Billy Joe Daugherty - Juggling Your Priorities

Contents

Chapter 1

God's Will for You Is Peace and Order

Today, most people need help to prioritize their obligations so they can seize the moment and perform to the maximum, both in their natural obligations and in their God-ordained assignments. To prioritize and balance your obligations properly, a divine order needs to be put in place in your life.

Paul dealt with "order" in relating to the operation of the gifts of the Spirit in the Church. He revealed something about the character and nature of God that is applicable to our individual lives as well. In 1 Corinthians 14:33, Paul said:

For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

Confusion means "tumult, lack of quietness, torment, disorder, chaos, clutter, pandemonium, or commotion."

Then Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:40: Let all things be done decently and in order.

If God wants order and peace in the Church, He certainly wants order and peace in our personal lives. When our lives are operated in peace and divine order, then we carry that same peace and order, rather than chaos and confusion, into a corporate setting. Jesus said:

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 14:27

God Brought Order Into Creation

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Then God said, "Let there be light; and there was light.

Genesis 1:1-3

In the beginning, the earth was void, empty, without form and organization. Often, this is true of people's lives. When God's Spirit moves and the Word goes forth, however, light will come into your life and darkness will be removed.

It's time to prioritize every aspect of your life according to God's divine order.

God is not the author of confusion.

Chapter 2

God's Guideline for Success

God's guideline for real success in life is to do joyfully and completely what He has called you to do.

Charles Story is a personal friend who ministers to the prisoners, including the death row inmates, at the Oklahoma State Prison in McAlester, Oklahoma. This is success to Charles because it is God's calling upon his life. For you to attempt the same thing could be failure if God has not called you to do it.

Mark 8:36 says, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" What if you reach the top of the corporate ladder, build an industry or a business and do what you want to do, yet you do not hear God's voice? Though it may look like total success in the eyes of the world, it will be complete failure to God if it's not His plan for you.

It's time to obey what God has called you to do. As you allow the Holy Spirit and the Word of

God to flow together in your life, you will move into the success God has planned for you.

Chapter 3

Jesus, Be the Lord of All

To have your priorities in divine order, God must be in charge of your life. To be fully in charge, He must be your first love.

When you respond positively to God as He speaks and as light and revelation come through His Word, chaos and disorder will be removed from your life. It starts with a heart that says, "Jesus, be the Lord of all. Be the Lord of my family, time, finances, work, play, thoughts and desires." When He is Lord of all these areas, then He can order your life with His priorities.

Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." "'All these things" refer to all the things the world is consumed with gettingfood, clothing, housing, vocation, entertainment, prestige, etc. Their time is prioritized and ruled by the temporal things of life. Jesus was saying, "It is not to be so with you."

According to Matthew 6:25-32, your life is not to be dictated by the pursuit of things:

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

"Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

"Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

"So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;

"And yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

"Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

"Therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear?

"For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things."

Our responsibility is to make sure Jesus is our first love. In speaking to the church of the Laodiceans in Revelation 3, Jesus said:

"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.

"So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth."

Verses 15 ,16

The Laodiceans had done many good works, but they had lost the priority of fellowship with the

Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The time you invest in the Word, in prayer and in fellowship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit gives evidence of the first love of your life.

Let it be said of you and me, "They are on fire for God!"

Chapter 4

Be Led By the Spirit and the Word

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5 ,6

God will direct your path by His Spirit and by His Word.

Led By God's Spirit

First Corinthians 6:17 says, "But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him." Romans 8:16 says, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God."

God will lead and guide you by an inner witness of the Holy Spirit in your spirit, by an inward knowing, or by a "still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12).

Many people's lives are directed by the circumstances around them, Wall Street, Madison Avenue, the dictates and opinions of their friends, or by what is propagated in the media rather than by the Spirit of God.

You cannot allow the world's system to set your priorities. Instead, you need to ask, "What is the Spirit of God saying to me?"

Led By God's Word

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105

The more you let the Word of God dwell in you, it will become the guiding force in your life.

When you meditate continually in the Word, you won't have to pray whether or not to hook up with a shady deal. The Word has already illuminated that area, so avoid that pitfall.

People sometimes ask, "Should I marry this person who isn't a believer in Jesus Christ?" Or, "Should I marry this person who isn't sold out to Him?" Then they say, "Please pray with me so I will know what to do." No need to pray because the light of God's Word has already shined in that area in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18:

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?

And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people."