A Teachable Heart

Psalm 25:4-5 says, “Show me the right path, O LORD; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.”

How often throughout the day do you ask God to show you His ways and tell you what He wants you to do? How often does it even occur to you to ask this of God? My guess is your answer is “not often enough,” am I right?

Welcome to The Point of Purity Podcast. This is Episode #207 entitled “A Teachable Heart.”

Learn more about the ministry of The Purity Coach at  http://www.thepuritycoach.com

Transcript

Psalm 25:4-5 says, “Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.”

How often throughout the day do you ask God to show you His ways and tell you what He wants you to do? How often does it even occur to you to ask this of God? My guess is your answer is “not often enough,” am I right?

Welcome to The Point of Purity Podcast. A powerful 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 and godliness. 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 #207 entitled “A Teachable Heart.”

Have you ever heard the phrase “Just let go and let God”? Letting go and letting God sounds nice, maybe even easy at times. After all, God is doing all the heavy lifting. However, the truth is you are responsible for maintaining your walk with God. Let me quickly clarify, I am not saying you need to do good works in order to be saved or maintain your salvation. Rather, because you are saved, because you are a born-again child of God, you are to maintain good works as an outward demonstration of your inward salvation.

Jesus said, “In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:16)

The Apostle Paul declared, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which god prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

James asks, “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? … faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. … Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” (James 2:14, 17-18)

You cannot be passive in this pursuit of godliness. God is not about making it “easy” for you. He is not here to “get you off the hook.” Nor is He going to leave you alone to figure out how to wrestle the beast of temptation all by your little lonesome. 

Peter writes that it is “By his divine power, God has given [you] everything [you] need for living a godly life.” (2 Peter 1:3)

God promises to give you the strength to fight the battle and the wisdom to know what to do, but you must daily choose to do the work. This is why He instructs us in Deuteronomy 31:6 to “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid and do not panic ... For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

God will always give you exactly what you need to dethrone King Me, precisely when you need it. All you need to do is obey the command of 1 Chronicles 16:11 which says, “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually.” Remember Philippians 4:13, which promises you can do everything through Christ, who gives you His strength.

Not only will God give you the strength you need, but He will also give you the necessary wisdom to know what to do the moment you face your temptations. Proverbs 2:6 promises us that “the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (NASB’95) That is why I am continuously emphasizing the necessity of focusing daily upon Scripture. From His mouth, from His Word, from the Bible, you gain knowledge, understanding, and wisdom to face the beast.

James reminds us, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” (James 1:5) Yes, God will do this and so much more; but you must choose daily to face the temptation head on, standing firm in the Faith as you fight the battle for godliness.

Consider this, according to the following verses, what does God say is your responsibility in your pursuit of godliness?

·      (Proverbs 4:23) “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” According to this verse, what are you responsible to do? Always set up a guard of protection, taking a defensive posture at all times to protect your heart / mind.

·      (James 4:7) “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” According to this verse, what are you responsible to do? Choose to humble myself before God and submit to His ultimate authority over my life.

·      (Ephesians 6:11) “Put on the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.” According to this verse, what are you responsible to do? I am to daily choose to put on Christ and in His power stand firm as the enemy tries to pull his shenanigans on me. Paul describes it a different way in Romans 13:14 as I am to clothe myself with Christ and not even think about how to gratify the sinful desires of King Me.

·      (1 Peter 5:8-9) “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.” 

Did you notice not one of those verses say, “Kick back, relax, God’s got this”? Not one says, “Let go and let God.” God expects you to step up to the plate. He wants you to grab your sword, stand firm in your faith, and fight. He also wants you to know you will never be alone in the battle. God will never just push you out onto the battlefield, give you a slap on the back and say, “Good luck! Hope you make it!”

Philippians 4:19 assures us that God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. 2 Corinthians 9:8 promises God will graciously and generously provide so you will always have everything you need with plenty left over.

Yes, God will give you everything you need, including the necessary training so you can stand firm in your faith and effectively resist each and every temptation the enemy throws at you.

In Psalm 144:1 we read, “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle.”

And in Psalm 18:34 David writes, “[God] trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.”

Every day is filled with various forms of spiritual warfare. Every day you are wrestling against a powerful foe. Every day that foe is whispering his evil, deceptive lies into your mind, trying to draw you off the path God wants you to walk. Every day you desperately need to maintain a right and growing relationship with your Heavenly Father – the almighty, most holy, sovereign, creator of the universe.

This is why you and I must daily cry out, the words of Exodus 33:13 “If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.” Ask God daily to “Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.” (Psalm 143:8)

Why is it so important that we ask God daily to show us His ways? What’s wrong with occasionally doing life my own way? That question almost sounds ludicrous when you truly think about it. Almost. The fact is, we often think that way, even if we do not actually verbalize it.

It frequently looks something like this: “Why do I have to give God all of my sinful desires and passions? Why do I have to surrender all of my soul to Him? What’s wrong with occasionally doing things my own way? As long as I am not committing some great and horrible sin why can’t I enjoy a little King Me worship every once in a while?

God’s answer is quite clear. “There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way; whoever hates reproof will die” (Proverbs 15:10). Solomon warns us, “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.” (Proverbs 14:12)

Listen my friend: Any way that is ultimately my way will always be the wrong way.

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 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: How to transform sinful thoughts and habits into patterns of life pleasing to God.” 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, 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.