Wrong Priorities lead to Wrong Choices and a Life Without God

Renette Vermeulen

[Acknowledgement to the person who published this image]

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WRONG PRIORITIES LEAD TO WRONG CHOICES AND TO A LIFE WITHOUT GOD, WHICH BRING BELIEVERS UNDER SUCH “STRONG DELUSION, THEY BELIEVE THE LIE, BECAUSE THEY DID NOT RECEIVE THE LOVE OF THE TRUTH, THAT THEY MIGHT BE SAVED! THEY WILL ALL BE CONDEMNED, WHO DID NOT BELIEVE THE TRUTH BUT HAD PLEASURE IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS,” (2 Ths. 2:11,10,12.) We have to realize that the most important commandment of God’s Moral Law is, “Hear, [o believers in Christ,] the Lord our God is [the] One [and Only] God! And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul or mind, and all your strength!” (Mark 12:29.) All the many other precepts of the Moral Law in both the Old and New Testament Covenants flow from this highest commandment.

Neglecting to understand and obey God’s Moral Law, allows for scrambling our priorities for the sake of “pleasure in unrighteousness,” instead of observing God’s Truth to constantly follow Him. Revelation 22:14-15, “Blessed are those who DO His [New Covenant] commandments, that they may have the right to the Tree of Life, and may enter into [heaven…] But outside are dogs, [lazy sleepers and whose who ingest everything that suits them,] sorcerers, [who make God’s Truth into lies,] sexually immoral, [emotional and physical] murderers, idolaters [who live by scrambled priorities and do not put God first,] and WHOEVER LOVES AND PRACTICES A LIE!”

Where do wrong priorities begin? Paul explained in Romans 8:5-11, “THOSE WHO LIVE ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, SET THEIR MINDS ON THE THINGS OF THE FLESH.” Those, whose priorities centre on human needs and desires, (safety, health, nourishment, belonging, intimacy, acceptance, etcetera,) churn that in their thoughts until they decide to do anything to fulfill their needs and desires. Because they do not make God their highest priority, Satan will empower them to turn good into bad, truth into lies, and light into darkness to accomplish their goals, (Isa. 5:20.)

The “battle [against evil] is [truly] for the mind,” where our free will rules our thoughts, beliefs, behaviors, and emotions, to manufacture our choices, (2 Cor. 10:3-5.)

Paul continued, “BUT THOSE WHO LIVE ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT, SET THEIR MINDS ON THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT, [Who came to convict everyone on earth OF “SIN, [the fallen state without God,] RIGHTEOUSNESS, [the state of salvation, redemption, and blessing in Jesus Christ, and] JUDGMENT [should we choose to reject Jesus and His full atonement for us instead of following Him above all else, WHO] LEADS US INTO ALL TRUTH…” (Rom. 8:5-11; Jn. 16:8-14.)

According to the above, the notion that deceivers do not know what they are doing, is nowhere to be found in Scripture. If that were the case, our merciful God would not call them to accountability. 2 Corinthians 5:10 states, “WE MUST ALL APPEAR BEFORE THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST, THAT EVERYONE MAY RECEIVE THE THINGS DONE IN THE BODY, WHETHER GOOD OR BAD.”

That is why the Gospel teachings of the Lord Jesus and the true context of the Epistles are based on making the right choices by setting our priorities straight. Sadly, those who teach, we only have to ‘believe and love,’ (omitting the true meaning of faith and agape-love in deed and truth, Mt. 7:21-24,) are deceiving millions of people on the internet – of which the easy way of reeking in money, YouTube, has become dominant in the lives of believers.

By not prioritizing their internet searches, people lend their ears to thousands of religious entertainers on YouTube, who all have something ‘exciting,’ ‘new,’ or ‘mysterious’ to discuss, but whose sermons do not lead them in the Truth of God’s Word, (Mt. 25:1-13!) Therefore, I urge everyone to browse the whole internet, (including my work,) carefully and prayerfully by viewing it all from the context of Jesus’ N.T. Covenant, while “testing everything to see if it is from God,” (1 Ths. 5:21-22; 1 Jn. 4:1-4.) We are truly living in the last of the end-times, which Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24:11-14, saying, “Many false prophets [teachers] will rise up and deceive many. [They will cause] lawlessness to abound and the love [for God’s Truth] will grow cold. But HE, WHO ENDURES TO THE END, [in Jesus’ Scriptural Word,] WILL BE SAVED.”

In Luke 14:1-35, the Pharisees again attempted to catch the Lord violating the ceremonial laws, such as healing people on the Sabbath, but He set their priorities right by pointing them to the Moral Law. He asked, “Which of you, whose donkey or ox fell into a pit, will not pull it out on the Sabbath day?’ [Which is the greater priority; to legalistically honor a day or to save a life on that day?] They could not answer Him. As Jesus never left His audience hanging, He illustrated this by cutting to the foundation of His teaching, ‘When invited to a wedding feast, do not take the best place… [which might be reserved for someone more honorable.] But sit down in the lowest place... For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. [We begin to cultivate the correct priorities by putting God first to repent from arrogance, greed, self-importance, and the desire to be admired by people.] “But when you give a dinner, do not invite your… rich neighbors [to build self-esteem and importance, and seek to be repaid by being invited in return.] But invite the poor, maimed, and blind, who cannot repay you, and God will repay you…” [Genuine humility must then be exercised by associating with the humble to glorify God and to be His instruments to serve humanity.]

Then someone, [attempting to sound spiritual,] said, “Blessed is he who will eat bread in the Kingdom of [heaven.]” But Jesus, knowing all intentions, told another parable so that the humble in Christ be can be mindful not to step into Satan’s example to transform themselves into angels of light, while their mixed priorities make them ministers of unrighteousness: 2 Cor. 11:12-15.]

The Lord said, “A man gave a GREAT SUPPER and invited many. [Globally, people from all walks of life are invited to Jesus’ Marriage Feast in heaven at His return: John 3:16.] When supper time came, He sent his servant to call those who were invited.” But by then, many who first enthusiastically accepted the invitation, became sluggish and as a result, clouded their priorities where following Jesus is concerned. Thus, they made excuses to attend the marriage feast. “One said, ‘I have to see to my ground,’ [placing physical needs above spiritual needs.] Another said, ‘I have to yoke my new oxen,’ [placing something burdensome above following Jesus instead of overcoming it to the glory of God.] Still another said, ‘I have a wife and cannot come,’ [placing loved ones above submitting to God.]” This also refers to Old Israel, who was the first to be invited to accept Jesus and come to His Marriage Feast, (Jn. 1:1-14.) Multitudes followed Jesus, but forsook him at the cross to prioritize the ungodly religious Pharisees, and instead of following Jesus, they cared more about their families and the restoration of their physical nation, (Jn. 18:36.)

This passage matches Luke 9:59-62, where Jesus called believers to follow Him, but one answered, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, [do not let even the death of loved ones distract you from My calling,] BUT GO AND PREACH [My Gospel: Matthew 28:19-20.] Still, another said, “…I will follow You, but let me first bid farewell [to my loved ones.]” But Jesus answered, “No one, who put his hand to the plow and look back, [using family and circumstances as excuses to disobey Me,] are fit for the Kingdom of God… I SAY TO YOU THAT NONE OF THOSE WHO WERE INVITED, [but did not ready themselves on a mind-level to come to My marriage feast in heaven,] WILL TASTE MY SUPPER” (Mt. 25:1-13; 7:21-24 KJV.) Someone commented, “Part from loves, instead of quitting interest in Christ!”

Jesus concluded His sermon in Luke 14:23-33 by saying, “[You must count the cost to follow Me before you accept Me… It would have been better not to have known The Way of Righteousness, than after you have known it, to turn from My holy commandment: 2 Pt. 2:21.] IF YOU DO NOT FORSAKE ALL THAT YOU HAVE, [everything that messes with your priorities,] YOU CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLES,” [Jn. 4:21-24; Luke 14:24.] “I did not come to bring peace on earth but the sword. [The self-indulgent prosperity dogma is a death-trap. The sword brings absolute division between light and darkness, truth and lies, and believers and unbelievers.] A man’s [greatest] enemies will be those of his own household. [Those closest to us influence us the most: Hebrews 4:12; Matthew 10:33-39.] He, who comes to Me and does not hate, [in comparison to his love for Me,] his parents, spouse, children, and even his own life, [so that his loves cannot scramble his priorities,] CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE! [This is true discipleship:] UNLESS ONE BEARS HIS CROSS, [persecution and hardship for living immovably in God’s Real Word,] AND [keeps on] FOLLOWING ME [to the end,] HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE… IF YOU ABIDE IN MY WORD, YOU ARE TRULY MY DISCIPLES. AND THEN YOU WILL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH WILL SET YOUR FREE.” (Lu. 14:26-27; Jn. 8:12; 31-32.)

We can only “overcome” the challenges of life on earth when we “crucify ourselves” emotionally, (Galatians 2:19-21,) to decidedly correct our wrong priorities, which were formed by defective knowledge, misplaced affections, misunderstanding, and self-centred desires, (Lu. 14:26-33.) That is why the whole context of New Testament Scripture commands, ‘In all humbleness and Holy-Spirit power, we have to submit and commit ourselves and everything and everyone to God, so that we can understand His “perfect will” for every situation, (Romans 12:1-2.)

This is the only way to overcome adversity, temptation, oppression, and everything else, which the devil, who is always behind evil people, can use to deceive us through our wrong priorities.

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