First Things FirstJohn Martin – Getting Your Priorities in Order

Life moves fast. There’s always something pulling for our attention—work, responsibilities, relationships, and the endless demands of everyday life. But in the middle of all that noise, there’s a deeper question we have to ask ourselves: Are our priorities aligned with God’s purpose for our lives?

In this honest and personal message, John Martin shares what’s been on his heart lately—a growing conviction about the importance of putting first things first. Not just in theory, but in the way we actually live day to day. Because if we’re honest, most of us have gotten this out of order at some point.

Drawing from Matthew 6:33–34, John reminds us of a simple but powerful truth: when we seek God’s kingdom first, everything else begins to fall into place. Yet so often, we flip that upside down. We put work before family, schedules before stillness, and responsibilities before relationship with God.

John walks through what biblical priorities can look like in real life—putting God first, then our spouse, then our children, and only after that, our work, ministry, or personal pursuits. It sounds simple, but living it out requires trust. Trusting God enough to pause, to listen, and sometimes to choose people over productivity.

He shares real-life moments we all face—when helping someone might make us late, when our spouse or kids need us but work feels more urgent, when we’re forced to decide what truly comes first. In those moments, God isn’t just watching—He’s inviting us to trust Him.

This message is also a reminder that time with God isn’t meant to be squeezed in as an afterthought. It’s meant to be the foundation. Starting your day with Him, building that personal, intimate relationship—this is where clarity, strength, and alignment begin.

John also reflects on Proverbs 3:5–6, encouraging us to trust in the Lord fully, even when it doesn’t make sense. Because when we surrender our plans and priorities to Him, He promises to guide our path.

This isn’t about perfection—it’s about direction. It’s about recognizing where we’ve been off and choosing to realign. John openly shares that he’s still working on this too, making this message not just a teaching, but a shared journey.

If you’ve been feeling stretched, out of balance, or unsure of what truly matters most, this message is for you. God is calling us back to alignment—not to restrict us, but to bless us.

Let this be a reset moment. A chance to reorder your life in a way that brings peace, purpose, and lasting impact.

What’s one area in your life where your priorities might need to shift today?

For more information contact us at
rtrdestiny@gmail.com

For more information contact us at
rtrdestiny@gmail.com

Transcript

Seek First The Kingdom

A Simple Order For Life

Trust When The Schedule Pushes Back

Proverbs Trust And A Real Confession

Encouragement And The Blessing Promise

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hey friends, this is John Martin. Excited to be here with you today. I I just had something on my mind. I really wanted to share with our audience about priorities. It's just been coming up a lot with myself and just with people I encounter, and just been a passion of mine that I really believe that God He wants us to get our priorities in line, getting our priorities in line with God's purposes and plans for our life. And many of us, and including myself, um have had the priorities backwards. And all things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. So seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. And I just feel like we're our priorities is we're supposed to put God first, then our spouse, then our children, and then our business or hobbies, ministry. And we're we're most of us, if we're honest, we put our work first. You know, comes away first, and then you know, maybe our our hobbies and our spouse or probably our kids higher, but and we're just we're just getting this all wrong. Um and I just feel like our Lord is really challenging us to put him first in everything we do, to get up in the morning before everybody wakes up and spend quality time with him, develop a personal, intimate relationship with him. Um in everything we do, put him first. Um, a lot of this involves trust. You know, when we have someone that he's asking us to maybe help or serve or, you know, and then but yet we've got a meeting or something. And, you know, gosh, by helping this person, that's gonna cause me to be late for my meeting. You know, things like that that come up a lot, and we'll just be like, uh, can't do that. I'm gonna be late, you know, but I I just feel like God sometimes he's calling us to say, look, if if you just trust me, I'm calling you, you know, to spend some time with this person, and that meeting can wait. Um, or maybe something with your, you know, your spouse or your children that's that's needing your attention, and he's but you've got something that you feel like is pressing for work, uh we we typically naturally are gonna put the work thing, the email, the text, the meeting ahead of the your spouse or your kids. And I just, you know, I feel like God's just saying, trust me, you know, put me first, your spouse, your kids, in that order, uh, been your work. And um, you know, I'll bless you abundantly. If if we trust in God and surrender all to Him in our life, then everything will come into order. Um, if we read from Proverbs 3, verses 5 through 6, it says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your path straight. So, yeah, hey, I'm I'm preaching to myself here today. You know, I I've been really bad at this over the years of just, you know, really trusting in God to, you know, get the priorities in line and spend the time that He wants me to spend with Him every day and my spouse, my wife, Christina, and then our kids. So I just encourage you, everyone listening, let's let's try to do this better. Let's get our priorities straight in life, let's get them in line, let's prioritize God, um, our spouse, and then our children. And I believe if we do this, then things in our our life, it's gonna come into alignment. We're gonna see an abundant blessings in our life by trusting our Lord in this. So hope that helped a little bit, and uh I pray y'all have a blessed day.