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Episode #10 - The Soul Lifter
You are daily engaged in spiritual warfare. You are on the front lines in this battle for sexual purity and you desperately need to know how to fight this war. You need the combat training that only God can give. You cannot afford to NOT be prepared!
In today’s episode we begin a mini-series in which we will be studying Psalm 25 – a powerful text of Scripture that will help you be the person of purity you long to be.
Transcript
(Opening Soundtrack)
You are daily engaged in spiritual warfare. You are on the front lines in this battle for sexual purity and you desperately need to know how to fight this war. You need the combat training that only God can give. You cannot afford to NOT be prepared!
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 and in today’s podcast we begin a mini-series in which we will be studying Psalm 25 – a powerful text of Scripture that will help you be the person of purity you long to be. So welcome to Episode 10 entitled “The Soul Lifter”
(01:00) The Soul Lifter
In Psalm 25:1 David says, “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.”
This is almost so simple of a phrase that we tend to skip over it, thinking we need to find something else that has more depth, more “meat” to it. But I want us to park here for a few moments and consider what it is that David is saying. And more importantly – what he’s doing.
Well, you might say that he is praying to God here – and you would be correct. But what is he doing in this prayer? In other words, there is more going on here than just David talking with God. What is the action he is taking? What is the position he is assuming? Let me repeat Psalm 25:1 to you. See if you can figure it out.
“To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.”
If you answered something like, “OK, well it sounds like he’s lifting up his soul to God” you would be spot-on. But what do you think that means? Why is he doing this “soul-lifting” thing? What’s his purpose, his goal? And what should you and I be learning from all this?
David is choosing to surrender his life to God. It’s important here that you understand this was a deliberate choice he was making. This wasn’t being forced upon him. No one was holding a knife to his throat saying, “do this, or else!” He is willfully choosing to surrender his life over to God. He recognized that who he was is only because of who God is. He owed God everything.
“To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.”
Are you making that same choice? Notice what I did not ask just now. I didn’t ask “have you made” or “will you make,” as if it’s a one-and-done kind of thing. This is a daily, moment-by-moment decision that you must continuously make. Are you daily making the willful choice to lift your soul up to God? “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.”
We must daily, repeatedly, consistently choose to lift up our soul – the core of who we are, ALL of our life, every part of it - to the Almighty, Most Holy, Sovereign Creator and God of the Universe. You are who you are because God is who He is, and you owe God everything.
(03:51) Soul Significance
Think with me for a moment about the word “soul.” David prays, “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. ” What is your “soul,” and why is it so important to lift that up to God?
In Genesis 2:7 we see that “The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul .”
Your “soul” is the real you. It’s your personhood. It is the seat of your will, emotions and passions. It’s the core of all you are. Your soul is what is going either to Heaven or Hell for eternity when you die.
On the flip side, your body is just the “car” that God has given you to travel through life with. A car, by the way, that is permanently out of alignment. Your soul is the driver behind the wheel of that car.
In Matthew 10:28 Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
And in Matthew 16:26 He asks “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”
Let’s take a moment here to consider the command of Matthew 22:37. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Question: How much of your heart, soul, and mind is to be totally surrendered to God? The answer? ALL of it, all of the time
Here’s another question: When God says “all,” what does He mean? “all” means all and that’s all “all” means.
So, with that understanding, let me ask you this: When is ALL of your heart, soul, and mind to be totally surrendered to God? Right now, right now, right now – all the time, every time.
When you are choosing to lust, look at porn, and masturbate; when you are choosing to be sexually impure – at that moment – are you walking in obedience to Christ’s command of Matthew 22:37? Are you loving God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind?
Let me give you a hint here to help you with your answer - either you are all in or not in at all , there is no in-between. So, why are you willfully choosing to disobey God? Why are you choosing to love yourself more than you love God?
“To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.” (Psalm 25:1)
Now that we understand that your “soul” refers to the real you, we also begin to understand that “lifting up your soul” to God means you are totally and completely surrendering everything you are and everything you have over to God. Everything.
That includes your sexual passions and desires. You need to “lift up” – totally and completely surrender even your lust and your sexual desires over to God.
(07:44) Stay In Focus!
Totally surrendering your sexual purity over to God is not as hard as the enemy wants you to think it is.
As we will see in future episodes, victory over the 3-headed dragon of lust, porn, and masturbation typically happens long before the actual temptation to sin. The victory begins when you choose to (as Deuteronomy 4:29 says) “search after (God) with all your heart and with all your soul” – and you do that hours, even days before the temptation hits.
When you are on the throne of your heart, you will choose –always choose – to seek out what will make King Me happy, happy, happy. King Me will never voluntarily decide to step off the throne in favor of God’s reign and rule of your life. Why? King Me is convinced God’s way will be less than fulfilling. God’s way is boring. God’s way won’t satisfy. So, the King says no-way to God’s way. (if you would like to learn more on this particular topic be sure to read my book "Removing the I from LIFE" available on Amazon.com)
Let me repeat Deuteronomy 4:29 - “But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
According to this verse, what percentage of your day can be about seeking your own desires, passions, and pleasures? The answer: 0%
Why can’t it be less than, oh, say 10%? Or 5%? Or even 1%? Why does it have to be 0%? What’s wrong with seeking out a little forbidden sexual pleasure from time to time (especially if I’m not committing adultery or hurting anyone)?
It’s all about the motivation of your heart – “ why are you seeking your own desires?” I guarantee you it has nothing to do with honoring God but everything to do with pleasing King Me. Oh, and by the way, as we will see in a future episode, (according to Matthew 5:28) when you lust and look at porn you are committing adultery and you are hurting multiple people. More on that later.
OK, time for an honest assessment here – what percentage of your day is typically about seeking your own desires, passions, and pleasures vs. God’s?
According to Deuteronomy 4:29, the result of only half-heartedly searching for God while King Me is still sitting on the throne of your heart is this: You will not find Him. He will not respond to you. You will continue in your sin and experience the ramifications of your choices.
In Isaiah 59:2 God says, “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”
Your “iniquities,” your sinful King Me choices have separated you from God. You have chosen to turn your back on Him in favor of your own sinful passions and desires. As a result,
Micah 3:4 warns, you “will cry to the LORD, but he will not answer; he will hide his face at that time, because (you) have made (your) deeds evil.”
(11:50) Start Right There. Where? There!
Once again let me repeat the words of Deuteronomy 4:29 - “But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Notice the words “from there you will seek the LORD.” From where? From right where you are . In other words, you don’t have to get your act together before you can seek the Lord. You don’t have to stop lusting, stop looking at porn, stop fantasizing, and stop masturbating before reaching out to God. Come to Him just as you are – sinful, dirty, wretched and worn. Just come.
In John 7:37 “Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”
Let’s face it, you are thirsty my friend. The problem is that you have been running to the wrong well to be satisfied.
- In John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst’.”
- Isaiah 58:11 tells us that “The LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places.”
- And Psalm 107:9 says that God “satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.”
Listen to God’s call. Do you hear it? God is calling to you. He is bidding you to come to Him just as you are. No fluff. No pretense. Just you. Your soul. Lift it up to Him. Surrender your heart to Him.
I love the words of Isaiah 1:18 where God is saying to you “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become wool.”
I challenge you to lift up your soul right now to God. Even though your sins are many, even though you have been sexually impure – just come and let Him cleanse you. Let Him fill you. Let Him truly satisfy you.
In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus extends a personal invitation to “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.”
(15:13) Closing Soundtrack
Jesus is inviting you to come to Him – right here, right now – just as you are. Come to Him with your heavy burdens, your pressing problems, your recurring sinful habits – let Him give you the rest you are seeking. You don’t have to change anything before crying out to Him. Just come as you are.