Time Management God’s Way - Time Management and Priorities - Ep 1

Welcome to Life Foundations. My name is Keri Pickett, and I am excited that you are joining me for a brand new series that, honestly, the series continues to change my life. It's not just something that I've learned, but something that God is teaching me continually. So I'm really excited about this. Now, when you hear my title, you may be like, that doesn't sound very spiritual, but actually this can change your life. So we're going to talk about time management and priorities. This is a course that I do here at Karis Bible College, and it always radically changes the student's life. Because I'm going to teach you time management in a way that maybe you never heard time management before. And so what I want to teach you in this series is really practical things to re-understand what time management is and how to make sure that we don't just constantly live our lives saying, we're busy, we're busy. Or I'm sorry, Lord, I would love to do that. And yes, Lord, I will do that. Just let me finish this, finish this, do this, do this, do this. And then you get to the middle of the year, end of the year, and come to the realization that you actually didn't do what God called you to do. You didn't change in the things that God was prompting in your heart to change. And so what happens is busyness can actually be the very thing that causes disobedience. And so I'm going to teach you about time management and priorities. The first thing I want to do is I want to talk about what is time management. Now, there is a multi-million dollar business in the world that will try to help you time manage. All the cool calendars and apps and day timers and all that kind of stuff. Now, I happen to be an extreme geek. I love a good day timer. I love a good journal. And so I'm always looking for the better, the next version of something that's going to help me organize or clarify or keep track of something better. So when I was a kid, I didn't go to the toy section. I went to the time management journal pin section. I was a nerd then. I'm a nerd now. But what I found is that time management can't just be about how much I teach you or how much I learn to fit more in the day. Because doing more doesn't necessarily mean that you're effective. And I want to teach you how to be intentional. I want to teach you how to hear what God is saying and then figure out how do you actually make it happen within your life. Not just squeeze God in. Time management is not about you setting an agenda, setting the schedule, and then laying it before the Lord and say, all right, God, this is what I need to do. Bless it. Because that's not time management. Now, the world will teach that time management is calendars and systems and, you know, tracking and all those kind of things. And they've got some great apps and they got some great journals. But real time management is more than that. And I want to give you a definition that I really would like you to think about today. Even as you go about your day and as you're asking the Lord questions and as you're doing things, I want you to mull over this definition. Time management is not how much you squeeze in the day. I want to read this to you. Time management is not a skill or art of organizing or dictating to ourselves how to use and manage our time. It's not time management. But what is important is that we understand that time management is about our surrender of our time and schedules to the Lord. It's letting the Holy Spirit dictate to us our priorities and the daily use of the time that he's given to us. So simply put, time management is not about you organizing your time, but time management is about how much you surrender your time to the management of the Holy Spirit. This is what time management is, where we're saying, Lord, my life is not my own. So the dynamic of our life is not our own. That is super important when we're talking about this type of time management. If you want to learn some tricks and things like that to fit more into your day, that's not what I'm going to teach you. In fact, I believe that time management, when we give it to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, you're going to find that there's things that come out of your schedule. Because I think as people, what we do is we'll do this whole, yes, absolutely, of course, sure, no problem. And we're really easy to say yes to things that we didn't pray about, we got pressured into. So I'm going to teach you a really amazing principle throughout this series. I'm going to teach you that no is a very spiritual word, especially if it's led by the Holy Spirit. In Galatians chapter 2 verse 20, this is really important, and I love this verse because it says, for I've been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, talking about in this time, this season, this world, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loves me and gave himself for me. Now this is important because this verse can be taught as far as, you know, how to lay down our lives. This verse can be taught about the love of God. You've heard me share about this with the love of God, that when we understand that he loved us and gave himself for us, then the ability to say, Lord, my life belongs to you, right? We can talk about the love of God and all of these things. But one of the things that I want you to see in this verse is it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me. See, when we have that understanding that our life, when we got saved. Brothers and sisters, when you gave your heart to the Lord, you gave ownership to the Lord and said, Lord, my life belongs to you. See, many times, and unfortunately this is what can happen, if believers get saved, and I'm not saying they don't have a salvation experience, but they're not discipled into the understanding that in receiving Christ, that means there's a death to I can't just say, I invited Jesus into my heart and I still get to do whatever I want, whenever I want, however I want, with whoever I want, in whatever direction. That's not being a believer. A believer is saying, you know what? I believe that my life is safe and secure and has place in Christ's hands, that I don't have the ownership of my life anymore. Now, I do have stewardship. I have to steward my life, but ultimately at the end of the day, it doesn't belong to me. It doesn't belong to you. And that is a really important concept. If we're going to talk about being a disciple, if we're going to talk about being a type of believer that truly lives in this world in such a way that we make a difference, we make an impact, we make change, because you're not here just to waste air. That's not why you're here. You're here to number one, have relationship with God, to have an amazing intimate relationship with God. If you guys did not listen to the series on intimacy with God, you are going to want to go back and listen to that course, because that truly was the heart of God, was to draw us into relationship. It wasn't to make us a worker. It was to draw us into relationship. But then this is what happens, you guys. In a relationship with God, you discover who He is, you discover who you are, and you discover what God made in you that is important for such a time as this. And so the enemies looking at this going, oh man, they got the kingdom of God inside of them now. They got the fullness of the spirit of God. They got the Holy Spirit as their teacher. They have the word. How do I stop them? Well, it's busyness. We become less effective, less intentional, less focused if we just get busy. And so if He can't keep salvation from us, He'll definitely cause distractions in our path so that you and I do not fulfill intentionally the call of God on our lives. Guys, this is super powerful, because when we realize it is no longer I who lives, but it's Christ that lives within me. And then He goes on to say, and the life that I now live in the flesh right now, I live by faith in the Son of God. And it's not just living according to this word. I praise God this is living by faith. We're walking in this word, right? But it's saying, okay, if I'm going to live by faith, that means everything in my life, my finances, my health, my relationships, my commitments, my volunteering, everything, the life that I now live, I live by faith, meaning all of those things belong to the Lord, and all of them have the power to have a spiritual impact. I think this is something I really want you to get a hold of, is that everything in your life as a believer, because of the Spirit of God inside of you, has this supernatural potential. Your marriage has this supernatural potential to be this reflection of God and to be a testimony and light. Your parenting, your singleness if you're not married, can have this amazing reflection of God where people stop and say, how, why? Show me, tell me, and you'll be able to tell them all the reasons why your life has changed and is growing, expanding, is transforming because of your relationship with God. Why your relationships that you're not constantly in conflict, in turmoil, in frustration, and offense with the people around you. Why? Because you've taken all those relationships and said, Lord, I hand them to you. Your finances, your health, right, all of these things have supernatural potential. But if we don't give them to the ownership of the Lord, then they have the opportunity for the enemy to bring in all these distractions. I want you to watch this testimony of this next student, that they were so ingrained in just their everyday life, that they were missing God's purpose for them. And I want you to see the difference of living your own life and then living a life with God's purpose. I was living overseas as a missionary, and I was engaged to a local man there. We were worship leaders together, and we led a ministry in the gypsy camps in that nation. But on the inside, our relationship was very unhealthy. We got pregnant, and out of fear, we had an abortion. I couldn't keep living this lie anymore. So after the abortion, I finally began to talk to the Lord again. That is when Jesus asked me if I would choose him, and if I would lay down the plan I had for my life. In that moment, I knew I had to choose him. I had to choose the Lord. So I left everything behind, including the preparations for the wedding, everything we had bought and prepared, because it was time. It was time to return to the U.S. I obeyed God. But in doing so, I came home in a little bit of pain. I had been believing that I had to serve God, and how perfectly I served God is what based whether or not I received his love. I believed I was unredeemable, and I was worthless, and that he would no longer use me or have a plan for my life after the decisions I made to destroy it. I got connected to Andrew Womack Ministries after returning to the U.S., and my life was completely transformed by his teaching. And so, of course, after listening to God's kind of love to you, and I began to understand, man, God, you love me, but do you have a purpose for me? Do you still want to use me? Am I still good enough for that? He restored me in knowing that God's purpose for my life was still a purpose he had. He opened the door for me to go back on the mission field, and it was on the mission field that I discovered about year one of Karis Online. I began year one, and my life got so transformed that I moved to Colorado and started year two, and I now saw that my actions did not determine my value, but that I am loved, and I have a purpose, a call in my life because of the Lord. I now have the amazing privilege to work at Karis World Outreach and International Operations. I get to support missions around the world with a far greater reach than I could have ever done in my own plan. I have the privilege to mentor ladies that are in their journey of healing with the Lord after having had abortions. God has not only restored my life and the purpose that he has for me, but he has given me a greater purpose than I ever thought possible. What I love about that testimony is I think all of us can identify where we're just kind of doing our own thing, and we're asking God to bless it, and like, come on, God, bless this, and then we're just wondering, why do I feel so drained all the time? Why do I have no focus? Why don't I care? It's easy to say yes to too many things, and in doing that, then we're stretching past the things that we have grace for. So this is the thing that I want us to understand with time management, is that because our life belongs to the Lord, within the ownership of our life belonging to the Lord, there's very specific graces that you have on your life, a grace to do very key things that you're not only graced for, but you're anointed for. So when we're doing those things, and this is what I find for me, when I'm doing the things that I know I'm supposed to be doing, that the Lord has said, this is a priority, this is a season of your life, this is a task that I've given you or a relationship that I've handed you, when I'm in and I'm doing those things, it almost energizes me. Sometimes my flesh is like, ah, I don't want to do it, but then once I start doing it, I'm like, oh my gosh, this is such a blessing. Thank you, Lord. But there's a grace on it. It actually starts to fill me. It actually starts to give me more ideas and more creativity. And it's the things that I'm not supposed to be doing that can continue to pull a drain, a draw, and a bad attitude. And so I want you to understand that it's in dying to our own life and our own agendas that we get placed into, as believers, there's another realm of opportunity and ability. There's this potential that we actually start to open up with inside of us when we're doing things in obedience to the Lord. And that's where I, in my relationship with God, not only am I asking him to show me his love for me, not only am I asking him to teach me wisdom and to delve into the word and know where to place revelations in my life. In the same way, I am actually every single day asking him, Lord, is there anything that needs to change in this season? Is there something I'm doing that is coming to a close? Is there something new I'm supposed to grab a hold of? And this is what I found. Me as a very high A-type personality, highly optimistic, highly extroverted, yeah, let's do more and let's have fun while we do it, right? I've got to be careful that I don't keep pulling more and more into my life and then get to a place where I come to a realization I am like three-fourths doing things that I shouldn't be doing. And I can say even from my life right now, God's doing some new things, taking me into some new seasons saying let go of this and enter into this. And I feel like there's many people watching that you feel like there's this season that you're getting into and you're not quite sure how to enter it. There's new things, there's new dreams, there's new opportunities, there's some new things and you're looking at them with excitement but you're also going, how in the world am I going to do this? This is an exciting season for you. It's not comfortable, I know, I'm going through it. But this is an exciting season. You know why it's exciting? Is it means that you are coming to a finish line of certain things. That there's certain things you're going to let go of and certain things like a new baton that you are grabbing a hold of and you're getting ready to enter another level and another layer of your race. That's pretty exciting. I want to encourage you from experience that you can't hold on to everything of the past. Now, am I saying you let go of your husband or you let go of your wife? That's not what I'm saying. That you let go of your kids like, sorry kids, you know, you know how to make mac and cheese, you're on your own. That's not what I'm saying. There's certain priorities that you still have in your life but maybe you're not doing as much in certain other areas because you're having to, in obedience, grab a hold of new things. But I remember this friend of mine, she's like, I think I'll just stop doing praise and worship altogether. And I was like, well, has God told you to stop leading praise and worship? She's like, well, no, but it's the only thing that can see giving me more time, more breathing space to do this other thing. And I'm like, okay, so God's telling you to do one thing but he hasn't told you yet to leave this, right? She's like, yeah. And I said, so let me just throw out something, not a thus says the Lord, but just maybe a tip. Maybe it's going to the leaders and saying, I feel like there's something new that God's bringing me into. Is it okay if I just do twice a month? And she was like, yeah, you know what? That might work. She's like, I've got another person that's great. And you give them opportunity and I can raise them up as a leader and I can do twice a month versus four times a month now, right? And it was still bless the pastor, still bless the people, but it allowed her to have some breathing space. Cause it wasn't just Sunday morning worship. It was all day Saturday practice. It was all day, you know, throughout the week, putting things together. All of a sudden she gained all that time to start this new thing that the Lord was really stirring within her heart. This is, this is some of the things that I want to share with you because I believe that you are getting ready to enter a new season. In fact, I believe that's why God had me share this particular series right now. It was for you, that there's things, there's some potential, there's some giftings, there's some callings that God is wanting to open up in a new way in your life right now. And he's wanting to make sure you have the time for it. And what I have found that in every new season, and this is really absolutely the heartbeat of why I'm sharing this with you. In every new season, in every part of growth, in every new arena of growth that God's taken you into, you know what it requires? It requires that you spend more time with him. See, if you're moving into something new that the Lord's saying, Hey, I want you to do something new with your children. I want you to do something different. I'm having you change jobs, move across the country. I'm having you, I want you to parent in this way different. I want you to work on your marriage in this area. I want you to start a new business or save finances for this. There's all kinds of things guys that you're constantly growing in. What I found is that every time I see like, okay, this needs to change. This needs to grow. I need to work on this. I need to work on that. If I just move out in my own wisdom, guys, I'm still doing it the wrong way. I'm still putting my agenda and my plan at A, B, C, D, E, F, G, then asking God to bless it, especially because I need money for it. Here God, can you bless this? And God's like, that's not what this new season was about. This new season is about saying, Oh wow, Lord, there's something new. And then making sure that you have the time to gain wisdom from him, the time to come back into relationship with him. In Colossians chapter three, verse two and three, it says, set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Now, does that mean you don't do anything in this world? Well, it says, don't set your mind on things in the earth, so I'm not going to work today. That's not what the scripture is saying. It means that how you prioritize your thoughts, how you prioritize your mentalities, what you're setting your mind on, because if you're setting your mind on the things of the world, right, then the overflow of the things of the world are going to touch everything else in your life. But if you're setting your mind on the things that are above, you're setting it on the word, you're setting it on your relationship with God, you're setting it on the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit, then there's going to be an overflow from that time in that relationship to everything else, you guys, absolutely everything else. And what I've seen is that if we learn how to go into new seasons or even the season that we're in, if we're struggling and we're frustrated and we're anxious, guys, it's time to pull back and get time with the Lord. There was something that really impacted me as I was a young missionary. I graduated Bible school, Charis, when I was 21 years old, well actually when I was 20, and I just turned 21, so I'm 20 to 21, I'm graduating Bible school. I have that summer to prepare for the mission field, so I'm preparing for the mission field and really asking the Lord. And it was so amazing because while I was in Bible school, I was, especially as a second year student, I was involved in everything. I was, you know, doing stuff at the school, I was volunteering, I was doing conferences, we had a mission strip. I had actually two or three mission strips that second year as a Bible school student, so I was going on these mission trips, which I loved because I knew I was called to missions and it filled me and inspired me and it gave me vision. And then I came back and I was helping with a local church that was just planting in Colorado Springs and I was, you know, I was serving as a nanny, I was working as an intern for another ministry besides going to Bible school, doing my homework. I was mentoring, I was mentoring two young ladies and meeting with them for coffee. I was, I was supposed to, and I didn't do it very well, I was supposed to be helping a local missionary as they were on the field doing their newsletters and their finances and helping them run their ministry. And I was so busy and I was dropping balls left and right and I was trying to do all these things well and at the same time I felt like God was calling me. He was, he was pulling on my heart. I'd already been on these couple mission trips as a student to Russia and I started to feel this call, I started to feel this draw and I was like, okay, all right, well, Lord, are you calling me to Russia? And I was like, and guess what happened? I couldn't focus on it because I was doing all of these things and what I loved is the Lord just said, okay, Carrie, you need to pull so many things off your plate. And I was trying, but praise the Lord, the Lord helped me. He really did. His grace helped me. And this is where you can ask the Lord, ask him for the grace, Lord, help me to know what to put aside, help close doors. The missionaries decided, hey, we have somebody else that's going to really help us. Thank you so much, but they're going to help us. Okay. This two young girls that I was happened to be mentoring went off to college. Okay, great. That's awesome. You know, the, uh, the internship that I was working with, they said, you know what? We feel like the Lord has said, we're supposed to release you. I was like, why? Because all of a sudden I lost a job. I was like, what? And they said, I don't know. They said, the Lord just said, we're supposed to release you. And I was like, okay, Lord, all of a sudden I had all of these things. I was sitting at home like, okay, Lord, what do I do? And I was ready to get busy. And the Lord said, no, I want to show you, I want to prepare you for this next step. And it was in that next step, sitting on the couch that the Lord showed me Russia, showed me my vision, showed me the steps, gave me a mission statement, gave me the scripture that absolutely detailed this next season of my life. Time with him all of a sudden became so important to the next season. I believe the series is going to absolutely transform your life. There's going to be principles that help you go, oh, that's why I've been anxious. Okay. That's how I can put it in order. I am excited. And guys, I'm telling you, this is just a fraction of the beginning. I have dozens and dozens and dozens of verses and points that are going to help you. And I'm introducing it to you through this show, but I want you to call, call today to Andrew Womack Ministries and Karis Bible College. And when you call into our prayer line, I want you to ask them about this course called intentional. It's about understanding the role of effective time management, because I believe God has called you to be intentional. This is going to teach you some amazing principles of how do you do it? How do you identify where you're at? What needs to change? Who to say yes and no to. I believe this course is going to dramatically change your schedules, your rest, your energy, and your obedience. Please call the prayer line today. We love being able to minister to you on this. As you talk to them, ask them about this resource. It's for a donation of any cost. They'll be able to show you how to get that. It will be a blessing. And when you're talking to them, also just say, you know what? I need prayer. There's some things in my life that I need to get in order. Could you just pray and come into agreement with me as I'm entering this new season? Please join me for further episodes. We are just starting this incredible journey that I believe God's going to speak some nuggets to you that not only you will feel, but all the people that God has given you for your life to touch. God bless you. I will see you for the next episode of this course on time management and priorities. And as you go about this amazing day, ask the Lord to show you, Lord, show me how much you love me.