I don't know about you, but as the world seems
to be going crazy, there are two things I desperately
want and I desperately need. Number one, the
peace of God that everything's going to be okay.
And number two is I need God's power. I don't
know how I'm going to make it through some of
the things I'm facing, and I know a lot of people
have exactly that same feeling. If you need God's
peace and God's power, we're going to talk about
how to get it today. 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 authentic faith.
In this program, Chip picks up where he left
off in his series Balancing Life's Demands by
providing us with two more tools to help us organize
our lives around what matters most. And here's
some more practical advice on this topic. Stick
around after this message for some additional
wisdom from Chip. All right, here now is Chip
with the second half of his message, The Peace
and Power of a Prioritized Life. Let me give
you two tools. There's two things we have to
do to get a hold of our priorities. Two ways.
They hold the key to enjoying the peace and power
of a prioritized life. And by the way, I think
that's when your priorities in line, those are
the two big characteristics. Personal peace and
you experience God's power. Number one, 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's 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 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 aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
If we were doing some quick Bible study, verse
10, he says basically life's brevity. It's gonna
be short. Verse 11, there's coming judgment.
You're gonna give an account for what you do
in 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,
I 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?
I mean, I don't know when the last time I've
done a lot of funerals. I've never done one to
date that I didn't just get a gut check about
my own mortality. I have a friend I was 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 100 years old or older. And
so I saw him later, and I said, well, how'd it
go? He said, it was really amazing. They all
had one thing in common. They said universally
two things. Number one, We way overemphasized
our accomplishments and all the things that we
thought were such big accomplishments. You know,
after four or five or six decades, we realized
they weren't such a big deal. And we underestimated
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 to impact. I got to make a
difference. I got to prove to me probably, 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 going to make a difference.
And God 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 to 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 and his great strength and his flesh
killed one Egyptian and didn't have the wherewithal
to even bury him well. Really? And so he went
on, you know, sometimes we think, well, 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. I
can bury them all, the entire army, and no one
comes up afterwards. And a lot of us have to
discover, are you going to live your life and
seek to do? And by the way, with people like
us, 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 the 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 those meals in those cars and
going to all those practices and doing all that
stuff and attending stuff you don't even like
that you just feel you ought should, ought should,
ought should, expectation, visible where it's
come from, I don't know. You just do it, just
do it, just do it, just do it, you know? And
then you crash and you're tired and so you put
on the TV and you know, beep, beep, beep, beep,
beep, beep, beep. My wife watched me watch TV
one time. She goes, you make me dizzy. I said,
you know, this is before they had letters behind
your names and talked 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
want to think, when a commercial comes, I'm bored.
So I'll watch part of this, part of this, part
of this, part of this. You know what? It drains
me. One of the disciplines I'm going into right
now is realizing, one, I have to limit even really
good media, and I have to realize, quit trying
to, I'm trying to control everything. Part of
quarter one of this, part of one of this, part
of an old movie. And in my brain, hey, I'm kind
of watching them all. I 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.
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's that metaphor for the way
you live or your whole life. Negatively, not
as an unwise man, but as wise. You get that idea?
Wisdom. Discerning God's will and doing it God's
way. Making the most of your 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 misplaced 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 couple different
words for it. One 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. It's like during this
window of opportunity. You know what? There's
a window of opportunity when your kids are between
about two and six or seven of unique spirituality
of training. I kind of text my boys. They all
have 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. Tuck your
kids in. Don't let your wife 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's certain things that happen in
this season. Some that are in the 20s, some in
the 30s, some in the 40s, some in the 50s, some
in the 60s, some in the 70s and beyond. But there's
a window. 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 and hang on to it. And God is
always asking us, take risk, trust me. So you've
got to get your time under control. I spoke on
a title called Good to Great in God's Eyes. And
we were talking about, it was a group of people
that had been kind of successful in their endeavors.
And I was encouraging them that the temptation
when you have done some things that have 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, what you did, what you did,
what you did, you know, pinch yourself. That
ain't now. Faith is always futuristic. What are
you trusting God for? You're here. What can you
do today so that? And, you know, so I didn't
mean it to be all that challenging, but it was
really fun. They were really warm. And I love
it. This couple came up and said, you know, man,
God really spoke to me. And I said, well, great.
You know, and we talked a little bit, five, ten
minutes. And then the guy just looked at me and
goes, well, how? I said, well, what do you mean?
He said, well, how? He said, I mean. You know,
I own my own business. She's doing this. We got
so much stuff, so many people, so many commitments,
so many committees, so many stuff. You know,
I mean, they're just kind of pillar people. You
know, they're on this committee and they're doing
this in the church, doing this, doing this. I
said, you got to hear from God. Well, I don't
have time to hear from God. I said, did you hear
yourself? I'm going to give you a very brief,
and this may be elementary. The greatest single
gift God gave me as an early Christian was a
bricklayer 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 ever given me was a bricklayer
who came on Tuesday morning after I was a Christian
for three 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 he called a
quiet time. It sounded kind of weird to me, but
nobody else was up at 7 in my dorm, so I guess
it was quiet. And I struggled, and I couldn't
get up, and finally my roommate set an alarm,
and 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 legalistically,
but just because I wanted to, but I was so undisciplined,
I just said, no Bible, no breakfast. And I developed
the habit. It was only like 10, 15 minutes early
on. And then like after a year or so, it was
like actual, you know, it was fun. And God was
speaking to me. 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, this relationship's not going
so well. I think I'll check in with him on that.
And pretty soon, I started talking to him. And
no one told me, but I went and got, you know,
at the bookstore, like one of those little simple,
like, spiral notebook things, like 89 cents.
And then I started just writing stuff down. You
know, like, you know, I'd 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? And then I would
go back and read. I started checking them off.
I started doing that about 30 years ago. And
it was hard at first. And then probably 15, maybe
18 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 was diligence, diligence,
duty, duty. I'm going to meet with you when I
don't feel like it. I'll 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, and I found a corner, and I just
said, thank you. What would make you happy today?
Want me to sing to you? Want me to thank you?
You got something for me? All I can tell you
people is it just clears the junk away. It just,
all those pressures, all those demands, all that
dysfunction, all that expectation, all that list
of got -tos, most of my got -tos, literally,
in my journal, you know, I'll just think, you
know, and 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 show 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, boom. And then I take those
and I give them to God. And then I pray. And
then instead of the to -dos, God 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? And here's all
I want to say. If you will give the first portion
of your time to God, he will clear away and show
you what to do 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 put in here 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'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. 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, when I pray,
when I discipline myself and say, God, I'm gonna
be here and I wanna be with you first, what I'm
saying is, I'm humble. I can't do it. I can't
make the decisions. 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 later or a half hour later.
Stop. Cease striving. Literally, my translation
of that one is knock it off. I mean, that's kind
of, 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 only 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 one of the early ways that gets 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 the end and you say, praise
the Lord, amen. And you know what? It's like,
and not that it's bad, it's a great appetizer.
Strength. and convictions and power and 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 for 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, I kind of put it here.
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, are you ready? 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 and preferably out loud. It's
an amazing what happens the second time. And
then the next, the O is for observation. You
read it a third time. See, you don't take so
much. You slow it down and you dig into it. And
this time, if there's a word that's repeated,
you underlined 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, 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 then just think, well, let's see,
this is a letter of encouragement. Nothing really
struck out, but it was encouraging this guy.
Hold it. Do I know anybody that needs encouragement?
Before I go, I'm going to jot a note to Bob.
I haven't seen him. And do something. Spiritual
growth is not about getting more Bible knowledge
in your head. It's about responding to the truth
and the light that he gives you. Didn't that's
what Jesus said at the parable of the seed and
the sowers? 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 he 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 that doesn't come through the
head. That comes through application in the heart.
At the end of the day, you want to hear God.
You want to hear his voice. What's he want to
say to you from the word? And then the T is you
tell 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 two pro -ep method. But
now I want you to know, here's what I want to
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 see a 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 word did you read this morning? She'll
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 want to, when you tell, it kind of seals it.
So that's a little method that's been very helpful
for me. So tool number one, and this is just
to get you started. Tool number one, if you're
going to get a hold of your time, I believe you've
got to start. by saying, God, I got all these
pulls, all these demands. I'm going to 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 going to ask you to start sorting out my
life. And I will tell you, it'll be dramatic.
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's 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. 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 your money. He needs none of
it. But your money reflects your values. Your
money reflects your heart. Wherever your money
goes, imagine just every time you put that 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, your treasure. That's where
your heart goes. Your heart always follows the
money. And that's why, sometimes when I've wanted
God to change my heart, I've actually had like
a problem with someone, you know, and 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 ministry. You know what,
I'll tell you what, 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 a prohibitive. Then your barns
will be filled with overflowing and your vats
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
is 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 % that I give
away wherever you're 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 me 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 were
honest, you'd say, oh my lands, that is so true.
And that's why we're gonna talk a little bit
later about the need to have relationships where
people, it's amazing to me, where people can
really talk about this with one another. I mean,
I've done a couple of these big men movement
things. Now we're secure men. We're talking about
accountability like never before. Hey. Hey, Jim.
Let's all get around here and be a real man.
Let's do it. So how's your sex life? You been
on the net? No? I mean, guys will talk about
sex, struggles, all kind of things now. But you
look at a guy and say, excuse me, we've been
friends for quite a while. What percent of your
income do you give? And where do you give it?
You know what? Next year, you know 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 the other
person give an evaluation of how. You tell me
why that is off limits. It's because it reveals
the very heart and the very values of who we
really are. One of the biggest steps for me is
there's a guy in California that just, he kind
of has this picture of how things might develop.
So he says, Chip, this is what's going to happen
to you. He says, someday if that happens, some
books are going to sell and you might get some
money. And he said, okay, I'm helping you start
this radio ministry. He was the first guy and
one other guy, and I really believe in it. But
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. You're not believing
that press, okay? Us chickens here. He 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 of anything that ever comes in. Are you
still doing that? So how much total? Now, where
are you giving it? I mean, but he's direct with
me. And you know how safe it is to open up my
finances to someone? You know what? It's a good
thing. I want to have a good report. But the
heart is what? Deceitful. And that is where a
lot of us, you have 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.
No, I'm talking about your money as it relates
to your heart. You know, it'd be interesting.
Some of you, you know, you got your nice black
American Express or your Platinum Express, your
Gold Express, your Elite or your Mileage. And
then at the end of the year, they give you that
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 ever 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 one year? I mean, you know, can you shop
that much? I mean, how much? And all I'm saying
is, let's get off of being down on ourselves.
Let's try just getting real with 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. He wants you
to learn to budget and say, this is yours and
I want to 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 he 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, I feel guilty
about this, where you enjoy it because you know,
it's the blessed hand of God upon your life.
And you're not making excuses. I'm just so tired
of someone saying, oh, well, you know, I got
it on sale. Or, you know, the only reason we
got that swimming pool, that swimming pool is
for baptisms. It's baptisms. You know? And you
know, that house in the mountains, our pastor,
our pastor's really tired. The house in the mountain,
it has 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 giving a ton of money
away and I love the mountains. My family's there
and it's really wonderful. And I just have a
blast there. No, it's a pastoral staff. We felt
that they needed a place to get away a couple
of times a year. By the way, let them go there
though, okay? I have benefited greatly from some
of you doing that. God loves you guys. He wants
you to look at those six areas and be honest.
How you doing? So how do you get your money under
control? Four steps. Number one, give the first
portion of each paycheck to the Lord. And for
some of you, you've got to have a really hard
talk, and you're going to say, oh, my, how can
we do this? 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.
Don't go to Costco. Don't buy something on sale.
Okay? Money comes in. Here's all your bills in
one spot. Give to God the first. Pay all 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 have a blue folder
that Teresa and I, we do the bills together because
we both don't like it to do it. And every two
weeks, I get a paycheck. We open a blue folder.
In one pocket is all the bills that have come
in. We 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 of, not
as accurate. 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 has our gas money,
our recreation, and two or three other things.
And she goes to the bank later, and we put that
money in an envelope that says budget. And we
put it under the duck. So if you ever want to
rob my house, it's under the duck, all right?
And you know what? When there's no money in the
envelope, you don't 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 do you understand
that the average person in America is spending
about 17 % more than they bring in every month?
Do you understand last year, more college students,
I heard this on the radio, so don't ask me to
quote it. I mean, if it's on the radio, you know
it's true. I mean, it's almost as reliable as
the internet. I mean, if it's on the internet,
it's gotta be true. But seriously, I mean, you
know, it was one of those Dave Ramsey programs.
More college students went bankrupt than graduated
from 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
is 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 great 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 in 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 and 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, Jesus, you were hit last night. That
was awesome. All those healings. It's going crazy.
There's a big crowd. I mean, we are big time
and we're glad to be on your team. And remember
what he said to him? I must. 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 that 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 and me. And we're on a journey and
a process. It's not gonna happen all at once.
Six symptoms, two tools, time, money, and open
heart. Let's go there together, okay? 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 in
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 that 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 the 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,
Chips, join me in studio now with a quick word
for all of you. 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 a 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 your 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. It's about doing life together and
living with purpose, and we want to help you.
Well, to learn more about the studies Chip mentioned
or any of our other small groups, go to livingontheedge
.org or call 888 -333 -6003. And let me tell
you, these 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 to study,
check out our resources. And for a limited time,
we've discounted all our small group tools. Visit
livingontheedge .org or call 888 -333 -6003 to
learn more. Atlas Nurse Taps special offers.
We'll hear again as Chip with a few final thoughts.
Today, we talked about two specific tools, two
things that have to happen if your priorities
are going to get in order. And number one is
you have to get a hold of your time. And number
two, you have to get a hold of your money. Now,
those two 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 going to
ask you to make a commitment with me today. All
right. I mean, right now, just you and me, I
wish you could sit in the room with me and I'd
look you right in the eye. And I've had people
do this with me and it changed my life. I would
look you dead in the eye and I would say, will
you for the next two 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, you 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 going to be groggy,
and 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 telling 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 two pro -apt, and I walked... you know,
pretty briefly through exactly how to do it.
You can do it 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 then you
pray at the end and ask for God's help and strength
and then you tell someone. 2PROAP, that little
acronym that we gave. And I want you to use that
2PROAP method for the next two weeks. Do this
with me, will you? 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 with the book of James. It'll be
hard. It'll be difficult. It may not be really
great the first three or four or five days. I
will tell you, if you hang with me on this, God
will begin to order the rest of your life as
you say to him, Lord, I need you. I want to meet
with you first. Will you do that? I'm going to
pray for you. Lord, give them grace. Give them
courage. Give them discipline to meet with you
first. In Jesus' name, amen. 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. Thanks for taking
a minute to do that. And if there's a way we
can pray for you, let us know. Call 888 -333
-6003 or email chip at livingontheedge .org.
We'd love to hear from you. For Chip and the
entire team here, this is Dave Drewy, thanking
you for listening to this edition of Living on
the Edge, and I hope you'll join us again next
time.