Establishing Priorities For Success
In order for anyone to be successful in this life, they must know how to set their priorities. As any successful person will share with you, one of the fundamental keys to success in any endeavor is learning to establish priorities and then living by them. Any activity that does not fit into or advance any of those priorities is put on the back burner or possibly eliminated; even if that activity is good. Even good activities, if they are incompatible with our established priorities, can become unnecessary distractions that can hinder our progress toward success.
Jesus knew what His assignment and purpose was. It was His first priority. This is why He only preached one message. From the time He left the wilderness, after being tempted by the pretender, He started with His first priority. From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
Now, you must understand this, a priority is the principle thing upon which we place our primary focus. All our decisions hinge on it. Please keep this in your mind and you will know where to begin. It was so important to Jesus that when He sent out His disciples by twos, he told them where to go, what to say, who to say it to and who NOT to say it to. He was very specific:
These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.
“Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!
If those who claim to be representing the Lord Jesus Christ aren't preaching and teaching the Kingdom of God, what does that say for them? It was so much a priority that even after He raised His body from the dead, He stayed another forty days on earth, teaching the Kingdom of God. What does that say for those preachers and teachers who aren't teaching and preaching the Kingdom? The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
Establishing priorities means ranking everything in order of importance, while determining which is most important, and then focusing your time, attention and energy in line with those priorities.
Matthew 4:17, 23 Matthew 10:5-15 Matthew 6:25-34 Acts 1:1-3
~~W.R. Luchie
Jesus knew what His assignment and purpose was. It was His first priority. This is why He only preached one message. From the time He left the wilderness, after being tempted by the pretender, He started with His first priority. From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
Now, you must understand this, a priority is the principle thing upon which we place our primary focus. All our decisions hinge on it. Please keep this in your mind and you will know where to begin. It was so important to Jesus that when He sent out His disciples by twos, he told them where to go, what to say, who to say it to and who NOT to say it to. He was very specific:
These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.
“Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!
If those who claim to be representing the Lord Jesus Christ aren't preaching and teaching the Kingdom of God, what does that say for them? It was so much a priority that even after He raised His body from the dead, He stayed another forty days on earth, teaching the Kingdom of God. What does that say for those preachers and teachers who aren't teaching and preaching the Kingdom? The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
Establishing priorities means ranking everything in order of importance, while determining which is most important, and then focusing your time, attention and energy in line with those priorities.
Matthew 4:17, 23 Matthew 10:5-15 Matthew 6:25-34 Acts 1:1-3
~~W.R. Luchie
