The Point of Purity Podcast

Awestruck Perspective

April 20, 2023 Steve Etner Season 3 Episode 123
The Point of Purity Podcast
Awestruck Perspective
Show Notes Transcript

Do you stand daily in awe of God? Are your thoughts continuously drawn to Him throughout your day? Is your heart inexplicably pulled toward Him all day long? Are you standing, not just in awe of the Lord, Jehovah, your light, your salvation, your stronghold; but in utter and total confidence in Him and His perfect love for you? What is your perspective of the Christian life?

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Do you stand daily in awe of God? Are your thoughts continuously drawn to Him throughout your day? Is your heart inexplicably pulled toward Him all day long? Are you standing, not just in awe of the Lord, Jehovah, your light, your salvation, your stronghold; but in utter and total confidence in Him and His perfect love for you? What is your perspective of the Christian life?

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 #123 entitled “Awestruck Perspective.”

 

A few years ago, a man inspired by God wrote a beautiful song about standing in awe of his Heavenly Father. He wrote, “You are beautiful beyond description, too marvelous for words. Too wonderful for comprehension, like nothing ever seen or heard. Who can grasp your infinite wisdom? Who can fathom the depth of your love? You are beautiful beyond description. Majesty enthroned above. And I stand, I stand in awe of You. I stand, I stand in awe of You. Holy God, to whom all praise is due I stand in awe of you.” (Music and words by Mark Altrogge. © 1986 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)).

Can you say that? I asked in the intro to today’s episode, “Do you stand daily in awe of God? Are your thoughts drawn to Him? Is your heart inexplicably pulled toward Him? Are you standing, not just in awe of the Lord, Jehovah, your light, your salvation, your stronghold; but in utter and total confidence in Him and His perfect love for you?” What say you?

Let’s take a moment here to consider once again Psalm 27:1, where David writes “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” I want to focus on the use of the word “fear” here. You see, the word David uses for “fear” here isn’t referring to terror, it’s not about cowering in the corner afraid of God. No! It refers to bowing in awe of someone. That person is to be highly revered, deeply respected, and greatly honored.

So, consider what David is saying here. The LORD, Jehovah, the God who deeply cares about me IS my light. He is the One I am to follow. He IS my salvation. He is the One – the only One that I am to revere, respect, honor, and stand in awe of. No one else and nothing else is worthy of my worship!

Only God truly knows your genuine needs. Only God will perfectly meet those needs–every need, every time. As you cast all of your cares on Him (see 1 Peter 5:7), He “will supply (meet, take care of) every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) 

Now I have a question for you. Based upon Philippians 4:19, how many of your needs will He meet? How many of your needs will He supply? How many of your needs will He take care of? All! And don’t forget that “All” means all and that’s all “all” means! Truly “the Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1)

“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

The answer to your “fears” is to choose daily to stand in awe of the right person; to revere, respect, and honor the true King. Psalm 37:4 gives this awesome promise: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” 

Let me quote Psalm 37:4 to you again. Listen carefully, attentively, intentionally. Then I want to unpack a powerful truth. “Delight yourself in the Lord (in Jehovah, in the God who cares for you), and he (Jehovah, the Almighty God who cares for you) will give you the desires of your heart.”

Here’s what I want to unpack for you today. I want you to notice what this verse is NOT saying. It is not promising that if you delight in Jehovah then God will give you whatever your heart desires. Nope. And for that we should be eternally grateful. Remember: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick.” (Jeremiah 17:9) And Jesus tells us in Matthew 15:19 that “out of the heart come evil thoughts, adultery, and sexual immorality.” No, your heart cannot be trusted to desire good and godly things consistently and continuously.

So, Psalm 37:4 is not promising that the one who delights in the Lord will get whatever their heart wants. It IS, however, a wonderful promise that as you daily focus your entire being around worship of the Almighty, all-powerful, most holy, sovereign Creator of the universe – He, the God who cares for you – He will place within your heart the right desires. As Jesus put it in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  

It is my prayer, it is my desire, it is my passion to help you find everything you need within a healthy, growing, God-glorifying relationship with our Creator, Savior, and Heavenly Father. You see, in that kind of a relationship all thirst is thoroughly quenched, all desires are not just properly expressed they are purely satisfied. In John 6:35 Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty.” (NASB)

“The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” (Isaiah 58:11 NIV’84)

A primary means to quenching your spiritual thirst is by daily reading and studying Scripture. Yet too often we approach Bible study as we would a buffet table. We pick and choose which passages of Scripture we want to read. We sample it. We “sip” it. We “taste” it. If we like it, we’ll linger. If we don’t, we move on.

We must learn how to develop a new appreciation for God’s Word. We should be able to cry out, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97) We need to “love (God’s) commandments above gold, above fine gold (even above your sinful sexual desires).” (Psalm 119:127 additions mine) We should be able to shout out “the law of (God’s) mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.” (Psalm 119:72 addition mine). In other words, God’s Word is better to me than all the lustful thoughts and fantasies I could ever think or dream. God’s Word is better to me than all the pornographic images in the world, and it’s far better than any pop or rush masturbation could ever give! Can you say that – and mean it?

If you want genuine and lasting victory over sexual impurity, open your Bible daily! “Read in it all the days of (your) life ... learn to fear the Lord (your) God by keeping all the words of (God’s) law and these statutes, and (do) them.” (Deuteronomy 17:19 additions mine). Don’t let “this Book of the Law ... depart from your mouth, but ... meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous.” (Joshua 1:8) Then you will know victory over lust, porn, and masturbation. This is why it is so critical that you daily make the time to dig into God’s Word.

 

As I close this episode, I just want you to know how deeply honored I am that you have chosen to share your time with me today and listen to this episode in its entirety. Would you prayerfully and seriously consider joining us in being a vital part of this ministry. We are praying for and looking for Purity Coach Partners who will commit to supporting this ministry in two major areas. 

First and foremost, in prayer. I’m talking about more than just “Dear God, please bless Steve and The Pure Man Ministry.” As important as that is, we need partners in this ministry who are praying for us daily. Praying for wisdom as we counsel, praying for protection as the enemy tries almost daily to stop us in our tracks and shut us down. Praying for the men that are entrenched and enslaved in this sin – praying for their freedom, praying for victory, praying for clarity as they study the Scripture, praying for their personal spiritual growth, and praying for their families – their wives, their children, their churches. We NEED faithful prayer partners who will commit to praying for this ministry on a regular basis. Would you consider becoming a Purity Prayer Partner?

But we also need partners who choose to come alongside of us and support this ministry financially. We are a donor-supported, faith-based, not-for-profit ministry. Everything we do is dependent upon God’s people giving to this ministry financially. So, if this episode, if the description of this ministry speaks to you – if you share our burden to reach men and women across the globe with the message of freedom, victory, hope, healing, and restoration through the cleansing power of the Word of God as led by the Spirit of God – would you please join our team of Point of Purity Partners? We are looking for monthly supporters whom God is calling to support us with gifts of 25, 50, $100 per month or even more.

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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.