CHOOSE - Diminish Your Distractions 2

With so many opportunities, obligations, and distractions vying for your attention, it's harder than ever to find balance in life.

But it can be done. Today on Turning Point, Dr David Jeremiah takes a closer look at priorities and how to make sure that yours are in alignment with God's. From the series forward, his David to introduce the conclusion of his message, Choose, Diminish Your Distractions. Some people call it essentialism.

Some people have other names for it. But we just know that in order for us to accomplish what God wants us to do, we have to learn how to diminish our distractions. We started talking about that yesterday. We're going to finish it today as we open our Bibles together and learn how to get momentum in life and move toward the goal God has set for you and for me. So important that we do that. So let's go back and learn a little bit more about what God wants us to accomplish. Notice again how Jesus stated this commandment. He said, You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself. That means it's okay to love ourselves. In fact, we are commanded to love ourselves. Now we have to be careful here because the devil always tries to turn self-love into selfishness and ego and low and high self-esteem. And conceit and haughtiness and self-importance and all the other things that make up for sinful narcissism.

I'm not recommending any of these. On the other hand, the apostle Paul said, Therefore, take heed to yourself and to all the flock. Let me paraphrase that. Take heed to yourselves and to everyone else assigned by God to your care. If you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of us. You can't uplift others. If you become fatigued and irritable, you can't uplift others. If you don't pay attention to your diet and exercise, you'll lose the strength you need to fulfill God's will. You have a God-given responsibility to take care of yourself. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Your personality is the means by which God touches others. If you get in a rut, you'll pull others down into it with you.

Your priority, love in its right place and you understand the three applications, things have a way of moving forward. You have to take care of yourself. I remember as a young pastor walking into the office of a chiropractor and there was a note on the wall and this is what it said. When you wear out this body, then where will you live? We only get one body. We don't get a new one.

We don't get a do-over. So we have to take care of ourselves. We have to take care of what God has given us. So consider what's best and clarify what's best. Then, of course, you have to choose what's best. Once you've clarified what is God's best in your life, the next thing you need to do is actually choose those priorities. You need to make intentional, planned decisions that elevate what is best and remove what is just good. The older you get, the more you'll find out that your choices are not between good and bad, but they're between good and best and sometimes they almost seem like they're between best and best. The choices become hard. As Moses was dying, he told his successor Joshua, In other words, once you establish your priorities, find the courage to say no to some things and yes to some other things and let's just look at two areas where this courage is required. First of all, we all need the courage to embrace our limitations.

Don't we? We're all aware of them, maybe specifically more aware of them now than we've ever been because of the environment in which we find ourselves. Beware of living in denial. To move forward, you have to be realistic. Progress comes by embracing your God-given limits.

I call them God-given. Some limits have to do with your age or stage in life. I used to do a lot of running for exercise. My knees won't allow me to do that, so I have to accept that limitation and find other ways to get the exercise that I need. Some of your limitations have to do with the gifts God has given you or the location where he's placed you. Maybe you battle a handicap or a chronic illness or you're a caregiver for someone who does. Maybe you have a dysfunctional family member or you live in a dangerous area.

You might be on a fixed income or maybe you can't afford to go to college or your job is being phased out. Whatever your limitations, accept them. Don't use them as an excuse for not doing what God assigns you to do.

The things that are right, grace, holiness, and justice are limitless, boundless, and measureless. But when the Son of God entered the human race in Bethlehem, he was confined within an animal's feeding trough. He grew up in a small hillside town. He did no recorded miracles for the first 30 years of his life, and he lived in submission to his parents. When Jesus began his ministry, he didn't fly around like an angel from one preaching assignment to another. He didn't even have a horse or donkey, except on one known occasion.

He said in Matthew 8-20, foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Jesus' area of ministry during the whole time he was on this earth was limited to a little strip of land along the Mediterranean and he never visited the great cities of his day, Athens, Rome, Milan, Alexandria, Carthage. He had a limited education, a limited income, and a limited time for his work, only three years. Oh, and his nation wasn't free.

It was occupied by Roman soldiers. The limitless Son of God was financially, geographically, chronologically, politically, and physically limited. And then his limitations became far more stringent. On the cross, he became so limited by the nails in his hands and feet, he was unable to wipe the blood from his eyes or scatter the flies from his face. Yet his limitations worked for the advantages of the whole world.

Imagine that. Limitations should never become excuses for staying where you are. Your priorities are determined by the gifts God has given you. Your stage in life, your personal shortcomings.

Doesn't the Bible say something about that? It says, your strength is made perfect in weakness. Embrace your limitations. Realize you can't do everything.

Even the Lord Jesus Christ, at the end of his life, said to the Father, I have finished the work that you gave me to do. Not all the work there is to do, the work that you gave me to do. All of us have limitations. And before we can move forward, before we can see this principle take hold in our lives, we have to acknowledge that we're not Superman.

We don't have everything everybody else has. God has given us a certain set of abilities and giftedness. And in one way or another, those things limit us. Courage to embrace your limitations. And then secondly, you need the courage to eliminate distractions by saying no to bad things. And even saying no to some good things. You can only say yes to the best things.

No to the bad, no to the good, yes to the best. Warren Buffett has learned he can't focus on too many things at once. This incredible man advises making a list of the top 25 things you want to accomplish in the next few years. And from this list, pick the five that are almost important to you.

Now you have two lists. One, for those items may well prevent the big things from happening. To move forward in life, we have to discover the beauty of the word no. Someone said to me recently, no is a complete sentence. The art of a graceful no takes courage, but boy is it liberating. In her book, Learning How to Say No When You Usually Say Yes, Maritza Manresa advises her readers the right to say no to lesser things to have room for the best things. Most of us say yes more than we should because we were taught to be available or because we don't want to disappoint anybody or we don't want to challenge authority. Maybe we feel guilty or we don't want to damage our relationship.

As a result, we're constantly overcommitted and the greater things are left behind. She suggests several ways to say no. These are important enough to include in this message because that's one of the hardest things all of us do. Here's some of her ideas of how to say no in a gentler way. She says, try things like this. I'm sorry, but I just simply can't do that at this time. I have a personal policy. It doesn't look like I'll be able to, but if anything changes, I'll let you know. It looks like I'm going to have to pass this time.

No, thank you. As you can well imagine, because of what I do, I get asked to do a lot of things. One of the things I get asked to do a lot is to read a book and provide a reference. I used to just kind of skim the book and if I knew the person, write some nice things and let it go. I got burned on that once and ended up endorsing a book that had some things in it I didn't even believe in. I made a decision that I would never endorse a book unless I could fully read it every single page. What that means is I don't endorse a lot of books. I do some, but when people send me a manuscript and they want me to endorse it, which sounds like such a great thing and I would love to do it and sometimes they do that for me, I have to go back to my priorities. Do I have time to read this manuscript so I can honestly say I endorse it? If I can't, then I just tell them I would love to do this, but my life is so challenging right now.

I can't find time to read the book, so I'm going to have to pass. It's hard to do this. It's hard for you.

It's hard for me, but we must have the courage to eliminate distractions if we're going to make forward progress. Jesus said no. He said no to others so that he could say yes to his father. In Matthew 16, the first Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus asking him for a sign. He said no. He gave them a blunt little sermon instead and left them and went away. In Mark 138, Peter asked Jesus to return to Capernaum where everyone wanted to hear him, but Jesus said, no, let's go to the next towns that I may preach there also because for this purpose I have come forth.

So write this down. We can't do everything, but we can always do our Father's will. When we know what God wants us to do, we can do that, but that doesn't mean we can do everything. We can fulfill his design in our life if we will. So consider what's best, clarify what's best, choose what's best, and commit to what's best.

Let me sum up where we are in this message. We need clarity to know what direction to move, and Jesus provided that by telling us to love God, love others, and love ourselves. Armed with that clarity, you need the courage to say no to some things so you can say yes to the best things.

And finally, you need the consistency to practice what's best. Proverbs 23, 17 says this, be zealous for the fear of the Lord all the day. That we are to be his own special people, zealous for good works. When you do what I've suggested in this message, you'll place yourself in the path God has promised to bless. Even when things appear discouraging, keep pressing forward, trusting God to make a way. Stay committed to what's best for the Lord takes things from there and he will take them to places you never dreamed. I entered the ministry of the Gospel, believe it or not, over 50 years ago. At a start-up church in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Recently I went back there to help celebrate their 50th anniversary. I was focused when I went to that church. I was just a young guy just married at the time, we didn't have any children. I wasn't necessarily trying to be a spiritual success. I just didn't want to be a miserable failure.

So I worked like crazy. All my friends knew that I went to Fort Wayne, and they knew I went there to start a church. And the last thing I wanted was for everybody to read about how I went to start a church and I couldn't pull it off. I wanted to prove to them and to myself that I could build a church from scratch. So I was knocking on doors every spare moment. All day, Saturday and Sunday, in the afternoon, at night, I was gone all the time. I was doing the work of God.

I mean, what could be better? Those of you who know me won't have any trouble imagining that what I'm telling you, I did. But then, my wife Donna and I had two children. We adopted one, and then, just a short time after that, we had our second child. At that time, my daughter Jen was a toddler.

David was just 13 months younger. And while Donna was at home with our kids, I was out on my white horse, winning people to Jesus and building the church. When I came home for dinner each day, Donna would say to me, are you going to be gone again tonight? I was struggling to balance my responsibilities to my family and to the ministry, and then I'd go out and knock on some more doors and only come home to the hurt look in my wife's face. I thought I was doing God's will, but really, I was doing David's will.

I just didn't want to fail. One day, Donna sat me down in the kitchen for a heart-to-heart talk, and this is what she said. Honey, I just want to tell you, I'm never going to ask you again, are you going to be home tonight? I've been thinking and praying about this, and the fact is, you are the priest in this family. And one day, you're going to have to stand before God and give an account of how you led us. If you believe God wants you to lead us by being gone all the time, then I'm not going to argue with you. This is all in your lap now.

You are responsible for this. And that was a Turning Point in my life. I realized there are no ultimate conflicts in God's perfect will. He doesn't call a man to be both a father and a pastor in such a way that those two things constantly are at war with each other. So I began to pray God's priorities back into my life, and soon, they began to crystallize, and I organized them into the following four statements.

Here are the statements. First, I am a person with a responsibility to God. Second, I'm a partner with a responsibility to my wife. Third, I'm a parent with a responsibility to my children. And fourth, I'm a pastor with a responsibility to my congregation. I remember standing up in my church after I got this all figured out and announcing rather arrogantly to the congregation, you all are number four. You're number four.

And then I would say to them, because if I don't get one, two, and three right, I have nothing to give you. That brings us to a very important place in our life, doesn't it? I haven't always lived up to these four priorities, but whenever I find myself straying, I feel these principles pulling me back into line.

That's what a priority will do. When you choose something and make it number one in your life, it will constantly be there, and when you walk away from it a little bit, it'll be like a magnet pulling you back, and I've experienced that in my life. And that brings us back to our Marine. I'm sorry you had to wait so long to find out what happened to that boy, but he was left dangling when we left him. You know those Marines have a motto, Semper Fi, always faithful.

They're not people who easily give up. Walter Osipoff was hanging by his ankle, pulled behind a plane by the cords of his parachute, which were entangled in the plane's wheels. The pilot, Harold Johnson, was running out of fuel, but he knew if he tried an emergency landing, he would kill Walter Osipoff. So he descended to about 300 feet above the ground, and he started circling around the air base. Most people who saw the plane thought it was some towing piece of equipment situation, but one pilot, Lieutenant Bill Lowry, looked up and he knew what was happening. Spotting a nearby Marine, John McCants, Lowry shouted, there's a man hanging on that line, and they jumped into an SOC 1, a two seat open cockpit plane, and they took off without even knowing if the aircraft was fueled. Suddenly, everybody on the ground realized the nature of the emergency.

Every eye was transfixed. There were no radios on the planes, but Lowry hand signaled Johnson to head toward the Pacific, and the two planes rose to an altitude of 3,000 feet. The SOC 1 maneuvered beneath the larger plane, and McCants stood upright in his rear cockpit seat and lunged for Osipoff. Grabbing him by the waist, he pulled him across the tiny seat. But Osipoff was still attached to the harness. Now both planes and all the Marines were in mortal danger.

Somehow, I believe it was by the grace of God, Lowry inched his plane closer and closer to the DC 2, and actually bumped it. But in the process, the propeller sliced through the remaining cords of Osipoff's parachute and freed him up. After flying through the air for more than a half an hour, dangling on a parachute line, Osipoff was free, but he wasn't safe. Now the cut parachute cord became entangled in the SOC's rudder, and Lowry struggled to maintain control of his plane. But he did, and when he landed, a roaring shout came from the crowd. They had just witnessed what was later called one of the most brilliant and daring rescues in naval history. And as for our hapless Marine, he spent six months in the hospital, and as soon as he recovered, he went right back to jumping out of airplanes.

What do you know? Good for him. You've been hanging around long enough. So I want you to grab onto the lifeline of God's priorities, and move forward in his design for your life, always abounding with his momentum and with his blessings. Find out what God wants you to do.

Make it your number one thing, and then organize your life around that one thing, and God will move you forward into his grace in a way that will surprise you and everybody who knows you. May God grant that happens for all of us. Amen. Amen. Well, God has positioned each of us in a strategic place.

He's given us all a sphere of influence, some bigger than others, but all of us have a part to play in the ongoing ministry of the word of God in the evangelization of the world. When we find that place, when somebody says, when you find your sweet spot, you thrive because you know you're God's person doing that particular task that he designed you to do. And I want you to find that.

And we're going to continue talking about it. Tomorrow, we're going to talk about focusing, making your one thing the main thing. Please join us tomorrow for the next edition of Turning Point. Our message today came to you from Shadow Mountain Community Church where Dr. David Jeremiah serves as senior pastor.

How is Turning Point enriching your faith? Please write and tell us at Turning Point Post Office Box 3838, San Diego, California, 92163. Or visit our website at davidjeremiah.org forward slash radio. Ask for your copy of the book, Davidjeremiah.org forward slash radio. Ask for your copy of David's powerful new book, Forward, Discovering God's Presence and Purpose in Your Tomorrow. It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard Version, the New International Version, and the New King James Version.

All available in a variety of handsome cover options. Visit davidjeremiah.org forward slash radio for details. I'm Gary Hoopfleet. Join us tomorrow as we continue the series, Forward. That's here on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah. Thanks for taking time to listen to this audio on demand from Vision Christian Media. To find out more about us, go to vision.org.au.