Would you like to know how to escape the trap the enemy has set for you and effectively say “No!” to any temptation? Do you desire to avoid the snare altogether and stop giving in and instead live a blessed life that is completely, unreservedly sold-out for God? Do you long for the time when you never have to lie to cover up your sin? God shows you how. Solomon said, “The Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”
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, national speaker, and purity coach for The Pure Man Ministry ... and this is episode #117 entitled “Perfect Vision.”
As we begin this episode, before we give our attention on what it means to be focused – having “perfect vision,” let’s pause here for a moment of prayer prayer. Father, once again we come humbly before you and ask you to “Make us to know your ways, O Lord; teach us your paths. Lead us in your truth and teach us, for you are the God of our salvation; for you we willingly wait all the day long.” (Psalm 25:4-5) God, would you please “Show us right now your ways, that we may truly know you.” (Exodus 33:13b) As we dive into this episode, as we open your word and study it together, please “Open our eyes, that we may behold wondrous things out of your law.” (Psalm 119:18) I ask you these things on behalf of not only myself, but each and every listener to this podcast – in Jesus precious and holy name, Amen!
In Psalm 25:15 David writes, “My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.”
Would you like to know how to escape the trap the enemy has set for you and effectively say “No!” to any temptation? Do you desire to avoid the snare altogether and stop giving in to your sinful temptations and instead continuously live a blessed life that is completely, unreservedly sold-out for God? Do you long for the time when you never have to lie to cover up your sin? God shows us how. Solomon said, “The Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6).
To live a life of sexual purity, to powerfully submit to God, choosing daily – choosing moment by moment to stand rock-solid in the faith and effectively, consistently resist the enemy (Jas. 4:7); to effectively say “No” to lust, “No” to porn, and “No” to sexual sin, you must choose to daily say “yes” to God and open your Bible - letting the truth and wisdom of God’s Word penetrate and saturate your heart and mind. Then you must choose, moment-by-moment, to walk in obedience to it.
“For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12 NASB)
As you daily open your Bible and read Scripture, the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth (John 16:13 and 14:26). Your spiritual eyes will be opened, and you will see what you need to do, where you need to go, and how to accomplish it. For that to happen, you must be focused. Your eyes must ever be “toward the Lord, for only He will pluck your feet out of the snare” of the enemy (Psalm 25:15).
“My eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord; in you I seek refuge.” (Psalm 141:8)
“To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, “as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God.” (Psalm 123:1-2)
So let me ask you: Where is your focus? God promises that as you read Scripture daily it is through His Word that He “guides you in the way of wisdom and leads you along straight paths” (Proverbs 4:11 NIV’84). Think about this: the way of true, godly wisdom is found only in Scripture. Every time you invest time opening your Bible and studying God’s Word, the verses you read act as “a lamp to (your) feet and a light to (your) path” (Psalm 119:105). They are like a massive floodlight pouring God’s pure white light into the oppressive, sinful, King Me oriented darkness of your life, saying, “This is the way to victory; walk in it.” In other words, God’s Word will give you perfect vision.
I want you to notice that David specifically declares, “My eyes are ever toward the Lord.” (Psalm 25:15) Why do you think he put such an emphasis upon his eyes? It is vital that you are very careful about what you allow your eyes to see. What you see influences what you think, and what you think impacts what you do. This is why Jesus said, “the eye is the lamp of the body.” (Matthew 6:22)
Think about it this way: when you go for a walk, whether it’s from one room to the next or through the grocery store or even taking a hike through the woods, you are dependent upon your senses to help you navigate the given terrain. One major sense you rely heavily upon is that of sight. What you see strongly influences what you do. If you see an obstacle in front of you, more than likely you are going to go around it or over it rather than walk into it. How foolish it would be to look to the right yet walk to the left, or to look straight ahead but walk backward. To not go where your eyes are showing is to invite problems, pain, and possibly even death.
Every day you and I are faced with choices about what we’re going to permit ourselves to see. Are you going to allow yourself to see only those things that encourage you to living a godly life, or things that persuade you to indulge in the lusts of the flesh? If you want your life to consistently glorify God, the Bible is clear that what you fill your mind and heart with make all the difference in the world. When you fill your mind with ungodly things and yet try to live a godly life, you are going to be frustratingly unstable in all your ways (James 1:8).
“Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” (Ephesians 5:15-17)
God does have a will for you in what you should see and what you shouldn’t, and He wants you to understand what that will is. However, you will not find anywhere a detailed listing that says “Thou shalt look at these things and thou shalt not look at those”, at least not in the way you might assume.
For example, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 is crystal clear that “this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, ... For God has not called us for impurity but in holiness.”
God expects us to exercise Godly wisdom and discernment–which He gives to us through His Word. The way we discover God’s will for what we should or should not see, is to daily become a student of God’s Word. As you grow intimately familiar with the Author of Scripture, it will become easier for you to discern between things that are going to help you grow spiritually and those that have the potential of drawing you away from God and thus weakening your faith. (let me strongly encourage you to invest the time today to read Proverbs 2)
Our eyes must always be “toward the Lord.” We are instructed in Philippians 4:8 that our minds are to be thoroughly occupied with things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. Since what we see has a direct impact on what we think, then it stands to reason that the things we see should also be true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable to the glory of God.
Yes, we are living in the age of Grace, and as a Christian we have great freedom, but keep in mind that though “You were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh” (Galatians 5:13). We must be ever careful about what we allow our eyes to see, as they have a powerful influence upon what we think–which in turn strongly impacts the things we say and do.
Do you have perfect vision?
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 The Pure Man Ministry, and more specifically how we can help you live in freedom from sexual sin, 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
And if you have not yet subscribed to this podcast, 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, National 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.
