One of the biggest reasons most of us struggle with entrusting our soul, our life, our sinful habits to God is the fear of what might happen if we do choose to fully surrender. We worry that God will take it away and leave us with little to nothing in return. We fear that whatever God does give us in return will be less than second-best. Nothing could be further from the truth
Learn more about the ministry of The Purity Coach at http://www.thepuritycoach.com
One of the biggest reasons most of us struggle with entrusting our soul, our life, our sinful habits to God is the fear of what might happen if we do choose to fully surrender. We worry that God will take it away and leave us with little to nothing in return. We fear that whatever God does give us in return will be less than second-best. Nothing could be further from the truth
Learn more about the ministry of The Purity Coach at http://www.thepuritycoach.com
One of the biggest reasons most of us struggle with entrusting our soul, our life, our sinful habits to God is the fear of what might happen if we do choose to fully surrender. We worry that God will take it away and leave us with little to nothing in return. We fear that whatever God does give us in return will be less than second-best. Nothing could be further from the truth.
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. I’m your host, Steve Etner author, National speaker, and Purity Coach for the Pure Man Ministry ... and this is episode #122 entitled “Revere or Fear.”
When I was a young boy, I was convinced that a child-consuming parasitic creature of goo lived underneath my bed. I firmly believed, contrary to my parent’s insistence otherwise, that this devourer of my soul had the uncanny ability to blend in with its environment so that you couldn’t see it. However, in the darkness of night – though totally invisible to the naked eye, its presence was strongly felt. That imaginary creature had tremendous power over me, freezing me literally motionless in bed; not because it was really there, but because I was convinced it was there.
For over 30 years of my life, I lived with another fear. I was terrified of surrendering my 3-headed dragon of Lust, Porn, and Masturbation (whom I had named LuPoMas) totally and unreservedly over to God. I was convinced that if I gave it up completely, I would be a miserable man. I firmly believed that God would take it away from me and, as a form of punishment for my lack of faith, He’d let me be sexually miserable the rest of my life. I had given it authority in my life, not because of what might be, but because of what I imagined could be. Can you relate?
That’s the deception of the enemy. He skillfully keeps you forever stuck in the trap of your own irrational fears. He preys on your insecurities, anxieties, and doubts. He tries to persuade you that God is powerless, indifferent, or even distant from you – that He has better, more important things to do than worry about your petty self-centered illusions and delusions. You fear that God will abandon you, forget you, hide his face from you and you’ll be stuck suffering instead of enjoying the pleasures sin has to offer (see Psalm 13:1).
One of the biggest reasons most of us struggle with entrusting our soul, our life, our sinful habits to God is the fear of what might happen if we do choose to fully surrender. We worry that God will take it away and leave us with little to nothing in return. We fear that whatever God does give us in return will be less than second-best. Nothing could be further from the truth. David writes in Psalm 27:1, “Whom shall I fear? ... Of whom shall I be afraid?”
Your fear of losing out, your fear of God restricting your enjoyment of the pleasures of life is based largely upon a wrong understanding of who God is and His immeasurable, impenetrable, unfathomable love for you. Listen to the following verses and allow the truth of God’s amazing love to wash over you and cleanse away your fear.
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) That’s what Jesus did for YOU my friend!
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4-5)
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)
God loves you, my friend. Of that you can be most certain. That love He has for you is so deep, so expansive, and so precious that there is absolutely no way He would ever give you less than the best of anything! You have nothing to fear!
Jesus said, in Matthew 7:9-11, “You parents – if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give good gifts to those who ask him.” (NLT)
Why would the Perfect God, in His perfect love for you, take away something that is bad for you and not give you something far better, something absolutely perfect for you in its place? You can live secure in His love – you have nothing to fear. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” (1 John 4:18).
Yes, God wants to completely remove that 3-headed dragon of lust, porn, and masturbation from your life. Yes, it will be hard and even “painful” at the start – not because God is causing the pain or is punishing you, but because King Me is kicking up a royal fuss as he’s being ousted from the throne. Remember what I just read to you in 1 John 4:18: “Fear has to do with punishment.” You have nothing to fear because the punishment for all of your sin was already given at the cross of Calvary (see John 3:16-19)!
(1 Peter 2:24 NLT) “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5-8 “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”
As we conclude this week’s brief but powerful podcast, I want to share with you two very powerful passages of promise here. Listen carefully. Consider what God is saying to you about your fear of losing something precious when God removes the beast from your life. (Note: both of these texts are probably familiar to you. Do not let that familiarity breed contempt. Concentrate. Focus your attention on them all the way through. Ask God to show you how these truths apply to the death of the beast of temptation in your life.
(Matthew 6:25-34 additions mine) “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on (or what will sexually satisfy you). Is not life more than food (more than lust and porn), and the body more than clothing (and more than a sexual release)? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing (or about your sexual gratification)? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? (Will He not make sure all your needs are met?) Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ (or ‘How will I get my sexual gratification?’) For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
(Psalm 23:1-6) “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
I’d like to 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 Purity Coach shows men and women how to have a continuous relationship with Jesus that is real and personal. To that end we need 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 join us as we impact our world by equipping and training men and women how-to live-in purity, godliness, and integrity. 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!
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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.