Christ -, now it's especially important that we become more like Him. So now is the time to put our noses into His Word every spare moment we have, as well as dedicating a good amount of time to reading His Word every day. For it is through reading and applying His Word to our lives that God changes us, transforming us to be more like Christ, and renewing our minds so we can have the mind of Christ. There's not much time left before the rapture will occur, (it could be today!) so I'd suggest getting rid of anything in your life that interferes with spending time with the Lord and in His Word. 

Examples of Modern False Gods and Idols

I was asked to give examples of things we might be worshiping today without knowing it. Let me first share something that will help you identify things in your own life that either were false gods in the past or are false gods to you now. Whenever something, or someone becomes very important to you, there's a danger of it being or becoming a false god. Normally when something or someone is real important to us, we attach very strong feelings to it. Those strong feelings then can be a "warning sign" for us to look and see what is causing the feeling. We've already learned to take our thoughts captive, so this will simply be one more step to take whenever we are feeling a strong negative emotion like anger or bitterness, or fear, etc. When we feel those things, the first thing we need to do still is to take it captive and replace it with God's Truth. Once we've done that though, we should then ask ourselves some questions to determine if that anger or fear or whatever we felt is pointing to a false god. Please know that just because we get really angry, fearful, jealous, sad, or something does NOT mean that there is definitely a false god involved, but it is possible. What is does mean for sure is that if nothing else we need to talk to the Lord about it and find our what is causing it so we can overcome it with His help.

Any thing or person that is a false god in our lives is going to cause us to have strong emotions about it, so that's why they can be used as warning signs. What are some questions you could ask yourself to find out if there is a false god behind those feelings? I ask myself things like: “Why do I feel threatened?” “What am I afraid I am going to lose?” “What goal, desire, or belief is being blocked or threatened?” “What’s so important that it's causing me to explode or lose control?” "Where is this coming from?" "What's adding fuel to this emotion?" If we want to discover our false gods, it's important to trace overwhelming feelings and reactions back to their source. Most important, we need to ask the Lord to help us look behind these feelings to discover if we may have turned something or someone into a false god - into the "ultimate thing of importance" in our lives.

As for examples, the easiest way for me to do that is to share what the Lord has shown me in my own life. I have to admit though, this one really shocked me! Many here know that I've had some difficulties with my adult children over the years. Something happened recently that caused me to feel deeply hurt and disappointed with some of them again. (notice the strong emotions I felt) I did take the thoughts and emotions captive and began to dwell on God's truth instead of the incident in order to replace those thoughts and feelings with Him and His Truth. Once I was sure that I was under control, I then began talking to the Lord about it.

That was when He pointed out to me that my children had become a false god in my life. To say I was shocked would be an understatement! I wanted to deny it; I didn't want to believe it, but I knew the Lord was right. My children and my relationship with them as a whole, had indeed become a false god. They were the thing in my life that was "most important". They had taken God's place in my heart. I was looking to them for love, acceptance and approval, instead of looking to God for those things. In fact, I wanted those things from them, more then I wanted them from God. I would sometimes allow thoughts and feelings about my children, or about something they'd done or not done, to determine how I acted or felt instead of being obedient to God.

The Lord showed me all that and more and of course I repented of it. Since then, I've felt a great deal of peace about that whole situation that had been missing for a long time.

Since then, I've been studying about it and have discovered that our loved ones can often become our false gods if we're not careful.

Other people that often become a false god are those people that we think do not love us, but who we want to have love us. In fact, I'd say that was one of the biggest dangers of all.

Some other things that can become false gods are our pets or animals that we love deeply. It all boils down to a desire to be loved, accepted and appreciated by someone/something. The Lord tells us that He is the one who loves us though and we're to lay our expectations of other people at His cross because other people are always going to let us down. If we leave our expectations at His cross and go to Him for our love and acceptance and approval, then, God can heal the broken places inside us so that eventually we can have a healthy loving relationship with other people too.

Other false Gods might be the false god of materialism, or money, or success, security, false gods of image, outward beauty, youth, etc. Or as John pointed out things like cars or motorcycles or other inanimate objects can even be our false gods if we make them that important in our lives.

Whenever we see a quality about ourselves, such as beauty or youth, etc. as something that we must have or maintain or as something we strongly desire, it may be a false god. It may be that we think that if we have that quality that it means we will be loved and accepted and approved by either: the world, men, the one we want to love us, or by our boss, or the public, etc. We have made that quality about ourselves into the thing that makes us worthwhile, but that's a lie. (which is why it's a false god) God is the one who makes us worthwhile. He is the one who loves us and accepts us, and we do not need that quality in order for Him to love and accept us.

One of the things I discovered a long time ago was my false god was my job. I thought I was the best at my job and did it well. It wasn't until I got hurt and couldn't work anymore that I discovered it had become an idol, a false god, to me. I defined myself by my job. Really, I defined myself by two things: my job and my children -being a mother. So in reality, my children were a false god even back then.

As before, the Lord showed me that what I did, did not make me worthwhile and loved.
What I had did not make me worthwhile and loved.
What I could contribute did not make me worthwhile and loved.
Whether I was good looking, had money, worked, or anything else, did not make me worthwhile and loved.
God made me worthwhile and He loved me and it wasn't due to any of those things.

So really anything that we think causes us to be worthwhile or loved, can be a false god in our lives. I have a feeling that we all have a bunch of them that we didn't even realize were there. But our Lord will help us discover them and get rid of them so we can have the peace and joy He wants us to have now.

Positive feelings could also indicate indicate a false god or idol. I'm trying to think of times in my life and the things that I now know were false gods in order to give an example.....

For instance, when I was seeking love and acceptance from men instead of God - always looking to my husband instead of God, my feelings were mixed, but at times - when my husband happened to be giving me the love I thought I wanted, I'd be very happy. It was only when he wasn't doing that, that I'd be unhappy.

Another false God I had was first my school work and then later, when I was older, my job. I worked hard and made mostly A's in school, and when I'd make an A, I'd be happy, and that was most of the time. But when I'd get even one question wrong, even though I'd still get an "A", because it wasn't perfect, I'd be very unhappy. I know that sounds ridiculous to most people, but that's how I was. I strove for perfection because deep inside I thought I had to be perfect to be loved and accepted by God. My school work, and then later my job, became false gods because I was looking to them to prove my love and acceptance, or to prove that I was lovable and acceptable, however you want to look at it. I remember how I would get very stressed out when it was time for our boss to do our job reviews. Again, I was striving for perfection and worried that I wouldn't measure up. All my reviews were very good, but the problem was, the last question on each review was "What can your employee do to improve?" To me, that was the same thing as saying that I wasn't good enough. My mind knew better, but my heart didn't. So I always got very upset when it would come to that last answer no matter how gently my boss tried to word his answer. It wasn't until I knew the Lord and gave up my false gods and accepted His love and acceptance, that those things no longer bothered me. Because then I finally understood that by myself, I could do nothing good - and that was ok because everyone is that way; but that the Lord loved and accepted me anyway, even at my very worst, and because He did, His love made me worthwhile. I no longer needed to strive to make Him love me, or strive to prove I was lovable. Instead, I could just love Him back and rejoice in His love for me.

One way to tell is to ask yourself who is being glorified by your thoughts and feelings. Is it you? Is it another person, place or thing? Or, is it God

I suspect that everything in this life, and every person we know or wished we knew, as well as we ourselves, could be a false god and idol for us. I guess I need to just state that instead of giving examples like I did. No, not really...I think the examples help some too because hopefully they show how perfectly ordinary things can be a false god. Because a false god is simply something or someone that we think is super important to us in some way, shape or form. In fact, here's another one that really surprised me because it's not something anyone would "want" to have... 

I also discovered that the pain I'm in can be a false god or idol to me at times. For example, that time I wrote about in the pain forum, when I trusted in the pain more then I trusted God, remember? At that moment, it became an idol; a false god for me. I guess I should explain that in case anyone who's not a pain forum member reads this:

I'd been in a great deal of pain, especially at night and one evening got very upset and didn't want to go to bed because I "knew" what would happen when I did -the pain would get worse. So I wound up staying up all night.

The Lord pointed out to me that the reason I had the problem and got so upset that night, was because I'd turned away from Him and allowed myself to dwell on the possibility or likelihood of the pain instead. I'd basically put my faith in the pain happening and me not being able to handle it instead of taking the thoughts and fear captive and replacing them with God's Word which says that His strength is made perfect in our weakness and that He is our strength and is always, always with me and loves me and will sustain me and give me peace. So, really, I traded my peace for fear and self pity.

The Lord pointed that out to me the next day and I was quite ashamed of myself then, especially when I realized that I'd literally put the pain ahead of Him. See by focusing on the pain, it promised me that I wouldn't get hurt if I just stayed up, but it lied, as false gods always do. If I had taken those strong emotions of fear, anger, and self pity as a warning sign, I would have realized something wasn't as it seemed. But during that time I was determined to be disobedient to the Lord. I knew I should take the thoughts and feelings captive, but I refused to. I even lied to myself and told myself that they were there to "warn" me - meaning that they were warning me not to go to bed. Well I was half right. They were warning me, but it wasn't about that. They were giving me the same warning they always do and telling me to take my thoughts captive because they were lies. But I chose to believe the lies and to dwell on them instead of on God and His strength and His help.

So you see, even something as unpleasant and disagreeable as severe pain can become a false god and idol if we allow it to.

Another big one that most of us have had at one time or another is our past. We often give our past much power over us instead of taking those thoughts captive like we're told to and replacing them with God's Truth about us. .

Still another one that we've all probably had at one time or another is ourselves. Yes, we even make ourselves into a false god at times, like in the example I gave Eva.

It just goes to show that anything can be a false god. 

More posts about idols:

• The Civilized World’s Made Things Harder For U
•  The times we're most likely to turn to an idol
• What are your false gods, your idols?
• I used to think that I couldn't ever be an Idolate...
• I used to think that I couldn't ever be an Idolate...
•  From the heights of revelation to the valley of id...

The times we're most likely to turn to an idol

Part 2 of: What are your false gods, your idols?

The times we're most likely to turn to an idol

Psalm 106:13–14 —But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his counsel. *In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wasteland they put God to the test. *

To me, the above two verses sum up what we read over and over again in the Old Testament regarding how the behavior of the Jew's toward God. Over and over again He would rescue them and set them up to have a great life, bu as soon as a little problem came up, they'd totally forget about Him and instead turn to the false God's for help and comfort. Or, sometimes it was because of the abundant life He gave them. They'd be enjoying it, and after awhile, would forget why they had such a good life, and because of greed would decide they wanted yet more or something different, and again would turn to their false gods in order to get it.

I used to read those stories and wonder how in the world anyone could do the things they did...how anyone could forget the wonderful things God had done for them and try to get something from a false god instead. It wasn't until I realized that the stories weren't just the history of the Jew's but were also a history of my own life that I began to understand how they could do such a thing. I began to understand because I realized that I'd done exactly the same things they had! My false gods had different names then theirs did, but I went running to them for the same reasons.

These verses give us a big clue as to "why" we run to our false gods and about the state of our hearts when we're most tempted to run to idols. Notice that it often happens in the desert, wasteland, or wilderness. It's generally not when life is going smoothly, but when we're struggling to get through something and have been struggling for awhile. We're not talking about a day trip into the desert as a tourist, but rather an unwanted detour that's happened and we feel unable to find our way back out. These words describe a large desolate, uninhabited place with little or nothing available for sustenance. They're usually described as lonely places with little or no water. It's when we're in a place like this that we'll be "craving" relief.

It's when we're feeling lonely, or alone. We don't have to really be alone to feel that way. We may be surrounded by friends and family and yet still feel alone. It can be because we feel no one understands us for whatever reason. Ironically, it could be because no one else in our circle knows the Lord, and so we feel "alone". There are probably as many reasons for feeling alone as there are people, but regardless of the reason, it's a time when we feel cut off from others.

We've often hear Christians talk about "the desert experience" meaning that they're going through a time when the Lord seems distant or not there at all, even though they know He really is. Because of that, again, they feel lonely, as though they've been abandoned by God. It feels like He doesn't hear our prayers much less answer them when this happens, and this can really shake us up, especially if we aren't familiar with His Word which tells us that He really is there, does hear our prayers, He does love us and that He always will.

One of the reasons Christian's call that kind of experience a desert experience is because there's a lack of water and food in the desert, and those are synonyms for God's Word. So being in a dry place, a desert, would also be a time when we feel that we're not being fed from His Word. Of course we can and often do put ourselves in a desert and simply refuse to eat what's offered.

It's when we feel that we're unable to survive on our own or when our survival is threatened. By that I don't mean that our lives are necessarily threatened, though that too would be a reason, but when we think our way of life is threatened. When something we hold dear is being threatened. It could be the loss or possible loss of our home, or our job, or an important relationship. (like a spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, child, parent, etc) It could be having to decide between buying medication or food or between those and paying the bills. It could be the loss or threatened loss of a dream, such as a desire to send our children to college or to buy a better house, or move to a better neighborhood. It could be chronic sickness or pain that causes us to feel this way.

Looking at all of that, it's pretty easy to see that the desert is a place where we have very strong feelings of need and for relief. These are the times when we're most likely to turn to our idols for that relief, just as the Jew's did. We may turn to our own wisdom and intellect, to try and figure out how to solve the situation and get what we want, instead of praying and seeking the Lord about it. This was one of Hezekiah's mistakes when he got sick and became terminally ill. Instead of turning to the Lord, he immediately turned to doctors. Now the Lord doesn't have a problem with us going to doctors and makes that clear in His Word. But He does have a problem with us putting all our trust in them instead of in Him. Especially in our country today, most of us rarely even consider going to the Lord about it when we don't feel well. We just call the doctor, get our prescription, take it and get better. (just like Hezekiah tried to do) Or we may do the opposite and simply try and tough it out, perhaps using home or over the counter remedies, hoping we'll eventually get better on our own. I know that's what I used to do. Like I said, God doesn't mind us going to doctors or taking medicine, but He wants us to recognize that He's in control and that He's the one we should turn to first and continuously all through the experience.

Turning to the idol of self is something we do all to frequently. We also frequently make others into idols. Likely candidates are those people who are most important to us. Another person becomes an idol, a false god, when they become the ultimate thing in our lives. For example when a woman feels as though her life would be over if her boyfriend left her, or if she didn't get a boyfriend (even an idea or ideal can become an idol!) No one but God should hold that kind of power over us. I'm not saying that we shouldn't be hurt or feel badly over a loss like that, but to feel that strongly about it shows that we've given God's place to a human being. We need to remember that God isn't just "A God" or even "the God", He's "my God" to each of us and wants to be first in our lives.

When our pain, hurt, or desire is so strong it will always cause us to run somewhere - either to God or to our idol. Our idol could be illegal drugs, prescribed drugs, alcohol, work, overeating, TV, a particular person like a boyfriend/girlfriend, a spouse, our children, or even a pet. These days it could even be a counselor or doctor, or self help books, or even just any books if reading is our refuge. An idol is anything we run to and or cling to that we think will dull or take away our pain, hurt, confusion, anxiety or fear. It's whatever we run to to make us feel better, even if it's only for a an hour or two. It's where we go when we're feeling desperate. (although we certainly don't have to physically "go" anywhere to find many of our idols)

It was when I finally understood this that I really realized why these things were idols and false gods. The Lord wants to be our one and only help; our only refuge in the storm; the only one we go to when we're desperate. The first one we think of. Again Hezekiah comes to mind, this time because he did what was right. When Israel was under siege and about to fall, the commander of the enemy army sent him a letter telling him to surrender or else. Hezekiah immediately took the letter to the temple, laid it before the Lord and cried "Help!" And of course the Lord came through for them. Jesus wants us to come to Him when we're weary and burdened, because He knows that He's the only one who can really help us. He desperately wants to gather us under His wings like a hen does her chicks, and keep us safe, but we keep running off to our false gods instead. Jesus is the one who truly loves us and has nothing but good intentions toward us. He calls us His bride, which is why when we go running off to our false gods, it's spiritual adultery. Thankfully He shows us how to identify our false gods and when we're most likely to run to them, so with His help, we can stop and remember to run to Him instead.

Homosexuality in the End Times

I originally posted this on May 26th, 2010

Not too long ago, I went off line at about 4:30 to finish cleaning up the house and get supper started for Bruce for when he got home from work. We both like to listen to the news when it comes on at 5pm so I turned the TV on our local news station so that it would be on the right channel when the news came on. While cleaning I realized that the show playing then was Oprah and she had on a young country music star who had apparently recently come out and said she was a lesbian. She told a heart wrenching story of how she hid it all her life from everyone including her parents and how being brought up in a good Christian home she was sure she was hated by God and would go to hell for it. Her story was truly heart wrenching and my heart went out to her and to all those like her.

Unfortunately she still doesn't understand the Truth. She thinks she feels a billion times better now because she's told the truth and she's not "living a lie" anymore. And well she should! Lying is a sin (as she knew too) and of course "living a lie" is a sin as well. Sin hurts us in many ways and hurts those around us. So here are these poor people who are so enslaved to many sins that they feel their only way out is to either kill themselves and get it over with, or be a practicing homosexual and decide (somehow) that God doesn't see homosexuality as a sin anymore.

What's even sadder is that many of these people were raised in "good Christian homes" and went to "good Christian churches". Where then was the discipleship they so badly needed when they were young??? Why then do they not understand that God never hated them because they were tempted to sin??? He hates the sin, not them. Where is their understanding that God doesn't make mistakes, that He doesn't create people as "homosexuals" or pedophiles, or thieves, or murderers, or liars etc. Why do they not understand that all of those things, like so many others, are quite simply sins and temptations??? Why do they not understand that God has called us to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ???

Do they seriously believe that God creates people to be murderers and thieves and homosexuals??? Apparently they do, but they are so very wrong!

How very sad that they feel they have to act on their sinful desires in order to "be happy." All they had to do was tell the truth about their sinful desires to have a homosexual relationship instead of hiding them. It's when we hide our sins that we give Satan a hold over us and many of these people obviously hid this sin for a very long time. Then instead of confessing the sinful thoughts/feelings and taking them captive in Christ, they went the other way and determined to find a way to reconcile their sin and yet remain "Christian". Just as Adam blamed God for his sin when he said, "the woman you gave me" made me do it, so they are blaming God for their sin by saying "God made me this way so it's His fault".

And now they are blaming those "good Christian churches" for all their problems and this young lady actually said that churches are ruining young people by telling them that homosexuality is wrong!!!

Unfortunately she's right in some ways. Churches that haven't been or aren't discipling their youngsters, and parents that are waiting for the church to teach their children God's Ways instead of doing it themselves are hurting the young.

Our children should all know that they will be tempted many times in many ways, but that being tempted doesn't make them "bad"and isn't a sin. It doesn't become a sin until we act on the temptation or dwell on the temptation.  It simply means that they need to turn to the Lord for His help and they need to be taught how to guard their minds and hearts by taking their thoughts captive for Christ. Basically, it means they're human! They need to know that they can always go to God about any thought or feeling they have and that He loves them always and that He will help them. That doesn't mean that He will make it easy for them though. There's a big difference between helping someone and doing it for them! And that's a HUGE thing that many people today simply don't get anymore.

Everyone wants everything handed to them on a silver platter instead of having to work for it. While God does give us gifts that way sometimes, for the most part He requires us to work out our salvation and use the tools He's given us in His Word.

I could go on and on about what they "should" have been taught, and what they should know, but you get the idea. What's so horribly sad though is that now, because these people think that they have finally been "freed" they are preaching their "salvation" to everyone, using every means at their disposal--TV, Radio, movies, the Internet, meetings and community groups, political activism etc.

Some of them are in many ways a part of this "new Christianity", that Warren, Piper, and others preach--but it's a Christianity without the Gospel and those people are going to go to Hell and will bring everyone else right along with them! So this half of the homosexual group is attacking the church, the body of Christ, with all the ammunition they can bring on it, and the other half, the half that are "atheists" are paving the way for them in society by mocking God.

It really opened my eyes (even wider) to how very active Satan is in our times! It's like an old fashioned cattle round up, only humans are the cattle and they're being rounded up to go to Hell. I think these people, these "stars" are going to be at the forefront of the battle to have the bible banned as hate speech and that's just part of what they'll accomplish. The question is, how much of it will we witness before the rapture???

We need to understand that it's important for us to know the Truth about what God says in His Word and tell people about that Truth.  Christians don't seem to have any problem pointing out to a murderer or a thief that they have sinned and need a Savior, or that God loves them and wants to save them.  But when it comes to someone saying they're homosexual, suddenly everyone clams up or spouts the oft heard phrase, "I can't judge them" as an excuse not to speak the Truth in love to them.  All they're doing though is condemning these poor folks who are already suffering to an eternity of yet more suffering!  We need to stand up for God's Truth and not be intimidated by the homosexual activists who condemn us and say the bible is hate speech.  They only say that because Satan has blinded them to the truth and because they've heard some very real hate speech even from Christians!  Instead we need to let them know the very same things we'd tell any sinner, regardless of what their sin is:  That God loves them more then they can imagine and He doesn't want them to suffer.  He wants them to spend eternity with Him.  That doesn't mean this life will be easy, or that they won't be tempted by homosexual thoughts and feelings.  It means that just as we have to do about any sin we're tempted about, they have to do with this one:  ask the Lord for help, study His Word, flee from any tempting situations and not allow ourselves to be put in any tempting situation, and finally to take any sinful thoughts, ideas, feelings, imaginings etc captive and replace them with God's Truth.  That's how we're to deal with any sin, any temptation.  We need to let them know that they're not bad and not sinning because they're tempted and that it only becomes a sin when they insist on dwelling on sinful things or acting on them.  We need to make sure they understand that once they are saved they cannot lose their salvation, and if they were really saved before, then they still are.  What they can lose though is the closeness of their relationship with the Lord, as that's what happens when sin comes between us and Him until we repent of it.  So we need to let them know how to repair their relationship with Him.  (through confession and repentance and then obeying Him)  We need to pray for these people and pray hard for Satan, the world and their flesh have all come against them to keep them from our Father's comfort and love which is the one thing they need above all else.