“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6) “What is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to ... walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) When you “humble yourselves before the Lord ... he will exalt you.” (James 4:10). Yet we still bumble when it comes to being humble. Right?
Learn more about the ministry of The Purity Coach at http://www.thepuritycoach.com
“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6) “What is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to ... walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) When you “humble yourselves before the Lord ... he will exalt you.” (James 4:10). Yet we still bumble when it comes to being humble. Right?
Learn more about the ministry of The Purity Coach at http://www.thepuritycoach.com
“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6) “What is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to ... walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) When you “humble yourselves before the Lord ... he will exalt you.” (James 4:10). Yet we still bumble when it comes to being humble. Right?
Welcome to The Point of Purity Podcast. A weekly study filled to the brim with the all the tools from Scripture you will ever need to build a lasting life of Biblical purity.
Each episode is designed to help you discover how to skillfully handle the word of God as you choose to live in freedom!
I’m your host, Steve Etner, author, speaker, and purity coach for The Pure Man Ministry ... WELCOME to episode #114 as we talk about “Bumbling in the Humbling.”
In Psalm 25:8-10 David writes, “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant.”
I love the fact that God “instructs sinners in the way.” It doesn’t say He instructs only the righteous, nor does it say He instructs just those who do good. No, He instructs sinners in the way. That would most definitely be me, and I have a sneaky suspicion that would be you too. The fact is, that would be every one of us–guys and gals who are guilty of a crime committed against a Holy God. What is that crime? “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20) Sin is the transgression of (or disobedience to) God’s word (1 John 3:4) and the wages (or paycheck we are due if you will) of our sin is nothing short of death – eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23).
As you allow that to truly sink in, aren’t you thankful that God (in his amazing grace and awesome mercy) has chosen to instruct us in how to live for Him in spite of the way we have treated Him? Isn’t it great that the Almighty, All-Sovereign, All-Powerful, Creator of the Universe has chosen to teach us and direct us–sinners, those who have repeatedly wronged Him–showing us in his Word the way of purity and truth?
God is our teacher. Life is our classroom. The Bible is our textbook. “(God’s) word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105) Every time you open your Bible, every time you read God’s Word, you are being instructed in the way God wants you to live. He is shining a light on your path if you will. He is saying to you “this is the way to purity; this is the way to joy, peace, happiness, fulfillment, and satisfaction; this is the way so walk in it!” And every time you choose not only to listen to what God says, but also walk in worshipful, humble obedience to your Heavenly Father you are walking in His perfect light. You will not lust, you will not look at pornography, you will not masturbate, you will not worship King Me, you will not sin!
“For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.” (Proverbs 6:23)
Never lose sight of the fact that “it is (God) who light(s) my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness.” (Psalm 18:28) God will instruct you on how to live, how to make the right choices, how to be a man of integrity, purity, and godliness. You must choose to keep your way pure by guarding it according to God’s Word (see Psalm 119:9)
God uses Scripture to teach you. This is why each episode of this podcast is loaded to the brim with Bible verses. This is why I urge you to never deviate from daily reading Scripture and hiding it in your heart. It is God’s Word that is perfect, reviving the soul, making wise the simple. It’s God’s Word that is right, rejoicing the heart. It is God’s Word that is pure, enlightening the eyes. It is when you not only read God’s Word but do God’s Word that there is great reward (Psalm 19:7-11)!
Jesus clearly states in Mark 12:24, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?”
The title of this particular episode is simply “Bumbling in the Humbling.” Psalm 25:9 tells us that God “guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.” (Psalm 25:9)
I toyed around once about writing a book on humility but couldn’t settle on a title. I struggled between “Humility and How I Achieved It,” or “The 5 Most Humble Men in the World and How I Met the Other 4!” Somehow, I just couldn’t make it happen. Why? Because I keep bumbling in the humbling department. It’s not about me. It’s not about you. (By the way, I didn’t actually think about writing that book–I was just trying to make a point.)
If you’ve been following this podcast for any length of time, then you know that we’ve already talked a fair amount about humility. We’ve seen how “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6) We’ve discovered “what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to ... walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) We are learning that when you “humble yourselves before the Lord ... he will exalt you.” (James 4:10). Yet we still bumble when it comes to being humble. Right?
We struggle with humility because King Me refuses to give up the throne. God has promised to equip us with everything we need to live a life that honors him (2 Peter 1:3). However, if real change is going to happen, the first thing we need to do is stage a military-style spiritual coup. We need to change governments—that is, we need a different spiritual leader sitting behind the big desk in the oval office of our heart. We must choose to remove the “I” from life. (For more on this, be sure to read my book “Removing the ‘I’ from LIFE: The Dethroning of King Me,” available on Amazon.com)
This life isn’t about you, and it’s not about me. It never was. It never will be. You need to dethrone the reigning King Me and allow God to sit in your place—His rightful place (Isaiah 42:8 and 48:11). Whomever is reigning in your heart will be calling the shots in your life (Romans 6:16). Here’s a fact: When King Me is on the throne, you will live for King Me. When God is reigning in your heart, He will rule in your life.
Praise God that as we learn humility and as we grow in humility “He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.” (Psalm 25:9) You see, David was learning that as he continued to lift up his soul to God, as he continued to deny and die to himself, as he continued to trust completely in God (in other words, as he humbled himself) God was leading him in what was right and teaching him how to consistently live that way.
There’s a powerful worship song we often sing in our church – possibly you’re familiar with it. The chorus says of God, “You are Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper Light in the darkness My God, that is who You are!”
Psalm 25:8-10 declares, “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant.”
Three times, here in Psalm 25, the Psalmist talks about God’s way. David was familiar with the command of Deuteronomy 28:9 to “keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways.” He understood that he was to “be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded ..., to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Joshua 22:5)
David had read the command in Genesis 18:19 to “keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice.” This is why he prays, “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.” (Psalm 25:4)
David was also familiar with the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 10:12-13 which say, “And now, Israel (and now dear Christian friend), what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?”
This is why he cried out, “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.” (Psalm 86:11) He declared to God “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)
It is vital to our purity; it is essential to our spiritual growth that we “walk in the same way in which he walked.” (1 John 2:6) The problem is that God’s “thoughts are not (our) thoughts, neither are (our)ways (God’s) ways ... For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are (God’s) ways higher than (our)ways and (God’s) thoughts than (our)thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
If we are going to “walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice” (Proverbs 8:20) we must choose to cry out to the Lord “please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.” (Exodus 33:13) “Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.” (Psalm 27:11)
Before you end this episode and move on to other things today, let me urge and encourage you to invest a few moments right now talking with God, thanking Him for His amazing grace and unfathomable love for you! Then find someone to encourage. Tell them about God’s love.
OK, we’re going to hit the pause button here until next week’s episode as we look forward to continuing this study.
If you would like to learn more about today’s study, or if you’re interested in learning more about our ministry, be sure to visit our website to see the multitude of resources we’ve made available to you – you can find our website at ThePurityCoach.com
In fact, let me take just a moment and give you a glimpse into our ministry. You see, we do a whole lot more here at The Pure Man Ministry than just producing a weekly podcast. We have a free APP entitled “My Purity Coach.” This app is chocked full of powerful tools to help you in your walk of purity. You’ll find tons of Scripture. Audio and video lessons from the Bible. You listen to this podcast from the app. You can even watch the globally acclaimed video series called “The Chosen” from this app!
If you’re a subscriber to this podcast, then you’ve heard me talk about our “Point of Purity Program” – a 12 week, 1-on-1, Bible-Centered coaching program taking you deep into Scripture to teach you how to develop a lifelong strategic plan for sexual purity. I’ve also talked on this podcast about the various books I have written which are all available both on my website (ThePurityCoach.com) and on Amazon.
As a faith-based, donor-supported ministry, all of this (and so much more) is only made possible by our team of ministry partners who give financially to this ministry. Without compromise The Pure Man Ministry shows men and women how to have a continuous relationship with Jesus that is real and personal. To that end we need ongoing financial assistance from partners like you who are committed to providing hope and helping men and women across the globe win their personal battle against the beast of sexual impurity. I am personally inviting you to partner with us as we seek to impact our world by equipping and training men and women how-to live-in purity, godliness, and integrity through the study and application of God’s Word to their lives. To give your tax deductible gift to this ministry today, simply go to ThePurityCoach.com and click on the Donate button in the upper right corner. And thank you for partnering with us!
Well, if you haven’t subscribed to this podcast yet, let me encourage you to do so today so you won’t miss any of our upcoming episodes!
So, until next time this is Author, Speaker, and Purity Coach Steve Etner reminding you that if you are going to glorify God in your everyday living, He must first be glorified in your every moment thinking.