The Point of Purity Podcast

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Episode #138 - "Practice Makes What?" 

Transcript

To be a wise man, to be a Super Man of God, to consistently – daily be God’s man of steel, you must not only hear what God is saying, but also seek to understand how it applies to you. Then, as the Holy Spirit guides you, make the necessary adjustments to your daily behavior so you can consistently live out God’s truth and principles. When you do this, God says you are a wise builder. This is when your godly life will be established upon a solid foundation. This is what makes a Super Man of God.

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 #138. In this week’s 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 “Practice Makes What?”

During his elementary school years, our second child decided he wanted to learn how to play the violin. As many parents do, we jumped on board with the idea, bought him a violin and paid for private lessons. I would take him to his lesson, drop him off for an hour and then pick him up when the lesson was over. He would then stand in our living room and practice his music. It’s amazing how great a child’s playing can sound when filtered through strategically placed cotton balls!

One time I decided to sit in on his lesson, just to see how things were going. His teacher was a very patient and understanding woman, but I could see she was frustrated with him. I learned that day that the proper way to stroke the bow across the strings is primarily with your shoulder firmly fixed, using your elbow as the pivotal point. My boy was doing just the opposite—keeping the elbow firmly set, he would rock the bow with his shoulder.

Standing behind him, this woman—whom I’ve since nominated for sainthood—patiently squeezed his shoulder, forcing him to use his elbow. I’ll never forget her stopping my son in mid-stroke and asking him, “Practice makes what?” Smiling, my boy responded with what he thought was the correct answer. “Perfect!” he exclaimed. “No!” she retorted. “Practice does NOT make perfect. Practice makes permanent—so you must practice right!” I’m not sure my son learned that valuable lesson (at least as it related to playing the violin), but it definitely had a profound impact upon me.

To be a wise man, to be a Super Man of God, you must not only hear what God is saying, but also seek to understand how it applies to you. Then, as the Holy Spirit guides you,28 make the necessary adjustments to your daily behavior so you can consistently live out God’s truth and principles. When you do this, God says you are a wise builder. This is when your godly life will be established upon a solid foundation. Remember, practice makes permanent—so practice right.

Jesus said in Luke 11:28 that those who hear the word of God AND KEEP IT are blessed. In John 14:15 Christ says very clearly that if we love Him, we will keep his commandments. Then in verse 23 He reiterates this point by declaring that “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word.” And as a punctuation to this point, 2 John verse 6 proclaims that this is love, that we walk according to God’s commandments.

OK. So, for those of you just joining this podcast, and for those of you who just need a refresher – we are currently talking about how to be a Super Man of God – God’s man of steel. Much of what we’re covering in this series is being taken directly from the pages of my book with the same title “Are You a Super Man? Becoming God’s Man of Steel” available on Amazon.com.

In last week’s episode we took a look at Matthew 27 and the story of Wally the Wise Man and Martin the Moron. If you missed that episode, please let me encourage you to go back to Episode #137 and listen to it as it will help you understand better what we will be talking about in this episode.

What made Wally wise was hearing God’s Word and choosing to put it into practice immediately. Wally didn’t wait to obey until he felt like it, he didn’t hold off until it fit into his schedule or plan. He didn’t pick and choose which passages of Scripture he liked and do only them. He acted upon what God said to him at that very moment, every moment of his life.

I find it interesting that Wally didn’t simply set his house on that rock, he dug deep into it!29 Obedience demands action; it requires effort; it calls for discipline. And sometimes it includes spiritual sweat. Wally couldn’t rent a 385 CAT Excavator to dig into the rock. He didn’t have access to a pneumatic jackhammer with alloy steel forgings and a four-bolt backhead design. In fact, he couldn’t even find a simple stick of dynamite. All he had was a chisel, a hammer, and sheer brute force.

It takes work to build into the Rock. It requires time and energy, and it costs more. Let’s face it, it’s always easier to take shortcuts in building a home. You save money when you use inferior materials. And for a while, no one may notice the shoddy work. But somewhere along the line, there is a price to be paid.

It also takes less time and energy to maintain a superficial faith. To be honest, who will be able to tell the difference? It’s definitely easier to just show up for church for an hour a week, let the worship leader and the pastor fill you with warm fuzzies, smile and shake hands as you go on your merry did-my-spiritual-duty-for-the-week way. It’s less demanding on your day to just open the daily devotional booklet, read the few verses there, read the writer’s comments, close it up, and go on with your day feeling content with your “God time.”

The question for you is: Are you doing the Word? Are you, moment-by-moment, day-by-day choosing to do what God says? If you construct your life according to Christ’s building codes, and if you dig deep into solid rock, you will not be disappointed. Let me give you a couple of things here to chew on and think about.

• What is the difference between spending and investing? Do you tend to spend time or invest time in God’s Word? In what ways can investing time in God’s Word make a real difference in your life?
• James 1:22 commands us to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” What are you doing today to build a godly life? If your honest answer is “not much,” what specific steps are you going to take to be that wise builder?

OK. Let’s make a shift in our thinking away from Matthew 27 and let’s talk for a few moments about what I’m going to call “A breakfast for champions.” Let me explain what I mean by reading to you a short paragraph from my book “Are You a Super Man? How to Become God’s Man of Steel.”

“To live daily as a Super Man of God, it is critical that you always follow a specific spiritual “diet.” It’s vital that you are daily feeding upon God’s Word. I’m not talking about Spiritual Melba Toast and a bowl of Holy Corn Flakes doused with a quarter-cup of Milk of the Word, here. I’m not referring to that short little thing many of us do in the morning that we tend to call “devotions.” I’m talking about a thick, juicy, godly T-bone, medium-well, seasoned just right with a side of piping hot steak fries and a pile of scrambled eggs! I’m talking about a sit-down with your Bible, notepad next to you and pen in hand, with a sheer determination not to get up until you have discovered buried treasure, kind of meal. A man’s meal. A Super Man’s meal. How often do you eat like that? How often do you genuinely “feed” upon God’s Word?”

We see in the Old Testament that the prophet Jeremiah couldn’t get enough of his Bible. In fact, he likened his reading of God’s Word to eating a full course meal—drawing all the nourishment and strength he needed to live a godly life directly from the pages of Scripture. Peter instructs us to deeply desire the Word of God, because it’s Scripture that helps us grow up in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. To be a Super Man of God, you gotta eat right, eat often and eat well.

Here's another direct quote from my book. Listen closely...

“Have you ever noticed that you rarely see Super Man eat? Ever wonder why that is? Since eating is all about providing energy to the body, and since Superman’s physiology draws all his energy from the sun, he really has no reason or need to eat. But I’m willing to bet that he dines on occasion just so he can enjoy the company of a certain female reporter for the Daily Planet named Lois Lane.

“How about you? No, I’m not asking if you want to go out on a date with Lois Lane. Nor am I talking about your appetite for spaghetti and meatballs. Actually, I’m more interested in this: as a Super Man of God, do you eat? What do you eat? What kind of spiritual food are you feeding upon? How often do you eat? Do you even need to eat? ”

HERE’S MY POINT: DON’T JUST SIT THERE – EAT ALREADY!

I say that simply because I know of some people who, when sitting at a table in a restaurant, study the menu from cover to cover. Have you ever met someone like that? You sit down, glance at the menu that was handed you, find what you want and you’re ready to order. Then there are those who read through every item, twice. They examine it, evaluate it, even discuss it with everyone else at the table. But when the wait staff comes to take your order, they ask for a few more minutes. Frustrating, right?

I submit that all too often, as Christian men, that’s how we treat the Word of God. We see it as a menu to be examined, evaluated, and discussed rather than a full-course meal to be consumed and enjoyed. As a result, many men are suffering from a sort of spiritual anorexia. Instead of feeding upon the banquet of blessing that God has prepared in His Word, they are starving themselves.

I’m sure you would agree that feeding your physical body is good; hey, sometimes it can be very good (I myself am a huge fan of liver and onions—now there’s a dish fit for a king)! But Jesus said “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

As a Super Man of God, I must draw my strength, I must find my sustenance, from God’s Word. Without it, I become weak and vulnerable. In a previous episode I asked you to answer the question, “How do you feel about your Bible?” Did you realize that you answer that question every day of your life? How? By your actions. The things you say, the choices you make, the actions you take reflect your view of God’s Word.

Listen closely as I read to you Psalm 1:1-3. “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.” (Psalm 1:1-3)

Please note the fact that God doesn’t say that the man who appreciates His Word, or the man who respects His Word will be like a tree, yielding fruit and prospering. He doesn’t say that the man who brings his Bible to church and does daily devotions is the one who will be blessed. It’s the guy who delights in God’s Word and meditates on it daily. Are you that guy? Do you want to be?

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? Becoming God’s Man of Steel.” 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.

Let me take just a moment here to explain to you this book I’ve written (in which we are taking a deep-dive into in this podcast) entitled “Are You a Super Man? Becoming God’s Man of Steel.” It’s available on Amazon.com.

This book is a 12-week men’s Bible study that is a fun look at what it means to be God’s Man of Steel in a world that is Anti-God, Anti-Christ, and Anti-Bible. In this book “Are You a Super Man? Becoming God’s Man of Steel” we discover that just as the fictional character known as “Superman” draws his physical strength from his close proximity to earth’s yellow sun, you and I as spiritually Super Men of God find our strength, our ability to effectively live a life that honors and glorifies God, that strength comes directly from our close proximity to God’s SON. The closer you are in relationship to Jesus Christ, the greater your power to resist the archenemy of your soul (the devil) and watch him flee from you (James 4:7).

Yet, truth-be-told, again – just like “Superman” has a weakness known as “Kryptonite” - you and I also have a weakness. It’s our spiritual Kryptonite. It’s that radioactive element of your life before Christ that your spiritual archenemy uses to his advantage. The fact is, when you play around with your Kryptonite, it weakens your will and ability to stand firm and fight the fight of faith.

In this “12-week men's Bible study” you will learn how to identify your Kryptonite, steer clear of it, find your super-spiritual strength as you daily draw closer to the SON, and be the man of steel God has called and equipped you to be. So, let me encourage you to go to Amazon.com today and purchase your copy of “Are You a Super Man? Becoming God’s Man of Steel.”

And if you have not yet subscribed to this Point of Purity 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.

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