WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:07.759 Alright, but today I want to deal with uh the new year and uh really figuring out how can we make the most out of 2023. 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:09.919 I want to start with this question. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:15.759 What is possible for you in the next 365 days? 00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:21.839 What is possible for you in the next 365 days? 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:28.239 I want you to take some time, even after I get done with this message, to really pray about that and to think about that. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:33.840 Uh, but I want you to do it based on some of the things that we're going to talk about today. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:42.640 Uh, Psalm 90, verse 12 says, Teach us to realize the brevity of life so that we may grow in wisdom. 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:47.280 Teach us to realize the brevity of life. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:01:00.560 I don't think the writer of Psalms is saying that in a morbid way, but I think in a very healthy way, we do need to be conscious and realize that life is brief. 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:02.320 It's going quickly, right? 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:08.719 I heard somebody say one time, as we get older, the days get longer and the years get shorter. 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:10.079 All right, life is brief. 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:11.200 It's going like this. 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:16.640 And so we need to be conscious of the fact that life is a gift and it goes fast. 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:21.359 And then it says, when we do that, it says we we will grow in wisdom. 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:26.079 That wisdom is something that you attain, but you keep attaining it. 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:27.519 You keep growing in it. 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:32.640 And you know, you've already grown in wisdom, but there's more growing left to do. 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:59.359 And so as you go into this year, take a moment now, however old you are 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, maybe we have some people over 100, all right, how many years that you have to think of the collection of lessons, principles, school of hard knocks, lessons, uh, life experiences, all of that, and go based on where I've been and where I'm going, what can I learn? 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:01.439 How do I grow in wisdom? 00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:09.759 And I think the first of the year, although it's not like a magic trick, like January 1, now everything's reset button, it's not that. 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:19.919 But I do think it's a natural time for us to sit down and really evaluate our lives and what are the things we want to add into our lives and what are the things we want to subtract from. 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:21.599 And so I want to help you do that. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:22.159 Okay. 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:26.960 If you're taking notes, I want you to write down two words. 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:27.439 Okay. 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:34.319 The first word is the word priority, and the second word is the word integrate. 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:37.759 Priority and integrate. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:41.520 I'm gonna talk about those two words, priority and integrate. 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:43.840 Uh, the first is the word priority. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:50.800 Okay, if you study the word priority, it was actually created in the 1400s. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:54.800 And the word priority means what you think it means. 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:59.919 It means the prior thing or the first thing, the very first. 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:03.840 Now, here's what you may not know about the word priority. 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:12.000 Created in the 1400s, but for over 500 years, the word priority was singular. 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:15.280 There was no word priorities. 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:21.199 It was in the 1900s that people started talking about priorities. 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:25.759 500 years it was assumed that there was one priority. 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:36.000 And now we have so many things going, we have so many values, we have so many uh uh things happening in our lives that we go, man, I have here are all my priorities. 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:48.960 And you might list 10 or 12 priorities, but it really in some ways is a violation of the initial and original intent of the word, which is to simplify to the point that you have a priority. 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:58.400 And what we learn really in the Bible and what we learn about our relationship with God is that God Himself is our priority. 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:01.199 And I want to talk about that, what that actually means, right? 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:09.039 Because if you go all the way back to the book of Exodus, when God is giving the law and the first commandment, you might be familiar with the Ten Commandments. 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:14.400 Well, commandment number one, right out of the gate, is have no other gods before me. 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:21.920 In other words, make me, God is saying, make me your number one priority, your your biggest priority. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:24.480 Everything else is an idol. 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:26.240 What does that mean though, right? 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:28.000 Like, like how do I how do I do that? 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:29.360 Because I have other things that are important. 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:34.879 You you have my family that's important, I have my career that's important, my job, my projects, the things I'm doing. 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:37.439 What does it mean to make God my priority? 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:46.639 Well, Matthew 6.33 says, seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:59.360 Seek first, make the kingdom of God and God your number one priority, and his righteousness and all the other things going on in your life will be added to you as well. 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:16.319 Okay, so the idea is that if God is my priority, and yet I still have a lot of things going, instead of making God one of many priorities, he's the one priority that now integrates, that's our second word, integrates into everything else I do. 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:19.839 Um, that leads me to probably my favorite verse in the Bible. 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:24.959 I feel like I say that all the time about a lot of verses because I do like a lot of verses, but I love this verse. 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:26.399 It's probably my life verse. 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:28.240 It's Luke 10, 27. 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:33.439 Jesus is having a convo with this lawyer, basically an expert in the law. 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:36.240 And they're talking about the law, they both know the law really well. 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:38.560 613 laws of the Torah. 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:42.319 And the guy comes to Jesus, he's like, Jesus, there's a lot of law. 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:46.560 What do you think is the greatest law? 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:51.040 And Jesus goes back at him, he's like, Well, what do you think it is, man? 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:52.160 Try to sum it up. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:57.120 Like, of all the law, like, zoom in, zoom out, look at all of it. 00:05:57.199 --> 00:05:58.079 What is it? 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:08.800 And the guy says, Well, it's love the Lord your God with all your heart, your emotional self, soul, spiritual self, mind, mental, strength, physical, and neighbor relational. 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:11.040 And Jesus is like, That's it. 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:12.240 You got it. 00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:13.920 And so, what is that? 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:17.120 Well, that that is a model of integration. 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:19.439 That God is our one priority. 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:20.720 I don't have a bunch of priorities. 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:22.319 I have one priority, God. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:30.160 And now, God, my my priority, is integrated into absolutely every area of my life, every relationship. 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:40.480 He's integrated into my thoughts, my ideas, the things I take on, the things I pick up, the things I put down, everything full integration into our lives. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:40.959 Okay? 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:46.800 Think about the word integrate in terms of the word integrity. 00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:49.360 Think of a person of integrity. 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:51.279 That's a huge compliment. 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:56.879 If I was to describe you as a person of integrity, well, what does that even mean? 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:00.240 What does an integrated or person of integrity mean? 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:08.319 The way I define it is integrity is what I think, what I say, and what I do are all aligned. 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:17.920 So so imagine, imagine if I think one thing, but I say and do another thing, well, then I'm not a person of integrity. 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:20.959 Or if I say something, but I think and do something else, again, I'm not. 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:24.720 If I think and say something, but I do something else, I'm not a person of integrity. 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:29.199 And so people of integrity think and say and do are all in alignment. 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:33.279 Um there's a famous scripture uh you may you may hear quoted quite often. 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:34.879 It's in Proverbs 23, 7. 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:38.399 It says, For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:47.839 As a man or a woman thinks, okay, that's the King James version, as he thinketh, as you think in your heart, that's who you are. 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:57.279 Well, if you read kind of the whole verse, if I'll keep reading in the King James, he says, Eat and drink, saith he to thee, but his heart is not with thee. 00:07:57.439 --> 00:07:58.480 Okay, what does this mean? 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:00.560 Well, let's look at a different translation. 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:02.240 Same chapter and verse. 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:03.839 Let's go verse six and seven. 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:05.920 Says this, don't eat with people. 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:11.839 And by the way, when he says eat with people, it's not just like about dining, it's about connection, community. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:20.639 Uh, in this culture, eating together was a part of being in relationship, it was part of being in community, it was it, it was it was a relational intimacy. 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:30.079 He says, so don't eat with people, don't be close with people who are stingy, don't desire their delicacies, they're always thinking about how much it costs. 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:33.519 Eat and drink, they say, but they don't mean it. 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:35.679 Okay, well, what is this saying? 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:42.159 This is basically saying you don't want to get close with people whose thinking, saying, and doing are not aligned. 00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:50.879 They're telling you one thing, but they're thinking something totally different, and you don't want to spend your life trying to guess if what you say is actually what you mean. 00:08:51.120 --> 00:09:04.879 And, you know, to be honest, it might be hard to hear certain things from certain people, but when you know they're being honest with you and they're not just politicking you or or being overly diplomatic, they're actually saying what they mean, then you can trust that person. 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:11.200 And so we want to be those kinds of people, fully integrated people of integrity, thinking, saying, and doing are all aligned. 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:13.759 So that's what I want to talk to you about, okay, this year. 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:23.919 As I look at uh all of us, as we look at God being our priority and integrating into our lives, how do we integrate Him in our doing, our thinking, and our saying? 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:28.240 And I'm gonna go backwards, I'm gonna go doing to saying to thinking. 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:30.000 All right, let's start with doing. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:49.039 This may just be me, but to be honest, the probably the people in my world that I come in contact with that are the most annoying, they great on my nerves, are people that know a lot but don't do anything with it. 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:51.039 That absolutely drives me nuts. 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:56.159 People that sit around simply collecting information, their know-it-alls. 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:03.039 Uh they've certainly outpaced their actions by their education. 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:12.320 So they've they've listened to the podcast and they've read all the articles and read all the blogs and they can speak about it, but they haven't actually done anything with it. 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:19.360 Because I think what ends up happening with people that don't do, that don't apply, is they become critics. 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:20.879 They become critics. 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:25.200 Now, I want to be clear, I'm not opposed to criticism. 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:34.720 In fact, I think evaluation and and and criticism or being critical, critical thinking, is the key to getting better. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:36.480 You iterate over and over again. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:44.399 Whatever you're trying to do, whether it's uh uh you're building something, you're making something, you're trying to perfect the skill, you've got to scrutinize it. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:48.159 You have to evaluate it, you have to open yourself up to criticism. 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:50.960 In fact, I encourage people, give me feedback. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:51.679 I want feedback. 00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:55.039 So I'm not saying put your head in the sand and pretend like everything's good. 00:10:55.200 --> 00:11:05.279 I'm talking about people that don't actually do anything, or they don't do much, but they sit around and criticize everybody because they know everything about everything. 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:07.360 They just don't do anything. 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:13.360 It reminds me of the um uh the famous speech by Teddy Roosevelt. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:26.799 And now it's called the man in the arena, but he he says in the speech, he says, it's not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. 00:11:27.039 --> 00:12:12.799 The credit belongs to the man who's actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again because there's no effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:19.360 I want to be careful I don't turn this message into a shake those haters off and you know, haters gonna hate and all this. 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:24.159 Uh, you know, there are some times you do need to receive feedback, you do need to receive criticism. 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:29.200 But I would say instead of thinking about, you know, everybody else, take a moment to think of yourself. 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:36.879 Have you become the type of person that, yeah, you know a lot of stuff about a lot of stuff, but you haven't had the courage to actually do it. 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:38.480 Put it into practice. 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:40.320 Go out there, shoot your shot. 00:12:40.480 --> 00:13:01.919 Because I think often people that just sit back criticizing and not doing sometimes become so scared to actually do something because they see the world through their lens and they think that there's a whole bunch of people out there waiting to criticize them if they screw up, and and what they've done to other people they don't want done to them. 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:28.399 And frankly, when you find a worthy cause and you immerse yourself in it, and you're busy iterating and getting better and doing 2.0 and 3.0 and 4.0, and you're busy drowning yourself in hard work, okay, and you have all this man in the arena type stuff, you really don't have a lot of time and energy to concern yourself too much with what people that are all thinking and talking and know doing what they have to say about you. 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:36.799 And I pray that for this year in 2023, you would find something that would capture your heart in that way, that you'd be willing to go to that level. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:42.480 You know, I think churches often, man, church people are often guilty of this, man. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:47.200 We we we we read the Bible, we learn chapter and verse, we can talk the talk. 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:49.840 How much of this are we actually putting in into practice? 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:55.519 Because frankly, it's futile to be educated beyond the level of your obedience. 00:13:55.840 --> 00:14:01.440 If you just know a bunch of stuff that you're not implementing and obeying and doing, what's the point? 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:11.600 And this is why I would encourage you, you know, be careful when you're looking at everything you're doing to pick the right amount for your life. 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:14.240 To not try to do too much. 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:27.039 You know, I think when you try to do too much, you're trying to juggle too many things, you got too many things going on, then often you're doing a lot, you have a lot of activity, and yet you're not doing anything as good as you could do it. 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:30.399 And, you know, I think this is a tension we have to sit in, right? 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:35.120 So the question would be, okay, how do I know the right amount to do? 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:38.480 And I think that's why you have to really think and pray about it. 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:45.039 You have to look at your life and really evaluate what what are your goals and what are you trying to accomplish and what is your purpose? 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:46.399 Why has God put you here? 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:50.159 And are there things that you're doing that frankly you don't need to be doing anymore? 00:14:50.240 --> 00:15:03.120 You you've been doing it, it's just been a drain on your life, or or it's a good thing, but maybe it's not, it's taking away from your focus, it's not the right thing for you to do, and this might be the right time to stop doing it. 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:13.279 But at the same time, you have to sit in the tension of often growth happens when we're doing a little bit more than what's comfortable, right? 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:15.200 Growth happens outside of your comfort zone. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:21.039 So if I only take on what's completely and totally manageable, I may not be stretching my boundaries. 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:23.279 How do I increase my capacity? 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:24.879 How do I increase my lung capacity? 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:27.679 Well, I gotta fill my lungs up with air, man. 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:30.799 I gotta get to where I'm breathing so heavy, my lungs are stretching. 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:32.960 How do I increase my physical capacity? 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:41.120 You gotta lift hard, you gotta tear those muscles down, you gotta, you gotta push, you know, to your max effort to be able to increase that boundary. 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:48.480 So as you're sitting down going, looking at my doing, everything I'm doing, do I have the right amount? 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:54.000 Do I have too much and I need to reduce, or do I need to push that boundary a little bit? 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:58.639 Luke 14, 28 says, Don't begin until you count the cost. 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:05.600 For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there's enough money to finish it? 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:10.799 All right, January 1, first of the year, good time to sit back and to count the cost. 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:15.440 I also want to caution you on one more thing before I move into the next part. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:29.440 I think certain personality types, people that like to start things and to do new things, often you may come up with a resolution, you know, January 1, this new year, I want to do this thing. 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:39.840 And sometimes starting something new can be a way of distracting yourself from doing what you already know to do, something you've already taken on. 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:45.120 And before you start thinking about the new thing you want to do, really sit down and think about what you already have. 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:47.519 And how well are you doing those things? 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:49.360 And is there anything that needs to happen there? 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:54.799 And once I've made the proper adjustments there, now I decide do I want to take on something new? 00:16:55.039 --> 00:17:00.080 Alright, so we talk about doing in terms of our integrity. 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:02.399 Doing, let's move to saying. 00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:08.799 Um it's important what comes out of our mouth. 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:12.000 Words absolutely matter. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:14.880 And you know, I'm not a big name it and claim it guy. 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:23.680 Some people have a theology that, man, if you just say it out loud, that uh God is now on the hook to cause it to materialize. 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:26.480 Um, I don't buy into that. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:38.319 I think it'd be pretty hard to really make that case when you look at the Bible that God is just this genie, that if you give him the abracadabra, he's gonna uh, you know, make something appear. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:40.240 I don't think it quite works that way. 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:42.799 I wish it did, but I it doesn't. 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:47.839 But that being said, there's power in your words. 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:49.839 Absolutely, there are power in your words. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:18:00.160 Proverbs 18 21 says, the tongue, the mouth, has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:02.640 The power of life and death. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:09.680 We we tend to think of the power of life and death in the tongue uh being applied to the words we say to other people, right? 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:19.680 If I speak affirmation to you, if I watch your life and I see the things that you do well, to speak that encouragement, like wow, you you you you do that effortlessly. 00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:22.000 You know, uh do you understand how great that is? 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:25.519 Like speaking encouragement into people uh brings life to them. 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:31.839 Certainly verbal abuse or degrading someone, tearing them down can bring death. 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:34.880 But the same is true about ourselves. 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:42.480 Like the things we say about ourselves or the things we say to ourselves, they have power. 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:57.279 They have power to change us, to change the way we think, to put courage into us, and they have courage also, or the potential also to tear us down, to destroy us, to demoralize us. 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:11.039 And I have seen many times uh talking to a person going through a hard time, I've seen them articulate specific things out loud that have been floating around in their head. 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:17.279 And when they said it, it might have been a really simple word like, I can do this. 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:20.319 I won't stay here. 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:24.799 I am enough, those type of things. 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:44.799 Like to actually say it out loud, I've literally seen people break down, like it's a crucible moment, like it's a game changer, pivot point in their life, because it was something that had been floating around in their head, but they had it had never come out of their mouth, and there was something about saying it that brought life to them. 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:56.559 Uh James 3, 2, 2 through 4 says, uh, we all make many mistakes, for if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could control ourselves in every other way. 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:01.839 We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:07.920 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:22.240 You know, James is talking about how powerful our words are, that literally it turns our whole body, our whole body, our whole mood, our whole attitude, our whole focus, our view of the world, all of it can shift in the things that come out of our mouths. 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:26.799 I want you to ask yourself this: what are you saying about yourself? 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:31.599 What are the things you've been saying out loud about yourself or to yourself? 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:34.880 What are you saying about your future? 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:42.000 I think the internal battle with what we say and what we think. 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:46.000 Now I'm starting to move toward thinking a little bit. 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:55.200 But I think is um really trying to know what to believe about myself based on what is the truth about myself. 00:20:56.319 --> 00:20:59.279 And I I want to challenge you to think about this. 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:09.359 Think about the fact that there may be a difference between what is true about you and what you should believe about you. 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:27.680 It's possible that what is true about your past and what is actually true about you right now may not be what's going to be true about your future. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:42.000 It's possible that what's true about you in your past and what's true about you now isn't what you should believe about what's going to be true about your future. 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:49.680 See, often we go, now, here's my pattern, here's my track record, this is where I've been, this is what I've done, this is who I am. 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:51.039 And that may be true. 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:52.240 That's all true. 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:55.279 Like to look at the truth, to face up to the truth. 00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:58.319 That's actually who I am right now. 00:21:58.400 --> 00:21:59.759 I don't like who I am right now. 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:10.880 But you can't allow what is true about you now to cause you to believe the wrong thing about what can be true about you in the future. 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:20.319 So at some point, you cannot allow the reality and the evidence to stop you from believing for something better. 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:38.079 And I think often that starts to actually take shape in your willingness to begin confessing things and saying things and speaking things that are positive about yourself, about where you want to go and who you want to be, not just where you've been and who you are. 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:41.599 So let's move into thinking. 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:44.319 I quote this verse quite often. 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:52.960 Romans 12, 2 says, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:58.640 Don't conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 00:22:58.880 --> 00:22:59.839 Transformation. 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:01.759 How does transformation take place? 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:03.759 How does metamorphosis take place? 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:07.039 How do I become a better person, a different person? 00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:10.000 The me I was created to be, the best version of myself. 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:10.880 How do I do that? 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:12.240 It's in your mind. 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:14.799 It's in the renewing of your mind. 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:20.079 It's in seeing yourself the right way in your mind. 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:36.079 And often our inability to sustain changes that we want to make or to continue to move toward the person that we want to be, it's limited based on what we actually really, really believe about ourselves. 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:36.880 Alright? 00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:39.039 Let me illustrate it like this. 00:23:39.279 --> 00:23:48.559 When I was a little kid, I don't even know how old, probably six, seven years old, my dad started taking me to Cleveland Indians baseball games. 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:50.000 Okay, we lived in Akron. 00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:52.400 And so this is, we're talking the 80s, okay? 00:23:52.480 --> 00:24:11.680 I was born in 80, and so we would go with the, I'm talking the old school Indians, Corey Snyder, Joe Carter, Tony Bernazard, Felix Ferme, Brooke Jacoby, Pat Tabler, Andy Allenson, Greg Swindell. 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:13.599 I could keep going. 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:21.039 I went to those games, I was taken by these athletes, and all I wanted to be was a ball player. 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:25.839 Okay, I take my baseball glove, I'd sit in the stand hoping to catch a foul ball. 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:29.519 So one day my dad comes to me, he's like, hey Greg, do you want to play baseball? 00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:31.839 We've been watching baseball, do you want to play baseball? 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:35.119 I'm like, oh yeah, sign me up. 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:39.680 So we sign up for T-ball, and then I play little league and all this. 00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:44.720 And in my mind, I'm a ball player. 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:47.119 I am an athlete. 00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:55.680 If you anybody asked me what I was gonna be when I grew up, ball player. 00:24:55.920 --> 00:24:58.880 I'm already a ball player, and that's what I'm gonna be when I grow up. 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:00.319 I'm gonna be a professional baseball player. 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:02.640 It was already known in my mind. 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:06.640 Okay, well then I started watching basketball, and I want to be a basketball player too. 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:14.079 And then and then Bo Jackson played two sports, you know, pro football and baseball, and then Deion Sanders did it. 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:16.640 So I thought, well, Greg Ford is gonna do three. 00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:22.640 I'm gonna be the first guy ever to play play pro baseball, pro basketball, pro football. 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:26.480 It's funny now, but at the time you couldn't have convinced me otherwise. 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:28.640 I I I'm a ball player, I'm an athlete. 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:32.559 This is who I am, this is what I'm gonna do with the rest of my life. 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:35.680 Well, now I'm 42 years old. 00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:39.920 All right, and what's crazy is I still think I'm an athlete. 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:43.599 For some reason, that belief is lodged down inside of me. 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:46.880 And so, because of that, sometimes I get myself in trouble. 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:47.440 Right? 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:52.240 A few years back, I decided at 30 years old I was gonna do a boxing match. 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:54.000 So I went and trained for six months. 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:58.240 I hired a trainer, I fought a guy who had already done a bunch of amateur fights. 00:25:58.319 --> 00:26:01.759 I get in there in the fight, I tear my bicep. 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:05.279 And now I have to go to orthopedic surgery. 00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:07.279 It's got to be put back together. 00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:08.720 But you know what I did? 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:12.240 I rehabilitated, I got back in the gym. 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:12.799 Why? 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:14.240 Because in my mind, I'm an athlete. 00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:18.559 This isn't like I tore my bicep, now I'm out and I'm not gonna work out anymore. 00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:21.119 This is rehabilitate and get back in the game. 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:24.240 Well, some people have to learn the hard way. 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:27.200 A few years later, I'm at my niece's grad party. 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:31.279 I see this giant industrial wooden spool, and I think I can flip it. 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:31.759 Why? 00:26:31.920 --> 00:26:34.559 Because in my mind, I'm an athlete. 00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:36.559 You need to get a little more under it. 00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:37.279 There you go. 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:38.799 You got it. 00:26:39.359 --> 00:26:40.240 Come on. 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:42.319 You're fine, you're fine. 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:46.319 I tear my other bicep. 00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:49.039 Same orthopedic surgeon, shout out to Dr. 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:53.039 Milletti, put my other bicep back together. 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:57.680 Goes in, reattaches it, sutures it on the bone. 00:26:58.240 --> 00:26:59.440 What happens now? 00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:01.119 Am I gonna quit? 00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:02.240 Of course not. 00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:02.799 Why? 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:05.759 Because in my mind, I'm an athlete. 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:06.640 So what do I do? 00:27:06.799 --> 00:27:08.799 Rehab, get back in the gym. 00:27:09.200 --> 00:27:15.599 Couple summers ago, I'm racing a 25-year-old through our parking lot. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:16.640 Why? 00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:19.119 Because I'm an athlete, baby. 00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:22.400 I'm fit, I'm healthy, I can win this race. 00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:24.160 Running through the parking lot. 00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:27.519 I thought Godzilla stepped on the back of my heel. 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:33.759 Achilles tendon, full rupture. 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:43.119 Back to orthopedic one, back to rehabilitation, surgery, six months to get back to normal. 00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:44.880 Did I leave the gym? 00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:46.319 Did I quit exercising? 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:47.200 Absolutely not. 00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:48.240 Why not? 00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:57.759 Because lodged in my mind is that I'm an athlete, that I'm healthy, that I'm fit. 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:21.599 And so no matter how many bad choices I make, no matter how many tendons I rip, no matter how much bad food I eat around the holidays, or if I miss a few weeks in the gym, or I, you know, eat too many carbs, or whatever I do, I know that the gravitational pull of my life is going to be back to health and fitness. 00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:22.319 Why? 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:28.480 Because in my mind, what I believe to be true about myself is that I'm an athlete. 00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:42.480 I was talking to a trainer the other day who was talking about people who will come in, who will eat right, exercise, get healthy, get fit, and then fall right back into their old ways and their old habits. 00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:54.400 And it's not because they don't understand fitness cognitively, it's because they've never flipped their belief into believing that they are now an athletic person, they're now a healthy person, I'm a fit person. 00:28:54.559 --> 00:28:56.640 Fitness is part of my life. 00:28:56.799 --> 00:28:58.000 They never got there. 00:28:58.079 --> 00:29:01.839 And because of that, their mindset kept dragging them down. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:08.799 It was that thinking, look, this goes deeper than just exercising, because man, if that's all you get out of this, you really missed it. 00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:10.480 Like, think about like this. 00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:14.880 How do you see yourself in terms of your character? 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:21.680 Like, let's say you're a guy and you you think of yourself, you're like, man, I'm a I'm a cheater. 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:25.680 I'm a dog, I'm a playboy. 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:34.319 Guys that believe that, and women that believe that about themselves, even if you met the most amazing person, right? 00:29:34.400 --> 00:29:47.200 You meet the most amazing woman, and you're freaking out because you think it's only a matter of time before I go to who I am. 00:29:48.400 --> 00:30:00.319 I'm pretending to be faithful, I'm pretending to be loyal, I'm pretending to be a good guy, but ultimately who I really am is a dog, is a cheater, is a playboy. 00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:01.039 So what happens? 00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:36.559 Some situation presents itself, you cross a line, and now that line becomes the truth that causes you to believe about your future that you are what you are, you always will be what you are, you'll always be what you've been, and you never changed your mindset into thinking that actually I'm a great guy, I'm a loyal guy, I'm a man of integrity, I'm a good dude, I'm faithful, one of the fruit of the Spirit, faithful. 00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:44.799 And so, because of that, people who have been forgiven by God, redeemed by God, are still limited in their minds. 00:30:45.039 --> 00:31:01.839 Because the guy who thinks that he's faithful and believes that he's honorable and that he's loyal and good, even if he crosses a line and makes a mistake, he'll humble himself, he'll repent, and he'll get back to who he believes himself to be instead of falling off the deep end. 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:10.079 And friend, this applies to every single area of your life: heart, soul, mind, strength, neighbor. 00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:16.960 So as we head into this new year, I want you to think about what we talked about at the beginning. 00:31:17.119 --> 00:31:22.240 What is possible for you in the next 365 days? 00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:23.920 What is possible? 00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:27.039 I don't know the answer to that. 00:31:28.079 --> 00:31:33.359 How much better could your marriage get this year? 00:31:34.160 --> 00:31:35.359 I don't know. 00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:38.160 It's hard to quantify. 00:31:38.480 --> 00:31:41.119 Can't say like, oh, it's like 200% better. 00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:43.839 I don't, maybe a thousand percent better. 00:31:44.079 --> 00:31:47.039 Maybe you could go from hating each other to falling in love again. 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:50.480 Maybe you could find something you lost, maybe you could find something new, I don't know. 00:31:51.039 --> 00:31:55.200 How much healthier could you get in the next 365 days? 00:31:55.359 --> 00:32:22.160 How much healing, if if you took your priority, God, and integrated him into your total being and everything you do, every project you take on, every person that you're in relationship with, if you brought him into everything, full integration, full integrity, your thinking, saying, and doing were all affected by your one priority. 00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:25.680 How much could you do? 00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:27.759 How much could change? 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:29.279 What could be transformed? 00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:33.680 How far could you go in the next 365 days? 00:32:34.079 --> 00:32:35.279 I don't know. 00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:36.960 But God knows. 00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:40.160 And I think that's the journey He wants to take you on. 00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:42.640 So I encourage you today. 00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:47.759 Priorities is not plural, it's singular. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:50.000 Let's take it back to the 1400s. 00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:51.759 Priority, one, God. 00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:53.759 Have no other gods before me. 00:32:53.920 --> 00:32:58.000 Seek first the kingdom of God, his righteousness, he'll take care of everything else. 00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:04.640 Now, from there, take that priority and integrate it into every area of your life. 00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:06.480 Let's pray. 00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:12.240 God, I thank you for everybody who's listening to this message, Lord. 00:33:12.319 --> 00:33:16.960 I pray that you would speak specifically to each person. 00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:20.319 Application, simple application. 00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:28.079 Lord, help them to not get overwhelmed by how many things they want to change and how many things they want to do and how far they want to go. 00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:33.200 Lord, that you would boil it down to its simple form, to the next right obedience step. 00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:43.920 God, I pray that you would give them a vision in their mind's eye beyond where they've been and what they've done and who they are now to where you want to take them and who they can become. 00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:47.440 We thank you, Lord, for a new year and a new opportunity. 00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:49.200 We give it to you. 00:33:49.599 --> 00:33:50.880 In Jesus' name. 00:33:51.200 --> 00:33:51.759 Amen.