Skip to content How to Put First Things First, Part 2 Aug 7 · 34 min ...more
How to Put First Things First, Part 2
August 7, 2025 · 34 min
There are three words that can liberate you from the tyranny of the urgent. Three words that will reduce your stress and increase your joy. Join Chip to find out what those three words are.
Series Balancing Life's Demands August 7, 2025 · 34 min · Balancing Life's Demands
There are three words that can liberate you from the tyranny of the urgent. Three words that will reduce your stress and increase your joy. Join Chip to find out what those three words are. ...more Show the full description Show less There are three words that can liberate you from the tyranny of the urgent. Three words that will reduce your stress and increase your joy. Join Chip to find out what those three words are.
Series Balancing Life's Demands Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
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Chip Ingram is an American Christian pastor, author, and teacher. He is the founder, teaching pastor and CEO of Living on the Edge, an international teaching and discipleship ministry.
618K followers
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The Power of Advanced Decision Making 0:01 There are 3 words that have the power to release you from the grip of the urgent. There's 3 words that contain the key to you experiencing more and more of what God wants for you. These 3 words could0:13 liberate you. They could help you keep your commitments to God. Would you like to know what these 3 words are? Well, stay with me. That's today.0:22 Thanks for listening to this edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We are an international teaching and discipleship ministry that encourages and equips Christians to live like Christians. Well, today Chip0:34 continues his series, Balancing Life's Demands, with more on how to put the first things first in our lives. A lot of insight to get to, so go in your bible again to Hebrews chapter 12, as we join Chip for the0:46 remainder of his message.0:48 Delayed gratification, if that's the key, how do you develop it in your life? And the method of developing biblical discipline can be summed up in 3 words. Discipline is 2 words, delayed gratification.1:00 How you get it, the process of developing it, you say to yourself, what's the training? Where's the magazine that says if I run, you know, jog a little bit, and then the next week I actually try and jog a mile, and then1:11 after that I go and Where How does that happen? And you're going to see it right out of scripture. The 3 key words are advanced decision making. The key to delayed gratification. If you1:23 are at the window and the moment where you know you need to delay your gratification, and you have it pre decided what you're going to do in that moment, about 95 percent of the time, you will do what you don't want to1:33 do. Let me give you a biblical example, and if you have your pen or pencil, pull it out because I want you to circle, do a little bible study, you're going to see something very interesting1:45 about what the apostle Paul does. Now remember, I mean this is a godly, godly man. 13 books of the new testament he writes. So I want to give you a little context, this I mean this is a guy who God has greatly, greatly1:57 used, but listen to some of his fears in his life. He's writing to the Corinthians, in First Corinthians 9, he says, Do you not know that those who run-in a race all run, but only 12:09 receives the prize? Run-in such a way, that's a manner of living, that you may win. Circle the word win. And everyone who competes in the games, who's giving reference to the2:21 Olympic games at the time, exercises, put a box around self control. That's our word. In what? All things.2:33 Application to the Olympic games and the people of his day. They do it to receive a perishable wreath. In the Olympic games, they actually had an Olympic village, you had to talk about training, you had to2:45 sign up in advance, you had to be approved, and you lived in an Olympic village, and they moderated your food and your schedule for a full year, and you were in what was called training.2:59 So that was the commitment long before the games. They do it so at the very end, in front of thousands of people, they would take a wreath, and they would stick it on your head to declare you as the3:10 champion, to get the praise of people. They do it. They go into training. They're self controlled. They rearrange their time, their eating, their habits, their focus, their family to get a perishable wreath, but we,3:22 an imperishable. And he's picturing the judgment seat of Christ and the reward for the sons and daughters of the King. So here's his personal application. Therefore, I run, notice in3:34 such a way, what's that? It's repeated again. It's a manner of life. How do I do life? How do I put my schedule together? What are my priorities? See, I run-in such a way, notice, as3:46 not without aim, I box in such a way as not beating the air, but I buffet my body, and the the phrase is interesting in the in the original text3:58 literally, it's it's a battering to black and blue. He's making a little hyperbole here. And I make it my slave. In In other words, my body's not gonna tell me I gotta go to the refrigerator. My body's not gonna tell me4:10 because I'm tired, I gotta turn on the TV. My body and my emotions are not gonna tell me how to live my life. I'm gonna be in control by the spirit of God to do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, so4:21 that I can have a wreath from the King of Kings that says, well done, thou good and faithful servant. I can have the kind of marriage that God wants from4:33 me. I can have the kind of kids who say, I wish I had a dad or a mom, like that. I can have employees who say, Now there is someone who runs a company God's way. Get4:44 it? He goes on to say, After I have preached to others, I buffet my body, I make it my slave, he's talking about the self control, least possibly4:56 after I've preached to others, I myself should be disqualified. Not speaking of his salvation whatsoever, disqualified as, you know what? I'm not in the game. I'm not making a difference.5:09 I mean, all of us want to say, Paul, are you kidding me, man? I mean, right by now, you've probably got 5, 6, 7 New Testament books written. You're 1 of our heroes. You're the greatest missionary entrepreneur of all5:18 time. And he realizes it never ends. The pull of the flesh, the draw of the spirit. The pull of the world, the draw of the spirit. Let me make a couple observations,5:30 and then I wanna get this very practical. Notice he has a clear cut goal, verse 24, to win. Notice verse 25, there's a focus on the prize. He5:41 lives consciously with a sense of reward. There's something I want to get. There's something I want to become. Notice verse 25 and 26, there's a motive. And his5:53 motives are the eternal versus the temporal, right? An imperishable versus a perishable. And then finally, notice the the personal application. He basically says, I have clear cut goals.6:06 I don't beat the air. I don't run aimlessly. I'm I'm not jogging here. I know exactly where I'm going. Second, he focuses on the reward so that I'll get that, and third, he ponders the consequences6:18 of what if I don't do this? What if I don't do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I am disqualified6:30 for service? And from that passage alone, if you honestly in your heart of heart wanna learn to put first things first, everything from your money, to your time, to your relationships,6:42 to ministry, and to work. I will tell you, the apostle Paul is outlining for us exactly how to do it. Advanced decision making, we said, is the key. Notice, it begins6:54 with clear cut objectives. Advanced decision making is rooted in clear cut objectives. Now let me give you a couple examples7:06 of advanced decision making, and by the way, again, sometimes when you hear people talk, we unconsciously think, well, well he said that, maybe I should do that. Maybe you shouldn't. I'm gonna7:18 give you personal advanced decisions I've made that the spirit of God has led me to make, so I can become who God wants me to be. If some of them might be helpful, great. But don't, that's how people7:30 get all messed up. Well you know Chip, he's doing it this way. Well good, you know why? Because he's Chip. You're Mary. Be Mary, be Bob. You need to discern what God wants you to do. But here's a few advanced decisions7:41 I've made, what? So that I can get the imperishable. I made a, I have an advanced decision, I'll be with God before I'll be with people. It's my advanced decision with my time.7:53 Hey, can we get together tomorrow? I've got a big business deal, we want you to meet so and so and so and so, da da da. Okay. Advanced decision, I'm going to meet with God before I meet with people. Boy, that really8:03 backs things up. But I just, I just found, when I start getting with people, I get pulled. I just, I need to meet with God first. I made an advanced decision. So I don't get up in the8:14 morning and the alarm goes off and go, I wonder what I should do today. I wonder if I should read my Bible and pray, I wonder what I should do, I wonder where I should, I got a plan. That's an advanced decision. Second8:25 advanced decision, I will give the first portion of every check to God. It's an advanced decision. I don't care what we got in the bank, don't have in the bank, and man, I've pulled quarters out of the back seat, I've8:35 been a really really poor guy at times in our life. With 3 kids, then 4 kids. And no matter, we just decide, we pre decided by faith, either I trust God, I believe8:47 in God, or I don't. He needs to have my heart, he doesn't have my heart unless he has my money, and we've been on this journey of giving the first portion, and progressively giving more and more and more because we want8:58 to. Because we actually believe there's an eternity, and we actually believe there's a reward, and we actually believe you can send it on ahead, because Jesus said so. Advanced decision number 3, I will not buy anything9:09 we can't pay for in 30 days. And I will say, yes, the exception of a house. Or some of you would say, you know, Chip, that's good for you, but you need to consider this, this9:20 great. Consider all the other stuff. I'm just saying as a general rule, if we can't pay for it, I don't I don't I've never paid interest on any credit card.9:32 Ever. After I saved up the first time and prayed and asked God, I've had cars for 8, 10, 12 years, but it's been 20 some years since I put a car on time.9:44 You'd start trusting God and asking for those things. This whole deal, they want you to get a car, you know, every 3 years. You know, man, you just lost about 15 percent of it when it goes off the lot, and you know, that9:54 whole leasing deal, the most profitable part of Ford Motor Company has nothing to do with selling anything, it's their finance department. Because they got Americans thinking, for life, I gotta have a house payment for10:06 life, I have a car payment for life, now I can go to I can go to Rooms To Go and I don't have to pay for any of the rooms until 2094, and you know, no interest down. I mean, you know, everything on TV says they don't10:18 even tell you the price of things anymore, it's just how much a month. But I mean for me, that's just a decision. I've, I've pre decided I will not view nudity of any kind.10:30 For me, not you, for me, I've decided there's certain ratings, I don't care, I won't see them. I just pre decide. I've missed probably 2 or 3 really great movies that had a rating that's beyond my personal convictions.10:43 I confess, I have missed a couple great movies, and I think I've dodged about a thousand, because I'm just I'm real visual, and I'm sensitive, and so I just my10:55 1 is I will not, be with another woman, alone other than my wife. I've seen all these ministry guys who love God, they start counseling people. I'm a lousy counselor anyway, so that's a11:06 pretty easy 1 for me. But I mean it's even down to, you know, there's an emergency, the car's here, you know, my assistant, you know what? I made a pre decision. I mean, it's only 611:18 miles away. You're legalistic. Okay. Confession. I am. I am. I am. I am. On this 1, I'm legalistic. But I just got this theory. If I'm not with another woman alone, other than Teresa, there's a good chance I'll end with11:29 her. And is it okay for some other people to do that differently? Absolutely, you do whatever God shows you. A lot of my precisions are about my weakness, not my strength.11:44 So what precisions would God want you to make? My dad, I really saw God do a great thing in his life when he, you know, it was really hard, World War II, and became11:56 an alcoholic, a functional, loving alcoholic. I mean, you know, he drank all the time, but he wasn't mean, he just started drinking beer about 2 in the afternoon and 11 at night he was still drinking beer and on Saturday12:06 he started 9 in the morning and did it all day, but you know, he was a nice guy. And, I remember when he quit, and then he actually quit and then came to Christ, give it to the marines, right?12:17 And, and then he just made some free decisions, you know, all of his buddies, he just, you know, I can't go to Pete's Bar and Grill. I like hanging out with you guys, but I can't go there and maintain victory. And we all12:29 have those areas. I have a very, very good friend who does not have Internet at his house, and you're thinking, how do you do life? Well, he had a porn problem for 2 years. And he just pre12:41 decided. I I, you know, other people, I can't. I just can't have it in my house. But if if you wanna be disciplined, you have to make some predecisions. And here's the12:52 key, let the predecisions grow out of clear cut objectives. My experience is so often what they grow out of is guilt and other people's expectations and this thought of, well, I ought to do this. I ought to be more13:04 this way. And you know, that won't keep you.13:07 You're listening to Living on the Edge. We'll get you back to today's program in just a second. But first, did you know that other believers are paramount to your faith journey? Keep listening after this message as Chip13:19 explains why and highlights some resources we have to help you connect with authentic community today. Stick around to learn more. But for now, here again is Chip.13:30 In that passage, the world, you know, the children of darkness more shrew than the children of light. To get through seminar, I used to sell, insurance and investments. If I made 3 sales, I could feed my family, I was13:41 full time in school and working full time. And so I went out about 3 or 4 nights a week, and I went to the northern part of Dallas, amazing luxury homes, sat down with this couple, and I learned something. I mean, I had13:53 all different socioeconomic levels, but a lot of them I got in sort of the referrals, I was getting into the, you know, the gravy land, the people that had some money, and I thought, this is really going to work out. And14:01 then I learned something. When people had a little window and they made this much money, that's what they spent. And then when they made this much money, that's what they spent. And then when they made this much money,14:10 that's what they spent. Now, I mean, I just would pray, God, give me an engineer. Please, please, please, I wanna meet with an engineer. They're just so logical. I can show them this, this, they go bang, okay, let's do14:20 it. I would sit at the table with people in luxurious homes, and BMWs, and a Mercedes, and this and that, and they were leveraged up to their nostrils, and they couldn't make a simple change or invest the difference. And14:30 it was like, and I remember sitting at that table, and I looked over, and this guy had on his refrigerator, I mean a big picture of a black turbo 9, I think it was a 9 11 Porsche.14:43 You gotta say it right, Porsche. And I said, what's that? He goes, that's why I do what I do. I said, what do you do? He said, I'm14:55 growing a business, make a lot of money. And and you know, all the at first I thought, oh, how materialistic. And then I thought, you know what? That dude's smarter than most of us. We don't even know what we wanna do.15:05 He's got a picture, a goal, a clarity, and it makes the rest of his life make sense. I may disagree that that's the highest thing to give your life to, but this is Paul's15:17 illustration. There's people that give up a year of their life, eat the same food, be away from their families, go in training for a year so that they could get a little reef on top of their head. Hello!15:30 He's saying, what are your clear cut goals? I would encourage you, to develop a to be list. I know you do to do lists,15:42 or at least most of you do. It was, 19 86, obviously, Prothe Hendrix of Dallas Seminary has had a big impact. It was a brown bag lunch, I was with 12 other guys,15:54 we were talking about, you know, life and ministry and being husbands and fathers and what we were supposed to be, what we wanted to do, and I'll never forget, professor put these 4 words up on the board, and then he16:04 basically said, guys, get grace down. God loves you at this moment as much as he'll ever love you. Okay? Let that sink in. Gentlemen, you can't impress him.16:16 Reading longer, praying longer, effective ministries, doesn't change his love. So what you need to do first is get rooted and grounded and that you are loved and accepted that you are his son. We were all men in the room16:28 at the time. It says, then you need to ask, how do you say thank you? What do you want to do with your life? What do you want to be? What do you want to be? And it hit me, because I was focused16:40 accomplishments are about doing, doing, doing, doing. And I remember driving home, I can almost tell you where I was on the freeway, and I and I started thinking, what do I really want to be? I mean, out loud in the car,16:50 kind of, you know, talks with God, I thought, I want to be a man of God. That's what I want to be. I want to be a man of God.17:03 I want to be like 1 of those people God would say, Chip fulfilled God's purposes. Chip, had a heart for me. And I thought, boy, okay.17:15 And then I thought, I want to be a great husband. I want a great marriage. I want to be a great husband. I had 3 kids at the time. I want to be a great father.17:27 And then I got kind of bold and I thought, I want to be a great pastor. I don't want to be an okay 1. I want to be a great pastor. And17:39 and and I took my want to bes and then I want to be a great friend. I want to be in shape the rest of my life. You know, I kind of had this thing where some of the circles that my17:51 early Christian experience was all these people talk about God. It was just like, man, they were just, you know, like, so far out of shape and so disconnected from the world and part of not wanting to be a pastor was18:02 like, I don't want to be like that. I want to be. I put my to be's on my calendar. For me. You can do it any way. To be a man of God, I'm18:14 going to meet with God and I blocked off these mornings. And to be a great husband, it takes a lot more, and it's relational, don't okay? But I blocked off Friday, and I had a date with Teresa, and we had 3 or 4 hour18:24 block every Friday. All the time I pastored. And then I put my kids in my calendar. And then I blocked off, okay, all day Wednesday, half Thursday, my outline, I wanna be a18:36 great I wanna preach great messages. And then I, like you, I can't keep that, and I was, with Bill Glass in a prison. And, we were sharing Christ and 1 of the elders took me there and did it a18:48 number of times, and just off the cuff, he talked about how your mind, whatever you think about, what your desires are, you unconsciously gravitate toward accomplishing. And I don't know why I was just sitting at the18:58 table and I was listening, I was just like 28 year old pastor, you know, you're sitting in the background listening to all these heavy hitters, you know, and I remember thinking, I know what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna write19:08 this is an old card, 19 86, it's my desire cards. And it's, you know, delight yourself in the Lord, he'll give you the desires of your heart. What if I started writing on cards what I want to be? That19:20 I knew for sure as God's will, I'm not going to memorize them. Yeah, I'm coming out of becoming a workaholic, you know, after 3 years. I don't wanna memorize them. I don't wanna demand them. I'm not gonna say they're19:30 goals. I'm just gonna tell God these are desires of my heart, and then I'm gonna let him sort of gravitate. So these are these are old colored cards. Actually, I was a little, you know, obsessive compulsive. I put the19:41 family in 1 color, work in 1 color. So, you know, sorry, some of us can't get over. I was making progress. I was in recovery, but anyway, but let let me just give you, and and at night I would19:52 just read these over, and then during the day, now and then, but and and I didn't feel like if I missed a day, who cares? But 3 or 4 or 5 times a week, I'm reading these over. I want to be a worshiper. I want to enjoy20:04 God more, sing of his greatness, scribe worth and praise to him. Because that didn't come naturally to me. I'd like to become habitually thankful as a matter of unconscious response to all life circumstances20:16 and relationships in light of the goodness and the sovereignty of God. I just want to become my unconscious reaction to everything, Thank you. I want to learn to take time and schedule in enjoyable,20:28 fun, refreshing activities without feeling guilty about them or what others might think. You can hear me trying to break out of those pleasing people. I long to see each of my children20:41 hunger and thirst for righteousness, and know deep in their souls how loved, significant, and valued they are in Christ, not because of anything or anyone. I'd like to become more20:52 joyfully disciplined in praying for longer seasons of time, and learn the joy of simply resting in and enjoying my relationship with Jesus. I wanna stop caring about what others think and apply myself,21:04 my schedule, to what will make me the best I can be to honor God the most. I want to be and grow free of the invisible expectations that I allow to hinder my joy, my freedom, my schedule, and21:16 pursuing the best. I want to become more authentic in every aspect of my life. First Corinthians 10 12, you know where Paul says, I am what I am by the grace of God. I like to view others in light21:28 of their eternity and needs instead of by their outward appearance, possessions, status, or do you get the idea? I I know those are God's will, and you know I got others, but we've had enough. What would happen if you21:40 did that? If God says he'll give you the desires of your heart, what if you wrote down what you really want to be? I wanna be a waifu. I wanna be a dad that And I can tell you as I would read21:52 these over, I just have to confess. I wasn't trying to pray, but I would just start gravitating toward praying these things for my kids. You know, 1 of mine is I want to be a model of the attributes of God for each of my22:04 children. I mean, I want that, but And then, so when something would happen and I've, you know, my anger or something, God would bring that little card. And I end up, you know, apologizing to my 40 year old,22:16 and, you know, I'm sorry, and that's not how God works, and this is how daddy is. Clear cut objectives. I learned this. I was a gym rat. I didn't know what22:27 a workaholic was. I play basketball 8 or 10 hours a day because I thought it was my ticket to being a somebody. And you know, I mean, look at me. I mean, I am 6 9, so you can And and I'm really strong,22:39 right? I probably had a 45 vertical. I mean, I'm a skinny little white kid. Okay? And I know who I am. And I went in the inner city for years playing pickup22:52 with the brothers to learn to get good. And I did those Pete Maravich drills until I could do this and do this and throw it here and throw it here and through my legs, and I did it for 8 or 9 or 10 hours because I had a23:02 goal. I wanted a scholarship, a basketball scholarship, and if I did then someone, I'd be a someone. Well, I got a basketball scholarship, but I that doesn't make you a someone, but here's what I learned. If you have a23:13 dream in your heart, if you have a desire, once the goal gets clear, you know what? I was very disciplined. I never thought I was disciplined. It was my want to. What do you want to? You want to be a great mom? You23:25 want to have a great marriage? You want to build a godly, great business? You want to be a great employee? You want to have great kids? Write down those desires. Get a clear cut objective.23:37 And then all of a sudden, you know, Yeah, a little sacrifice with our finances, Yeah, we can get on a budget, because it ties into the clear cut objective. Second is then focus on the reward, like Paul did. Imagine,23:47 picture in your heart and mind the success. Reward yourself along the way. When I did real well in something, it takes 6 weeks to develop any habit. Okay? Getting up in the morning, whatever. When I did23:59 real well and it was hard to discipline myself in all these pools, I would reward myself. All my years in in California, I met this older guy, godly guy, wise, gave oversight to these big24:11 companies in the past, and he was sort of my leadership guru. Every Thursday morning, if my outline was done, by 6 30 AM, we played 9 holes of golf. And the first24:23 2 or 3 holes, you know, I would, you know, we'd talk about stuff, then I would go through my message, and then the last 3 holes, I'd give him all my leadership issues, and, you know, put his arm around me and had kids my24:32 age, and and I gotta tell you, I mean, a lot of times I was up at 4 in the morning at my little donut shop finishing up my outline so I could be with Dick. And, you know, then if if I did these things and we're gonna24:44 treat ourselves and, man, we're gonna go out to eat, and guess what? Yeah. We've been saving, we've been budgeting, but I'll tell you, it's steak all around. We're gonna have a blast. And you know, if we do this, honey,24:53 we're gonna save up. You and I, we're gonna go away. Plan in some rewards and have a blast. What happens? You live with all this guilt and you don't know. And so we do too many fun things to escape25:05 stuff instead of reward ourselves and enjoy what God's given us. The key to discipline, delayed gratification. The key to delayed gratification, advanced decision making. How do you make advanced decisions? 1, clear25:17 cut objectives. 2, reward yourself along the way. 3, and this is very important, advanced decision making becomes personal and a conviction when you ponder the consequences.25:30 Ponder the consequences. The apostle Paul says, he ponders, without a clear cut goal, if I don't buffet my body I don't25:42 think he liked that. If I don't discipline myself, if I don't say no to the refrigerator, say no to the emotions, say no to the quick fix, say no to, you know, that everything in me that wants to run from this25:53 marriage issue, to say no to, you know, delaying talking to 1 of my kids, to say no to sitting down and saying, you know what, I gotta I need a day away to figure out what am I on earth for and what am I gonna do with my26:05 life. You gotta say no to all the pressures and then give yourself permission and come up with a plan. Clear a goal.26:16 Focus on the rewards. And then I remember sharing this with, our church and I, it'd be different now, I guess I would have to say grandkids, but I 1 of my great fears is just because I see26:28 people fall financially or morally, is I have this picture in my mind of, all my kids on a couch, and I guess now the couch has got to be really big, so they're kids, and sort of bending26:40 over with my knees and you know, they're on the couch, and I'm explaining to them how I really do love God, and I had been preaching God's word for, you know, now a lot of years, and, but it was just a weak moment, and26:52 I'm really sorry, and I know I've embarrassed God, I know I've embarrassed the kingdom, I know that everything I've ever taught you, this behavior and what I just did, and now it's in the papers. And I visualize telling27:04 my kids, eyeball to eyeball, and now grandkid to grandkid,27:16 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. You need to ponder. You know, you think of that 1? Raise the ante. Imagine what it's gonna be like when27:29 Jesus is sitting on the couch, and you're explaining to him why you didn't have time to fulfill your purpose. And how you just, you know, you were gonna get around to getting on a budget and getting your finances27:39 straight and dreaming the dream and discovering your purpose, but you just had too many emails to answer and too many committee meetings to go to and too many kids to run around to all these activities. And I I don't27:50 know about you, I want gold, silver, and precious stones. I don't want wood, hay, and stubble. But it takes discipline. That's how you put first things first. This is a sobering28:02 picture that I painted, and that's why discipline is so important. I want you to begin to invite the Spirit of God, right now, even as we're talking, to bring to mind what it looks like when there's28:14 failure to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. That's the definition of discipline. And this idea that later or someday, allowing that kind of thinking to continue28:25 will produce a life of tragedy. I believe that God has your ears and my voice connected right now, and his sovereign purpose is to say to you, stop. Stop.28:37 You've got to stop living the way you're living, and you can't do that alone, and you can't do it in your own power. It's got to start with advanced decision making, and you can't develop advanced decision making28:49 about what it is God really wants you to do until you have what? First, clear cut objectives. Who do you really want to be? How do you want your life to29:01 end? What kind of parent do you want to be? What kind of man? What kind of woman? What kind of student? What is it that you really want to be? Get your arms around that. Wrestle with29:13 that. Second, then focus on the rewards instead of what you have to give up. Ask yourself, what can I see as a reward of things that are priceless versus trivial? How many hours are spent29:24 in front of a TV or video games doing nothing that produces nothing except regret? This message is about avoiding regret. And then29:36 finally, ponder the consequences. Now what I know is that you can be moved deeply by the spirit of God as you face some things in this moment of time, but the probability is that following29:48 through on what we've just talked about for success in the long term is minimal or almost impossible apart from 2 important things. Number 1, someone to help you,30:00 and number 2, a pathway or a resource to help you fulfill what you're thinking and feeling God wants you to do right now. And I want you to know at Living on the Edge, both those things are30:12 available. We've created the resource and the pathway through small group material. Now you need to ask God, who's that person, 1 or 2, maybe 3 people that you could say, I've made a big decision30:23 today. Will you help me keep my commitments to God?30:28 Great advice, Chip. Well, you've been listening to Living on the Edge and Chip's insightful series, Balancing Life's Demands. I'm Dave Drewy. And, Chip, since you mentioned our small group resources, take a minute and30:40 explain why community and doing life with other believers is vital for our faith journey.30:45 Well, Dave, I'll tell you. I don't wanna oversimplify, but Jesus said, I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly. Mhmm. At the heart of the Christian life, it's allowing Jesus to live30:57 his life through you by the power of the Holy Spirit, rooted in the word of God in the context of community. And that little word bio means life. And so I've just taken31:09 that acronym here at Living on the Edge and it simplifies it for me. If you want the life of Christ lived out, it means b, you have to get before God daily and before him with other31:21 people weekly in worship. The I is for in community. You have to do life with people, heart to heart, face to face, and the o is on mission 24 7. What I've seen so31:33 much is people have lost the in community aspect. It's impossible to obey the word of God to experience life by yourself. So what we've done is we've31:45 put all of our small group resources on sale to encourage you to get in community. Get with a group of people. Watch the videos on your own, then discuss them. Do it live. Do it online.31:57 Do it however it works best, but take the next step. Get in community. You'll never regret it.32:03 Thanks, Chip. Well, we have a growing library of small group resources on a wide range of topics, and they're so easy to use. Chip provides the teaching, then you'll have time to discuss what you've heard alongside32:14 our helpful study guides. We even offer some insights for leaders to lead their groups well. So if you're not in a small group yet or looking for what to study next, check out our resources. And as Chip said, for32:26 a limited time, we've discounted all our small group resources so you can get into community today. To learn more, go to living on the edge dot org or call us at triple 8 3 3 332:38 6 0 0 3. That's triple 8 3 3 3 6 0 0 3 or living on the edge dot o r g. Apple's nurse taps special offers. Well, just before32:50 we close, I wanna quickly thank those of you who regularly give to Living on the Edge. You're making a big difference in helping Christians live like Christians. But if you're benefiting from our ministry and haven't33:01 started giving yet, let me encourage you to join the Living on the Edge team. You can do that by setting up a recurring donation at living on the edge dot org or by calling us at triple 8 3 3 3 633:13 0 0 3. Again, that's triple 8 3 3 3 6 0 0 3, or visit living on the edge dot o r g. App listeners tap donate. And thanks for doing whatever33:25 the Lord leads you to do. Well, thanks for listening to this edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. I'm Dave Drewy, and I hope you'll join us again next time.In this video 0:00 The Power of Advanced Decision Making
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