Godly Priorities - Pastor Joel Urshan

earthy is the lamb worthy is the lamb worthy is the lamb thank you Jesus glory to God hi my my aren't you glad to be in an atmosphere where you can praise Him aren't you thankful to be in an atmosphere where you can just open up your heart and open up your mouth and praise His Holy Name glory be your name thank you Jesus thank you Jesus we give you praise O Lord a man you may be seated in the name of the Lord God bless you in Jesus name we are just so grateful to see everyone here tonight we want to continue to remember the Downs family in prayer brother Leroy downs who we missed so much on this on this earth but we wouldn't want him to have to come from where he is hey man he's where we're all trying to go glory to God and we thank the Lord for the life of brother Leroy downs and his faithfulness to God has been an inspiration to all of us and his memorial service funeral service will be here at the Tree of Life Church at the annex on Friday from 10:00 to noon will be the viewing and at noon there will be a funeral service and we're going to celebrate his life at that time Amen we also want to remember the Bohannon family in prayer in the passing of sister Tasha Bohannon and brother and sister Bohannon our love and prayers are with you and your family and this time and we know that the Lord will uphold you by his mighty power amen we thank God that the comforter the scripture says the comforter is come and we pray his great comfort upon this wonderful family in Jesus name in Jesus name I want to speak to you tonight on the subject godly priorities godly priorities I'm reading from the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 6 and we're going to begin there we're going to of course as we go into this Bible study we're going to we're going to go to and fro through the scriptures and so we we'll move along there but from Matthew chapter six beginning with verse number 26 of my very favorite passages and one of the landmark passages for our church Matthew chapter 6 and verse 26 the word of the Lord says this behold the fowls of the air for they sow not neither do they reap nor gather into barns yet your heavenly Father which feedeth them feedeth them are you not much better than they which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature and why take ye thought for raiment consider the lilies of the field how they grow they toil not neither do they spin and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory in all his glory he was not arrayed like one of these wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven shall he not much more clothe you O ye of little faith therefore take no Thought saying what shall we eat what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed for after all these things do the Gentiles seek for your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you take therefore no thought for the morrow for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof and I want to speak to you tonight on the subject godly priorities godly priorities it's important today that we have godly priorities not something where we place anything above the Lord the Bible says hear o Israel the Lord our God is one Lord amen how many are glad the worship that one Lord amen let's give God a Handclap of praise one more time thank you Jesus the priorities that we have in life say a lot about us they tell us everything we need to know about ourselves what is it that's important to us what is it that we value what things are on the top of our list in terms of importance in terms of urgency what is it that we don't think we can do without what are those things those are your priorities and the priorities of life can vary they can be on the spectrum ranging from the most carnal to the most spiritual it is important it is of utmost importance that you and I have God's priorities as our priorities what is important to God it must be important to us so I want to talk to you a little bit tonight about godly priorities in this passage of Scripture this this passage means a lot to me because it deals so much with the matter of seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things what things the things that you shall eat the things that you shall drink the things that you shall place upon yourself for clothing in other words the necessities of your life all these things shall be added unto you if you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness we do this by faith we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness by faith we don't seek it because somebody forces us to seek it you you can go through all the motions and seeking God but it really doesn't matter if it's not coming from the heart but when we seek first the kingdom of God and let me let me say that every word in that statement is so valuable see he didn't say but see the kingdom of God and His righteousness justice he said seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and so many times we seek God and his kingdom and his righteousness and then we expect these promises to come to pass but we have so many things in front of him so many things prioritized above him so we fail many times to understand the significance of seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness it's an act of faith there are other things you could be doing there are things to get done people to see stuff to to to manage and and yet by faith before you do anything else you see first the kingdom of God and His righteousness that's when you enact the divine principles of all these things being added unto you praise the Lord from the Book of Psalms 63 we're going to begin at the first verse of Psalm 63 the Bible said O God thou art my god early will I seek thee early will I seek thee now you say what does that mean early that that means early that means before it's too late that means before anything gets started does that mean early in the day yes does that mean early in life yes does that mean early on my job yes early early in your career early in your education early in your marriage early in your friendships early when you receive when you receive your income that's what we tithe that the first fruits of what the Lord has given us early will I seek you so so why is it important to do it early so many times and we're all guilty of this we wait until we realize how desperate we are for God and then we begin to seek Him but he said O God thou art my god early will I seek thee now you lay that as a premise as a preface to everything else and then the beautiful things that come after that are sure to follow my soul thirsteth for thee my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is now I'm gonna tell you that's the world you're living in this is a dry and a thirsty land where no spiritual water is these these the people of this world are dehydrated spiritually and they are dry and the thirsty and the land in which they live is dry and thirsty but but because I have sought the Lord early my soul thirsteth for the my flesh longeth avi not other things but the Lord to see thy power and thy glory so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary because thy loving-kindness is better than life my lips shall praise thee thus will I bless the while I live I will lift up my hands in thy name my soul shall be satisfied as with morrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips do you see what happens when you seek Him early when you seek Him or don't don't don't take that position that God gave you for granted don't think you can do it by yourself don't try to accomplish it with your fleshly efforts but early seek the Lord say God give me wisdom Lord give me guidance Lord make my tongue the pen of a ready writer help my hands that whatever they find to do that I'll do with my might that I'll do it with excellence seek Him early in that promotion or position seek him early in your marriage seek him early in your children's lives a man and you begin to raise them up in the fear of the Lord don't wait until the chaos ensues but but early seek the Lord in their life and lay them before the Lord and dedicate them to the house of God I'm gonna tell you I know it's a challenge to come to church sometimes I know that I know it's a dedication I understand that it's it requires time it requires effort it requires energy I'm going to tell you you'll never regret spending your years in the house of the Lord you'll never regret it you'll never regret getting up and bringing your family to the house of God making sure they're in an environment where they hear the word of the Lord where teachers teach the word of the Lord and we have faithful teachers a tree of life church who teach the Word of God to our children and to our young people I just heard our young people as I was coming down the hall they were having so much fun and having good wholesome godly fellowship and they're gonna be hearing the Word of God tonight I thank God for youth pastors and children's ministry pastors and teachers that will deliver the word of the Lord to our children and our young people early in life and when you do that you get to enjoy the beauty that comes from it I will praise you with my lips because your loving-kindness is better than life hallelujah I will bless you while I live I will lift up my hands in your name my soul shall be satisfied my mouth shall praise you with joyful limbs thank the Lord didn't it better to be that than some bitter broken just resentful hateful soul I want to be someone whose mouth praises the Lord I don't want folks to walk up to me and start talking to me and find out in just a few minutes that I'm some poisoned cistern some some toxic well that they don't want to be around because everything that comes out of my mouth has a barb to it little has some kind of a little edge on it and you can feel my hurt from the words ice no no no I want that out of my system I want to get all of that out on the altar and say Lord take this miserable wretch that I am and clean me up on the inside and let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight gone you know that's important for both of those things to be acceptable in the sight of God you can't expect the words of your mouth to be acceptable to God if the meditation of your heart is not acceptable to God you can't expect your word to give forth your mouth to give forth praise if your mind is dwelling on toxicity whether that be in the form of bitterness and resentment or whether that be in the form of the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes or the pride of life trying to gain some kind of an advantage over everybody around you and and and and to their dirt and to their demise you you you can't expect you the mouth God gave you for praise to give forth praise if the meditation of your heart is not fixed upon the Lord and so seek the Lord with godly priorities early early early will I seek you it's important that we do it early from the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 12 now the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 12 is a very interesting chapter in the Bible it actually speaks in metaphoric terms about how life goes and how that our bodies age and and as we age our bodies begin to to succumb to certain frailties and what have you so so this there's an admonition that starts this chapter Ecclesiastes 12 here's the admonition remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth somebody said well that's too late for me I'm not in my youth anymore well join the club but you're younger now than you'll ever be so this applies to all of us remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth while the evil days come not while you've got health in your body remember now your Creator while you can lift hands lift your hands well you can declare his word declare his word while you can come to church come to church Oh hallelujah while you can bless some bless somebody remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth while the evil days come not nor the years draw nigh when you shall say I have no pleasure in them there's gonna come some rough days in our life that's the nature of this world they're gonna come some days it that we wish would not come and and and these are that he said they're their evil days we thank God for the good days and yet there are evil days that can come upon us the days where we say I have no pleasure in those days don't wait for those days to come for you to say O God I need you but remember him while things are going good while the evil days come not while the Sun or the light of the moon of the stars be not darkened nor the clouds returned after the rain in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble a reference to the way that the body begins to give way to the struggles that can come a call upon us physically keepers of the house shall tremble and the strongmen shall bow themselves and the grinders cease because they are few and those that look out of the windows be darkened and the doors shall be shut in the streets when the sound of the grinding is low and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird and all the daughters of music shall be brought low also when they shall be afraid of that which is high fear trees fears shall be in the way and the almond tree shall flourish and the grasshopper shall be a burden and desire shall fail why because man goeth to his long home and the mourners go about the streets or ever the silver cord be loosed or the golden bull be broken or the pitcher be broken at the fountain or the wheel broken at the cistern in other words things just aren't working right there's there's dysfunction occurring in our body because man goeth to his long home then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it vanity of vanities saith the preacher all is vanity and moreover because the preacher was why's he still taught the people knowledge yeh he gave good heed and sought out and said in order men proverbs the preacher sought to find out acceptable words and that which was written was upright even words of truth listen to this the words of the wise are as goads and as nails fashioned by the Masters of Assemblies which are given from one Shepherd in other words the word of truth that we receive in our life they are like nails that are fastened they are like like goads and nails that are fastened as though as they come from the Good Shepherd of our soul and and that's what that's what you try to do as a pastor you try to give words of truth that can nail things down in a sure place so that when the evil days do come and the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men bow themselves and the body begins to go the way of the grave that that people have something to hold on to not something flimsy not something that that that won't that will shake or shift as society shakes and shifts but nails in a sure place fastened by the Masters of assemblies and and notice what he said further by these my son be admonished of making many books there is no end there are more books being printed and published constantly people are putting out their thoughts and their opinions on what really matters and much study he said in verse 12 is a weariness of the flesh but I'm gonna tell you he's not discouraging you from learning and growing but I'm just gonna I'm just gonna here go spoil alert I'm gonna tell you what it's all about verse 13 let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole duty of man my lord have mercy what here's what matters fear God and keep his Commandments at the end of the day at the end of life at the end of it all what matters is that you fear God and that you keep his Commandments for this is the whole duty of man verse 14 for God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil you think that you're getting by with the secret things you're not getting by with anything all of its going to be brought into judgment whether it be good or whether it be evil this is why you also should be content with doing good things that are done in secret you know how we do good things and then we we want everybody to know what the good things we did so we find subtle little ways to tell about all the good stuff we did you don't have to do that your father sees in secret he will reward you openly it'll be brought into judgment the secret things you've done good and evil and every work shall be brought into judgment so so what this is telling you is you better develop godly priorities in your life that cause you to fear the Lord and keep his Commandments but knowing that every thing you do shall be brought into judgment and so this is something that you have to do now not something that you have to do later not something that you want to wait until you decide well I'm not sure I'm really gonna serve the Lord or not those days are over you better make up your mind right now it is time to serve the Lord today is the day of salvation now is the accepted time do you know how many people have died waiting to start their life and service to the Lord do you know how many people have have have lost out with God because they weren't ready yet no no it's not it's not time to be in a flimsy state of mind it's time to develop right priorities seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness knowing that all these things shall be added unto you and godly priorities will establish in your life a pattern that will be a blessing to you and to all those around you I want to turn your attention to the book of proverbs another one of the great poetic books of the Bible the book of Proverbs chapter 16 I want to read to you verse number we're gonna begin at the first verse proverbs chapter 16 verse 1 the preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord all the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes all the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes in other words if we feel it it must be true right that's how we think if I feel it if I feel this way that's the way it is and and you have actually got to learn to distrust that about yourself because there's nothing more deceitful than your own heart Jeremiah 17 and 9 the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked deceitful above all things you haven't met a serpent in the field the most subtle beast of the field more deceitful than your own heart you haven't met a devil from hell more deceitful than your own heart so so this idea that that this is how I felt that's just the way I feel that ought to be your first red flag well that's just how I feel about it well there you go that's all I needed to hear let's go to the altar and pray through so we can find out how does God feel about it because God's feelings aren't feelings they are truth so we have to know what the Lord says about this all the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes but the Lord way if the spirits there is a truth about a thing and the Lord is the judge of what is true and what is what is right so here's what you and I do commit thy works unto the Lord commit my works unto the Lord you commit every work you do under the Lord amen commit your prayer under the Lord commit commit the work you do on the job do it as unto the Lord make sure that your prayerful make sure that you're reading the word of the Lord make sure you're reaching out to help people make sure that you're a safe that your trust worthy commit your works unto the Lord now that's that's the step here's the promise and thy thoughts shall be established commit thy works unto the Lord and the thoughts shall be established there are so many people who try to live for God and this is what they say they say I just have a hard time getting my mind under control it's my thoughts that are the problem I've got desire to serve the Lord but my thoughts would they run away and I can't get ahold of him I can't I can't track him down I can't discipline my mind to stay where it needs to be commit thy works unto the Lord and the thoughts shall be established the way to get your thoughts under control is to commit your works unto the Lord this is why if you ever wake up in the middle of the night with your heart racing panic-stricken anxiety-ridden can't go back to sleep you need to pray and furthermore you need to worship you need to just go ahead get out of bed stop trying to fight it thinking that you're gonna go to bed at 2:30 in the morning with all these thoughts running through your mind everything that can go wrong all the stuff that could go bad you just need to get up out of bed go get you a glass of milk and some cookies or kedo cookies or whatever it is you're on and you need to pray and say Lord I need I need a touch from your spirit I need you to put me at peace about all this make you a little to-do list of things that you need to get done the next day 1 2 3 4 5 pray over those things sanctify them say Lord I'm gonna put all of these in your hands I'm gonna trust that you're gonna give me the wisdom and the insight as to how to handle these things but Lord I'm gonna commit my works unto you and God will establish your thoughts he will put an anchor on your thoughts and hold them and keep them when you commit your works unto the Lord be faithful to the house of God don't lay out of church I know not everybody can get here because of sickness and things of that nature at times but may sure that you are being faithful to the house of God because that's how your thoughts are gonna run rampant on you they're gonna be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine they're gonna be pushed and shoved and bullied by every spirit that comes your way commit your works unto the Lord and your thoughts shall be established pray every day pray multiple times a day pray all through the day oh I got how about this pray without ceasing hallelujah and your thoughts shall be established thank the Lord thank the Lord everyone that is paroled and now I'm just gone I've just gone to Medellin now verse five everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord Wow though hand joined in hand he shall not be unpunished by mercy and truth iniquity is purged by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil verse seven hear this hear this when a man's ways please the Lord the Lord maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him you don't think it matters if your ways please the Lord when a man's ways please the Lord he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him even those that would rise up against you when your ways please the Lord when you've committed your works unto the Lord the Lord begins to move on your hat behalf and he puts peace upon your life that even your enemies are at peace with you what's happening I'm setting godly priorities and even my enemies are at peace with me I'm setting godly priorities and my thoughts are being established oh praise the Lord Romans chapter 8 Romans chapter 8 I want to to read just a few verses of Scripture here from the book of Romans the eighth chapter verse number five the word of the Lord says this for they that are after the flesh you don't want to be after the flesh what are you after don't be after the flesh why because they that are after the flesh they do mind the things of the flesh that's what's on their mind are the things of the flesh what are you after are you after bigger and better and are you after the pride of life are you after making a name for yourself what are you after because if you're after those things you're going to think about or mind or you know when your mom said you better mind to me she meant obey they mind or they obey or they dwell on they think they're governed by the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit they mind the things of the Spirit so what are you after are you after your name being great or his name being great what are you after are you are you after people seeing you in a positive light or you have to them seeing him in a positive light what do you wear to you after are you after are you after making as much money as possible or are you after seeing to it that your family is in the house of the Lord what are you after because if you're after the flesh you're gonna mind the things the flesh you're gonna think on the things of the flesh you're gonna obey the things of the flesh and you're gonna end up with the destruction that the flesh brings but if you mind the things of if you're after the spirit your mind the things of the Spirit for to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is are you ready for these two wonderful words life and peace I could use that life in peace verse 7 because the carnal mind is enmity against God it's a wall between us and God that's the carnal mind notice what the Bible said for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be it cannot be subject to the law of God let me tell you what that's telling us that's telling us that your carnal mind is a law unto itself or worse yet governed by the law of sin and death but when your mind is spiritual and dwells on the things of the Lord your mind is subject to the law of God and the law of God begins to govern your mind and govern your thoughts and the law of God will will enforce the law of God upon your thoughts and you will enter if you mind the things of the Spirit and are after the things of the Spirit you will enter a realm of living for God where you will be tempted by a thing and not want it there there's one kind of temptation where you're tempted by it and you resist the temptation though you may want it but but but the kind of life and peace that God's going to give you is he's going to deliver you from those evil desires and bring you to a place where what used to tempt you doesn't tempt you anymore and you walk by it in the name of Jesus and it doesn't affect you the way it used to affect you because you are subject to the law of God you are governed by the law of God your spirit your desires they are obeying the Spirit of the Lord how did that happen because you established godly priorities in your life you committed your works unto the Lord and God as a blessing to you established your thoughts you know it's a spiritual thing and it's also a physiological thing God will actually got through these constructive spiritual habits God will change the way your body operates and when you continually habitually praise Him and worship Him and meditate on him and pray to him and trust him and have faith in Him slowly but surely you are moving into a narrow way that leads to life everlasting and it becomes the habit of your life it becomes the rule of your life it becomes the governance of your life it becomes who you are Oh hallelujah my lord have mercy how many have ever been in a situation where you couldn't get to service on a Sunday morning and you're like man I don't even know what to do it's Sunday morning I gotta be a church I hadn't even know what to do with I'm not a church on a Sunday morning yet our restaurants even open on Sunday mornings maybe I should go put fuel in my car do they do the gas stations even pump fuel on Sunday mornings because I'm so used to being in that house of God what happened you established some godly priorities in your life that said you know what I know I'm not saying this for religious purposes I'm not saying that this is some kind of a religious restraint that we that we subject ourselves to I'm saying I've seen the fruit of when somebody is faithful to the house of God and I want that fruit for my life and I want that fruit for my children and I want that fruit for my family and I want that fruit for my church and I want that fruit for my city in my nation I I want to see people thrive and have life and peace thank the Lord you can't do that you can't experience that life and peace with the carnal mind it is enmity against God so it's important that we understand to establish godly priorities and here this establish godly priorities now before the evil days come Genesis chapter 39 we're going to enter a very uncomfortable situation where Joseph has been sold into slavery but even though he was sold into slavery everything that he touched began to turn to just pure gold he was in Potiphar's house he was thriving he was making a name for himself Potiphar trusted him with everything Potiphar's wife developed an infatuation for Joseph and she tempted Joseph and Joseph did not succumb to the temptation later she would falsely accuse him but notice what Genesis 39 and verse 9 says there is none greater in this house than I neither have he kept back speaking of Potiphar anything from me but thee because thou art his wife notice what he says here how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God this is a man who didn't wait until the temptation arose to establish godly priorities in his life but the priorities were established well before the temptation arose so that once the temptation did come into his life he wasn't having to scramble and find conviction he wasn't having having a scramble and find integrity he wasn't having to scramble around and try to find some kind of a character no no no it was already established in his heart the Lord matters too much to me his law his word his power his spirit integrity with him being right in his eyes matters so much more to me than some fleeting cheap little fleshly thrill no sir no man how can I do this great wickedness against my god it wasn't in that moment that he made that decision it was long before that moment ever arose that Joseph had made up in his mind that won't happen in my life you have to have godly priorities notice what Romans chapter 13 says you got you got to make sure you're not in those kinds of positions a compromising position where you might find yourself tempted you need to be able to place yourself in a godly environment when godly priorities are at the forefront of your mind you will be cautious and you will be careful and you won't you won't look for ways to get in trouble thinking and vain that you can handle yourself again you need to distrust that deceitful heart of yours and know that you cannot control your flesh through the flesh that only the Holy Ghost can govern the flesh of man and how does it do it through crucifying the flesh romans 13 and verse 12 the night is far spent the day is at hand let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light in other words you're not children of the night any longer you are children of the day you're not you're not rioters and drunks you're not you're not drug abusers you're not fornicators that's not who you are anymore so so stop acting like that's who you are he's saying let's cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light what is he doing by putting on the armor of light godly priorities the shield of faith the helmet of salvation the breastplate of righteousness the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God I've got on me the armor of light let us walk honestly as in the day not in rioting not in drunkenness not in chambering not in 1 tennis not in strife not in envying but put you on the Lord Jesus Christ hallelujah don't you know that's what happens when you're baptized in Jesus name you're putting on the Lord Jesus Christ hallelujah I want to tell you something I can't make it through this world by myself and through my flesh I can only make it through this world by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ he fights my battles for me let me just give you let me just give you some understanding about resisting temptation you need to understand that he knew no sin but he was tempted in all points as you and I are tempted yet he was without sin in other words he was tempted by everything you have ever been tempted by or ever will be tempted by and he overcame that temptation and was without sin so Jesus has already overcome your temptation so you're saying oh I'm struggling with this temptation I don't think I can resist it I don't think I can make it I try I repent I come down to the altar I cry cry cry I go back out and I still struggle stop trying to resist it through your flesh and put you on the Lord Jesus Christ and and and declare his greatness and rest in his power and know that he has already fought this battle on your behalf and know that he'll fight your battle again and he'll fight your battle tomorrow don't worry about next week sufficient to the day is the evil thereof seek ye first the kingdom of God every day every morning every afternoon every night keep seeking him keep praying to him get this flesh under subjection put you on the Lord Jesus Christ and here it is here it is right here make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof make not provision for the flesh don't put your flesh in a position to commit sin I like to say it this way never stir an emotion that can only be satisfied by committing a sin emotion is not something just done run rampant in our life the Bible teaches us that our emotion is to be found in the Lord you know I can't find a biblical precedent for the concept of entertainment I can't find it anywhere we just we're just an entertained people entertain everybody say entertain it's related to the words obtain attain maintain ascertain it has to do with taking control of entertain what are you letting enter into your eyes and your ears and into your brain and and and gaining an advantage in your life I can't find a biblical precedent for entertainment and you and you notice how they categorize entertainment they got all every one of your emotions pinpointed you want to laugh comedy you want to cry feel like crying drama romance you want to be afraid horror yeah you want to be just totally totally have your mind totally blown how about sci-fi they've got every single one they literally categorize entertainment according to how you emote and The Book of Psalms teaches us where our emotion is to be make a joyful noise unto the Lord sing unto the Lord with gladness hallelujah hallelujah enter into his gates with Thanksgiving enter into his courts with praise be thankful unto Him and bless His name this is how we are to emote when we weep we are to weep in the Lord when we laugh we're to laugh in the Lord we're to find joy and and and and and so forth in the Lord make not provision for your flesh to fulfill the lusts of your flesh by doing so you are enacting something that you will never be able to control and it always brings forth death from the Book of Daniel chapter 3 The Book of Daniel chapter 3 just a couple verses of Scripture about one of the great accounts of Scripture it's in that it's in the Empire of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar is king he has built a golden image he was told by Daniel that this dream he had where the head of the statue was golden and that the rest of the statue was comprised of varying metals silver brass iron iron and clay and that they all represented subsequent kingdoms Nebuchadnezzar said I'll show you subsequent kingdoms he built a statue that didn't just have a golden head it was golden from head to toe and he was letting anybody and everybody know not gonna be any subsequent kingdoms he was defying God he was defying the Word of God and not only did he build the statue but he said when the dulcimer plays and the heart plays and the psaltery plays and the trumpets play I want everybody to bow down and worship the image and they would play and I don't know what the music sounded like he probably had some rhythm to it you could probably tap your toe to it you probably one of those things get stuck in your head hey listen you be careful about those things that get stuck in your head things that get stuck in your head that that's that's interesting how that happens I don't trust stuff gets stuck in my head unless it's of the Lord amen glory to God you know what I'm talking about you'll be sitting in a restaurant you wouldn't dream of listening to that stuff and you're sitting in a restaurant talking all the sudden your toes tap into some ungodly stuff and you're thinking oh my lord what in the world is this yeah you better you better be keep your mind on Jesus keep your heart fixed on Jesus and they said you better all bow and and and everybody bowed except three Hebrew children Hananiah Mishael and Azariah Shadrach Meshach and Abednego hallelujah and they were told on that these three won't bow and Nebuchadnezzar said they'd better bow I'll throw them in the fiery furnace I'll heat it up seven times hotter than it was before and he was gonna heat that fiery furnace up said to them you better bow when the dulcimer plays assault replays and and when the music began to play I don't know what kind of style of music it was but it was most likely something that could be very intoxicating if you allowed it to be don't allow it to be make up in your mind before you get in that environment I'm not bowing to this make up in your mind dedicated to the Lord prioritize your day prioritize your values prioritize the way you communicate in that kind of a surrounding I'm not going to bow the rest of the world night bow I'm not going to bow my whole community may bow I'm not going to bow what a lesson is found in this passage Daniel chapter 3 notice what they said in verse number 16 Shadrach Meshach and Abednego answered and I love this and said to the king o Nebuchadnezzar we are not careful to answer thee in this matter I don't I don't have to go search for what I believe because I settled that in my priorities I'm not careful to answer you in this manner I mean you're literally showing me a fiery furnace that you're gonna throw me into if I don't do what you're telling me to do and I'm not careful I don't have to second-guess myself we are not careful to answer thee in this matter if it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of thine hand O king but if not who we need a but if not kind of a revival thank God we need a but if not attitude he can do it he can deliver me he can turn this whole thing around but if not be it known unto thee O king that we will not serve thy gods we will not worship the golden image which thou hast set up Oh hallelujah I made up in my mind my priorities are set i only worship the King of Kings and the Lord of lords that's who my heart is dedicated to that's who my heart is dedicated to one more verse of scripture that I want to share with you before we leave tonight one of the great accounts in the scriptures has to do with the the great work of Nehemiah Nehemiah was used of the Lord to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem and not just rebuild the wall in Jerusalem but also to but also to reinstate the law in Jerusalem but it wasn't just Nehemiah he was there with a man by the name of Ezra a great scribe and Ezra who was priest of the Lord was greatly used of God he had to deal with Sanballat and Tobiah as well he had to deal with the Jews weeping when they heard the law as well he had to deal with all the ups and the downs involved with rebuilding the wall and reinstituting the law but Ezra chapter 7 verse 10 here it is for Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments he prepared his heart he prepared his heart his mind his soul his spirit to teach the law of God to seek the law of the Lord to do the law of the Lord and to teach in Israel the statutes and the judgments of the Lord this isn't something that happens overnight ladies and gentlemen this is a continual prioritizing of what matters to God and eventually it becomes who you are glory to God can you lift your hands with me right now and just say Lord I want to prepare my heart hallelujah Lord I want to I want to start today oh god I want to start today to prepare my heart to be who you want me to be in the name of Jesus hallelujah glory to God glory to God glory to God glory to God thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus glory to God glory to God hallelujah hallelujah could you stand with me right now the presence of the Lord is in this place praise the name of the Lord you know I'm not a good I'm not a good dieter I'm not a good dieter and I'm starting to realize the value of those things a little more and so I I have a few good hours or I do or I do well between lunch and dinner I do really well and the next morning I wake up and I think I'm just gonna take this day I'm gonna knock this out of the park I'm gonna do exactly as I should and then I order french toast someplace and then I put syrup on it and I wonder why it's not happening like I want it to happen it's the way it is in the spirit it's not it's not a few good hours here and a few good hours there it's godly priorities Lord I'm gonna be in your presence Lord I'm gonna be attentive to your word I'm gonna make this the rule of my life and when Potiphar's wife comes along oh no I can't do this great wickedness in the sight of my god and when Nebuchadnezzar's music and image comes along no no no I will not now I'm not careful to answer you in this manner and when it's time to to do something mighty for God I have prepared my heart Ezra said I have prepared my heart for this moment I will not back down from this responsibility no matter who may come against me or say that it can't be done my heart is fixed it is prepared hallelujah thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus glory hallelujah lord I praise your name hallelujah but my wife and I were today in a little place of business and they had little Kit Kats this at this size about an inch and she does so well she can just look at that and just move right along and I'd wait till she's not looking and grab a couple Kit Kats I pay for him first and then I think I'll make that abundantly clear I do pay for them but Oh spiritually speaking Lord let me walk by everything that's not for me that's not good for me let me just let me just walk away from Lord in your name Jesus it happens by by getting into a life into a habit into a routine a godly prioritizing of of what is important in my life hallelujah I feel like the Lord's moving on our hearts right now there need to be some godly priorities set in your life you need to start waking up in the morning and speak into God before you do anything else come on you got to get back into reading the Word of God every day and then getting o daily bread getting something for your life that day that day I need something for today I don't need to live off of what you gave me yesterday Lord I need something for today for right now come on you need to do that before the emergency comes you need to get into that habit before the evil days come because the evil days do come they do come but remember now that creator oh thank you Jesus come on as you as you lift up your hands under the Lord let's make some commitment to God in this house in Jesus name whoo I feel the presence of God I feel the presence of God come on you've been wanting to do this for a long time why don't you do it right now come on open up your mouth and just say lord help me help me and then give him something that you told him a long time ago you were gonna start doing it and then life got busy and stuff got away from you and things got hectic don't be embarrassed and don't be ashamed come on God can do something new in your life right now God can do something new in your life right now I'll shut up aah hyah whoa glory to God glory to God glory to God thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus glory to your name oh Lord glory to your name oh Lord yes Lord yes Lord yes Lord yes Lord yes Lord hallelujah hallelujah Lord I want to serve you every day I want to serve you in the morning I want to serve you at noon I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth my soul shall make the humble shall hear thereof and be glad Oh glory to God glory to God glory to God Oh hallelujah oh yes Lord me it's always been you Jesus Jesus [Music] in this world will oh Jesus you're the santur everything revolves around you Jesus you [Music] there's bad [Music] Jesus [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music]

Channel: Tree Of Life Church Cincinnati Ohio

Views: 521

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Id: dUAiNwmRDis

Length: 59min 27sec (3567 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 15 2020