Do you desire to please God with your life? Do you also struggle with sinful thoughts and sinful habits? There’s a conflict going on there, right? On the one hand there’s a desire to please God. Yet on the other there’s a strong desire to please self.
In Gal. 5:17 Paul reminds us that the flesh is in conflict with the spirit – and the spirit is in conflict with the flesh. They are opposed to each other making it difficult to do what is right. In Romans 7 Paul talks about how the things he wants to do, he doesn’t; and the things he doesn’t want to do he keeps on doing. Can you relate?
Welcome to the Point of Purity Podcast! I’m your host Steve Etner – author, National Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor TM and Purity Coach for The Pure Man Ministry and this is Episode #154. In this week’s episode we continue our study using my book entitled “Are You a Super Man? Becoming God’s Man of Steel.” This week’s episode: “BE a Super Man!”
Learn more about the ministry of The Purity Coach at http://www.thepuritycoach.com
Do you desire to please God with your life? Do you also struggle with sinful thoughts and sinful habits? There’s a conflict going on there, right? On the one hand there’s a desire to please God. Yet on the other there’s a strong desire to please self.
In Gal. 5:17 Paul reminds us that the flesh is in conflict with the spirit – and the spirit is in conflict with the flesh. They are opposed to each other making it difficult to do what is right. In Romans 7 Paul talks about how the things he wants to do, he doesn’t; and the things he doesn’t want to do he keeps on doing. Can you relate?
Welcome to the Point of Purity Podcast! I’m your host Steve Etner – author, National Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor TM and Purity Coach for The Pure Man Ministry and this is Episode #154. In this week’s episode we continue our study using my book entitled “Are You a Super Man? Becoming God’s Man of Steel.” This week’s episode: “BE a Super Man!”
Learn more about the ministry of The Purity Coach at http://www.thepuritycoach.com
Do you desire to please God with your life? Do you also struggle with sinful thoughts and sinful habits? There’s a conflict going on there, right? On the one hand there’s a desire to please God. Yet on the other there’s a strong desire to please self.
In Gal. 5:17 Paul reminds us that the flesh is in conflict with the spirit – and the spirit is in conflict with the flesh. They are opposed to each other making it difficult to do what is right. In Romans 7 Paul talks about how the things he wants to do, he doesn’t; and the things he doesn’t want to do he keeps on doing. Can you relate?
Welcome to the Point of Purity Podcast! I’m your host Steve Etner – author, National Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor TM and Purity Coach for The Pure Man Ministry and this is Episode #154. In this week’s episode we continue our study using my book entitled “Are You a Super Man? Becoming God’s Man of Steel.” This week’s episode: “BE a Super Man!”
Throughout this study, we’ve talked about being a super hero – a Super Man of God. In my book “Are You a Super Man? Becoming God’s Man of Steel” I point out four primary points regarding the comic book character Superman:
1. Superman is an alien from another planet—this world is not his home. Fortunately, he has a Fortress of Solitude that enables him to check in with his father and talk with him about how to live as an alien among a people who don’t understand him.
2. Superman has amazing powers, all because of his proximity to Earth’s yellow sun. Without the sun, he has no ability to fight off the enemies who want to take him down.
3. Superman is vulnerable to Kryptonite—chunks of his past. Kryptonite is the only thing that can weaken him. As long as he stays away from his Kryptonite, all is golden.
4. Superman is always Superman. To hide his real identity and fit in with the world around him, he dons the costume of mild-mannered Clark Kent, reporter for the Daily Planet.
From there the book “Are You a Super Man? ”walks us through comparing those four aspects of Superman with the four truths about us as Super Men of God:
1. As a child of God, you are an alien. This world is not your home. Your citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20). You have been given a “fortress of solitude” (prayer and God’s word) that enables you to spend time with your Heavenly Father and talk with him about how to live as an alien amongst a people who don’t understand you.
2. As a Super Man of God, you have amazing powers (2 Pet. 1:3)—you can say “No!” to the enemy, standing firm in your faith, resisting him and watch him flee from you (Jas. 4:7). The only way you can maintain that power is to stay close to the Son of God, daily maintaining a growing relationship with Christ.
3. You have a “Kryptonite” that can spiritually weaken you, making you vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. It’s your past—past temptations, past sins, a past life that calls out to you, crying for attention. You must stay away from it at all costs.
4. As a born-again-believer, you are always Teknon Theos (a son of God). The only way you can fit in with the world around you is to put on a “costume” and pretend to be like them.
We have also learned that Satan, the archenemy of your soul is wanting to destroy you. Never lose sight of the fact that we are at war, my friend. We are daily engaged in spiritual warfare, and at times it can be exhausting, right? How is the battle going for you? Are you discouraged? Do you feel defeated? If you would like to talk with someone about this, please feel free to reach out to me. My contact info is on my website: ThePurityCoach.com.
It’s important that you and I never forget that our battle isn’t against other men. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that our battle is against the evil of hell itself. Here’s a fact: Satan already has one up on you. He has accumulated centuries of experience under his belt. He started this whole battle with Eve. Just as he did with her, so he is trying to lead your thoughts away from being fully focused on Christ (2 Cor. 11:3).
At times this spiritual war can feel overwhelming, I know. That’s when I like to meditate upon this promise from God found in Deuteronomy 20:1: “When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
Consider this: God has already delivered you out of the very pit of hell itself. He has adopted you as His child! AND he has given you an amazing inheritance that no one can take away from you (Tit. 3:7). Think about that. Do you really believe God’s going to let you flounder and be massacred by the enemy?
I understand that this war can feel defeating at times. It’s then that you need to remember Romans 8:38-39: “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 (including your archenemies), will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
That’s powerful! As Teknon Theos, as a Super Man of God, you can fight and win! You can do it through Christ because He will give you all the strength you need (Phil. 4:13, 19). Once again, I’d like to take a moment to read to you a short story that I wrote in Chapter 10 of my book “Are You a Super Man? Becoming God’s Man of Steel.” And I quote:
“Big G was intimidating. No, not intimidating ... dominating. He was, without question, the bully of the century, and everyone in high school knew it. His body had developed early in life and so he stood taller than the tallest basketball player on their team and weighed more than the heaviest wrestler they had. He was big, solid, and had a cruel streak that was meaner than a wolverine and Tasmanian devil combined.
“The day Big G met his match was a hot Saturday afternoon in August. It hadn’t rained in over a month. The baseball field was a dust bowl. Every step kicked up a cloud of dirt that caked the inside of your nostrils and dried the back of your throat. Big G and his band of misfit followers had just stormed out on to the field, disrupting the game that was in progress.
“C’mon, G!” the kids began to shout. “Off the field! We’re trying to play a game here!”
“Yeah?” Big G taunted them, “Who’s gonna make me?” No one moved. “That’s what I thought. You’re nuttin’ but a bunch of cowards. Make ya’ a deal. Send one person over here to fight me. If he wins, we leave. But if I win, you bunch-o-losers have to leave and never come back!”
“Still, no one moved. Not even the wind. Sweat was flowing and hearts were pounding. It appeared, once again, that Big G was gonna win. Suddenly a scrawny little freshman pushed his way through the crowd and started walking across the field.
“A murmur began to grow in the crowd. “Who is that little kid, and what on earth does he think he’s doing? Doesn’t he know that’s Big G? Big G’s gonna pulverize him. Somebody should stop him!” But nobody did. They all stood in disbelief as the skinny, short, snot-nosed nobody marched right up to the pitcher’s mound.
“Stopping about 10 feet away from Big G, this scrawny little kid puckered up his face and shouted: “You heard us, Big G. Get off the field. We’re not going to let you ruin our game. Now move, or else!”
“Big G just stared at the kid in disbelief. Finally, he began to laugh. It wasn’t a funny, ha-ha kind of laugh. It was a menacing, maniacal, rattle-your-bones-in-fear kind of laugh. Everyone knew what that laugh meant. That scraggly little kid standing all alone on the pitcher’s mound was dead meat.
“Suddenly the freshman reached down, picked up a rock and pitched it right at Big G. It wasn’t a lob, it wasn’t a toss; it was a pitch—better, faster and stronger than Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens combined. You could hear it sing as it zipped through the air, and before Big G could react the stone landed smack dab in the middle of his forehead, knocking him flat on the ground.
“The kids came pouring out of the dugout, rushing to the pitcher’s mound and their unlikely hero. “Who is this kid?” everyone asked, “and how on earth did he do that?”
“My name is David,” came the reply. “And I just did what my father taught me to do. I trusted in the fact that as long as I did what he taught me, I would be perfectly fine!” End of quote
Do you recognize what Bible story this was patterned after? If you guessed David and Goliath, you’d be correct. You see, the reason David could defeat Goliathis simply because David, a scrawny little shepherd boy, knew that he was Teknon Theos – a son of God. And as a Super Man of God, as a young man who intentionally maintained a close relationship with the SON, as a guy who trusted in all that his Heavenly Father had taught him to do, David was able to step onto the battlefield with a stone and a sling and, in the name of God, defeat the big bully.
Guys, I challenge you – no, I dare you – strike that, I triple-dog dare you to stand up and BE the Super Man that God has called and equipped you to be. “Today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory” (Deuteronomy 20:3-4).
All through Scripture we see that God has given victory where defeat and destruction seemed inevitable. God hasn’t changed. According to Hebrews 13:8, God will never change. That means that Elohim – the Almighty, All powerful, Sovereign, Most Holy Creator of the Universe stands ready, right here and now, to give you victory over the giant in your life (2 Peter 1:3). So take off that costume you’re wearing and let the world see you for who you really are!
OK. Let’s hit the pause button until next week’s episode as we continue our journey through my book “Are You a Super Man? Becoming God’s Man of Steel.” If you would like to learn more about today’s study, or if you’re interested in learning more about The Pure Man 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.
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So, until next time this is Author, Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor TM 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.