It's a Process

“It would be so much easier if all of my selfish, sinful wants and desires were instantly resolved and the battle with King Me were to just go away." Have you ever felt that way? Living a life that is entirely focused on God every moment of every day is a process that will take time. The purpose of this process isn’t the promotion - it's praise!
 
Learn more about the ministry of The Purity Coach at  http://www.thepuritycoach.com

Transcript

For some of you the concept of living a consistently Christ-like, God-honoring life probably feels like a mountain too high to climb and a wall too thick to breach. I assure you that is not the case.

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 #194 entitled “It’s a Process”

As you consider your current state of spiritual growth, for some of you right now it may seem like you’re negotiating an overgrown “path” that is too difficult to see, too hard to understand, and a challenge too confusing to navigate; the more you walk down this path toward godliness, the easier it will be to travel. In fact, I can assure you that one day in the near future it will become a super-highway of godly living upon which you are walking with great joy.

I am sure you already know this, but living a life that is entirely focused on God every moment of every day is a process that will take time. I am also fairly certain you do not like it. Who would? You may be listening to this thinking, “It would be so much easier if all of my selfish, sinful wants and desires were instantly resolved and the battle with King Me were to just go away.”

My own personal experience with sinful temptations and habits, along with my years of coaching and mentoring others, assures me this is most definitely a process. It is a journey that will include many battles as well as countless victories. Sometimes there will be small skirmishes and other times outright war. You will experience great successes and the occasional disappointing defeat. This is inevitable. Don’t let that discourage you.

As I said, this is a process. The purpose of this process isn’t the promotion. It is not about you being free from the battle against your sinful habits. It is not about you restoring your marriage, saving your job, or repairing the emotional damage you have inflicted upon others. Nor is it about you stopping the onslaught of temptation. No. The purpose of the process is praise. It is about God receiving the honor and glory for giving you His power to say no to temptation and win the battle. It is about you living daily in a way that God is glorified through the victory He has given, is giving, and will continue to give you. It is “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.” (2 Peter 1:3a NLT)

At times this journey (often called “spiritual growth”) will feel difficult and even challenging. You will be confronted with surrendering things to God that will not want to be abandoned. There will be moments when you may be tempted to quit altogether. You may find yourself wanting to give up and give in once and for all to the overwhelming, relentless temptations that have hounded you for months, maybe even years. I know; I’ve been there.

Let me encourage you with these words from our heavenly Father. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10 ESV).

God is speaking to you right now my friend. Yes, this goal of godliness may seem like a monumental task, an obstacle too difficult to overcome. God is saying to you, “Don’t let that overwhelm you! Don’t be anxious about this.” God will not just give you the strength you need to work through this, He will help you along the way. He will not just help you; He will hold you up when you feel like you just cannot go any farther. You are not alone. Your Creator, your Savior, your heavenly Father, and best friend the almighty, all-powerful, most holy God, the creator of the universe, is on your side. In fact, He is right here with you even now as you read these words.

Psalm 46:7 encourages us with these words: “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress.” And Deuteronomy 20:1 says, “When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, who brought [the Israelites] up from the land of Egypt, is with you.”

God said to Joshua, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

God is encouraging you to “not grow weary of doing good, for in due season [you] will reap, if [you) do not give up” (Galatians 6:9 ESV). I am here to tell you this is not fiction or fancy; this is fact because it is gospel truth. You will reap a life of godliness; you will daily live in a way that glorifies God if you do not give up.

Yes, this is going to take determination and hard work on your part. The Wizard of the Word is not going to wave His magic wand and make your struggle against the sinful desires of the flesh just vanish into thin air. More than likely, He will not give you instantaneous victory. You are going to have to do your part in working at being and remaining continuously focused on God.

God’s promise in Galatians 6:9 is that you will reap, you will be successful, you will be godly if you do not give up. “But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded” (2 Chronicles 15:7 ESV).

Right now, you may find those promises hard to believe. Maybe you feel abandoned, isolated, and vulnerable. You may be listening to this podcast as a last-ditch effort. Possibly you are doubting anyone can truly help you because it feels like no one really understands. You are not alone in this battle. You must learn to draw near to God, raise your sword high, stand your ground, and firmly resist the enemy, with the Divine guarantee in Scripture that as you do the devil has to flee from you like a whipped pup (James 4:7).

Jesus said, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” (John 13:17)

God’s Word helps you discover what those “things” are that you’re supposed to be doing. His promise is that if you do the things He reveals to you from Scripture, you will be blessed; you will experience real happiness, lasting peace, genuine freedom, and life-long victory as you choose daily to walk in obedience to your Heavenly Father.

Luke’s gospel tells us that Jesus declared, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28) And in Matthew 7 Jesus said, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-25)

Every episode in this podcast (all 193 of them) and every upcoming episode has and will focus your attention on what God says in His Word. Every time you listen to one of our episodes, you will be exposed to the power of Scripture on this journey to victory and freedom in Christ. The key to lasting godliness in your life is not just hearing God’s word but daily choosing to do God’s word whether you feel like it or not. The blessing comes not in the knowing but in the doing.

We are to “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves….The one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” (James 1:22, 25)

When you choose to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only, when you choose to do what is right, not only will you be blessed and happy, but God promises you will have peace. Isaiah 26:3 tells us that “[God will] keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on [Him], because he trusts in [Him].”

Oh, how we long for peace. Not a surface, smile-because-you’re-happy kind of peace. Rather, a deep down in your heart contentment-no-matter-what, full-of-joy kind of peace.

The reason you struggle finding and experiencing that “perfect peace” is because your mind is not resting upon, it is not focused and fixed upon, God. Scripture is clear that what you think becomes what you do. Psalm 23:7 tells us that as a man thinks, so he is. The mind that is fixed on God, the mind that does not wander off the path of godliness into the snares of temptation, the mind that is fully surrendered to God, will be the mind that is at perfect peace.

The “peace of God” is an inexplicable, incomprehensible inner peace “which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). Unfortunately, there is a conflict between what your flesh wants and what God wants; and it is playing around with your mind and messing with your life. 

The apostle Paul describes it this way: “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please” (Galatians 5:17).

For the born-again believer who is struggling with living a life that is one hundred percent sold-out for Christ, there is a definite conflict of interests going on inside of him. King Me wants one thing; God wants something totally different. The struggle is real. Some days are better than others, but the battle rages on.

The biblical principle I want you to grasp is this: when you choose to do what is right, when you daily make the conscious choice to dethrone King Me and allow God to be Lord and leader of your life—all of your life, all of the time—you will have genuine, lasting, perfect peace. This is not a pipedream. This is a statement of biblical truth.

Jesus said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace” (John 16:33). Peace, true godly peace, will never be found in the things King Me has to offer. I am not telling you anything new; you already know this because you have been living it. When you turn to King Me for fulfillment and satisfaction you always come up empty. It will not satisfy, simply because it is not God. The sinful desires of the flesh will never give you genuine peace. Instead, it produces guilt, shame, stress, frustration, conflict—anything but peace. The peace you are seeking, the peace you are longing for, can only be found in a right relationship with Christ.

When you choose to allow the Word of God to fill your heart and your mind, and you also choose to walk in daily obedience to your heavenly Father, a tremendous by-product of that choice is a deep, unshakeable peace—God’s perfect peace.

Philippians 4:7 guarantees that “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Do you want that kind of peace? Do you want your heart and mind protected from those sinful temptations that constantly nag you and continuously hound you? If your answer is “Yes!” then you must choose to daily, moment-by-moment, make the hard choice to do what is right. Focus fully on daily surrendering to the Lordship and leadership of Christ in your life. I promise you will not regret it.

Yes, it will be hard at first. Yes, you will face great opposition from the enemy. Yes, you will feel like giving up. Just understand this: “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9).

Not only will the God of peace be with you, but He also promises, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (John 14:27). Did you catch that? Not just any old peace will He give you, but His peace—His perfect peace.

“Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.” (Psalm 119:165)

Oh, don’t miss this. Fill your mind with God’s Word, choose to walk in obedience to God’s principles of godliness and integrity, and not only will you have a “great peace,” but you will not stumble, you will not fall, you will not sin, you will not give in to your temptations.

Enjoying that perfect peace totally depends on the daily choices you make. These choices include letting “the peace of Christ rule in your heart” (Colossians 3:15). When you choose to do what is right, not only will you be blessed, happy, and have perfect peace, you will also have rest.

Jesus exclaimed, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) And God promises “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. (Exodus 33:14)

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls’.” (Jeremiah 6:16)

OK. Let’s hit the pause button until next week’s episode. 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 it is 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 these powerful resources we have made available to you is my book called “Overcoming Temptation: 4 Steps to Spiritual Victory.” You see, saying “No” to temptation and choosing to live an upright and godly life is a daily decision you must make. Every time you are faced with a temptation, you are also faced with a decision: Do I give in, or do I stand firm in my faith and fight it? Do I yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit and live to glorify God, or do I focus on King Me and give in to my fleshly desires?

This book “Overcoming Temptation: 4 Steps to Spiritual Victory” presents, in a very clear and practical way, how to live a life that is holy and pure, how to say no to sin and live by the Spirit in a way that glorifies your creator, your Savior, your Heavenly Father. Again, the title of this book is “Overcoming Temptation: 4 Steps to Spiritual Victory.” You can find it on Amazon.com or on my website (ThePurityCoach.com) in our Resources section.

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.