The PursueGOD Truth Podcast

Today we go over your step by step guide to finally having freedom from lust

Chronological Chapter Timestamps

- The Missing Roadmap: Why willpower isn't enough and the need for a comprehensive blueprint.

- The True Foundation: Why personal connection—not rigid religious duty—is the power source for freedom.

- The Seven Sons of Sceva: A striking story in Acts revealing why the enemy isn't afraid of your tactics.

- Standing on Bought Ground: Shifting from fighting for freedom to defending ground already won.

- Actionable Faith: How true belief manifests through intentional daily movement.

- The Baseline Question: Are you actually ready to be free? (And what to do when the answer is no).

- The Victory Routine: Morning and evening anchors that eliminate unstructured temptation.

- Environmental Audit: Why abstinence is easier than moderation when clearing out media and dopamine traps.

- Eye & Thought Discipline: Master the art of "bouncing your eyes" and stopping thoughts from building a nest.

- The Ultimate Weapon: How Jesus fought temptation in the wilderness—and why scripture memory is your only live ammunition.

- The Trachenberg Strategy: What Napoleon's defeat teaches us about "Fight by Flight."

- The 3-Step Fight Protocol: Name it, Reject it, Replace it.

- One Day at a Time: Winning the current wave instead of getting crushed by the weight of forever.

In this opening episode of a 12-week series on The Pursuit, Pastor Bryan Dwyer, Pastor Ross Anderson, and Tracy Dwyer introduce the fundamental truths of embarking on a journey with God. Designed for both seasoned believers looking to disciple others and seekers exploring Christianity for the first time, the hosts address common misconceptions about God's character and religious expectations. The conversation centers on a pivotal core truth: God is actively for you, not against you, regardless of your past, mistakes, or perceived distance from Him. Drawing from the story of Jesus healing the leper in Matthew 8, the episode illustrates Christ's willingness to draw near to and transform those who feel isolated or unworthy. We introduce the concept of a "full-circle faith"—a dynamic process that begins by trusting Jesus for salvation and naturally progresses into living a life that honors Him and culminates in making disciples.
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The PursueGOD Truth podcast is the “easy button” for making disciples – whether you’re looking for resources to lead a family devotional, a small group at church, or a one-on-one mentoring relationship. Join us for new episodes every Tuesday and Friday.
Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org.
Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.
Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.
Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at podcast@pursueGOD.org.
Donate Now
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Timestamps & Key Topics
00:03 - Introduction to "The Pursuit" Series Pastor Brian, Pastor Ross, and Tracy introduce the 12-week series designed to equip Christians to make disciples while offering seekers a clear, biblical picture of God.
01:31 - Reframing the Image of God Addressing common cultural and religious baggage, the hosts discuss shifting from a rule-based view of faith to understanding God's heart and intentions toward individuals.
04:50 - Evaluating Your Standing with God A prompt encouraging listeners to reflect on where they fall on the continuum of feeling far from vs. close to God.
07:10 - Truth #1: God is For You, Not Against You Unpacking the assurance that God is not intimidated by anyone's past or sin, and exploring how Jesus actively pursued the broken rather than avoiding them.
08:33 - The Story of the Leper (Matthew 8) An analysis of Jesus reaching out to touch and heal a leper, highlighting Christ's compassion, power, and willingness to restore those who feel rejected.
14:43 - The Pitfall of Self-Righteousness & Religious Systems Examining Mark 2:17 and why trying to earn God’s favor through moral effort or rule-keeping keeps people from experiencing genuine grace.
18:00 - Truth #2: A Pursuit of God Changes Everything Discussing John 10:10 ("life to the full") and how whole-life Christianity impacts eternity as well as daily relational, emotional, and practical living.
20:55 - The Full-Circle Faith Framework: Trusting Jesus Understanding the first arrow of the full-circle model: starting a relationship with God strictly through faith in Jesus Christ rather than self-improvement or good works (Romans 3:22).
28:53 - The Full-Circle Faith Framework: Living to Honor God Exploring how genuine faith shifts internal desires, leading believers to align their choices, habits, and allegiance with God out of gratitude rather than obligation.

Key Takeaways
God Is Willing and Good: Jesus's interaction with the leper demonstrates that God possesses both the power to transform lives and the desire to draw near to those who feel defiled or far away.
Salvation Is a Gift, Not an Achievement: Relationship with God begins solely by placing faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:22). It cannot be bought, earned, or supplemented by human effort.
Faith Is a Journey, Not Just a Destination: Following Christ offers "life to the full" (John 10:10), impacting every area of daily living—relationships, habits, and internal peace—rather than just securing a future outcome.
Grace Drives Obedience: Good works do not earn salvation; rather, experiencing God's free gift creates a natural desire to live a life that honors Him out of gratitude and love.

If you’ve spent years trying to clean up your behavior through tips, tricks, and sheer willpower, only to land right back where you started, this conversation is for you. We’re moving past exterior "fixes" and diving straight into the root issue: the heart.

Episode Timestamps

– The Vomit Analogy: Why returning to destructive habits isn't just a bad habit—it's a nature problem.

– Giving the Dog a Bath: Why YouTube videos, programs, and external discipline keep failing you.

– The Hard Truth: Stop blaming your past, your friends, or your environment—taking ownership of your choices.

– The Root vs. The Fruit: How lust and addiction hide deeper issues like pride, jealousy, and anger.

– The Carfax of Your Soul: Facing the reality that your best effort will never be enough to fix a broken nature.

– "I'll Pay Full Price": The powerful shift from fighting for freedom to fighting from freedom.

– Inside-Out Transformation: Moving from external behavior management to a complete heart renewal.

While modern business gurus like Steven Bartlett and Elon Musk emphasize extending time horizons from 5 to 50 years to build durable, multi-generational companies, they are still only scratching the surface. In this episode, we explore how the principles of long-term thinking, foundational architecture, and building "durable moats" in business directly parallel the teachings of Jesus and the Scriptures. If extending your time horizon changes the way you construct a business, extending it to eternity should fundamentally transform how you structure your entire life. Discover why worldly success without an eternal foundation is an unstable build, and how you can stop, reset, and anchor your soul on bedrock.
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The PursueGOD Truth podcast is the “easy button” for making disciples – whether you’re looking for resources to lead a family devotional, a small group at church, or a one-on-one mentoring relationship. Join us for new episodes every Tuesday and Friday.
Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org.
Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.
Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.
Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at podcast@pursueGOD.org.
Donate Now
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To entrepreneurs today, Jesus would say that true success requires extending your time horizon beyond temporal wealth to eternity by building your life on the solid foundation of His teachings. While modern business strategy emphasizes long-term planning to create lasting value, Jesus challenges business leaders to consider the state of their eternal souls. Real security comes from trusting in God rather than unreliable riches, storing up heavenly treasure, and living with an eternal perspective.
The Problem with Short-Term Thinking
Modern business culture preaches the power of long-term vision. Consultants and top executives encourage founders to look past five-year exit strategies and plan for fifty-year horizons to build durable companies. Extended timeframes naturally demand stronger foundational decisions. Yet, from a biblical standpoint, even a fifty-year business strategy remains dangerously short-sighted.
Jesus addressed the trap of temporal focus when He posed a fundamental question to His followers.
Mark 8:36-37 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?Many driven professionals achieve massive financial success while inadvertently sacrificing their marriages, families, and spiritual well-being. They focus entirely on temporal outcomes while ignoring eternal realities. The Bible teaches that every human being will live forever somewhere. Consequently, evaluating life solely through the lens of earthly achievements ignores our ultimate destiny. God calls us to expand our planning far beyond a decade or a career.
Riches Are Unreliable Foundations
Building a life on wealth creates a fragile structure that cannot withstand the storms of life or the reality of eternity. Money itself is not evil, but placing your trust in it creates a dangerous spiritual trap. Wealth offers a false sense of security that quickly evaporates when facing loss, tragedy, or death.
The apostle Paul provided clear instructions for those who experience financial success, highlighting where true confidence belongs.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this, they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.Paul does not condemn money; rather, he warns against trusting in its stability. When business leaders redirect their resources toward generosity and good works, they shift their investments into an infrastructure that lasts. True life is found not in accumulating capital, but in knowing and serving the God who generously provides.
The Danger of Storing Up Earthly Wealth
Jesus frequently warned His listeners about the spiritual blindness caused by materialism. In a culture driven by net worth and asset accumulation, His warnings hit home for high achievers. He told a parable about a successful farmer who produced a bumper crop and decided to tear down his barns to build bigger ones so he could relax for decades.
Luke 12:20-21 But God said to him, "You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?" Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.Jesus called this successful manager a fool not because he was good at business, but because he was completely unprepared for eternity. He planned for early retirement while neglecting his relationship with God. When we invest all our energy, time, and talent into temporary ventures, our hearts naturally follow those investments.
Matthew 6:19-21 Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.Aligning your desires with God's kingdom protects you from placing supreme value on things that will eventually decay.
Rebuilding on the Ultimate Rock
Building a high-rise building requires digging a deep foundation. If you try to add extra floors to a building constructed on a weak base, the entire structure eventually collapses under stress. Many professionals reach a plateau or experience a crisis because they attempted to build a massive life on a weak base.
Jesus concluded His Sermon on the Mount by contrasting two types of builders.
Matthew 7:24-27 Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rains come in torrents and the flood waters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it's built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.The storms of life test every life and career. When difficulty strikes, only a life built on obedience to Christ stands firm. Rebuilding your life on Jesus requires taking a step back, repenting of self-reliance, and allowing Him to transform your priorities from the ground up.
The apostle Paul reinforced this truth when evaluating our lifelong work.
1 Corinthians 3:11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.Every achievement, business venture, and earthly status symbol will one day pass through the testing fire of God's judgment. Works driven by pride and temporal greed will burn away, but efforts built on faith, obedience, and love for Christ will yield eternal rewards.
The Takeaway
To entrepreneurs today, Jesus offers a loving warning and a call to true wisdom. Achieving market success means very little if you lose your eternal soul in the process. While business strategies require vision, your ultimate focus belongs on eternity. Reevaluate your priorities today, ensure your confidence rests in Christ rather than your wealth, and rebuild your life on the rock of His Word.

What happens when you achieve the ultimate "world's version" of success—building websites with 15 million monthly views—but you're still miserable inside? In this transparent interview, Vic (the entrepreneur behind Screen Rant and Game Rant) shares his 15-year journey of tracking 34,000 food entries, surviving 11 surgeries, enduring a divorce, and ultimately finding true redemption through faith in Jesus. Vic discusses his new book, "The Last 10 Pounds," and breaks down why so many men chase the wrong idols (like money and body image) before realizing what truly matters. Whether you need to fix your physical fitness or your spiritual foundation, this episode will show you how to start your own "redeemed second half."
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The PursueGOD Truth podcast is the “easy button” for making disciples – whether you’re looking for resources to lead a family devotional, a small group at church, or a one-on-one mentoring relationship. Join us for new episodes every Tuesday and Friday.
Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org.
Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.
Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.
Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at podcast@pursueGOD.org.
Donate Now
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