Wanted: Times of Refreshing

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord!” (Acts 3:19). In this episode we discover that repentance involves a whole lot more than just saying “I’m sorry.” To repent requires a determined and intentional change of direction. It demands a conscious choice to turn away from one thing and toward another.
 
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Transcript

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord!” (Acts 3:19 NIV’84). Repentance involves a whole lot more than just saying “I’m sorry.” To repent requires a determined and intentional change of direction. It demands a conscious choice to turn away from one thing and toward another. 

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, Certified Professional Mentor TM and Purity Coach for The Pure Man Ministry and this is Episode #193 entitled “Wanted: Times of Refreshing.”

Psalm 34:14 commands us to “Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” And Psalm 37:27 says, “Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever.” The Apostle John writes, “Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.” (3 John 11) And Paul tells us to “Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.” (Romans 12:9)

Before you can experience forgiveness and healing, before you can live in freedom and victory over your sinful habits, you must repent and turn away from your selfish “King Me” oriented life and turn toward God. You must choose daily to allow Him to be the one and only Lord and leader over everything.

Let’s take a few moments to talk about the motivation of your heart. Your motivation for doing something is the reason, or reasons, you have behind a particular choice you make or action you take. Almost everything we do has a motivation behind it. Even your sinful choices have a motivation behind them. You have been giving in to your sinful habits for a reason.

I wish we could sit down together right now, person-to-person, face-to-face, and have a heart-to-heart chat, because I have three very important questions to ask you. Even though it is not possible for us to be in physical proximity to each other at this moment in time, it is still vital that you answer these three questions honestly—straight from your heart.

Question #1: Do you want to experience real victory in your life over your sinful habits? 

This question may seem to be so fundamentally basic that you wonder why it even needs to be asked. It’s almost like asking whether ducks quack and if water is wet. And yet, I ask again: Do you—with all your heart—want to live a life that is free from the domain of King Me and be totally sold out for God? Now, before you offhandedly answer, “Well, of course I do,” I encourage you to second-guess yourself (maybe even third and fourth guess, as well). Do you truly want to experience real, lasting freedom from your sinful habits?   

Okay, I am going to assume you answered yes, or this is going to be a very short read. However, simply wanting something does not make it happen. Let me explain. I want to lose fifteen pounds. However, unless I actually do something about it – like change my daily routine to include a specific diet and exercise program, losing that weight is not going to happen, no matter how much I may think I want it. If my heart isn’t in it, being a thinner me simply will not happen.

Question #2: What do you want to be victorious over? 

Again, you may wonder at the simplicity of this question, but I want you to be specific. Precisely what do you want victory over? What needs to change in your life? I know this may be a big step for you, a hard and intimidating step. It is not easy to expose these things, especially if you have kept them secret for so long. However, as we will see later, sin loves darkness (John 3:19). Your habits want to stay hidden in the shadows where they can continue to do the most damage. As you threaten to reveal them, you can expect them to fight back. One step in the path to genuine victory and pure satisfaction is to expose our sin to the light.

As long as your struggles and issues remain vague and nameless, you will not know exactly what you are up against. When you do not know what you are fighting, you do not know how to combat it. You end up taking potshots in the dark, swinging aimlessly at nothing but air; hoping against all hope that maybe, just maybe, you might connect and strike a blow. This can be discouraging, not to mention exhausting, which is exactly what the enemy wants you to feel.

By keeping your sin nameless, by keeping it in the shadows, hidden in the dark recesses of your heart, you are giving it exactly what it wants: anonymity and autonomy. This is why I ask, “What exactly do you want to be victorious over?”

Question #3: Why do you want to be victorious? 

What are your real reasons for wanting to be free of your sinful habits? Your honest answer to this question will reveal much. You see, you are building all your efforts and hopes for victory upon the real motivation of your heart. Why do you want to be victorious?

I want you to think very carefully about the reasons you just gave in answer to question number three. Those reasons represent your core values, your heart’s motivations for change. Those reasons are the basis upon which you have been trying to construct some semblance of a victorious life. What is your heart revealing to you?

Again, let me emphasize the importance of honesty. It is not about being honest with me, not even with your pastor or accountability partner or even your spouse, although those are important. You need to be honest with yourself. To experience real change, you need to take a close, long, hard, introspective look. If you were candid and sincere in the reasons you gave, you are beginning to catch a glimpse of your heart. 

In John 8:36 Jesus says, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Imagine for just a moment what a genuine freedom from your sinful habits would feel like. Imagine what it could be like to be genuinely godly. Can you picture yourself standing up right here and right now, singing from the bottom of your heart to the top of your lungs, “My chains are gone; I’ve been set free”?

Listen carefully: You can be free! I don’t mean free for a while—I mean totally, permanently, F-R-E-E free! However, this kind of freedom does not come easily, and it is not going to happen overnight. It has taken time to create this habit, and it will take time and effort to gain victory over it.

If you are anything like me, the “time and effort” piece can be so discouraging. Wouldn’t it be great if the Wizard of the Word (God) just waved His magic wand, or snapped his fingers, or even wriggled his nose, and made your struggle just—poof—go away? Actually, no, it would not. I know, I know … I’m sounding like a nut case right now but hear me out. If God simply made the problem go away, how does that help you in the long run?

·      How do you learn to stand firm in your faith, resisting the devil (James 4:7) if God always keeps the enemy at bay?

·      How do you develop the spiritual strength to fight off the enemy if you never have to encounter a temptation?

·      How do you gain the knowledge and understanding of what the Christian life is all about if you never have to struggle?

·      How do you learn to trust God for His divine power to help you in your times of need if you never have a time of need?

This is not a free ride. It takes sacrifice.

This effort and work I am referring to is not what you might think. I am not talking about white knuckling your way through a temptation. Nor am I talking about barely holding on by the skin of your teeth. This is not a “keep doing this and stop doing that, and you will be free” kind of thing. Sure, there are some things you must choose to do and other things you must choose to stop; but that is not the work I am referring to.

I assure you that you can experience lasting freedom from your battle with temptation, but you must daily choose to faithfully apply your life to the biblical principles taught in Scripture. Choosing to invest your time in the daily study and memorization of God’s Word will take focus, energy, time, discipline, and hard work. Yes, you read that right: daily.

This is not about squeezing one more thing into your already hectic schedule. I’m not talking about doing a better job at trying to fit God into your busy life. God will not be “fit” into anything. God does not want to be a bigger part of your life; He wants to be your life.

If you look at this podcast as a way to learn what to do and what not to do, you’ll be sadly disappointed. As I said before, this is not a checklist kind of thing. What you need to be working on is a change in your lifestyle. “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2 NLT) To change your behavior, you need to change the core of your heart. You need to transform the way you think—and only God’s Word will do that.

You see, “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.” (Proverbs 30:5) “And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times. (Psalm 12:6) “God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.” (2 Samuel 22:31)

Think about what these verses are telling us. God’s Word is flawless—there are no errors in it. That is what God’s Word is. God’s Word is true—there are no lies in it. That is what God’s Word is. God’s Word is tested—it has not failed in any way. That is what God’s Word is. And God’s Word is pure—there is not even a hint of sin in it. That is what God’s Word is.

In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we see that God’s Word is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness so you can be thoroughly furnished with everything you need, not just to fight the temptation, but to always come away from every battle totally victorious. Do you truly believe that? Is your life currently backing up your answer? 

King Me does not have to dominate and dictate your life. You do not have to give in to your sinful fleshly desires. With God’s strength, your temptations will not destroy you; they don’t have to take you down. You do not have to live a defeated life. That is God’s promise in God’s Word—a promise that is flawless, true, tested, and pure.

A major key to defeating the King Me oriented desires to just give up and give in to sinful temptation, and a critical component to living in victory, is choosing deliberately, daily to be in God’s Word. Choosing to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16 ESV) – and then willfully and willingly choosing to walk in obedience to what God tells you to do.

If you want to know how to be free from the constant, nagging temptation to give in to your sinful habits, you need God’s wisdom that comes from God’s Word. To be pure and stay pure you must be in God’s Word daily. “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Proverbs 2:6 ESV).

God says, “And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them, I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.” (Isaiah 42:16)

Notice that God says, “I will lead the blind down a new path.” Think about your life to date, and let me ask you this: In what ways has King Me “blinded” you? This is an important discussion to have with your accountability partner(s), your spouse, your best friend, or even your pastor. They may see things you do not or cannot. Let them speak truth into your heart and be willing to truly listen.

The promise of relief from your frustration, stress, boredom, loneliness, or sadness; the anticipation and sense that King Me can provide something better, is lying to you. It is blinding you. It is deceiving you. Think about it. When has it ever actually kept its promise? It always overpromises and always under-delivers.

However, God has promised you in His Word that He will lead you down a new path. It is a perfect path of godliness, a path filled with exquisite joy and pleasure that you can only experience through a vibrant, growing relationship with Him. David declares of God in Psalm 16:11 “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” (NLT)

According to Isaiah 42:16, not only will God lead you down a new path, but He will guide you along an unfamiliar way. The path of genuine, lasting Christ-magnifying, God-honoring godliness may be currently unfamiliar to you. Living a life that never gives in to the whims and wishes and devious desires of King Me is something you may have dreamed about and hoped for but are clueless how accomplish, let alone maintain.

Right now, because you have been blinded by your sinful desires, you cannot see that path of godliness. You cannot see how God’s way could possibly be better than what King Me has been promising (lying to) you. If you would just choose to trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own ability to understand; if in all your ways you would choose to acknowledge Him, acknowledge the fact that His way is the perfect way, He will lead you to something far, far better than what you are attempting to experience on your own—God guarantees it. 

We are instructed to “Trust in the Lord with all [our] heart; do not depend on [our] own understanding. Seek his will in all [we] do, and he will show [us] which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

No matter what sin issues you may be battling with, no matter where you may be in your walk with God, do not give up hope, do not quit; do not allow the enemy to defeat you. God has a perfect plan for your life. God is at work even now, molding you into the Christ-follower He wants you to be. Stop fighting Him, stop trying to take over the process, and trust Him with everything. Let Him show you how to be genuinely godly. 

Let’s take a moment here and review what we’ve learned so far. We began this series with the profound invitation from God in Isaiah 55: "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters." This invitation challenges us to recognize our own spiritual thirst and urges us to seek the only source that can truly quench it—God Himself. 

We’ve explored the idea of genuine thirst—how it dominates our thoughts and actions until it is satisfied. But, like the Israelites in the wilderness, we often turn to the wrong sources to quench our thirst. Instead of seeking God, the living water, we dig our own cracked cisterns, only to be left unsatisfied. 

We saw how God responded to the Israelites' complaints with miraculous provision—water from the rock. This teaches us that God knows our needs and is always ready to provide, often in ways we cannot even imagine. It's a reminder that no matter how dire our situation may seem, God is sufficient and will meet all our needs. 

Jesus Christ declared Himself to be the true source of satisfaction: "whoever believes in Me shall never thirst" (John 6:35b ESV). He offers a satisfaction that the world, the flesh, and the devil combined cannot provide. When we turn to Him, we find the abundant life we so desperately need—a life that quenches the deepest thirsts of our soul. 

We also discussed the necessity of repentance. True repentance is a turning away from our old ways and turning toward God. It's not about following a set of rules but about a heart fully transformed by the love and grace of God. 

Finally, living a godly life is not about keeping a checklist; it’s about letting the Word of God transform you. Colossians 3:16 tells us, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." This transformation requires daily commitment, but it's a commitment to a relationship, not to rules. 

So, as we close out this week’s episode, I invite you to examine your heart with these three questions:

1. Do you recognize your spiritual thirst?
2. Are you looking to the right source for satisfaction?
3. Are you ready to turn from your "King Me" desires and fully surrender to God?

If your answer is yes, then take a moment now to pray. Offer your thirst to God, commit to seeking Him first, and trust that He will provide not only your needs but also the genuine satisfaction your soul craves.

OK. Let’s hit the pause button until next week’s episode – where we will continue our new series entitled “Overcoming Self Worship: A Journey to Godly Living.”

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.

And if you haven’t subscribed to this podcast yet, 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 MentorTM 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.