Video #2 - Think, Think, Think

Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he”.  When my mind was fueled by lust, when my thoughts were focused on what would make me “feel good,”

• my actions were bent on finding ways to achieve that goal,
• my view of women, my understanding of sex, and my approach to life was centered on me, and the pleasure I could receive,
• my thoughts led me down darkened and dangerous paths taking me in directions I should never have gone and choices I should never have made,
• and I ended up doing things I never thought in a million years I would do.

It all began with an uncontrolled, undisciplined, unfocused self-centered mind.

Listen carefully to this critical point: what you think will become what you do.  Proverbs 27:19 tells us that just as water reflects your face – just as you see your face reflected in a mirror – so your life reflects your heart.  The things you do will always reflect the things you think.

If we are going to live daily lives that glorify God, we need to think daily thoughts that glorify God – not just on occasion or frequently, but moment-by-moment every second of our life.  Every thought should glorify God.

The Apostle Paul puts it this way in Philippians 4:8:  “Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy” – we are to think on those things.  In Colossians 3:2 Paul challenges us to set our minds on things above, not on earthly things.  And in Romans 13:14 God commands us to not even THINK about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.  Why?  Because what we think WILL become what we do.  This is why we are commanded to “take captive every thought to make each thought obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).

In Psalm 119:9 David asks a vital question. He says:  “How can a man keep his way pure?” His question isn’t just “how can I BE pure?” He wasn’t asking – “how can I check this problem off my list of vices?”  He was focused, not on the immediate – but on the long term.  How can a man KEEP HIS WAY pure?”  How do I not only BE pure – but STAY pure every moment of every day?  David then answers his own question.  Verse 9 goes on to say that you keep your way pure – “by living according to God’s Word.”  I become a pure man, and I maintain my purity only as I live out the truth, the principles and the standards of God’s Word.

A few verses later, in Psalm 119:105 David declared, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”  That’s great!  But understand this: I cannot walk in the light, I cannot BE a pure man, I cannot maintain my purity if I’m not consistently in God’s Word.

Reading God’s Word daily, memorizing Scripture and thinking throughout my day about what God is saying acts as a flood light on an otherwise shadowy and obscure path.  Scripture presents me with the amazing truth of who God is, and the humbling reality of what I am.  It shows me where my thinking is muddled and wrong.  It takes my mind off of King Me and puts it squarely on King Jesus.

In fact, God’s Word is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword,”   Every time you open your Bible, every time you read it, study it, meditate on it and memorize it …  “it pierces to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow,”  IOW it gets past all the fluff and junk in your life   “and it discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12 cp. 2 Tim. 3:16-17).

When you fix your mind squarely on Scripture, you will no longer be put to shame by your lustful, sexual impurity (Psa. 119:6).  God promises that you will keep your way pure, when you guard it according to God’s Word (Psa. 119:9; Prov. 4:23).  But don’t just read your Bible every day;  memorize what you read.  By hiding God’s Word in your heart (Psa. 119:11), and walking in obedience to His Truth (Psa. 119:9), you are able to live a consistently sexually pure life today, tomorrow, and every day.

Guys – to BE a pure man

… open God’s Word

… read God’s Word

… meditate on God’s Word

… and obey God’s Word 

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About Steve Etner
Steve Etner is a National Men’s Speaker, Author and Purity Coach (www.thepuritycoach.com). He has authored many books, including “Extreme Mind Makeover: How to Transform Sinful Habits into God-Pleasing Patterns of Life”; “The Pure Man’s Devotional Guide: A Biblical Toolbox for Purity”; and “Are You A Super Man? Becoming God’s Man of Steel.” 

Steve’s conferences, seminars and retreats focus on what God has to say about the way we think and the impact it has on our behavior. By teaching men how to live in moral purity by equipping them with Biblical answers, Steve’s goal is for men to have a re-ignited passion for Jesus and learn how to prepare their minds to successfully overcome their temptations and thus live pure lives for Christ.