Keeping Love Alive - Volume 3 - Challenge #1 - Busyness, Part 2

Are you tired of your weary demands of life often make you feel like you're running on a treadmill like no matter how hard you work your job or care for your family. There's always more to do today I want to give you two keywords that help you get perspective realign your priorities and begin to experience peace statement. Thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with shipping survival picture for this international discipleship ministry focused on helping Christians live like Christian on just a minute. You will pick up where he left off last time series. Keep love alive.

Volume 3. By continuing to unpack how we can better prioritize our life, avoid the traps of dizziness such a relatable topic. Let me encourage you after today's assets to share it with someone in your life easily do that through the chipping roadmap or by downloading ensuring the free MP3s of LivingontheEdge.org love you have a Bible turn out to Matthew chapter 6 for part two of chips message. One of the great mentors in my life was a guy named Howard Hendricks is my professor and mentor and I never forget he said, almost everyone lives with to set the priorities the one that they write down on a sheet of paper that says things like God, marriage, family, etc. and then the one that they actually live out day by day and usually they don't match much at all and if you want to have a successful life.

A successful marriage have kids you can't make your kids turn out right but you can create an environment that gives a really good possibility and whether you like it or not.

More is caught than taught in and here's the thing with children.

They don't do what you say, believe me. They become who you are. They don't become who you say they don't become who you would like.

They don't become who you would dream they become very much like to you are. If you're a person of integrity by large, they will be. If you have a hunger for God's word demonstrated not by words but by your behavior in general they will if you pray and depend on God and are kind people, they will probably catch typewriting depend on God and are kinda people and if you say these are really important things and I send you to Sunday school or even a Christian school, and here's what's really important, but when they look at your behavior because that's all they do, they will model your behavior.

My background in undergraduate and graduate work was in psychology and is a guy named Bandura that was famous for all of his studies.

He says the number one most powerful means of socialization and that's just a big word that means how people turn out by all the things I experience is motley, motley modeling perfectly. No imperfectly yes, but progressively so tool number one you must get a hold of your time right you know I could say something like we all have 168 hours a week so time is never the issue is how you spend them some 90 was written by it's the only one written did you know you wrote some 90 anybody that's Moses and for the last things he wrote. Let's just say in general. Somewhere around 2 million+ people came out of the Exodus and we know that only the people that were like 20 and under forget to go to the promised land, so maybe there's maybe there was 3 million.

I don't know but I conservatively would say Moses did about 1.5 million funerals bearing a lot of people over 40 years. The length of days, he says, is 70 or 80, if we have the strength get their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass and we fly away. Who knows the power of your anger for your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you application teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart encircling your notes. The word wisdom heart of wisdom. Basically what he says is 78 years.

Life is very, very short. You have time to run from the pressures and the pain and logon eat buy stuff you don't need don't have time to play games and be in denial and think that fantasy football who wins the next NFL game pleasure is a wonderful interlude to terrible destination. It's a great reprieve. It's a gift from God. Good food, good meals, good vacation good movie wonderful thinking that having enough getting enough earning enough so they can do whatever you want. Believe me, it's a life without meaning, says first you get a hold of your time recognizes way shorter than you think your breath away. Second, he says this coming judgment. Moses who knows the power of your anger.

God's holy he's loving is compassionately scaring but God is angry at sin. Here's a group of people. That said, yes, we know you parted the Red Sea. You did this. You've supplied the manner to do it our way, you know. Thanks for the cross, Jesus, appreciate your bunch, but I'll tell you what I'm in a sit on the throne of my life. I'm into my life my way and way I think is important. That's the heart of sin, the heart of all sin is saying to God you though, made me and died for me and care for me and have a plan for me.

I dethrone you and I will get to say what I will do with my life and my time in my way and are to be my goals and my dreams not yours.

And when you do that is called pride in God as opposed to the proud, the little word in Greek is anti-he puts on the warrior close because he cares and the velvet device.

God loves all of his children, but he loves us so much every son, every daughter whom he loves he disciplines, and when your priorities are out of whack and you're going down paths that are not wise in the Bible. Wisdom is doing life according to God's plan. In other words, God says I've created relationships to work like this. I've created finances to work like this.

What you do is you remember that it belongs to me you don't spend more than you have. You invest over here you're generous over here. And as you do that what you find as you accumulate you financial pressure and I as you are generous and caring and loving other people. I will pour more into you and have peace in your life. This is how you work.

This is how you discipline your kids. This is how you raise your kids wisdom is nothing more, nothing less, than the skill the knowledge the understanding to apply what God says about how I supposed to work and he, by the way, created life. He's all-knowing and he gave us the truth about how to do it. So he says here's the application.

Ask God for wisdom to know what to do in the New Testament.

The apostle Paul would write Ephesians chapter 5.

Therefore be careful how you walk, you literally how you live not as unwise but wiser be getting sort of a pattern here making the most of your time, because the days are evil. Put a box around the word time. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is his two major words and in Greek for Time Warner skyrockets the others. Chronos basically the way this is making the most of your time is like opportunity never to have a window of opportunity. Some of your kids are very small right now.

I just talked to a young man whose very very smart from another country. He asked me if he would if I would mentor him. So I said I would.

So I was on the phone with him yesterday as I was driving very very smart and he's been very successful came out of a Southeast Asian country just got a very advanced degree and had some ministry opportunities and he he chose one and then he just in passing said all yeah and I they gave me a job so that my my wife could make the decision whether she wanted to be home with her, not okay the babies six weeks old so I said the house got us going really good week. First day.

This is her first day we put our brand-new baby in daycare and as she works in this office and I work in this office and to salaries and I'm thinking that there's some people that have to put the baby in daycare. I don't know him well enough yet, but I would say what you have the baby. My backgrounds, educational psychology, 80% of that child 80% of child moral development. Personality development IQ development happens in the first 5 to 6 years. You can outsource that to someone who makes minimum wage that has seven other kids are trying to take care of the bonding that happens the attachment that happens with the mom that happens with the family. You think there's a reason that the family is falling apart but we wheat we traded. I mean if if nothing more than saying you know what I think for 80% of my kids development is probably a good thing that you know like someone that loves the kid that sings the talks that teaches logs we traded in for two salaries just have two cars just had that TV can you live unless absolutely you talk about misplaced priorities. Okay, that's been a 30 year run.

Tell me how families are doing now this this guy just graduated from one of the most prestigious seminaries in America and I'm thinking, how could you be so smart and so unwise. His plan is to go back into a very challenging world and he will have a young child that grows up with attachment issues, lack of bonding issues that is most emotionally strong because guess what, there's this thing that God made for babies and moms and babies and dance. There are certain situations.

My wife was in that case she had to bring new babies husband that ran off with someone else and found herself with no job, no money to babies goes to work and praise God.

There was someone that would help take care of those babies.

That's you know what everyone has some of those times. But our priorities are complete, you have to get a hold of your time and you have to live wisely. Those moments aren't coming back. Birthdays don't come back.

Graduations don't come back windows of time where you sit out after playing one-on-one with your son and her dripping wet and are looking up at the sky and instead of doing a Bible study, you just start talking to God out loud and he realizes it's not about church is not about religion and he loves his dad and you're out there sweating and that's how you be a man. That's how you walk with God and those moments when no canisters TV and junk and Netflix, but you tuck your kids in your paid them and you get up in your pray with them before they go to school and you tell them what really matters in a really matter and loving family is spelled T hi eat. There is no substitute in you all have been raised in a generation of media and social media. I mean if you want to get a hold of your time, get a hold you time. Turn off your social media for the next seven days. Believe me, all all the people that are posting things. It'll be there when you get back. Just stopping detoxing.

You have plenty of time to meet with God. Ask yourself what what are the habits. This was a breakthrough for me just ask yourself there's little habits like you go to work you do this you come home to eat and then if you're not careful you can find you burn three hours every night sit in front of the tube and then if you if you watch 30 to 45 minutes of the news. I mean how many pictures do we need to see to think things are really challenging. Don't put your head in the sand, but I will tell you every time you put all that stuff in your mind, your your emotions will tell you you need to help fix this or you need to do something about it and it will get you discouraged and thinking very negatively and in ways that are not healthy or good futile. The Bible says set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth, the mind set on the flesh is death mindsets on the Spirit is life and peace.

Most important decision you make, every single day is what do you will have to go into your mind because your thinking produces your emotions, your emotions by March produces your behavior. Your behavior is a series of decisions and then you live with those consequences. So your thinking in our time, give God your first and best time and I gave you a little of his called to pro-apt if you've never kinda knew how to study the Bible. It's take a short little section could be James chapter 1, you could go through the book of Mark Gore, the gospel of John. Pray before then read the chapter superfast. That's what I mean by preview then read it slowly, thoughtfully, then read it one more time and just observe. You know the words that are repeated or what's it talking about and then to say got what you want me to do and make some sort of application amendment ask God pray for the help to do it and then tell someone this is this is what I read today a good someone might be right, but just text me at this. Whatever this morning is what I'm gonna do I'm gonna pray for your mom because she called last night. I'm concerned about her. If this is new to you. We do a thing it Living on the Edge called daily discipleship were actually meet with people individually and mentor disciple them and how to read the Bible how to pray how to meet with God and I never really talk eight or nine minutes max.

Never more than 10 and and then I give people just one something that I asked you for 10 minutes and I meet with you to build a habit for just about three weeks I had never open the Bible, grown-up. I trusted Christ through athletics, Fellowship of Christian athletes right after I graduate from high school and I went to a college on a basketball scholarship and there was a bricklayer and that town who met with me every Tuesday when I was willing to get up off and I pretended I was asleep and he taught me how to study God's word taught me how to pray. He had me at his house for dinner with a bunch other athletes.

I watched a grown man date is life and never seen a married person date. His wife had four kids I what this is what a dad looks like who loves his sons of disciplines and plays with them in about three years in I didn't know much about Christianity because is all new, but I decided my heart of hearts. Someday I want to be like Dave Marshall. I don't be a lawyer. I don't be an astronaut. I don't know when the pie was a Eskimo coach and teacher and I just thought more than anything else. I want to be a Christian like Dave Marshall going to be a dad like Dave Marshall to be husband like Dave Marshall and that set me on the journey of getting a hold of my time getting a hold of my money getting over my priorities and it's been a long journey in making the changes has not been easy but life-giving. God has so much more for us than most of us are getting. I don't I don't want to get to heaven, and he cannot like this is mostly in storage and Graham you know shelf one shelf to shell three.

One of these. These are all the blessings make these are relational blessings. These were the family blessing zero financial blessings. These were all the big opportunities will will how come I didn't get you decided to do it your way. I mean, I made him a pretty clear I waited out rentals were clear and when you when you walk in wisdom. I had all these time for you guys know that I love you no good thing will he withhold from those walk uprightly the dreams I had for you the opportunities ahead for you. What I wanted the intimacy in your marriage. I wanted you to be used got you busy in phone phone phone phone social media social media what everyone think pressure pressure pressure. I just wanted you to be a man of God. I just want to be a woman of God died for you, don't you think I'm giving the best he that spared not his own son.

How would he not with him freely give us all things and so the second one is your money. Huge subject that I'm just going to say that Jesus spoke more about money than he did. Heaven and earth combined. Not because he's trying or needs your money. Obviously it's because your heart always follows your treasure but the thing here's here's what money tells you it's your values when you have money arguments. It's not about money it's about who spends what, why did you buy that she's right you place a much call for once you do this what you do that. Why do you spend that are why did we talk about it. Money is about what matters and it reflects where your heart really is and and so God wants to have our heart and soul. Why, he tells us to give the first portion. He owns 100% of it. I don't have a house it's his house.

I don't have time. It's his time to have a car. It's his car but I don't have savings. This is saving so what I manage it. What do you want me to do with all this. He says will first just so we see on the same page. Every time something comes and I want you to give me the first portion. That's what it means to honor, to remind you that it's mine, not yours because you don't, you'll spend it differently, you invest it differently you'll do different with it.

When you understand its mice and by the way, I'm like the smartest financial manager. The whole world because under the beginning from the end and I for you and and by the wife when people's priorities are out of whack.

I do this thing. I put holes in their purses. You are in your finances, you will do it your way that I watched over and over and over and over he can. He can make you know let's say you start with 10% as it is a good starting place. You can make 90% go six times as far as 100% when you priorities and then you get to see vivid answers to prayer we get a hold of your money have to do silly things like have an actual budget and decide where it goes. Find out where it is.

So the application is the four commitments give the first portion of each paycheck to God and by the way, there's tons of resources and we have some and there's others. Financial peace University Ron blue group Crown ministry. There's, here's the deal you want to get your finances in order. There's plenty ways to do it.

I just want to tell you you better do it. Second is pay your bills next before you go to Cosco or other places live on the rest way we did that as we did those first two things and then we decided you know how much fruit we had for groceries and how we can we put them in envelopes, cash it's it's it's really weird it's funny when when you use a card, it just doesn't seem like real money when you do cash and then when the envelopes empty due to tell you I got $85 for the next two weeks for recreation for $70 grant. Enjoy the next 13 days on the 15 bucks you know, though, so if you get the idea then and the thin. The fourth is to is to get out of debt. Obviously there's, you know, things like homes that are appreciable and some some debt that can be wise and helpful in some seasons, but those that's really what the Bible says in God will bless your finances as you do it because really what he wants to do is bless you is the longest recorded day in Jesus life and it's in Mark chapter 1 and it says a great while before dawn. He arose and went to a lonely place to pray. It was crazy day he just ministered minister administered and then he got to Peter mother's low house and she was sick and so healed her and us as people came from everywhere in the cast out demons and healed people into the wee hours. Sometimes we think Jesus had he he called himself the son of man, because he was fully man and he was fully God without confusion. He he live, not as deity. He lived as being fully human. He said I can do nothing apart from what I see the father I can do nothing of my own and so it was his humanity trusting the father in the power of the Holy Spirit, so he would model for us how we live the life and after his longest day, he felt the need to get up early and reconnect with his father to remember what matters because he was tempted in every way like us, yet without sin. And you know you just can't have people saying you are awesome you the new rocks are thousands of people showing up his popularity and his disciples go out that morning say Jesus. Jesus got a come back. It's unbelievable if you thought last night was great.

I mean you are like the greatest rock star. And I mean everyone's looking for you and I believe he went out there to remember what he came because he says to the disciples. I must go to other villages for.

That's why I came to little Greek word that the means of a day of necessity, I have to do this and so I've kind of taken that is my challenge that if Jesus, the son of God needed to meet with his father and get clear on what matters. Problem with this application for this message. Challenge number one busyness from his series, keeping the love alive.

Volume 3. It's been said that marriage is like a jury wall.

Every relationship has its ups and downs. There seem to be particular struggles that affect every couple in the series. Keeping love alive. Volume 3 chip addresses the four challenges every great marriage is in common. He exposes help, busyness, temptation, kids and stagnation can ruin relationships discover from God's word. How you and your mate can handle these trials together and become a stronger couple more effective parents and create a happier home now. If you missed any part of the series keeping love alive. Volume 3, or want to learn more about our helpful resources that you can remap is a great way to get plugged in now before we go any further chip.

I can see you want to jump in here.

Thanks Dave.

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Let's get to that application. We promised as we wrap up today's program. I just long to put my arm around you, literally and say hey I understand I understand what it's like when you're pulled in all these directions and a lot of you are working at home and you find yourself busy and in what I want to say is you gotta get a hold of your life and the only way to get a hold of your life in your priorities is to seek first God's kingdom, and the only way to seek first God's kingdom. You have to get a handle on two things your time and your money your time and your money. The number one thing you must do with your time is meet with God.

He wants to lead you, guide you, comfort you direct you protect you but if you're not meeting with God, you, you're just starting each and every day I mean with your hair on fire trying to meet all kind of needs and in the notes I give you a very specific way of how to meet with God and do it first and in in just 20 minutes and I called the two prolapsed and encourage you to download the notes there free. A second way that has really been helpful is something we call daily discipleship and literally it's I will teach you how to meet with God one-on-one. I never talk more than 10 minutes and then I ask you for 10 minutes.

I have just heard literally from thousands of people as they've done that with me for 10 days or 20 days. I now get it. My life's changed. I meet with God. I hear his voice, and then the second thing is you have to get your finances in order. I gave you a little overview of giving first pay your bills next live on the rest and get out of debt. But for many of you, you have to get with a financial counselor or go through something like Dave Ramsey's financial peace University. But you have. To get your finances in order, and these are all tall challenges. This is where to start and so father I pray for my brothers and sisters that I know are struggling in these areas. I'm talking with them on a daily basis. We you give them the grace to take the first step toward you to meet with you to get your direction, and to trust you for all the rest in Jesus name, amen. Think strip we know a great way to get plugged in with the resources chip just mentioned is through the tripping remap. There you can listen to past series sign up for daily discipleship. Download the message notes and much more. Let us help you experience God in a new personal way. Starting today with the chipping remap will join us again next time. As Jeff continues his series keeping love alive through November is a very saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge