What do you want most in life?

Hello and welcome to The Prophetic Voice. I'm your host, Ken Bailey. In a world full of lies and propaganda, it can be difficult to determine who's telling you the truth. Perhaps you're looking for a place of truth where you can hear a voice of truth, someone whom God is speaking to. You come to the right place. It's our mission to share with you the truth of God's word and the prophetic insights that God has given to me to help you navigate life.

In these last days before the return of Jesus Christ. In today's episode number nine, I'll be asking the question, what do you want most in life? As we discuss this topic, let's also see what God has told us in the scriptures and what the Lord has revealed to me to share with you. At times we'll incorporate insights from other leaders in the Christian community. So whether you're a long time listener or a new follower, we're grateful that you've chosen to join us today.

Let's tune in and listen to the prophetic voice.

What do you want most in life? I believe that our answer to this question is of critical importance in our lives. Let me say it another way. What on earth are you really living for? You see, what we do day after day eventually becomes our life. So often we take the path of least resistance, the easy way out. Our daily habits end up becoming our lives.

What are you in the habit of doing every day? Ask yourself these two questions before you make decisions about how to spend your time, your money, and use your talents each day. Question one, what do I want right now? Question two, what do I want the most? Those are the two important questions you need to ask yourself. For example, right now you might want that new car or truck.

You feel like you just have to have it and that will bring joy into your life. What might be the smarter thing to do? You decide to keep your current vehicle for a while longer so you can do what you wanna do most. You decide you wanna give some money to your church or to a ministry that's feeding orphans and widows. You decide you wanna store up some treasure in heaven. Perhaps you decide you wanna take your kids or spouse on that trip you've been promising them.

So you decide to wait on the vehicle and bless your family with the trip. Sadly, most of the time, we settle for what we want now instead of for what we want most. You see, it takes discipline to say no to what you want now and to make the choice to do what you want the most. I can't emphasize how important it is to have discipline in every area of your life. What is discipline?

Here's my definition that I came up with. Discipline is making yourself do what you know you should do, whether you feel like it or not. That's so important. I want to say that to you again. This is a definition of discipline I came up with. Discipline is making yourself do what you know you should do, whether you feel like it or not.

You have to become a disciplined person. Having the right priorities in your life is of critical importance. If you don't, you'll waste your life. So what do you want now? Be honest. Are you seeking money, fame, more free time, a nice home, a nicer car or truck, maybe a really expensive vacation? What do you want most?

Your daily habits reveal to everyone what you really want the most. If you showed me your credit card or your checkbook and how you spend your money, it would reveal to me what you want most in life. What are you spending your money on?

What do you want to do with your free time? Do you watch TV several hours a day? Do you watch movies all weekend, every weekend, all year long? Maybe you play a lot of video games every night for several hours. I know young people that play videos, games, even on school nights, till two or three in the morning and then try to make it at school. That's what they want to do most. If you are honest,

Would you tell me that you watch sports, your favorite TV shows or movies, almost every night or on the weekend? My friend, when we want anything in the world more than we want God, then it's become an idol to us. If you spend more time watching TV than with God, then TV's become an idol to you. If you value money more than you do God, money has become an idol to you. I want us to read

Matthew 13, 44 through 46. So if you have your Bible or phone app, turn there with me, go to Matthew 13, and we're gonna begin reading in verse 44.

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and he sold everything he had and bought it. Do you want the treasure in the field? This is what you should want most. You should desire God more than anything else. Do you really know God or do you just know about God? I'm going to say that again. Do you really know God or do you just know about God? I want to encourage you to pursue Him. Putting God first in your life should be your greatest priority.

Stay in Matthew and I want us to look at another verse there. Let's turn back to the left to Matthew 6. And we're gonna look at verse 33, Matthew 6.33. Some of you have this memorized. "'But seek ye first the kingdom of God "'and His righteousness, "'and all these things shall be added unto you.'" You see, God says your first priority should be seeking His kingdom, and He's gonna provide you with everything else that you need.

God knows that you need some money to pay your bills, buy food, clothing, and other things you need in life. The Lord said if you would give him first place in your life, he'll meet all of your other needs. Now that you've read these scriptures, it comes down to one thing, obedience. Jesus is not saying if you feel like it, consider living for his kingdom. Jesus is not giving us a suggestion here.

No, he's commanding all of us to put him first and to live for his kingdom, and that he will supply us with all that we need in our lives if we do. Will you do it? Will you obey this verse and apply it to your life? I pray that you will. It'll change your life if you begin to give God first place in every area of your life. I wish I could tell you that I've always lived this way. I haven't.

I've wasted so many years of my life giving God leftovers. I used to give him my leftover time, my leftover money, and my leftover talents. I used to live for me. I only gave God a tiny portion of my life. But 20 years ago, you could say that I had a come to Jesus talk with myself. I just stopped and took an honest look at my life. I thought about what I was really living for, and I saw...

What I wanted most in life and it wasn't God. I made the change that I'm asking you to make today. How do you do it? You come to a hard stop in your life and you take some time to think about what you're really living for. Honestly evaluate what you really want most in life. As I've told you in the previous programs, I hear God speak to me every day. I think this is really important and this is one of the things that

I want to share with you that God's revealed to me. The Lord reminds me all the time not to waste time or money. He tells me, Ken, there are no do-overs in life. There are no re-dos. I'm going to say that again to you. There are no do-overs in life. There are no re-dos. If you waste time during the day or night, you don't get it back. It's gone forever. If you waste money on buying things you really don't need.

Or the Lord doesn't want you to buy, you don't get to do it over. If you waste your talents, which are the many skills and gifts that God's given to you, there are no redos or do-overs. That's why many years ago, I made some radical changes in my life. I made some difficult changes that needed to be made. Here's a mistake I made in the past. I used to coach high school sports and a coach has very little free time.

But in the free time that I had, I would watch sports on TV. It became an idol for me. I was coaching sports, and I would want to watch that sport on TV, the college sport, the pro sport at the time in the season I was coaching. And winning games and championships became an idol for me. I was a successful coach. I had great, great players. I love them even today. But at times, winning championships, winning, putting trophies in a trophy case that we're only gonna collect dust. It was an idol for me. Nothing wrong with winning championships or a trophy. But if it's more important to you than God, there's something wrong with that. I had idols that I needed to turn away from. Want you to go back if you have your Bible or a phone app, and we're gonna go to the Old Testament and look in Exodus chapter 20. Some of you have this short verse memorized. Exodus 20.

Verse three, you shall have no other gods before me. I'm gonna repeat it again. You shall have no other gods before me. Wow, that's a strong command from the God of the universe. Well, there was a time in my life where sports were more important to me than God. I had another God before him, sports. God didn't have first place in my life.

What about you? Right now or in your past, have you had an idol in your life, something that's more important to you than God? Have you got any idols in your life right now? What do you just have to do almost every day and almost every night? In fact, you're miserable if you don't get to do that each day. What do you have to do on the weekends? Is it watching TV or sports like me or movies all weekend long. 

If you're married, do you make your spouse or your kids your idol? You can do that if you're not careful. Some of you don't have time to go to church on Sunday because your kid has a ball game, you have to take them to. Suddenly, even sports or activities your children have, now the society is doing them on Sundays. When that used to be a sacred time and no one ever in government or schools, scheduled anything on a Sunday. Now in our society, Sunday is just another day, another day of the week. God is fine with sports and other hobbies or things you do or your children or your family does, as long as they don't have first place in our lives over Him.

God is okay if you watch an occasional TV show or movie that is clean, that doesn't promote sin. But be honest, what are you really living for? What do you want most in life? I pray that you will grow to want God and his will in your life if you don't already. Tomorrow, if God blesses you with another day of life, ask yourself this, what do I want right now?

But then ask yourself an even better question. What do I want most? I'll give an example. You get up in the morning and what you want now is to get on your social media sites and spend time there before you start your day, before you go to work or school or do some other things. Then you ask yourself this, what have you decided that you want most? For example, your answer might be, I wanna have some time with God in the morning before my day gets so busy that I don't do it.

I want to read my Bible and reflect on what God wants me to do that day and how I can incorporate the scriptures that I read into my life. I want most to have a time of prayer with God and ask Him to guide me in the day ahead. I want to accomplish what He wants me to do that day. Maybe you want to listen to some Christian music or a Christian podcast in the morning before work, school, or you work from home.

Or you're retired, you could worship God in songs or learn some insights that God gives you from a Christian podcast that you listen to. Personally, I'm full of joy now that I've given God first place in every area of my life. I wanna continue to get to know God and have a deep, intimate, personal relationship with Him. Jesus died a cruel death on a wooden cross to pay the penalty for my sins.

I now want to give my life away and serving Him each day. He's what I want most. I pray that you now choose to love God and love others for the rest of your life. I pray that you decide to turn from your sins and that you will call on the Lord to save you if you haven't already. I pray that you want eternal life more than the temporary pleasures of this world. You must choose what you want in life. What do you want right now?

What do you want most for all eternity? I want to share this with you. I learned this a long time ago, but life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you want to, but you can only spend it once. I think that's so profound. I want to say it to you again. Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you want to, but you can only spend it once. So choose wisely.

Remember, there are no do-overs or redo's. I've chosen to have God as the most important priority in every area of my life. I want him most, and I pray that you do too. Would you join me in prayer? Let's pray. Father, I thank you for this time where we can get together via a podcast and open up your word and read some scriptures.

And then claim them and apply them to our lives. God, this question, what do you want most in life, is so important because our habits and what we choose each day determine the outcome of our lives day by day. Those days turn into months and years. Oh God, if we have the wrong priorities, we waste our lives. If we have idols in our lives, like I used to have.

When it was all about sports for me or winning championships. Oh God, I pray that each listener would come to a hard stop today and would commit the time to really spend some time alone and ask themselves, what do I want right now? What do I want most in life? That each person that listens or watches this podcast would honestly evaluate their life and decide to make those radical changes that I did that so that the outcome of our lives would be what we want it to be that we would be living for what we really want most not settling for what we want right now. God ask you to bless each person that's listening. Life is so hard. It's so difficult out there today and I pray that each one knows that you love them, that you came, Jesus, to die on a cross for everyone, and that people can choose you. Each one listening can decide to call on you to be their Lord and Savior and to make life's greatest decision, what really matters in life, and that's to receive eternal life. God, we love you. We thank you for your written word.

In the holy Bible that we can read from it and be obedient to what you tell us to do. And Lord, we thank you that you're still speaking today, that you're still speaking to me and you're giving me messages for people, that you're speaking to individuals. You said in your word in John 10, 27, my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me.

So God, may we choose to live for what really matters most in life, that's to live for you and your kingdom. Father God, we love you and we praise you in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.