Bumbling in the Humbling

Do you bumble In being humble? Pride says, “I am King. I am ‘god.’ Therefore, I must at all times feel happy, fulfilled, and satisfied. Worship me.” The primary focus is always upon self. King Me makes sure the “I” has everything the “I” wants, no matter the cost. Can you see who is sitting on the throne when pride reigns? Hint: it’s not God.
 
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Transcript

Do you bumble In being humble? Pride says, “I am King. I am ‘god.’ Therefore, I must at all times feel happy, fulfilled, and satisfied. Worship me.” The primary focus is always upon self. King Me makes sure the “I” has everything the “I” wants, no matter the cost. Can you see who is sitting on the throne when pride reigns? Hint: it’s not God. Do you understand that is sin?

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 #199 entitled “Bumbling in the Humbling.”

“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)

I am going to assume you would appreciate some seriously significant “times of refreshing from the Lord.” I am also assuming those “times of refreshing” include that elusive godliness and spiritual integrity you have been longing for. Might I also be safe in assuming you struggle sometimes to believe that those “times of refreshing” are even achievable, let alone lasting?

As I have pointed out before, God is not a liar. He is not out to mess with your mind. God has promised that when you repent and turn to Him, He will give you times of refreshing (see Acts 3:19 above). He will give you victory. That is the truth. That is a biblical fact. And yet, right now you may find it hard to believe what I am saying. Let me assure you, from my own personal experience based upon the absolute truth of God’s word, you can be completely free from the powerful, relentless grip of King Me’s selfish, sinful desires. You do not have to give in anymore. But don’t believe just me. You have God’s authoritative word on that.

James 4:7 reveals heaven’s recipe for guaranteed victory over any and all temptations you will ever face: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7 ESV).

Notice that only one thing is required of you: submit to God. You must choose daily to place yourself under His absolute authority in every aspect of your life, including your sinful desires and passions. Yield your will completely to His. Surrender your desires in favor of His. Submit yourself daily to the lordship and leadership of God in your life, and the irrefutable promise in Scripture is that Satan must flee from you.

Scripture does not tell you to submit to God and resist the devil, as if they are two separate things. It is one fluid motion. As you choose to submit to God, the very act of submission includes resisting the devil. Choose God and you automatically choose against the enemy. It is choosing daily to say yes to the Holy Spirit, which in turn is saying no to the lies Satan is whispering into your heart. Cling to the Truth, because the Truth will set you free (see John 8:32 and compare with John 8:36; 17:17).

The order of things in James 4:7 is critical to your ongoing freedom and victory. You must daily choose to submit to God, before you can ever effectively resist the devil. If you attempt to reverse the order, if you try to resist the devil before you submit to God, you will utterly and painfully fall and fail. The enemy will not flee. He is not afraid of you. However, when you submit yourself to God, when you choose to dethrone King Me and allow God to be the absolute authority in your life, Satan has to turn tail and run—guaranteed.

To live in victory, to walk in spiritual freedom, we must choose daily to submit to God. We need to make the willful choice to yield our hearts in full obedience to Him. We must put ourselves under His total and complete authority in our lives—all the time, no matter what.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5 ESV)

“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” (Psalm 37:5 ESV)

“The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.” (Psalm 28:7 NLT)

Consider the soldier who is under the leadership of his superior officer. He acknowledges the authority that has been placed over him and trusts in the fact that his commanding officer knows and understands more than he does. This involves trusting the commander to lead and choosing to obey his commands and follow his leadership, whether the soldier understands and agrees with it or not. That is submitting to authority. 

As a soldier of Christ, we must choose daily to do the same with God. Deny yourself; it must never be about what you want, need, desire, deserve, have to have, or cannot live without. Choose instead to daily die to the selfish, sinful desires of King Me and surrender unreservedly to the guidance and governance of the highest authority in the universe—God Himself.

“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23 NLT)

Here’s the struggle: in our own sinful, independent spirit, we think we know better. In fact, we usually think we know best. We are a generation of people who proudly claim our “rights.” As one food chain used to advertise, you deserve to “have it your way!” This mindset has permeated every aspect of life, to the point where even the concept of submission to any authority higher than King Me tends to rub us the wrong way. When your focus is on self, you are easily swept away with the world’s philosophy of “my rights” and “my way” no matter the cost.

Submitting yourself under the lordship and leadership of God in every aspect of your life is easier said than done. Submitting yourself to God requires both humility and repentance, something most of us struggle with in spades.

OK. So I’ve got to ask. Do you ever bumble in being humble?

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to … walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8 ESV)

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:10 ESV)

Humility in Scripture refers to being fully aware of, and in agreement with, the fact that you are not God. Now hold on for a moment and think about what I just said. “You are not God.” That flies in the face of everything King Me wants you to believe. In fact, that’s the lie Satan has been whispering in the ear of mankind since the beginning of time – you can be like God. But the bottom line is, you are not God, and neither am I. There is only one true God, and we are not Him (see 1 Timothy 2:5; John 17:3; Isaiah 46;9 and Deuteronomy 6:4). We are created beings, fully dependent upon our Creator for all things. We are in all ways subservient to the one true God. We owe Him everything, and He owes us nothing.

Pride, the opposite of humility, says, “I am King. I am ‘god.’ Therefore, I must at all times feel happy, fulfilled, and satisfied. Worship me.” The primary focus is always upon self. King Me always has an eye for the “I.” King Me makes sure the “I” has everything the “I” wants, no matter the cost. Can you see who is sitting on the throne when pride reigns? Hint: it’s not God. Do you understand that is sin?

On the other hand, humility says, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 NLT). King Me is powerless. King Me no longer reigns. King Me has no authority in my life. Humility understands that “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there” (Galatians 5:24 NLT). In humility King Me surrenders completely, totally, and unreservedly to the King of all Kings.

“Clothe yourselves, all of you with humility ... for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.” (1 Peter 5:5-6 ESV)

To be free from the grip of your sinful desires, to be victorious over your wicked habits, you must daily choose to humble yourself by removing King Me from the throne of your heart. YOU must make that choice. I cannot make it for you, and you cannot make it for me. You must choose to step off, step back, and allow the King of Kings to assume absolute lordship and unconditional leadership of your life—all your life, all the time.

“The reward of humility and fear of the Lord are riches, honor and life.” (Proverbs 22:4 NASB’95)

Let God give you the victory you desire. Let your Creator richly bless you. Let Him raise you up to a position of dignity and honor if and when He so chooses.

“As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.” When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.” (2 Corinthians 10:17-18 NLT)

It is not about you fighting your sinful habits and emerging at the end of the battle wondrously victorious. It is not about you being able to shout out, “I fought the beast and the beast lost!” It is all about God receiving the praise and the glory for giving you “everything you need” (2 Peter 1:3 ESV) to be “more than a conqueror” (Romans 8:37 ESV) in this journey toward godliness. It is about the fact that only “God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19 NASB’95). That requires humility on your part. Daily choose to drop to your knees before God and yield your heart and your soul to Him.

“He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you”. (James 4:6-7 NASB’95)

“Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.” (Proverbs 18:12 NIV’84)

“Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2 NLT)

“One’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.” (Proverbs 29:23 NASB’95)

OK. Listen closely to this next point. There can be no victory where there is no surrender. You will not experience victory over the beast of your sinful habits until you daily choose fully to surrender to God, the beast-master. Do not be deceived into believing you can beat King Me on your own. You cannot. Your past attempts and failures prove it. As we just read, James 4:7 commands you to “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” You do not have to give in to your sinful temptations anymore.

Submitting yourself to God requires both humility and repentance. We’ve talked about humility; now let’s talk about repentance. Repentance refers to having a change in your thinking. You have been accustomed to thinking about pleasing King Me. Up to this point you have been trying to quit giving in to your temptations. You need to stop trying and start turning. You need to do an about-face and choose to think only about glorifying God instead of satisfying self. You have repeatedly failed yourself; He will not.

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV)

Can you see both humility and repentance in this verse? Do you see the promise God gives you? Submit yourself to Him. Humble yourself before Him. Resist the devil. Turn from your wicked ways. Then God will hear, God will forgive, God will heal. There can be no victory where there is no surrender.

OK, we’re going to hit the pause button here until next week’s episode as we look forward to continuing this study.

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 would like to once again highlight for you here is the recently updated, 2nd edition of my book entitled “Extreme Mind Makeover: How to transform sinful thoughts and habits into patterns of life pleasing to God.” This newly released 2nd edition is rich with hundreds of Scripture references, scores of practical illustrations, and each chapter now ends with a study guide full of questions and discussion points.

“Extreme Mind Makeover” 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.

If you’ve followed this Point of Purity Podcast for any length of time, then you’ve heard me emphasize the fact that what you think becomes what you do. When you train your mind to think godly thoughts, the things you say and do day in and day out will be godly. On the flip side, when you allow your mind to think sinful, fleshly, ungodly, King Me centered thoughts, the result (your daily attitudes and actions) will be ungodly. So, how do I change the way I think? How do I change the things I do? How do I successfully and effectively guard my heart? This book, “Extreme Mind Makeover” takes you into God’s Word to help you answer those questions.

So head on over 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 MentorTM and Purity Coach Steve Etner for the Pure Man Ministry - reminding you that if you are going to glorify God in your everyday living, He must first be glorified in your every moment thinking.