S I'd like to talk about priorities.  At the beginning of a calendar year we often think about goals and a big part of goals is priorities. I like visual aids. We all learn differently and some of us, many of us, are primarily visual learners, I guess that’s why the phrase a picture is worth a thousand words is so well known and why YouTube is the worlds largest search engine   I know this is an audio podcast and I'm going to talk about visualizing our life priorities, but stick with me. 3 ways to visualize priorities, specifically desired priorities for the listeners of this podcast as we strive to live out our faith through our work #1-numbered List from top to bottom  Just like when we were kids in Sunday school the right Christian answer was “Jesus” to almost every question  We’ll here’s the Sunday school Jesus answer to this question of how we should prioritize our life  God, wife, kids, job, church, ministry, friendships, evangelism Problem is it doesn’t deal with reality By that I mean 2 things  First, it doesn’t reflect where we are at now Here are 2 charts that reflect most people today Work, Netflix, misc Netflix, work, misc Because that well Intentioned goal is so far from our reality we can feel condemned and don’t bother to even think any further about and just accept that we’re in a fallen world and we’ll get it right in heaven But Jesus prayed that Gods will be done on earth as it is in heaven and I think we all want to live out God's will now including at our work God told Adam and us to take dominion over the earth and our lives and that command from God didn’t change just because of the fall Other thing I mean by that list not reflecting reality is that it doesn’t define what priority means or provide a way to measure this. For example, is priority from this list measured by time? If it’s time we’ve got a problem because  We spend more time at work than anything else but most of us would not consider putting work at the top of our priority list to be the correct Christian answer We do have some control over how much of our time is spent on work, e.g. work locally not traveling sales, don’t bring your work laptop home, but you still have roughly a minimum 8 hour work day which means you’re spending half of your waking hours or arguably half of your life at work If this prioritized list is not a reflection of time, what does it reflect or measure?  intensity of feelings? you see the problem #2-Word clouds or tag clouds are graphical representations of word frequency that give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in a source text -better, but still only represents either desired state or current state not both  #3-TWC-God at center with spokes going out  Shows how God is not a part of our lives but ruling every aspect of our lives In Deut 6:9-10, after reviewing the 10 commandments Moses said "

4 “Hear, O Israel: [b]The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

This is recited by Jewish believers regularly and in our Messianic congregation every week and is referred to as the Shema.  Among other things, the Shema reminds me that God wants us to live our whole lives dedicated to Him, not just from birth to death but from sunrise to sunset, every activity, every relationship, every thought.  He's a jealous God.  He doesn't want robots but He also doesn't want us living our lives on our own.  He wants to be a part of every part of our lives and that absolutely includes our work.  And just a part of our lives, but ruling ov

Here are few other verses that touch on the type of life we're talking about:

John 17:20-23, Jesus prayed “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who [j]will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."

I can't completely get my head around what Jesus is saying there but I know it's awesome. I also see in that a reminder that we are made in God's image and when we’re born again we are a new creation as Paul says in 2 Cor. 5:17.  A few verses later, in 2 Cor:20, Paul says "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God".  Do you think of yourself as an ambassador at your work in the same way an ambassador represent the United States when in another country? Galations 2:20 says "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Do these verses sound like we're just a bunch of sinners saved by grace waiting to go to heaven, living mundane and purposeless lives, thinking of our work as a necessary evil to pay the bills but otherwise are working for the weekend or waiting for retirement? No we are children of the living God, blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. So, to finish my thoughts, a picture of wheel with God at the center and the spokes jutting out representing all the different aspects of our lives including our work may not be the perfect picture of how we are to prioritize our lives in general and this year in 2022, but I think it's a useful one and I hope it's helpful to you.   E  

• To remain in silence is sin - James 4:7-10
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• Also notes from our Men's Breakfast this past Saturday, where Damon Hinkle spoke about evangelizing based on the 2nd commandment.  I'll have a link to the video of that teaching in the shownotes. https://youtu.be/C86hcVx2cyU
• Something they would carry around They give the image the power in their mind idolatry found throughout scripture  God doesn’t share his glory except with the Son If someone says god of Islam is same god, bring up your own experiences making stuff  If you make something you want to take credit for it  If someone says “to me” focus on what they’re about to say, some type of truth claim My goal is not to defeat what they’re saying but to get them to defend it, ask them what does the Word say about that? We want to intrigue them to dig into it the truth, not upset them Trying to love God and love your neighbor at the same time, also called friendship evangelism If they’re very hostile then shut it down  They may try to trip you up and ask some detail about the Bible Challenge on them and ask them why they’re asking that If I ask all your questions will you repent? At work, listen to what people say so you’re ready when you’re talking to them. Springboard questions include “what kind of upbringing did you have?” Your goal is for them to examine themselves not beat them up, get them to true repentance  Ask a question to prove you’re listening  By asking they’re connecting with you and you’re growing in love toward them  Prayer is key, have a prayer list  

L Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense. Proverbs 12:11 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Proverbs%2012:11&version=ESV   A To support this podcast check out https://www.patreon.com/davehilgendorf   H   Jokes   I didn’t used to be a fan of facial hair, but it’s starting to grow on me (good one to throw in their stealth like you’re just making a comment then zing)   Want to finish up this episode with some encouragement. I suspect many of you listen on your way to work. Whether you work in a large city or in an office with a lot of people, or stop At Walmart on your way home it’s easy to feel like we’re just a number going through this life in a sea of faces. Please click the link in the show notes for what I consider a classic song by Kutless that speaks to this issue to help you start your day. If you’re not familiar with Kutless and want to hear more check out Live From Portland which is one of my all time favorite CD’s where I first heard this song https://youtu.be/jLHE4P-B2FA