Skip to content The Peace and Power of a Prioritized Life, Part 2 Aug 5 · 35 min ...more
The Peace and Power of a Prioritized Life, Part 2
August 5, 2025 · 35 min
Feeling overwhelmed? Need a dose of peace and a renewed sense of God’s power? Join Chip and discover how you can experience God’s peace and power like never before.
Series Balancing Life's Demands August 5, 2025 · 35 min · Balancing Life's Demands
Feeling overwhelmed? Need a dose of peace and a renewed sense of God’s power? Join Chip and discover how you can experience God’s peace and power like never before. ...more Show the full description Show less Feeling overwhelmed? Need a dose of peace and a renewed sense of God’s power? Join Chip and discover how you can experience God’s peace and power like never before.
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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.
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The Peace and Power of Prioritization 0:01 I don't know about you, but as the world seems to be going crazy, there are 2 things I desperately want and I desperately need. Number 1, the peace of God that0:13 everything's going to be okay. And number 2, is I need God's power. I don't know how I'm gonna make it through some of the things I'm facing, and I know a lot of people have exactly that same feeling. If you need0:24 God's peace and God's power, we're gonna talk about how to get it today.0:30 Thank you for being with us for this edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Chip serves as our Bible teacher for this global teaching and discipleship ministry, helping Christians develop an authentic0:42 faith. In this program, Chip picks up where he left off in his series, Balancing Life's Demands, by providing us with 2 more tools to help us organize our lives around what matters most. And here's some more0:54 practical advice on this topic. Stick around after this message for some additional wisdom from Chip. Alright. Here now is Chip with the second half of his message, the peace and power of a prioritized1:06 life.1:07 Let me give you 2 tools. There's 2 things we have to do to get a hold of our priorities. 2 ways. They hold the key to enjoying the peace and power of a1:19 prioritized life. And by the way, I think that's when your priority's in line, those are the 2 big characteristics. Personal peace, and you experience God's power. Number 1,1:31 in order to get a hold of your priorities, you must start with your time. T I m e. I'll give you an old and new testament passage first, it's1:43 the only Psalm that Moses wrote. Toward the end he says the length of days is 70 years or 80 if we have the strength, yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass1:55 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 aright, that we may gain a heart of2:07 wisdom. If we were doing some quick Bible study verse 10, he says basically life's brevity. It's going to be short. Verse 11, there's coming judgment. You're going to give an account for what you do in2:19 this life. Verse 12, therefore pray. God, give me wisdom. Show me how to live this life. I mean, this is written by Moses who did maybe, I2:31 mean, I'm not sure how it all worked out, but he probably did about a million or a million and a half funerals. That's sobering. You get a little perspective on what matters. Right? I2:42 mean, I I don't know when the last time I've done a lot of funerals, I've never done 1 to date, that I didn't just get a gut check about my own mortality. I have a friend I was2:54 doing a little mentoring with and he's a very zealous guy and his boss couldn't do something so he got this project, and his project was to interview people that were a hundred years old or older. And3:06 so I saw him later and and I said, well hey, how'd it go? He said it's really amazing, they all had 1 thing in common. Here's they said universally 2 things. Number 1, we were we way3:18 over emphasized our accomplishments and all the things that we thought were such big accomplishments, you know, after 4 or 5 or 6 decades, we realized they weren't such a big deal. And we underestimated3:30 the value of our families and relationships. But we I mean, you know, you're talking now, former workaholic, driven, focused, disciplined, why? Because I got an impact, I3:42 got to make a difference, I got to prove to to me probably and maybe to God or to someone that I'm worthwhile, that I'm significant and you ought to like me and my life matters and I'm gonna make a difference and god3:52 wants us to make a difference. But he wants us to make a difference according to his calling. He wants us to use our time wisely. He wants us to discern and to4:04 number our days. And you know Moses is a guy too that for, at about 40 with a lot of zeal said, you know what? I think I know God's will. He wants me to deliver. And Moses and4:16 his great strength and his flesh killed 1 Egyptian and didn't have the wherewithal to even bury him well. Really? And so he went on, you know, sometimes we think well4:28 life's passing by, I'll never accomplish what God wants me to. 40 years of training about learning how to trust God and discover who he was, and then out of trust God says, Moses, watch this,4:40 I can bury them all, the entire army, and no 1 comes up afterwards. And a lot of us have to discover, are you gonna live your life4:52 and seek to do and by the way, with with people like us, it's not like it's not like we're usually out doing all these bad things, it's all these good things that are killing you, that you're doing good things for the5:03 wrong reason that aren't God's unique calling for you. And so you're multitasking and you're overloaded and you're overextended and you're all all those meals in those cars and going to all those practices and doing all5:13 that stuff and attending stuff you don't even like that you just feel you ought should, ought should, ought should expectation visible. Where's it come from? I don't know. And just do it. Just do it. Just do it. Just do5:23 it. Just do it. You know, And then you crash and you're tired and so you put on the TV and, you know, the beep beep beep beep beep beep beep. My wife watched me watch TV 1 time, she goes, You make me dizzy.5:36 I said, I said, you know, this is this is before they had letters behind your names and talk about what you were like. I said, you know, honey, what I realize is when I get tired, when I lose focus, and when I don't want5:45 to think, I when a commercial comes on board, so I watch part of this, part of this, part of this, part of this, you know what? It drains me. 1 of the disciplines I'm going into right now is realizing, 1, I have to limit5:57 even really good media, and I have to realize quit trying to I'm trying to control everything. Part of quarter 1 of this, part of 1 of this, part of an old movie. And in my brain, hey, I'm kinda watching them all. I6:06 wonder how that one's coming over here. Now the reason you're laughing is there's other people that are as wacko as me! This is true in this room! He says, our time.6:18 Notice what the apostle Paul would say. He says, therefore, he's talked about who we are in Christ. He's talked about being different from the world. Verse 15 of Ephesians 5, therefore, be careful how you walk. It's6:30 that metaphor for the way you live or your whole life. Negatively, not as an unwise man, but as wise. You get that idea of wisdom, discerning God's will and doing it God's way, making the most of your6:42 time. Circle the word time in your notes. Why? Because the days are evil, and he thought it was evil then, what do you think about now? So then do not be foolish when you have misplaced6:54 priorities and you're spending your life instead of investing it, it's foolish. Don't be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is. And that word time in the new testament, there's a couple7:05 different words for it. 1 is we get our word chronology, chronos. You know, it's time like 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 11 minutes. The other is a different word called kairos and it has the idea of a window of opportunity.7:18 It's like during this window of opportunity, you know what? There's a window of opportunity when your kids are between about 2 and 6 or 7 of unique spirituality of training. I kinda text my boys, they all have little7:29 little kids, and I just, you know, just try not to be too pushy, but it's like, hey, guys, I just want you to know, whatever you do, keep reading those bible stories at night. Get tuck your kids in, don't let your wife7:40 have all the fun. Tell them stories about you. I mean, and then there's a window of time in preteens and teens. There's a window of time in early adulthood. There's a window in time in your life and you're in it. There's7:52 certain things that happen in this season, some that are in the twenties, some in the thirties, some in the forties, some in the fifties, some in the sixties, some in the seventies and beyond, but there's a window.8:01 There's a window for activity, there's a window for mentoring, there's a window for risk, there's a window of time. Buy up the opportunity. And what we tend to do is have some success in the last window and8:13 hang on to it, and God is always asking us, take risk. Trust me. So you've gotta get your time under control. I spoke on a a title called Good to8:24 Great in God's Eyes, and we were we're talking about, it was a group of people that had been kinda successful in their endeavors, and I was encouraging them that the temptation when you have done some things that have8:36 come out pretty well is to rest on your laurels instead of look, you know, that your best days are out of your windshield instead of your rear view mirror. When you find yourself always talking about what you did, what8:46 you did, what you did, what you did, you know, pinch yourself. That that ain't now. Faith is always futuristic. What are you trusting God for? What You're8:58 here. What can you do today so that? And, you know, so I it was I didn't mean it to be all that challenging, but it was really fun, they were really warm, and I I love it. This couple came up and said, you9:09 know, man, that God really spoke to me. And I said, well, great. You know? And we talked a little bit, 5, 10 minutes, and and then the guy just looked at me and goes, well, how? So what do you mean? He said, well, how?9:23 He he said, I mean, you know, I own my own business, she's doing this. We got we got so much stuff, so many people, so many commitments, so many committees, so many stuff, you know. I mean, they're they're just kinda9:32 pillar people. You know, they're on this committee, they're doing this in the church, doing this, doing this, doing this. I said, you gotta hear from God. Well, I don't have time to hear from God. I said, did you hear9:44 yourself? I'm gonna give you a very brief, and this may be elementary, the greatest single gift God gave me as an early Christian was a bricklayer9:56 with a high school education. More than anything I've learned in seminary, more than any travel I've had, any book that I've ever read, any mentor I've ever known, the single greatest gift God has ever10:08 given me was a bricklayer who came on Tuesday morning, after I was a Christian for 3 months. I did not usually want to meet with him early on, and he knocked on my door and he taught me how to have what he10:20 called a quiet time. It sounded kinda weird to me, but nobody else was up at 7 in my dorms, I guess it was quiet. And and I I struggled and I couldn't get up, and I finally my roommate set an alarm, and10:32 you know finally I got to where I could get up in the morning, and unlike many people, I like breakfast, and so I just made a rule, not not legalistically, but just because I wanted to, but I was so undisciplined, I just10:43 said no Bible, no breakfast. And I developed the habit, it was only like 10, 15 minutes early on. And and then like after a year or so it was like actual, you know, it was fun. And God was speaking to me.10:55 And all of a sudden I thought he knows everything and I could ask him about that test at 1 o'clock and I could ask him about, you know, you know, this relationship's not going so well. I think I'll check-in with him on11:04 that. And pretty soon I started talking to him and and no 1 told me that I went and got, you know, at the bookstore, like 1 of those little simple like spiral notebook things, like 89 cents, and then I started just11:13 writing stuff down. You know, like, you know, I'm, you know, I've never read the bible before. Hey God, this is Chip, what do you think about? And I would write these things down, and would you help me with this? And11:22 then I would go back and read them. I started checking them off. Started doing that about 30 years ago. And and and not and it was hard at first, and then probably 15, maybe 1811:34 years ago or so, I just remember saying, God, I don't know how much time we need, I just love being with you now. It it was it was diligence, diligence, duty, duty. I'm gonna meet with you when I don't feel like it. I'll11:44 meet you when I do, and sometimes it's really good and sometimes it's okay. But God and I remember just going to bed a little early, you wake me up. And he woke me up pretty early. And I got up, made a pot of coffee, and11:56 I found a corner, and I just said, thank you. What what what what would make you happy today? You want me to sing to you? You want me to thank you? You got something for me? All I can tell you people is it just clears12:07 the junk away. It just all those pressures, all those demands, all that dysfunction, all that expectation, all that list of got to's, most of my got to's literally in my journal, you know, I'll just think, you know, and12:19 sometimes I can't pray because there's all these things to do, and I'll just start writing them up. And I put a little box, and so instead of I got to do, God, will you please help me with the following this day and show12:27 me how to dot dot dot. And then I list the 11 things that come at least that come to my mind. Boom boom boom boom. And then I take those and I give them to God. And then I pray and then instead of the to dos, God12:39 will bring to my mind some of the to bes. How's Teresa being in this area? What about that guy that you met on that trip? How's he being? What you And and here's all I wanna say.12:51 If you will give the first portion of your time to God, he will clear away and show you what to do13:03 and what not to do. Where to go and where not to go, what to say yes to and what to say no to, and give you the courage to say no to it. And so I I put in here13:15 actually, a little simple, simple way. I don't believe you need to meet with God in the morning first. I know some of you are night owls and you just really turn it on at midnight when I'm13:27 I've been in bed for a while, so I don't mean this legalistically. But I will say, if you have a hard time and you're really inconsistent, my theory was, do what matters most first.13:40 Do what matters most first. No matter what happens in the day, if I meet with the God of the universe, I've had a pretty good day. Get hit by a car later, okay. You know, I've had a good day. To me, when I stop, when13:52 I pray, when I discipline myself and say, God, I'm gonna be here, and I'm gonna be with you first, what I'm saying is, I'm humble, I can't do it, I can't make the decisions.14:04 Checking my email, checking the stock market, making sure this is done, making sure that is done. Wait a second. What's that about? I don't control the world. All that stuff will be there an hour later14:16 or a half hour later. Stop. Cease striving. Literally, my translation of that 1 is knock it off. I mean, that's kinda14:28 that's the chip Hebrew. Knock it off. Quit trying to make so much happen and orchestrate everything and know that I'm God. I'm in control. And by the way, I'm not only14:40 in control, I love you, and I'm good, and I'm for you. And I miss you. And so there's a lot of ways to study the Bible, but 1 of the early ways that gets14:52 you in the text, because my fear in our day is we have everybody eating pre digested sort of Gerber's spiritual food. That means someone else studied real hard and you read what they say and there's a little verse at the15:03 end and you say praise the Lord, amen. And you know what? It's like, you know, it's and not that it's bad, it's a great appetizer. Strength and convictions and power and15:14 courage to do the will of God is when your nose gets in the word for yourself and the spirit of God takes it off that page and does something in your heart and gives you a strength to say, yes, thus says the Lord for15:26 me. Not he said it through some other person and God bless all the great teachers and all the great ways, I love them all. But there's no substitute. And so this little too pro apt, you know, I15:38 I kinda put it here if you're if you're a newer Christian, I encourage you to start in the book of Mark, and if you're an older Christian, just because it's so application oriented, James. So here here, are you ready?15:47 I'll just go through it real quickly. You start and you pray. Dear God, will you speak to me today? And then I don't want you to read a whole lot, maybe a couple paragraphs at the most. And then you read it slowly and15:58 preferably out loud. It's amazing what happens the second time. And then the the the next, the o is for observation. You read it a third time. See, you don't take so much. You slow16:10 it down, and you dig into it, and this time if there's a word that's repeated, you underline it, or if something sticks out to you, you might circle it. And so you've previewed it, then you've read it slowly out loud,16:21 and then you read it real slowly making some observations, and then the a is for application. And it's only a couple paragraphs, but you say, God, speak to me. And and then just think, well, let's see, this is a letter16:32 of encouragement. I think nothing really struck out, but it was encouraging this guy, hold it, do I know anybody that needs encouragement? Before I go, I'll tell you what I'm going to jot a note to Bob, I haven't seen16:43 him, and and do something. Spiritual growth is not about getting more Bible knowledge in your head, it's about responding to the truth than the light that he gives you.16:55 Didn't that's what Jesus said at the parable of the seed and the sowers? Here's here's how life works. You respond to the truth God gives you, he gives you more truth. You don't respond to the truth of the light that he17:04 gives you, and even what you have will be taken away. We got a generation of people that know so much about God, but don't have a epigonosco, a intense personal relational knowledge of him, because that17:16 doesn't come through the head. That comes through application in the heart. At the end of the day, you wanna hear God. You wanna hear his voice. What's he wanna say to you from the word? And then the the t is you tell17:27 somebody. Because there's just something I mean, you don't have to go, hey everybody, I want you to know, I spent 15 minutes in God's word today. I did the 2 pro at method, but but now I want you to know, here's what I17:36 wanna tell you. You know, they'll just run you off the job. But you know, kind of in a casual way to people that you know, and it might be, you know, there's some guys, a guy lives in Texas, he's a good buddy, we speak a17:45 couple times a week, and we'll just say, hey, what'd you read? Where's God speaking to you? And he'll share and I'll share. Or you know, often in the car, I'll say, honey, what where did you read this morning? And she'll17:55 tell me and I'll tell her. And it's not like I'm checking up on her, are you kidding? She's way farther down the road than me. But it's just I wanna when you tell, it kinda seals it. So that's a little method that's been18:07 very helpful for me. So tool number 1, and this is just to get you started. Tool number 1, if you're gonna get a hold of your time, I believe you've gotta start by18:19 saying, god, I got all these pools, all these demands. I'm gonna give the first block or the best block of my time, whenever that is, for me it's the morning, to you. And I'm gonna ask18:30 you to start sorting out my life. And I will tell you it'll be dramatic.18:37 You're listening to Living on the Edge. And before we continue today's program, let me ask you, are you in a small group? If so, are you looking for a new study to do together this year? Well, join us after Chip's18:49 message to learn more about our library of study guides, which are sure to help you and your group grow in your faith. But for now, let's get back to our series, balancing life's demands.19:00 Second tool that will help you get a hold of your priorities is your money. Jesus spoke more about money than heaven and hell combined, and I think he could actually care less about your19:12 money. He needs none of it. But your money reflects your values. Your money reflects your heart. Wherever your money goes, imagine just every every every time you put that19:24 credit card down, every time you write a check, every time you spend money, every time you invest money, what you're saying is, here's your heart, there's a little chain connected to it, and wherever your money goes,19:33 your treasure. That's where your heart goes. Your heart always follows the money. And that's why if you want sometimes when I wanted God to change my heart, I've actually had like a problem with someone, you know, and19:45 kind of did something bad to me and didn't like them very well and having trouble forgiving them, and they were involved in ministry, I started giving a little to their money. Ministry. You know what? I'll tell you what,19:55 your heart always has to follow your money. And so what he wants is he wants your heart. Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops. Then notice, this isn't a20:07 prohibitive, then your barns will be filled with overflowing, and your bats will brim over with new wine. Proverbs 3 9 and 10. I mean you all know probably many many verses about, you know, and by the way, the giving is20:19 not about just giving, God owns it all, correct? The Earth and all thereof is the Lord, so he evaluates the 10 or 15 or 20 or 80 percent that I give away wherever you're20:31 at in your life, and all that I keep. I'm a steward of it, it's not I'm just the manager. Your money will tell you, I will tell you this, if we didn't know each other at all, you give me20:42 your PDA for a half hour, or your calendar, your canceled checks, however you work it, you let me see your time and see your money, and I will give you a diagnosis of where you're at in your life that if you were20:54 honest, you'd say, oh my Lance, that is so true. And and that's why, what we're gonna talk a little bit later about the need to have relationships with people, it's amazing to me, where people can21:06 really talk about this with 1 another. I mean I've done a couple of these big men movement things, you know? Now we're we're secure men. We're talking about accountability like never before. Hey. Hey,21:18 Jim. Let's all get around here and be a real man. Let's see here. Yeah? So how's your sex life? You've been on the net? No? I've I mean, guys will talk about sex, struggles, all21:30 kind of things now. But you look at a guy and say, you know, excuse me, we've been friends for quite a while. What percent of your of your income do you give? And where do you give it? You know what? Next year, you know21:41 what would be helpful in our bible study? Let's do this. Let's all bring our tax statements, and we'll pass them. I'm dead serious. I'm dead serious. Let's pass them to the left, and let the21:53 other person give an evaluation of how what You tell me why that is off limits. It's because it reveals the very heart and the very values of who we really22:04 are. 1 of the biggest steps for me is, there's a guy in California that just He kinda has this picture of how things might develop and so he says, Chip this is what's gonna happen to you. He says,22:16 someday if that happens, some books are gonna sell and you might get some money. And he said, okay. I'm I'm helping you start this radio ministry. He was the first guy, 1 other guy, and I I really believe in it. But22:25 here's part of the deal. I want you to tell me, so what are you doing with your money? And he talks to me like this, so you're not thinking you're some big shot now, are you? And all this jazz, right? Right? I mean,22:35 you're not believing that press, okay? Those chickens here. Said so, so how much you make last year? I mean, include if there's any book sales, now remember, you pre decided to give away, you know, that big chunk of22:45 anything that ever comes in, are you still doing that? So how much total? How much, now where are you giving it? I mean, but he's direct with me. And you know how how safe it is to open up my finances to someone?22:58 You know what? It's a good thing. I I I wanna have a good report. But the heart is what? Deceitful. And that is where a lot of us you have23:10 to get a hold of your time, you have to get a hold of your money. And this is not a legalistic, I'm now giving x percent and now No, I'm talking about your money as it relates to your heart. You know, it'd be23:22 interesting, some of you, you know, have your you got your nice, black, American Express, or your Platinum Express, your Gold Express, your Elite, or your mileage, your and then at the end of the year they give you that23:31 list of, okay, here's your end of the year credit card statement, unless you have sworn them off and are free and liberated and debt free and figured out other ways to do it which is a good idea too, but have you ever23:42 seen where they have the categories? So much in food, so much in travel, so much in You know if you just looked at that and said, Wow, exactly right. Can you eat that much in 123:54 year? I mean, you know, can you shop that much? I mean, how much And I'm All I'm saying is, let's get off of being down on ourselves. Let's try just getting real with24:06 ourselves, getting honest with God. He loves you so much that he wants you to learn to give so that he can give good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over back into your lap.24:18 He he wants you to learn to budget and say, this is yours and I wanna be a good steward. He wants you not to fix your hope on the uncertainty of riches, but are you ready? He wants you to richly enjoy every good thing he24:30 gives you. He wants you to take a great vacation and have a great steak and have some real fun and have your priorities in order. So instead of going, do I feel guilty about this? Where you enjoy it because you24:42 know, it's the blessed hand of God upon your life and you're not making excuses. Of course, I'm just so tired of someone saying, oh, well, you know, I I got it on sale. Or you know, the24:54 only reason we got that swimming pool, that swimming pool is for baptisms. Just baptisms. You know? And you know, that house in the mountains, our pastor, our pastor's really tired. The house in the mountain, it has25:05 nothing to do with, you know, it's a good real estate investment and I like to get away and God's blessed me. I'm given a ton of money away and I love the mountains. My family's there and it's really wonderful and I just25:14 have a blast there. No. It's, the pastoral staff, we felt that they needed a place to get away a couple times a year. By the way, let them go there though. Okay? I I25:26 have benefited greatly from some of you doing that. God loves you guys. He wants you to look at those 6 areas and be honest. How you doing?25:39 So how do you get your money under control? 4 steps. Number 1, give the first portion of each paycheck to the Lord. And for some of you, you gotta have a really hard talk, and25:51 you're gonna say, Oh my, how can we do it's a faith step. Give the first portion to the Lord. Second, pay your bills next. Don't take a vacation, don't spend your money,26:03 don't go to Costco, don't buy something on sale. Okay? Money comes in, here's all your bills in 1 spot. Give to God the first, Pay all26:15 your bills next. Novel idea. Live on the rest. You don't have it, don't spend it. I mean, we can well afford it now, but we have26:27 a blue folder that Teresa and I, we do the bills together because we both don't like it to do it, and every 2 weeks, I get a paycheck. We open a blue folder. In 1 pocket is all the bills that have come in. We26:39 pull them out and put them in the middle. We have a wonderful cup of coffee to make it fun. I write out all the checks. She puts them in the envelope and she does the little ledger so that it's accurate because I sort of26:51 not as accurate. And and then we give first, we pay all of our bills, and then we talk how much is left, and then I write a check that has27:03 our gas money, our recreation, and 2 or 3 other things, and she goes to the bank later, and we put that money in an envelope that says budget.27:15 And we put it under the duck, so if you ever want to rob my house, it's under the duck, alright? And, and you know what? When there's no money in the envelope, you don't27:26 go out to eat. Now, can I still afford to go out to eat? Of course I can, at this stage of my life. But you in in this do you understand that the average person in America is spending about 17 percent27:38 more than they bring in every month? Do do you understand last year, more college students I heard this on the radio, so don't ask me to quote it, but I mean if it's on the radio, you know it's true. I mean it's almost27:50 as reliable as the Internet. I mean if it's on the Internet, it's gotta be true. You know, but seriously, I mean you know, it was 1 of those Dave Ramsey programs. More college students went bankrupt than graduated from28:00 college last year. So give to the Lord first, pay your bills, live on the rest, and then get out of debt. The very busiest day of Jesus' life is28:12 recorded in Mark 1 35, and he has healed, and there's demands, and there's pressures, and you think you've got a tough life. He's pulled on from everyone, and it says a great28:23 while before dawn, he went out and found a solitary place, and there he prayed. I believe Jesus is modeling for us the demands to keep your life in28:35 focus, and I believe I think I know what he prayed. I think he prayed, Lord, I'm being pulled and everybody wants me to do everything. They want me to go to these towns and everyone is sick and they have these mans and28:44 they're pulling on me. They want me to heal them. They want me to feed them. They want me to do everything. Will you please remind me while I'm here? You know how I know that? Because the disciples came and said Jesus28:52 you were hit last night, that was awesome. All those healings, it's going crazy, there's a big crowd, I mean they are getting we are big time, and we're glad to be on your team. And remember what he said to him? I must29:04 in in the Greek, it's a must of day. It's a divine necessity. I must preach the gospel, and we must go to other villages. For the son of man, Luke will tell us later, came to seek and to save that29:16 which is lost. Jesus prayed to remember, why am I here? What am I supposed to do? I need to hear the father's voice in the midst of all the noise. That's God's will for you and29:28 me. And we're on a journey and a process. It's not gonna happen all at once. 6 symptoms. 2 tools. Time, money, and open heart. Let's go there together.29:39 Okay?29:43 You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and the message you just heard, the peace and power of a prioritized life, is from our series, Balancing Life's Demands. Chip will join us in29:55 studio to share some insights from today's talk in just a minute. Are you exhausted juggling your job, kids, marriage, and everything else you're responsible for? Do you wish there was a way to relieve that30:07 stress and live with a little more joy? Well, in this series, Chip reveals what a balanced life looks like and how you can rearrange your priorities around what matters most. Hear how to experience the30:19 joy filled and satisfying life god desires for you to have. Now if you've missed any part of Chip's teaching, catch up anytime on the Chip Ingram app. Well, Chip's joined me in studio now with a quick word for all of30:31 you.30:31 Thanks, Dave. As summer draws to close and vacations wrap up, you're likely getting ready to jump back into your fall routine. Whether you're starting a new school year or a small group starting back up at30:43 church, we want to put resources in your hand that will help grow your faith. We have a growing catalog of studies and curriculum on topics like how to understand who God is, how to grow your30:55 faith. Maybe you want to strengthen your marriage or become more intentional as a parent. I'm confident that our small group materials will help you and your community learn, share, and support each other.31:07 It's about doing life together and living with purpose, and we wanna help you.31:11 Well, to learn more about the studies Chip mentioned or any of our other small groups, go to living on the edge dot org or call triple 8 3 3 3 6 0 0 3. And let me tell you, these31:23 materials are so easy to use. Chip provides the teaching, then you'll have time to discuss what you've heard alongside our helpful study guides. So if you're not in a small group yet or are looking for something new to31:34 study, check out our resources. And for a limited time, we've discounted all our small group tools. Visit living on the edge dot org or call triple 8 3 3 3 6 0 0 331:46 to learn more. Atlas Nurse Taps special offers. Well, here again is Chip with a few final thoughts.31:53 Today, we talked about 2 specific tools, 2 things that have to happen if your priorities are gonna get in order. And number 1 is you have to get a hold of your time. And number 2, you have32:05 to get a hold of your money. Now those 2 things can feel extraordinarily overwhelming. And what I will tell you is here's where to start. Let's start with your time. And I'm gonna ask you to make a commitment with me32:17 today. Alright? I mean, right now, just you and me. I wish we were I wish you could sit in the room with me, and I look you right in the eye. And I've had people do this with me, and it changed my life. I would look you32:26 dead in the eye, and I would say, will you, for the next 2 weeks, commit to set your alarm 20 minutes earlier and meet with God for 20 minutes before you do anything else? And don't give me all that stuff about, you32:38 know, you're a night owl and it's hard to get up and hey. We all have our issues. I'm asking you to start your day, give God the first 20 minutes. Now, here's how. You know, you're gonna be groggy, and32:50 if you're a coffee drinker, you better, you know, make it the night before so you can just push the button and take your little alarm clock and put it across the room so you have to get up out of bed. But I'm telling33:01 you, if you will give God the first 20 minutes, you'll begin to see things happen. Now we went over how to do it, the 2 pro app, and I walked, you know, pretty briefly through how exactly how to do it. You can do it33:13 in 20 minutes where you, you know, you pray and then you do a preview of the passage and then you read it slowly and then you read it a third time where you make observations and then you apply something specific and and33:24 then you pray at the end and ask for God's help and strength and then you tell someone 2 pro app, that little acronym that we gave. And I want you to use that 2 pro app method for the next 233:36 weeks. Do this with me, will you? And and you say, well, where do I begin? If you're a new Christian or a newer Christian, I want you to start with the book of Mark. If you're an older Christian, I want you to start with33:47 the book of James. It'll be hard. It'll be difficult. It may not be really great the first 3 or 4 or 5 days. I will tell you if you hang with me on this, God will begin to order the rest of your33:59 life as you say to him, Lord, I need you. I wanna meet with you first. Will you do that? I'm gonna pray for you. Lord, give him grace, give him courage, give him discipline34:11 to meet with you first in Jesus' name. Amen.34:14 Amen. Thanks, Chip. And as we close, would you pray for those feeling challenged to respond to Chip's words right now? There's always a spiritual battle when we feel prompted to draw near to God. Thanks34:26 for taking a minute to do that. And if there's a way we can pray for you, let us know. Call triple 8 3 3 3 6 0 0 3 or email chip at living on the edge dot org.34:38 We'd love to hear from you. For Chip and the entire team here, this is Dave Drewey, thanking you for listening to this edition of Living on the Edge, and I hope you'll join us again next time.In this video 0:00 The Peace and Power of Prioritization
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