The Point of Purity Podcast

New Episodes every Thursday morning at 8:00 a.m. (Eastern)

 Helping men and women find hope, help, healing, restoration and redemption
leading to lasting victory over sexual addiction through a growing, vibrant, powerful relationship with Christ.

Episode #133 - "That's My Boy!" 

Transcript

Do you desire to please God with your life? Do you also struggle with sinful thoughts and habits? There’s a conflict going on there, right? On the one hand there’s a desire to please God. Yet on the other there’s a strong desire to please self. You want to be a Super Man of God – God’s Man of Steel and yet there’s Kryptonite all around you. You are surrounded not only with temptations to sin, but struggle with a nagging desire to give into them.

Welcome to the Point of Purity Podcast! 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 #133. In this episode we continue our journey through my book entitled “Are You a Super Man of God? Becoming God’s Man of Steel”. This week’s episode is entitled “That’s my Boy!”

Over 200 years ago, a really smart British dude by the name of Edmund Burke said that the only thing necessary for evil to triumph, was for good men to do nothing. Over 2,000 years ago God spoke to us through an amazing prophet from the Middle East by the name of Ezekiel, and said, “I looked for a man … who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap … but I found none” (Ezekiel 22:30).

Gentlemen, I submit to you that God is still looking for godly men who will choose to stand in the gap and do something great for Him. He’s searching for men who will stand with the confidence and power that only God can give and resist the enemy. He’s looking for men of steel. He’s looking for you—yes, you.

Over the next couple episodes of this podcast, we are going to take a look at three super men of God. Three men of steel. Three men who knew what it meant to stand in the gap, square up against the enemy and watch God win the battle.

As we begin this journey, let me take a moment and set the stage for you. The books of First and Second Samuel are all about the Kingdom of Israel. Specifically, they focus on a guy named Samuel the Prophet, and the impact he had upon that kingdom. The part of the story we need to focus on here is the fact that King Saul had just disobeyed God. He chose to do his own thing instead of following God’s will (1 Samuel 15). As a result, God no longer accepted Saul’s leadership as King of His people (1 Samuel 15:26).

God then instructs Samuel to travel south to a little town called Bethlehem, where he would find a guy named Jesse. Why? Because one of Jesse’s eight boys was to become the next King of Israel. Samuel packs his bags, loads up his donkey hatchback and sets off on a little royal road trip.

Now, let me read to you a section from my book “Are You a Super Man of God? Becoming God’s Ma of Steel.”

“Proud as a daddy could be, knowing why the prophet was in his home, Jesse lined up his sons, youngest to eldest, then stood back—arms folded across his chest, a smile spreading from ear to ear. Which boy would it be? Oh, he could hear the neighbors now. He’d be the talk of the town. People from all over would flock to meet the new King of Israel—his son, the King!

Jesse nodded his head in approval as he watched Samuel begin with his eldest boy, Eliab. After circling him twice, looking him up and down, assessing his physical stature, Samuel began the interview process. At each question, Eliab was quick with an intelligent and sophisticated response. This greatly impressed Samuel. “I believe we’ve found the next King of Israel,” he thought.

The voice in his head nearly made him jump out of his skin. “No, Samuel,” God said. “I understand why you think that, but all you can see is the outward appearance. I see much deeper. I look on the heart. I see what you cannot see. I see what motivates a man—and based on what his heart is telling me, I have rejected him. He will not be your next King.” (1 Samuel 16:7) Reluctantly Samuel moved on to the next son. And then the next. Seven sons. Seven interviews. Seven times God said, “No.”

After he was done questioning the last son, Samuel stepped back and surveyed the line of boys. How could this be? He had undeniably heard God say he was to go to the house of Jesse. That guy standing in the corner with an extremely bewildered look on his face was definitely Jesse. And these were all his boys. Wait a moment. Were they? Could there be any more?

Jesse looked a bit surprised at Samuel’s inquiry. His sons stood quietly, passing questioning glances between them. “Well,” Jesse responded. “We have a ruddy little runt out in the field babysitting the sheep, but he’s just—” “Go get him,” Samuel interrupted. “We will go no further until he stands before me,” and then Samuel sat down, closed his eyes, and waited. The moment young David walked in the door, God said to Samuel, “That’s your King!” (1 Samuel 16:11-12)

In time, David would be described as a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). But at that moment, he was merely a young boy who had just been anointed King. God wanted to take some time in David’s life to prepare him for what was ahead. So, God sent David out to kill a Philistine giant named Goliath (1 Samuel 17:1-54). That astonishing victory skyrocketed David into the public eye as a mighty warrior, and he was put in charge of all of Saul’s army. (1 Samuel 18:5) In fact, David got so much recognition that the women began to sing songs about how Saul had killed his thousands, but David had killed his tens of thousands. (1 Samuel 18:6-8)

Now that royally ticked off Saul. He was so jealous, and so angry, that he tried to kill David more than once. David fled to the hills to save his life. Now, it’s important you understand this exactly where God wanted David to be. You see, it was there in those hills, it was there as he was fearing for his life, it was there as he was doubting the hand of God, that David met up with a band of men who would eventually be known as David’s mighty men of valor—God’s men of steel.

Imagine for a moment that you are David. You’re scared to death. You just dodged yet another spear meant to separate head from neck. Fearing for your life, you split, you skedaddle, you head for the hills. You find a remote cave and you hunker down and hide. You cry out to God for help. “God, what are you doing? I thought I was to be King! It’s not supposed to be like this! God, I don’t understand. God, help me!”

And what does God do? He brings you a rag-tag group of 400 men who are distressed, discontented and in debt. A bunch of messed up dudes. (1 Samuel 22:2) And yet, those were the guys God hand-selected to be David’s mighty men. Those were the guys God chose to be His men of steel.

Even today, the men God chooses to use are just normal, ordinary, everyday guys. Would you say that’s a fairly accurate description of you? Would you agree that you are just a normal, ordinary, everyday guy? You see, on their own, David’s band of brothers weren’t men of steel. On their own they were just guys with problems, guys with chips on their shoulders, guys who had made some bad choices in life and were paying the consequences.

But God brought them together in the wilderness, and God began to work in their hearts. As He worked on their hearts, they began to yield to the lordship and leadership of the Almighty, all-powerful God of the Universe in their lives. That is when they became God’s Men of Steel.

Let’s face it, guys: many of us struggle with feeling distressed and discontented, and most of us are in debt. On our own we aren’t mighty men. On our own we’re just guys with problems, guys with chips on our shoulders, guys who have made some bad decisions in life and are paying the consequences.

Yet God has brought us together as a band of brothers. And as we live together in the middle of a wicked, sinful world, God is continuously and constantly working on our hearts. So, let me ask you this: as God is working on your heart, what are you going to do with what He’s accomplishing? Will you choose right here and right now to totally yield to His lordship and leadership in your life? Will you let Him make you into a Super Man of God?

As we saw a moment ago in 1 Samuel 16:7, God revealed to the Prophet Samuel that man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on your heart. So, I have another question for you here. Which aspect of your life do you tend focus the majority of your attention upon—your exterior (physical pleasure), or your interior (spiritual growth)? And as you answer that, let me also ask you, Why?

Before we wrap up this week’s episode, let me toss a couple more questions out to you. We see in Scripture that King Saul chose to do his own thing his own way instead of faithfully following God’s will. He’s not the only one, is he? Aren’t we just as guilty? Why? Why do we tend to do that? I challenge you to open your Bible and read 1 Samuel 15:1-34. As you do, ask yourself: why was God so angry with Saul’s disobedience? Then follow it up with this question: How do you think God feels when you choose to disobey Him?

OK. Let’s hit the pause button until next week’s episode as we continue our journey through my book “Are You A Super Man?” If you would like to learn more about today’s study, or if you’re interested in learning more about The Pure Man Ministry, 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.

I also want you to know how deeply honored I am that you have chosen to share your time with me today and listen to this episode in its entirety. Would you prayerfully and seriously consider joining us as a vital partner of this ministry. We are praying for and looking for Purity Coach Partners who will commit to supporting this ministry in two major areas.

First and foremost, in prayer. I’m talking about more than just “Dear God, please bless Steve and The Pure Man Ministry.” As important as that is, we need partners in this ministry who are praying for us daily. Praying for wisdom as we counsel, praying for protection as the enemy tries almost daily to stop us in our tracks and shut us down. Praying for the men that are entrenched and enslaved in this sin – praying for their freedom, praying for victory, praying for clarity as they study the Scripture, praying for their personal spiritual growth, and praying for their families – their wives, their children, their churches. We NEED faithful prayer partners who will commit to praying for this ministry on a regular basis. Would you consider becoming a Purity Prayer Partner?

But we also need partners who choose to come alongside of us and support this ministry financially. We are a donor-supported, faith-based, not-for-profit ministry. Everything we do is dependent upon God’s people giving to this ministry financially. So, if this podcast, if what we do here at The Pure Man Ministry speaks to you – if you share our burden to reach men and women across the globe with the message of freedom, victory, hope, healing, and restoration through the cleansing power of the Word of God – would you please join our team of Point of Purity Partners? We are looking for monthly supporters whom God is calling to support us with gifts of 25, 50, $100 per month or even more. HELP US KEEP THIS MINISTRY GOING in the months and years to come!

Your financial support of any amount to this ministry is not only greatly appreciated and very much needed, but it is also tax-deductible.

If God is moving in your heart to become a financial partner with us, you can visit our website at www.thepuritycoach.com and click on the “Donate” button in the upper right corner to give your tax-deductible donation 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 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.

Back to Podcasts