Life’s Number One Priority | Timeless Truths – Dr. Charles Stanley

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timeless truths

a collection of classic sermons from dr

charles stanley

today’s selection recorded in 2000

life’s number one priority

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do you often feel the tension between

doing what you want to do

and what you feel like you should do

well what areas of your life do you feel

that tension

the most often and how do you respond

that is which one wins over the most

what you want to do or what you know in

your heart you should do

and when you do what you want to do

rather than what you know you should do

how do you feel

do you feel guilty feel defeated

how do you feel when you do what you

know you

ought to do rather than what you want to

do how do you feel

victorious like you’ve conquered

temptation

feel good about yourself well life is

full of decisions and therefore life’s

going to be full of tension

and sometimes when these decisions are

absolutely crucial in our life

and we have two alternatives and one

looks just as good as the other or

we know that one is right and one is not

right

what we want to do versus what we should

do

and the tension is so strong oftentimes

we discover the strength of our heart

the strength of our life

and so since life’s just full of those

things it’s one of those areas

that all of us have felt and do feel

tension in our lives

it’s something so very simple but

something so profound

it’s it’s the one area that has the most

awesome impact upon

our life of everything else and yet you

would think that after we’ve been saved

for a while we would have learned and

therefore there wouldn’t be any tension

in this at all

but there is and that’s the area that i

want to talk about in this message and i

want you to turn if you will

to the 10th chapter of the gospel of

luke

10th chapter of the gospel of luke it’s

amazing how god could put so much truth

in so few words and something as simple

as this incident to identify to us

what is the number one priority

in the life of the believer if you

should ask people what is the number one

priority

you’d probably get lots of answers but

it’s very clear in this passage

from jesus perspective what is the

number one priority in our life

so if you’ll notice that uh he’s just

been uh talking about

the good samaritan in this chapter and

the parts before this and then beginning

in verse 38 he says

now as they were traveling along that is

jesus and his disciples he entered a

village

and a woman named martha welcomed him

into her home

she had a sister called mary who was

seated at the lord’s feet listening to

his word but martha was distracted with

all her preparations and she came up to

him

and said lord do you not care that my

sisters left me to do all this serving

alone

then tell her to help me but the lord

answered and said to her

martha martha now probably it would have

been

it would mean the same thing as dear

dear martha now you’re getting all upset

you’re worried and bothered about so

many things

but one only one thing is necessary

for mary has chosen the good part which

shall not be taken away from her

now this is such an important patch of

scripture and i want to talk about

these three primary people of mary

martha and

jesus in just a moment but just to

remind you that jesus has

gone to this home probably often times

and

he’s on his way to jerusalem’s disciples

and

he has decided to stop off at mary

marthan lazarus home

where he felt welcomed and certainly he

felt loved

and in the process of doing so an

incident happens here

in which he identifies for us what is

the number one priority in our life

now the truth is all of us have

priorities in our lives

we all have priorities in different

areas of our lives

now on this particular occasion let’s

think about what’s happening here

martha more than likely is sort of the

head of this household now i’m not

saying that she

runs things but she at least is the most

outgoing one and she takes charge when

she finds out that

jesus and his group are coming she gets

in the kitchen

more than likely she’s got married there

with her and so they’re working

on dinner or lunch or whatever it may

have been

and uh they must have been pretty well

off for them to have had an alabaster

box of uh

of nard for her to not just open

uh or break the ceiling let the aroma

fill the house but she absolutely poured

it on his feet

and so uh must have had a rather large

house for these 13 men to arrive

and to have dinner and so

one thing i know about her she was a

very industrious woman probably very

organized

and she was a take control kind of

person nothing wrong with that

now here’s mary the three times that you

find mary mentioned the bible you know

where she is

sitting in the feet of jesus every time

what mary did was not the proper thing

to do for a woman in those days

the proper place for a woman of those

days was in the kitchen in preparation

but you know what mary’s love for jesus

she didn’t care what

the gnome was she was going to take

advantage of sitting in his feet

listening to him learning from him

loving him and longing to have the same

qualities within her own life

that’s what mattered to her most and so

while it was not the proper thing

necessarily to do

that’s exactly what she did and so

martha she had a difficult time with

that and so she’s running in circles

she’s pulled in two different directions

and she of course she would like to be

sitting at his feet and there she is

in the kitchen and why don’t you come in

and help me because i’ve got all this

responsibility and jesus

why don’t you make her come in here and

he says now martha

i think you’re you’re troubled about a

lot of things in fact you troubled about

too many things

things have gotten uh uneven you’re an

uneven keel here now let’s let’s settle

down a little bit

and here’s what he said to he said

martha

the most important thing number one

thing

mary’s chosen that and i’m not going to

take it away from me

now that had to be a little difficult

for martha to accept that and especially

if it went on uh probably right in um

in front of everybody else uh who was

there and so let’s think about this for

a moment

what was jesus saying he says number one

priority

in our life is our time we spend

alone with him now i want you to listen

very very carefully

you have a priority in your life maybe

you’re the only person who knows what it

is but you have a priority in your life

and the question is this

do you value your relationship with

jesus christ

enough to make him

time alone with him the number one

priority in your life is he that

valuable to you

is he that important to you where does

he rank

in your life does he rank number one

is he number two number three number

four

number five is he down so far in the

list

on your time your energies

your interest your love your devotion

that you can’t figure out exactly where

he fits

do you put him in the category of but

well uh

he’s in the category of my priority but

going to church and i go to church

one day a week where is jesus

in your priority list now you know you

can ignore that question but the truth

is you shouldn’t ignore it where is he

you say well i want to set priorities in

my life and i want to be what god wants

me to be

well wanting to is one thing

doing it is something else i can want a

lot of things in life

but do i want them listen do i want them

strongly enough

to make a decision to make it work in my

life

listen carefully the most important

thing in your life in my life today

tomorrow next month next year every year

to the moment we die

is our personal intimate relationship

with him with christ

the the number one priority in our life

is to be

that time we spend along with him now

watch this it isn’t because we just need

him

he wants us he desires our love and he

and he desires to spend time alone with

us

how blessed we are somebody says well

now wait a minute now yeah but mary had

him physically that is uh

she could see him and therefore be

easier for her because she could see it

not necessarily

i’ll never forget the testimony of a

blind man many many years ago

who said he had never seen the lord

until he became blind and then he saw

him

totally undistracted by

life

we don’t need to see jesus to have

fellowship with him

to love him to be loved by him we don’t

need that

and jesus is not saying that hard work

and plenty of work and lots of work is

bad

he’s just saying that we have to keep

our priorities right what he would have

preferred

is that martha come and sit down with

mary

and when they finish talking then the

two of them could go

and finish up the dinner and so the

whole

impact of the story is this there’ll

always be those things that in truth

always be those things that disturb

always be those things that would grab

our attention and our time if we let it

now here’s the big question well okay

so what i start giving the lord time

every day

what can i expect well listen what is

the first thing that happens when you

and i

begin to spend time with him when we

come before him by ourselves and over an

open word

and begin to ask him to speak to our

heart and to read the scriptures first

thing you’re going to happen that

happens this

he will quieten your spirit i don’t care

how

stormy your circumstances are i don’t

it doesn’t make any difference how

difficult the situation is and what’s

going on in your life and who’s on your

case you know what

when you get along with him it is

absolutely amazing

how he can quieten your spirit shut out

everything else in the world

and it’s just you and him that will

quieten your spirit

he knows how to do that that’s why david

said my soul

clings to thee he’d learn the secret

that’s why he said he sat before the

lord

and listen to him and talk to him so

number one

certainly it quietens our spirit that

means

whatever troublesome nessa was there

it’ll be gone frustration

anxiety fear where he’s going to take it

away

secondly we’re going to sense a we’re

going to sense renewed

energy i cannot explain it i just know

that when you get on your face or sit or

whatever it might be before the lord

and he’s first you shut out everything

else and you begin to listen to him

and you begin to express your love and

your praise toward him there is a divine

energy that surges through this human

body that physiologically

something happens and i think

certainly mary must have learned some of

this or

because every time we see her she’s at

his feet and so first of all there’s

going to be

a sense of quietness

energy but likewise a lot of other

things and i want to just i just want to

give you a whole list here if i might

number three

and that is it’s certainly going to

strengthen your faith

because and i have seen this and listen

to this testimony so many times when

somebody for the first time in their

life

realizes that they knew god had spoken

to them

and given them an answer or given them a

sense of direction or said something

specific they knew it was from him

you’re talking about surging your faith

that this god who controls it all

is willing to speak to you listen he

desires to speak to you he will make it

so

cl crystal clear if you’ll give him the

time

so you’re going to have a sense of

energy a quiet spirit and you certainly

without a doubt i’m going to feel

strength in your faith not only that

but you’re going to be refreshed in your

emotions

and this is the one thing that i think

blesses me so often when i come in and

i’m tired and

just get on my face or sit down quietly

with an open word and

just be quiet just ask the lord just sit

and sometimes i just have to say lord

i’m a little empty oh i may say lord

i just need to be loved by you today

i just need you to put your arms around

me and just love me good

i just need to sense your presence and

your love

you don’t think he doesn’t do that yes

he does

he knows how he knows how to fuse within

our emotional being listen all that

we need to fill us up he’s sitting on

ready

waiting to meet every single solitary

need that we have

we say that he meets all of our needs

and then we wonder why sometimes we

don’t have them because we don’t give

them a chance

certainly it enlarges our view of god

you see so many people’s god is so

confined

you’re listen your view of god begins to

get

larger and larger greater and greater

bigger and bigger

when you begin to see how he begins to

work in your life and he is working

situations and circumstances in the

future

that you can’t even figure out and you

come to that point in your life of that

time of that decision

and you see how god has worked at every

single detail already

one thing that certainly will happen

when you spend time with him is that he

will purify your heart

i do believe that one of the primary

reasons that most people will not get

along with the lord

spend time with him is because they

don’t want to face themselves they’ve

got baggage they don’t want to deal with

sin in their life they don’t want to

face anxieties

they they just they can’t deal with them

not only that their frustration their

anxieties are such

they just don’t believe that somehow god

can handle that

yes he can he listen he can take every

single need that we have

and sometimes those feelings we have

that emotionally upset us are the result

of some particular sin in our life that

we not even identified

so what happens when you come before him

and you say lord speak to my heart

god doesn’t scratch his head to find out

what to say or what to think he knows

exactly

every single thing that’s going on in

our heart and so what does he do

he very sometimes it may be like a storm

that hits us but sometimes very gently

he reminds us

it’s not the right attitude shouldn’t

have said that

shouldn’t have treated him that way you

need to go apologize

in other words if you’re afraid of what

he’s going to say

you’re not you’re not going to get along

with him but if you love him

and you care and you want his character

in your life

you will open your heart to him and say

lord i want you to speak to my heart

whatever you see in my life i want you

to clear up because god i want you to be

able to look at me

and not find anything in me lord

that disturbs our relationship

if you’re not willing to be that honest

here’s what’s going to happen you may

try this but you won’t be at it long

because you won’t want to face

purification sometimes is painful but

the purifying work of the holy spirit in

our life in the presence of our lord

is absolutely precious to any child of

god

who wants the lord’s best for their life

well not only does it purify our heart

but something else i think that you’ll

find that’s this

uh we’ll find that we’ll have insights

and

instruction from his word we won’t get

any other way you can sit and listen to

a sermon

and take notes but you know when it

becomes real to you

when you listen the wisest thing you

could do with any kind of a message you

hear from god is this

when you hear through a pastor go home

and the next time you get on your knees

in the afternoon or that night or the

next morning

just pull out those notes and say now

lord i i want you to get this on the

inside of me

because i’m not going to share anything

with you that does not fit

on the inside of us that is not a true

biblical principle that is the word of

the living god

that will make a difference in your life

seven days a week

and so if you took those notes and you

said lord

i want you to get this truth on the

inside of me i don’t want to have just

heard it i want to be a part of my

thinking i want to be able to i want to

be able to work this in my life in such

a way that i can share it with somebody

else

and they too will profit from what you

have said to me

instruction insight into the word of god

because you have the holy spirit and

it’s

probably one of my most exciting things

about the whole christian life

one of the most exciting things the

whole christian life to me is to study

the word of god

and then when i’m not even necessarily

thinking about something that i’ve read

god says something to me so crystal

clear out of the blue

that absolutely goes straight to my

heart i know that

god is speaking he wants to say

something to you

he wants to protect you to provide for

you to direct your life

we get instruction direction from his

word not only that

time you and i spend with him prepares

us for conflict

now we don’t know what tomorrow holds

none of us do

and so we can’t predict the future and

we can’t make decisions today that

affect the future

and so we have to make decisions today

that affect today

and so we have to trust god for tomorrow

and so we don’t know when the storms are

coming when the floods are coming

but here’s what i know for certain when

you and i spend time with him

you see he says he’s like a refuge he’s

like he’s like a fortress

uh he he he’s like a rock upon which we

stand he he’s our hiding place

spending time with him oftentimes

prepares us

so quietens our soul that we are ready

when something comes that would normally

blow people off course

that does not affect us because why

because we know

who is in control of our lives prepares

us for the storms of life

not only that one last thing i would say

is this

when you and i spend time with him there

is a joy

in our life that has its source in

nothing else in the world there’s this

overwhelming sense of deep abiding joy

that’s deeper

stronger and far more fulfilling than

happiness

happiness is dependent upon our

circumstances joy

is dependent upon a relationship now you

think about this

can anybody anywhere in the world

name me any other experience in life

that will give you all of that

you cannot

because we’re relating to the lord jesus

christ who loved us enough to go to the

cross

and die for your sins and mine

and then to send us the holy spirit to

live on the inside of us

to enable us to become godly

men and women but let me ask a question

do you have a priority in your life

is jesus first now watch this

as you look at the way you spend your

time is he first

the way you spend your money is he first

in your relationships is he first

in the expenditure of

the wisdom and knowledge and

understanding and labors that god has

given you is he still first

if he’s not let me ask you a question

how can you and i justify

having put jesus

in second place third place

fourth place fifth place somewhere at

yonder

in the ethereal something somewhere we

can’t justify that

you want life at its best you say well

how far away is life at its best well if

i could

measure it here’s what i would say i’d

say life at its best

is this far away it’s just as far

as my feet to my knees

because when you get on your face before

the living god

and you tell him that above everything

else in life

you want him you want to know him

love him learn from him you long to be

what he wants you to be

you long to become the person that god

has predestined you to be you

long for intimate relationship with him

you know what

one thing you’ll never have to ask oh

please god please please please you know

what

he’s sitting on ready to transform your

life

sitting already to transform your life

so if you’ve never trusted jesus christ

as your savior

listen carefully he went to the cross

for one reason

nail into the cross and upon him the

father placed

all of your sin for all of your life

and then the father punished him

in your place

and made it possible for you to be able

to say father forgive me for my sins

i’m asking you to forgive me on the

basis that christ died for my sins

and i’m accepting him as my personal

savior here and now whoever you are

wherever you are no matter what you’ve

done

how long you’ve done it how evil wicked

and vile you’ve been

if you’re willing to ask him to forgive

you of your sins

and accept his death his full payment

for your sins

tell him that you’re receiving him as

your personal savior sins are forgiven

wiped out forever he will hold them

against you

no more and then if you’re wise enough

to make him number one

in relationship and every aspect of your

life

you watch god transform you in a way

that you would never begin to imagine

one thing i know for certain you never

lose

making him number one father we love you

and praise you

for giving us such a simple passage of

scripture

but so full of profound truth

that absolutely can impact every single

area of our life

i pray the holy spirit will sink this

truth into every heart that hears you

seal it tight let it take root

let it bear fruit and the fruit being

transformed to lives people who love you

devoted to you listen to you long for

you

learn from you and walk in your ways

is our prayer today in jesus name amen