If we are going to glorify God in our everyday living, we must first glorify Him in our every moment thinking. Why? Because what you think will become what you do. We are to put on godly behavior, but the only way that is going to be consistently characteristic of our life is if we radically change our King Me thinking to God-honoring thinking.
Learn more about the ministry of The Purity Coach at http://www.thepuritycoach.com
If we are going to glorify God in our everyday living, we must first glorify Him in our every moment thinking. Why? Because what you think will become what you do. We are to put on godly behavior, but the only way that is going to be consistently characteristic of our life is if we radically change our King Me thinking to God-honoring thinking.
Learn more about the ministry of The Purity Coach at http://www.thepuritycoach.com
Your mind plays an integral role in living a life that glorifies God. Scripture commands us to “clothe (ourselves) with the Lord Jesus Christ, and to not think about how to gratify the desires of the (flesh).” (Romans 13:14) If we are going to glorify God in our everyday living, we must first glorify Him in our every moment thinking. Why? Because what you think will become what you do. We are to put on godly behavior, but the only way that is going to be consistently characteristic of our life is if we radically change our King Me thinking to God-honoring thinking.
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 #169 . In this episode we continue our mini-series on Glorifying God as we discover how our thinking impacts our doing. This week’s Episode is simply entitled “Walk the Talk.”
As long as you’re alive, as long as you’re sucking in air and blood is coursing through your veins, you will battle daily with the sinful desires and longings of your King-Me oriented flesh. There’s just no way to get around it (just read Romans 7:15-25). I have some great news for you though. You see, although you will always struggle against the sinful desires of the flesh, you do not have to be defeated by them (1 Corinthians 10:13). God promises that when you choose daily to “walk by the Spirit ... you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16). Did you catch that? Let me repeat: God promises that when you choose daily to “walk by the Spirit ... you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
How exactly does a Christian walk (or some translations say “live”) by the Spirit? First, let’s make sure we understand what “walking (living) by the Spirit” means. The word “walk” (or “live”) refers to regulating or conducting your life according to a specific purpose and guide. It is a term that refers to taking charge of your life in such a way that you are making constant adjustments and decisions throughout the day to make sure you’re conducting your life according to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
How does the Holy Spirit lead you? How do you know what the Spirit wants you to do? The answer is actually quite simple. He uses God’s truth found in God’s Word to guide you. Jesus promised that “when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (John 16:13)
As you read God’s Word, studying it, meditating on it, and memorizing it, the Holy Spirit will then bring to your remembrance what God says in Scripture you should do every time you face a choice. Just as God promised the Children of Israel in Isaiah 30:21, so He promises you and me. “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’.” For us today, the Holy Spirit is that voice, guiding us through the promises, precepts, and principles of God’s Word.
The Apostle Paul wrote this phrase, “walk (live) by the Spirit” in the present tense, active voice, and imperative mood. Sound familiar? Present tense refers to a continuous, ongoing, regular action that is always happening in real time. It is something that needs to be done every moment of every day. By using the present tense, Paul is telling us that every moment of every day we need to continuously regulate our life, conducting ourselves according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. As the Spirit reveals God’s truth to you, as He shows you from Scripture things you need to either do and/or stop doing you immediately decide to yield your life to Him choosing to put that truth into action in your life right here and right now. This is what it means to walk by the Spirit in the present tense.
The active voice means that this is something that you have to do. No one else can do it for you, nor can you do it for them. This is personal. If you don’t choose daily to walk in the Spirit, it won’t get done. Living every moment of every day under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit is something only you can choose to do. Only you can hear the promptings of the Holy Spirit as He teaches you from God’s truth. Only you can make the decision to yield completely to His will and apply God’s truth immediately to your life. So, how are you doing with that?
The imperative mood means this isn’t an option. It’s a command. We are commanded by God to choose daily to conduct our everyday living – our every moment thinking – according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. God commands it because He knows what’s best for you.
Note as well that in Galatians 5:16 we see that the verb “walk by” (or “live by”) indicates forward movement. In other words, you are in the process of going from where you are right now to where you ought to be. We often call this “spiritual growth.” Only as you daily choose to submit your life to God’s Lordship and leadership through the ministry of the Holy Spirit’s control will you move forward and grow spiritually. Step-by-step the Holy Spirit leads you from where you are to where God is wanting you to be. This is precisely why Paul says that when you choose to live by the Spirit, God guarantees you will not give in to and thus gratify the sinful desires of the flesh.
The fact is, you cannot live the Christian life by your own strength and resources any more than you could save for yourself for eternity (Galatians 3:1-3). The victorious Christian life is a life lived under the direction of, and through the power of, the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is not some force or power for you to use. He is a Person of the Godhead to whom you are to choose to yield and let Him use you. Holy living doesn’t come from the things you do for God, but from what He does through you as you daily live by the Spirit.
Never forget the integral role your mind plays in living a life that glorifies God. Paul commands you to “clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and to not think about how to gratify the desires of the (flesh).” (Romans 13:14) As I have said repeatedly through this podcast series, if you are going to glorify God in your everyday living you must first glorify Him in your every moment thinking. What you think becomes what you do. You are to put on godly behavior, but the only way that is going to be consistently characteristic of your life is if you radically change your King Me thinking to God-honoring thinking.
We are to no longer think about how to gratify the desires of your flesh. Why? What you think becomes what you do. Rather, focus your thoughts on how to glorify God. Choose to daily walk by the Spirit. Choose to regulate your life every moment of every day according to God’s Word. This is done when you choose to “submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) In doing that, you are saying “no” to and thus rejecting the constant cravings of King Me.
In Romans 12:1 Paul writes, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” He isn’t saying here, “Wow. It would be great if you could figure out a way to offer your body daily to God. You really ought to think about doing that sometime.” No, he says, “I urge you.” In other words, “I am calling you to my side to lovingly admonish you, to beseech you, to exhort you (this is of utmost importance), to choose right here and right now to offer your body every moment of every day to God as a living sacrifice.”
Paul is speaking with urgency because of an understanding of God’s mercy. “I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy,” The word Paul uses here for “Mercy” refers to compassion and pity. It has been said that God’s grace is Him giving us what we don’t deserve, whereas His mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve. Think about that. “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5) Peter said, “In (God’s) great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3) Truth be told, we deserve death, not life (Romans 3:23). Yet God, in His great compassion and pity (mercy) has declared that anyone who believes on His Son will not receive the death they deserve but will have eternal life (see 1 Timothy 1:16).
Let me take just a moment here and review with you some of the truth’s in Scripture regarding God’s never-ending mercy. God’s mercy is great (2 Samuel 24:14; 1 Chronicles 21:13). He shows us His great mercy because of the great love He has for us (Nehemiah 13:22; Psalm 25:6; Ephesians 2:4). It is because of God’s mercy that He does not abandon us (Nehemiah 9:32). God’s mercy enables us to come boldly into His divine and holy presence without fear (Psalm 5:7; Hebrews 4:16). God has promised His mercy to those who reject sinful thinking, turn to Him and confess and renounce their sin (Proverbs 28:13; Isaiah 55:7). In fact, God truly delights in showing you His marvelous mercy (Micah 7:18).
So, (as Paul writes in Romans 12:1) “in view of God’s mercy”, because of the fact that God has not given you what you deserve, Paul urges you to offer your body to God. His call is for every believer to dedicate every aspect of themselves and their life to God without reservation.
This exhortation is given only to the born-again believer. Paul calls us “brothers.” You see, “the man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14) Only the born-again believer can present their body as a living sacrifice to God, because only the Christian can come before God with such an offering. The unsaved have not yet recognized their need, and accepted God’s gift of salvation. They are not presentable before God; therefore, they cannot serve Him or worship Him in any way that would be acceptable.
Focus for a moment on the fact that we are to “offer” our body to God. The word “offer” is a technical term that was used to describe the way an Old Testament priest placed an offering upon the altar with the intention of surrendering or yielding that life up to God. Anytime something was placed on an altar, it was for the purpose of sacrifice – willingly putting it to death, giving ownership up.
As a Christian, “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5) As a child of God you are considered by Him to be a “priest.” As such, you are to daily offer your body to the Lord for His use. This is what Paul calls our priestly act of worship. We are called by God to make our body available for Him to use in any way He so desires.
OK. Why present our bodies as a sacrifice to God? Think about it this way: imagine you are driving down the road in a vehicle that desperately needs a wheel alignment. Because it’s out of alignment, every time you let go of the steering wheel, the car automatically veers off to the left. As a result, you have to constantly fight with the wheel just to keep the car from taking you into oncoming traffic or plunging you off a cliff. The car doesn’t care what happens to you. All it knows is it always wants to go left.
This is much the same with your body. When you look in the mirror, what do you see? A reflection of you? No. You see a reflection of your body. Your body is the “car” that God has given you to navigate through life with. Because of the curse of sin, your “car” (flesh) is permanently out of alignment. As such, it doesn’t care what happens to you, to your career, to your family or your marriage. All it knows is it wants to enjoy pleasure at any cost. To prevent that from happening, you have to daily, moment-by-moment grab hold of the “wheel” and fight with it to keep it going in the correct direction. This requires placing your body upon the spiritual altar, yielding it completely to God’s will.
Your body is much more than just the physical shell you see in the mirror every morning. It is also the place where your sinful humanness resides. In fact, your humanness is an integral part of your body. If you choose to allow it, your body can, and will, frustrate the desires of your new nature to please God. Your body is still the beachhead of sin. It is permanently out of alignment; and if left to its own, it will steer you wrong every time. As long as you live your new nature will reside in a sinful body of flesh and humanness that can readily give in to sinful thoughts and longings. This is why you are to continually present your body to God as a living sacrifice.
Scripture exhorts you to “not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” (Romans 6:12) Paul uses the word “not” here as an absolute negation. In no way or at any time is this to ever happen. Sin must never be allowed to reign in your body. The words “let reign” refer to exercising kingly power over someone. If you do not submit control of your body to God, sin will walk all over you. Part of Satan’s deception is that when King Me is on the throne, you are in charge. Nothing could be farther from the truth. If you choose to allow sin to rule, you will obey it instead of God.
Think for a moment about the word “obey” as it appears in Romans 6:12. To obey is to listen to the command of another and do what you have been told. When you choose to obey your sinful, fleshly desires, you are choosing to deny God’s truth and ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit. These sinful “desires” Paul refers to are the cravings and longings for that which is forbidden – the things you, as a redeemed child of God should not have or do. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24)
“Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey – whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness.” (Romans 6:16)
Each and every day we make choices. Some big, some small, but they are always a choice. Every choice you make reveals whom you are worshiping. Whom you choose to worship determines what you will choose to think about. What you choose to think about determines what you choose to do. What you choose to do determines the consequences that will result from that choice, that thought, that moment of worship. So, let me ask you: Whom are you choosing to obey and what are the consequences of that choice? Do you let sin reign in your body so that you obey its desires, or do you say no to ungodliness, and choose to live by the Spirit in obedience to God?
The bottom line is that “those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us.” (1 John 3:24) Your love for God is demonstrated when you choose to “obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3).
OK. Let’s hit the pause button until next week’s episode as we continue our miniseries on How to Glorify God. In the meantime, if you would like to learn more about today’s study, or if you’re interested in learning more about The Pure Man Ministry (what we do to help men across the globe find freedom and victory over 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
One of those resources I have been highlighting for you here is my book entitled “Extreme Mind Makeover: How to transform sinful thoughts and habits into patterns of life pleasing to God.” This book takes you on a journey through the Bible to examine what God has to say about how your thoughts, words, and actions influence and impact your heart. In fact – much of what you heard in today’s episode was taken directly from Chapter 7 of this book “Extreme Mind Makeover.” So go to our website, ThePurityCoach.com, and check out our resources page, or go directly to Amazon.com and purchase your copy of “Extreme Mind Makeover” today.
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, 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.