WEBVTT 00:00:01.419 --> 00:00:04.440 Sharing good news of great joy to all people, 00:00:04.700 --> 00:00:11.080 Elation Church. Today's message is, I would say 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:14.660 it contains a very simple truth, but if we can 00:00:14.660 --> 00:00:18.339 take a hold of it, it'll be very impacting, very 00:00:18.339 --> 00:00:21.399 transformative, okay? If we can really get a 00:00:21.399 --> 00:00:24.620 hold of what God wants to speak to us through 00:00:24.620 --> 00:00:28.140 His Word today, who is here to hear something 00:00:28.140 --> 00:00:31.280 from God? Are you here to listen? Are you here 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:34.280 to receive something? Because God will meet you 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:36.780 at the level of your expectation to receive. 00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:42.759 Okay? He will meet you there. So let's turn in 00:00:42.759 --> 00:00:46.460 our Bibles today to Luke 10, 38 through 42, if 00:00:46.460 --> 00:00:48.700 you have your Bible. If not, it's on the screen. 00:00:49.140 --> 00:00:51.579 I'm reading out of the New Living Translation. 00:00:52.219 --> 00:01:16.730 Let's read. Verse 38, She came to Jesus and said, 00:01:17.450 --> 00:01:20.569 Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister 00:01:20.569 --> 00:01:23.989 just sits here while I do all the work? Tell 00:01:23.989 --> 00:01:27.409 her to come and help me. But the Lord said to 00:01:27.409 --> 00:01:30.989 her, My dear Martha, you are worried and upset 00:01:30.989 --> 00:01:35.310 over all these details. There is only one thing 00:01:35.310 --> 00:01:39.129 worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered 00:01:39.129 --> 00:01:43.310 it, and it will not be taken away from her. Everybody 00:01:43.310 --> 00:01:47.359 say one thing. One thing. Say it again. Say one 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:50.439 thing. You know, when someone you love or someone 00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:52.319 around you tells you, I need you to listen to 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:56.599 this one thing. You can get all these other things 00:01:56.599 --> 00:01:58.799 right, but I need you to listen to this one thing. 00:01:58.819 --> 00:02:01.239 It's an important thing. You better listen. And 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:05.120 if Jesus especially is saying, there's one thing, 00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:10.879 one thing needed, one thing essential, one thing 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:15.680 necessary, we need to pay attention, right? Our 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:17.479 ears need to perk up when we see that in Bible. 00:02:17.580 --> 00:02:19.500 He's like, this one thing is important. We need 00:02:19.500 --> 00:02:22.340 to know what that one thing is, okay? Everybody 00:02:22.340 --> 00:02:26.699 say one thing. One thing. Now, I don't know about 00:02:26.699 --> 00:02:31.639 you, but one thing is often very hard to get. 00:02:32.360 --> 00:02:35.099 And that is groceries at the grocery store. You 00:02:35.099 --> 00:02:37.560 know, you go like you're preparing a recipe at 00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:39.939 home. I don't know. Maybe I'm just the only one, 00:02:40.020 --> 00:02:42.400 but you're preparing a recipe at home. And then 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:44.780 you got to go to the grocery store and you go 00:02:44.780 --> 00:02:49.610 for one thing. There's one specific thing that 00:02:49.610 --> 00:02:51.870 you need to complete your recipe. And there's 00:02:51.870 --> 00:02:54.449 a Publix right by my house. So I get in the car. 00:02:54.610 --> 00:02:57.189 I go over there. I go into the grocery store. 00:02:57.530 --> 00:03:00.629 And I walk out with a bag full of groceries that 00:03:00.629 --> 00:03:06.370 cost over $100. This one bag. I'm not exaggerating. 00:03:06.370 --> 00:03:08.889 It's the truth. Yeah, you know, so you walk out 00:03:08.889 --> 00:03:12.069 with this one little plastic bag. And I get all 00:03:12.069 --> 00:03:14.250 the way home, get in the car, drive all the way. 00:03:14.750 --> 00:03:16.550 And I get home and I'm like, honey, I'm back. 00:03:16.650 --> 00:03:20.550 I got everything that I needed except the one 00:03:20.550 --> 00:03:24.310 thing she told me to get or the one thing that 00:03:24.310 --> 00:03:26.449 I needed for that recipe. How many of you feel 00:03:26.449 --> 00:03:28.569 me? You're like, we've all been there, right? 00:03:30.509 --> 00:03:33.930 It's important that we hold on to the one thing. 00:03:34.009 --> 00:03:36.909 So let's go back into our story now with this 00:03:36.909 --> 00:03:40.090 set of eyes and let's kind of nitpick it a little 00:03:40.090 --> 00:03:43.009 bit and let's see what God's saying here. So 00:03:43.009 --> 00:03:48.340 for one. we see that Martha is the one who welcomes 00:03:48.340 --> 00:03:53.479 Jesus into her home. She's the one who welcomes 00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:55.900 Jesus and the disciples into her home. A lot 00:03:55.900 --> 00:03:58.439 of times we give Martha a really hard time. But 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:03.460 she's wanting what? She is wanting to spend time 00:04:03.460 --> 00:04:06.219 with Jesus. She's wanting to get to know him 00:04:06.219 --> 00:04:09.099 better. She's craving that. How many of you are 00:04:09.099 --> 00:04:12.300 craving that for this year, for 2025? Yeah. So 00:04:12.300 --> 00:04:15.419 it's like she's wanting that. She invites him 00:04:15.419 --> 00:04:18.879 in to her home to get to know him better. But 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:23.759 listen, she does something. What does she do? 00:04:23.800 --> 00:04:27.040 She mistakes proximity. Listen, she mistakes 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:33.180 proximity with intimacy. She mistakes proximity. 00:04:33.300 --> 00:04:37.519 Jesus was in her home, but what did she do? She 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:40.509 didn't spend any time with him. She invites. 00:04:40.689 --> 00:04:43.290 She does this huge ordeal. It's this huge thing. 00:04:43.370 --> 00:04:45.730 She gets them, the disciples. She's having a 00:04:45.730 --> 00:04:48.189 lot of people over. She's making this big dinner. 00:04:48.370 --> 00:04:50.769 And the only thing important to her is, man, 00:04:50.810 --> 00:04:52.850 I've got to do this food, and I've got to make 00:04:52.850 --> 00:04:54.689 sure the disciples are taken care of. I've got 00:04:54.689 --> 00:04:56.189 to make sure everyone's done, and I've got to 00:04:56.189 --> 00:05:00.029 do all these things, all these details. I've 00:05:00.029 --> 00:05:04.430 got to run to Publix 500 times. You know? I've 00:05:04.430 --> 00:05:07.029 got to do all these things. But she mistakes. 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:12.300 Him being in her home. for her spending time 00:05:12.300 --> 00:05:14.399 with him. You know, I think this is something 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:16.959 we can easily understand like in the confines 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:19.139 of marriage, right? Or if you've spent any time 00:05:19.139 --> 00:05:22.079 in a relationship. A lot of times when a relationship 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:25.459 suffers is what happens. Just you think that, 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:27.560 oh, you get comfortable because you're close 00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:30.220 to someone, because you're riding in the car 00:05:30.220 --> 00:05:32.459 with them each and every day. You're under the 00:05:32.459 --> 00:05:36.379 same roof in the same bed, but that doesn't mean 00:05:36.379 --> 00:05:39.079 that you're intimate with one another. That doesn't 00:05:39.079 --> 00:05:42.019 mean that you're sharing life. It doesn't mean 00:05:42.019 --> 00:05:44.480 that it's, you know, you're spending quality 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:48.279 time together just because you're near someone. 00:05:50.819 --> 00:05:53.800 Proximity does not equal intimacy. Don't forget 00:05:53.800 --> 00:05:57.500 that. Jesus was in her home. I want you to get 00:05:57.500 --> 00:06:00.120 this picture. Jesus is in her home, but she spent 00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:07.079 no time with him. Why? Verse 40, but Martha was 00:06:07.079 --> 00:06:12.730 distracted. She was distracted by the big dinner 00:06:12.730 --> 00:06:16.810 she was preparing. This Greek word here, I'm 00:06:16.810 --> 00:06:20.189 not even going to try, but you can see it on 00:06:20.189 --> 00:06:23.649 the screen, means directly translated to be distracted, 00:06:23.769 --> 00:06:27.769 but it also carries with it to be pulled away. 00:06:29.310 --> 00:06:37.730 To be pulled away and to be over -occupied. What's 00:06:37.730 --> 00:06:44.310 pulling away? What occupies us? Moving on, getting 00:06:44.310 --> 00:06:49.350 ahead. Dad mentioned this last week when we were 00:06:49.350 --> 00:06:51.290 talking about, and there's a paper being too 00:06:51.290 --> 00:06:53.550 busy and distracted, and then that kind of like 00:06:53.550 --> 00:06:55.610 springboarded something that was already like 00:06:55.610 --> 00:06:58.230 in my heart where we were going with this. And 00:06:58.230 --> 00:07:00.230 I was just like, yeah, that's the connection 00:07:00.230 --> 00:07:03.029 point. That's where we're going. And he said 00:07:03.029 --> 00:07:05.990 this, sometimes we allow the trivial to keep 00:07:05.990 --> 00:07:09.790 us away from the spiritual things. And that's 00:07:09.790 --> 00:07:13.509 what she's doing right here, right? She's allowing 00:07:13.509 --> 00:07:16.910 the trivial to keep her away, to pull her away 00:07:16.910 --> 00:07:20.290 from the spiritual things. Was the meal the important 00:07:20.290 --> 00:07:24.769 part? The meal's important. You know, this is 00:07:24.769 --> 00:07:26.569 like important things. It's something that she 00:07:26.569 --> 00:07:29.490 felt the need to do, felt urgent to her, felt 00:07:29.490 --> 00:07:35.069 necessary, right? Clearly see that from the story. 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:38.459 But get this picture, Jesus' words are filling 00:07:38.459 --> 00:07:41.100 Martha's home. I don't know if she's in the kitchen, 00:07:41.180 --> 00:07:44.939 he's in the living room situation, but, you know, 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:47.579 she can overhear him if you're in the same house 00:07:47.579 --> 00:07:50.639 and someone's talking. He's probably projecting 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:52.759 his voice and people are listening to him, people 00:07:52.759 --> 00:07:57.579 are gathered around. He has a word to say. Jesus 00:07:57.579 --> 00:08:02.220 never spoke, right? Jesus never spoke and didn't 00:08:02.220 --> 00:08:05.930 have something to say. Every time Jesus was speaking, 00:08:06.029 --> 00:08:07.910 people were like, wow, I've never heard this 00:08:07.910 --> 00:08:10.129 before. I've never seen this before. And then 00:08:10.129 --> 00:08:13.470 it goes beyond that because there is a word spoken 00:08:13.470 --> 00:08:19.930 in her home that she's not listening to. She 00:08:19.930 --> 00:08:25.189 hears it. She hears the reverberation out of 00:08:25.189 --> 00:08:28.449 the room and in her walls, but she's not hearing 00:08:28.449 --> 00:08:31.670 anything that he's saying. You know, she's not 00:08:31.670 --> 00:08:35.360 taking... A hold of any truth that's coming out 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:39.460 of the mouth of God. And it has no impact on 00:08:39.460 --> 00:08:45.799 her. Martha is sacrificing the essential for 00:08:45.799 --> 00:08:51.440 the urgent. She's sacrificing the essential for 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:55.419 what she deems is urgent. But there's actually 00:08:55.419 --> 00:09:00.610 only one thing. Everybody say one thing. There's 00:09:00.610 --> 00:09:04.429 only one thing going on in the house that is 00:09:04.429 --> 00:09:08.789 necessary. There's one thing needed. There's 00:09:08.789 --> 00:09:15.750 one thing necessary and essential for her. And 00:09:15.750 --> 00:09:24.190 she's missing it. And Jesus answered and said 00:09:24.190 --> 00:09:27.129 to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled. 00:09:28.009 --> 00:09:33.809 about many things. Verse 42, but one thing is 00:09:33.809 --> 00:09:39.809 needed, and Mary has chosen that good part. So 00:09:39.809 --> 00:09:44.950 Jesus says, there's one thing left undone. You're 00:09:44.950 --> 00:09:49.230 doing a lot. You're working real hard. But there's 00:09:49.230 --> 00:09:51.990 one thing left undone. There's one thing needed 00:09:51.990 --> 00:09:55.620 that you're missing. There's one thing. That 00:09:55.620 --> 00:10:00.940 is the most necessary thing in your life. What 00:10:00.940 --> 00:10:04.399 is the one thing that we see in this story? What 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:09.220 is the one thing that Mary chose? What's the 00:10:09.220 --> 00:10:14.879 difference here between Mary and Martha? Verse 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:18.519 39 says this, and she had a sister called Mary 00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:26.990 who sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. The 00:10:26.990 --> 00:10:33.929 one thing, necessary thing, is the word. Is a 00:10:33.929 --> 00:10:39.350 word from God. It's the one thing. We can try 00:10:39.350 --> 00:10:44.990 to make it a bunch of other things. We can think 00:10:44.990 --> 00:10:47.570 that it's all these other things. We can make 00:10:47.570 --> 00:10:50.250 up all kinds of things. But Jesus is saying here, 00:10:50.350 --> 00:10:54.649 there's one thing that you need. There's one 00:10:54.649 --> 00:10:57.620 thing. You should be dependent on. There's one 00:10:57.620 --> 00:11:01.279 thing necessary for your life, for you to experience 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:05.139 the life that Jesus wants for you. There's only 00:11:05.139 --> 00:11:15.159 one thing. It says Mary heard. This word heard 00:11:15.159 --> 00:11:20.059 in Greek is to hear, means to listen, but it 00:11:20.059 --> 00:11:25.059 also means to understand. Like we talked about, 00:11:25.179 --> 00:11:27.179 and we know the difference between hearing and 00:11:27.179 --> 00:11:30.779 listening, right? But she's understanding. It's 00:11:30.779 --> 00:11:34.820 both the physical act of hearing, but it also 00:11:34.820 --> 00:11:37.220 encompasses the deeper understanding of what 00:11:37.220 --> 00:11:42.919 is heard. She's gaining something. When she's 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:45.779 hearing it, it is coming alive on the inside 00:11:45.779 --> 00:11:52.350 of her. It's beyond auditory reception. It's 00:11:52.350 --> 00:11:57.250 an attentive and obedient response. We've been 00:11:57.250 --> 00:11:59.330 talking a lot about the response to the word, 00:11:59.450 --> 00:12:05.529 right? But this word encapsulates that. It's 00:12:05.529 --> 00:12:08.250 like it's being attentive. She's sitting at Jesus' 00:12:08.409 --> 00:12:10.970 feet. She's not thinking about all these different 00:12:10.970 --> 00:12:14.149 things. No, she is focused in because she's like, 00:12:14.210 --> 00:12:17.750 I want to hear what he's saying. I want to know 00:12:17.750 --> 00:12:21.740 it. I want to gain a hold of what he's trying 00:12:21.740 --> 00:12:25.539 to communicate. I want to grasp it so I can run 00:12:25.539 --> 00:12:30.100 with it, right? What was heard? So she hears 00:12:30.100 --> 00:12:37.320 his word. Now let's bring it to us. Let's bring 00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:39.740 it to us. Stay with me. Let's bring this whole 00:12:39.740 --> 00:12:42.080 truth to us. I know you've been thinking there. 00:12:42.139 --> 00:12:43.740 Some of you are already running ahead, but that's 00:12:43.740 --> 00:12:48.429 good. That's good. If you've asked Jesus to be 00:12:48.429 --> 00:12:51.250 your Lord, God the Holy Spirit has taken up residence 00:12:51.250 --> 00:12:57.029 on the inside of you. The word says, don't you 00:12:57.029 --> 00:12:59.950 realize that your body is the temple of the Holy 00:12:59.950 --> 00:13:12.830 Spirit? You are the temple of God. You are the 00:13:12.830 --> 00:13:17.200 temple of the Holy Spirit. We might dive into 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:20.759 that a little more. He lives in you and was given 00:13:20.759 --> 00:13:24.220 to you by God. So at salvation, the Holy Spirit 00:13:24.220 --> 00:13:27.659 takes up residence on the inside of you in the 00:13:27.659 --> 00:13:31.399 same way he is in Martha's house. Okay? We've 00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:35.860 invited him in. During salvation, we've invited 00:13:35.860 --> 00:13:38.700 him in. We've confessed our sins, all those things. 00:13:38.779 --> 00:13:42.200 He becomes our Lord, our Savior, our Master, 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:45.990 the Boss, the One in Charge. But Martha believed 00:13:45.990 --> 00:13:50.149 that the necessary thing was the food, right? 00:13:50.570 --> 00:13:52.870 She believes that the necessary thing for her 00:13:52.870 --> 00:13:55.389 was the preparation, was to get these things 00:13:55.389 --> 00:13:59.309 done. And these are good things, right? She's 00:13:59.309 --> 00:14:01.649 wanting to take care of her, be a good host. 00:14:03.669 --> 00:14:05.970 Be a good host, take care of everyone, make sure 00:14:05.970 --> 00:14:08.210 it's all good. This is a good thing. She's preparing 00:14:08.210 --> 00:14:11.509 for the Lord. It's not just doing it like she's 00:14:11.509 --> 00:14:15.809 actually laboring to serve the Lord and the disciples. 00:14:16.049 --> 00:14:19.029 I would hope if you invited Jesus over to your 00:14:19.029 --> 00:14:21.549 home, you're not going to set out a pack of Doritos 00:14:21.549 --> 00:14:24.370 and some chips ahoy and be like, here you go. 00:14:25.610 --> 00:14:27.429 You know what I'm saying? You're going to fix 00:14:27.429 --> 00:14:29.600 up. You're going to clean your house. You know, 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:31.299 the only time you clean your house is when you 00:14:31.299 --> 00:14:33.840 have a good event, right? The only time when 00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:35.539 you really take care of something, like all of 00:14:35.539 --> 00:14:36.759 a sudden you're like, oh, I've got to wash these 00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:40.139 windows. Now, I haven't seen the windows. I haven't 00:14:40.139 --> 00:14:41.759 even paid attention to the windows. The only 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:43.340 person that pays attention to the windows is 00:14:43.340 --> 00:14:45.460 the dog. You know, she's over there licking the 00:14:45.460 --> 00:14:47.639 window half the time. But I'm like, I'm trying 00:14:47.639 --> 00:14:49.220 to figure out, you know, and then all of a sudden 00:14:49.220 --> 00:14:50.940 you're like, man, these windows are so dirty. 00:14:51.059 --> 00:14:52.539 How did this, I've got to take care of this, 00:14:52.759 --> 00:14:55.019 right? I have company coming over. I have somebody. 00:14:55.080 --> 00:14:57.940 I'm distracted. I'm sorry. Shine. Squirrel. Let's 00:14:57.940 --> 00:15:02.200 go. There's a lot of things that she deemed was 00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:04.860 necessary and important. She thought the food 00:15:04.860 --> 00:15:06.679 was important and it's a good thing. Everybody 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:09.419 say a good thing. It's a good thing. It's not 00:15:09.419 --> 00:15:13.259 a bad thing. It's a good thing. But there was 00:15:13.259 --> 00:15:17.840 only one thing that was necessary. One thing. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:20.580 We're back at it again. There's only one thing. 00:15:21.259 --> 00:15:26.559 That is needful. One thing left undone. I want 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:28.799 to ask you this question. Don't get mad at me. 00:15:28.919 --> 00:15:32.419 But what is the one thing you believe is necessary 00:15:32.419 --> 00:15:42.340 in your life right now? I hope so. What is the 00:15:42.340 --> 00:15:45.980 one thing that you go, I can't live a day without? 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:54.500 Don't you think about that. Take off your Sunday 00:15:54.500 --> 00:15:57.759 school helmet. You know, take off your church 00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:01.419 helmet. We're here. What is the one thing that 00:16:01.419 --> 00:16:04.360 if you woke up without tomorrow, that it'd just 00:16:04.360 --> 00:16:07.259 be like, man, I don't, you know, it could be 00:16:07.259 --> 00:16:11.179 a lot of things. You know what I'm saying? What 00:16:11.179 --> 00:16:13.080 is the one thing you believe is necessary in 00:16:13.080 --> 00:16:16.240 your life right now? And what's the first thing 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:18.419 that like pops into your head? Is that the one 00:16:18.419 --> 00:16:27.470 thing Jesus said it is? Is it the word? Is it 00:16:27.470 --> 00:16:32.350 the word of God? A lot of times we get stuck 00:16:32.350 --> 00:16:37.289 on the things of God. And the one thing necessary 00:16:37.289 --> 00:16:40.990 to us is these things that he's provided for 00:16:40.990 --> 00:16:44.129 us. Because he is the source, right? Every good 00:16:44.129 --> 00:16:47.049 and perfect thing comes from him. A lot of times 00:16:47.049 --> 00:16:50.649 we like to focus on those things instead of the 00:16:50.649 --> 00:16:55.480 source. the person of those things. And we let 00:16:55.480 --> 00:17:01.500 those things become idols to us to pull us away, 00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:10.539 take captive, right? They hold us back like a 00:17:10.539 --> 00:17:13.619 prisoner. Those things from God, sometimes if 00:17:13.619 --> 00:17:17.180 we allow it to, when we forget who gave it to 00:17:17.180 --> 00:17:21.009 us in the first place, what happens? Those things 00:17:21.009 --> 00:17:28.730 get a hold of us. What is the one thing Jesus 00:17:28.730 --> 00:17:32.910 said it is? So, God, he is in your home, and 00:17:32.910 --> 00:17:36.509 like Martha, we decide what the necessary thing 00:17:36.509 --> 00:17:40.230 is. But there is only one thing that is essential, 00:17:40.470 --> 00:17:44.450 and that is what Mary chose, to sit at Jesus' 00:17:44.630 --> 00:17:51.480 feet and hear his word. To sit at his feet and 00:17:51.480 --> 00:18:00.259 hear his word. Okay? There's a word from God. 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:03.440 And what you need in this world more than anything 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:11.480 else is a word. One word. You need a word every 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:14.200 moment. We're not supposed to rely on our own 00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:16.079 understanding, but in all our ways we're supposed 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:19.599 to acknowledge him. For he will direct our paths. 00:18:20.140 --> 00:18:23.259 A lot of times we decide our own paths and then 00:18:23.259 --> 00:18:27.079 ask God, we invite him to bless it. Come with 00:18:27.079 --> 00:18:32.640 me, bless my path, bless my way. Because we rely 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:40.359 on our understanding. We rely on our own logic, 00:18:40.420 --> 00:18:48.319 our own reasoning. We rely so heavily on our 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:50.759 own knowledge and not on the revelation from 00:18:50.759 --> 00:18:54.859 the Holy Spirit. But our reliance should be on 00:18:54.859 --> 00:18:58.460 what He is revealing to us in that moment, in 00:18:58.460 --> 00:19:02.779 His direction, in His guidance, in His path, 00:19:02.859 --> 00:19:09.960 in His way. If we're making up our own way, He 00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:12.220 gives you a brain, but He wants you to surrender 00:19:12.220 --> 00:19:18.049 to Him. To lay down your life, right? And to 00:19:18.049 --> 00:19:21.250 say, God, because he cares about your trivial 00:19:21.250 --> 00:19:25.690 things. See, all the time Jesus is up there talking 00:19:25.690 --> 00:19:29.529 in Martha's home, and he cares about what Martha's 00:19:29.529 --> 00:19:33.549 doing. He sees it. His heart's hurting. It's 00:19:33.549 --> 00:19:35.809 like, you've done the, you know, you're choosing 00:19:35.809 --> 00:19:41.829 something over me. You're missing it. I got a 00:19:41.829 --> 00:19:44.589 word from you. And see, Jesus has got a word 00:19:44.589 --> 00:19:49.250 for you. For 2025, he has a word for you individually. 00:19:49.329 --> 00:19:52.490 He has a word for your family. He has a word 00:19:52.490 --> 00:19:55.849 for your job. He has a word for everything that 00:19:55.849 --> 00:19:59.589 consumes your life. He's got a word for you. 00:19:59.730 --> 00:20:03.269 And with one word from God, you can walk on water. 00:20:03.349 --> 00:20:10.589 With one word from God, you can do. The impossible. 00:20:11.930 --> 00:20:15.269 If you have a word from God, you have something 00:20:15.269 --> 00:20:24.289 to stand on. We need to hear a word from God. 00:20:26.269 --> 00:20:28.569 Because the word is the one thing, the necessary 00:20:28.569 --> 00:20:34.430 thing. Jesus, when he was tempted after 40 days 00:20:34.430 --> 00:20:38.000 in the wilderness, It says in the verse before 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:41.279 this, it says he was hungry. His physical body 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:44.319 was hungry. He needed nourishment. He needed, 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:48.559 you know, he's hungry. He was God, but he was 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:51.779 fully man. And he had fasted this whole entire 00:20:51.779 --> 00:20:55.519 time. So he had not eaten. And Satan came to 00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:00.240 him and was like, hey, you're God. Turn these 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:06.759 stones into bread. That's easy. It's easy for 00:21:06.759 --> 00:21:08.380 you to do. You're God. You're able to do it. 00:21:08.420 --> 00:21:11.880 Turn these stones into bread. It's very interesting 00:21:11.880 --> 00:21:17.460 what Jesus says here. He's quoting the Old Testament. 00:21:17.640 --> 00:21:19.200 He says, but he answered and said to them, it 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:23.619 is written, man shall not live by bread alone, 00:21:23.980 --> 00:21:30.660 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth 00:21:30.660 --> 00:21:41.200 of God. You know, but the context here is that 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:44.500 he's hungry. His body is hurting. He's like, 00:21:44.619 --> 00:21:47.079 man, if I could just have a turkey sandwich like 00:21:47.079 --> 00:21:53.039 this would be great. But he said, man does not 00:21:53.039 --> 00:22:00.559 live by bread. Man lives by the word. And this 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:03.779 is what he's wanting for us in this year, in 00:22:03.779 --> 00:22:09.339 this moment, is to live off the word. The thing 00:22:09.339 --> 00:22:12.380 that satisfies you, the thing that fills you 00:22:12.380 --> 00:22:15.279 up, the thing that I like to say cranks your 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:19.880 tractor in the morning, the thing that nourishes 00:22:19.880 --> 00:22:27.279 your body that you can't get enough of, the thing 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:30.220 that energizes you, because that's what food 00:22:30.220 --> 00:22:34.210 does, right? Your body processes it and it gives 00:22:34.210 --> 00:22:36.329 you energy. It gives you nutrients to accomplish 00:22:36.329 --> 00:22:38.549 the things that you need to do in this world. 00:22:41.029 --> 00:22:43.109 And that's important. You can only go so many 00:22:43.109 --> 00:22:48.390 days without eating. But a lot of times we like 00:22:48.390 --> 00:22:51.710 to feed, we feed our bodies three square meals 00:22:51.710 --> 00:22:55.029 a day, but we feed our spirits one two -hour 00:22:55.029 --> 00:22:59.380 snack a week. And then we wonder why we're facing 00:22:59.380 --> 00:23:01.559 problems and we wonder why we're having issues 00:23:01.559 --> 00:23:05.279 and we wonder why, you know, I'm close to God. 00:23:05.319 --> 00:23:07.839 God lives on the inside of me, but I don't feel 00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:17.940 him. I don't hear him. Is God holding out on 00:23:17.940 --> 00:23:25.759 you? No. God is in you. And he didn't quit speaking. 00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:34.500 God is who he is. And he's always speaking. To 00:23:34.500 --> 00:23:44.839 those who are listening. To those who want the 00:23:44.839 --> 00:24:00.529 word more than the bread. Without food, you die. 00:24:04.210 --> 00:24:07.009 A lot of us think that, well, you know, I can 00:24:07.009 --> 00:24:13.009 just... You know, we're like, okay, I'm a Christian. 00:24:13.069 --> 00:24:17.829 God's on the inside of me. I'm all good. And 00:24:17.829 --> 00:24:23.109 if God really wants to speak to me, he'll get 00:24:23.109 --> 00:24:28.569 my attention. Right? So I can just... I do my 00:24:28.569 --> 00:24:31.109 own, I got my own thing. I'm like, and it's not 00:24:31.109 --> 00:24:33.210 even bad stuff. See, a lot of times we want to 00:24:33.210 --> 00:24:34.769 run. We're like, we're talking about bad. No, 00:24:34.809 --> 00:24:37.289 no, no. It can be good things can pull you away 00:24:37.289 --> 00:24:40.329 just as easy things. The things of God can pull 00:24:40.329 --> 00:24:42.710 you away from the person of God if you allow 00:24:42.710 --> 00:24:51.269 it to. The devil's smart. We always want to think 00:24:51.269 --> 00:24:53.970 that he's just, you know, oh, it's a trick of 00:24:53.970 --> 00:24:55.890 like those things. And those things can trip 00:24:55.890 --> 00:25:02.000 you up too. But a lot of the times, he's tripping 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:04.440 you up on the things that you think are good. 00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:10.680 Things that you think are right. Well, I'm doing 00:25:10.680 --> 00:25:13.960 the right thing. I'm living right. I'm doing, 00:25:14.039 --> 00:25:17.160 you know, I'm doing X, Y, Z. I got all these 00:25:17.160 --> 00:25:22.539 things. I'm doing it right, God. But you feel 00:25:22.539 --> 00:25:24.480 like something's missing. You're missing a word 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:29.410 from him. You're missing intimacy with him. You 00:25:29.410 --> 00:25:32.369 have proximity, but you're mistaking proximity 00:25:32.369 --> 00:25:37.710 with the intimacy. And just like you can sleep 00:25:37.710 --> 00:25:40.230 in the same bed with the same person every single 00:25:40.230 --> 00:25:42.910 night and not have a relationship with them, 00:25:42.970 --> 00:25:45.589 not have fellowship with them, and you can totally 00:25:45.589 --> 00:25:49.839 miss out. You can have God on the inside of you 00:25:49.839 --> 00:25:53.579 and not enter into his presence. You can have 00:25:53.579 --> 00:25:57.279 God on the inside of you and not be in a relationship 00:25:57.279 --> 00:26:02.160 with him. We use that word relationship, but 00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:05.759 I kind of want to take it, the real word, because 00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:08.319 like you enter into a relationship with God. 00:26:08.380 --> 00:26:09.960 This is something that like it's kind of been 00:26:09.960 --> 00:26:12.460 a mark. You enter into a relationship with God 00:26:12.460 --> 00:26:16.309 at salvation. But fellowship is something that 00:26:16.309 --> 00:26:19.529 you have to enter into, that you have to work 00:26:19.529 --> 00:26:25.670 towards, that you have to put effort into, that 00:26:25.670 --> 00:26:29.490 you have to sow into to reap the harvest from. 00:26:34.069 --> 00:26:37.250 There is one thing necessary to you as much as 00:26:37.250 --> 00:26:50.349 food, and that one thing is God's Word. Let's 00:26:50.349 --> 00:26:52.890 talk a little bit about those who receive the 00:26:52.890 --> 00:26:56.769 Word now. We've talked about the importance of 00:26:56.769 --> 00:27:01.589 it, the necessity of the Word. Let's talk about 00:27:01.589 --> 00:27:05.670 those who receive it. Because just because God 00:27:05.670 --> 00:27:07.730 is speaking, just because God is in you, does 00:27:07.730 --> 00:27:10.230 not mean you are listening. Just because you 00:27:10.230 --> 00:27:11.930 hear it doesn't mean you're getting a hold of 00:27:11.930 --> 00:27:14.529 it. Just because He's, you know, all those things, 00:27:14.630 --> 00:27:18.190 doesn't mean the revelation is happening. Doesn't 00:27:18.190 --> 00:27:20.809 mean that his word is burning alive on the inside 00:27:20.809 --> 00:27:28.990 of you like an unconsumable fire. Only those, 00:27:29.009 --> 00:27:35.349 think back to our story, God speaking in the 00:27:35.349 --> 00:27:37.250 house, there's a lot of people doing other things, 00:27:37.349 --> 00:27:43.349 but only those sitting there at his feet receive 00:27:43.349 --> 00:27:50.130 the word that is spoken. And I imagine there's 00:27:50.130 --> 00:27:53.910 some people, too, who were sitting there who 00:27:53.910 --> 00:27:58.569 didn't fully receive it either, right? They could 00:27:58.569 --> 00:28:00.849 have been sitting there and still kind of like 00:28:00.849 --> 00:28:03.470 wondering, well, I hope Martha gets finished 00:28:03.470 --> 00:28:05.529 with that meal. I'm like getting hungry, right? 00:28:06.910 --> 00:28:10.170 But those who were hungry for the word from God 00:28:10.170 --> 00:28:12.289 that was going to impact their life, that was 00:28:12.289 --> 00:28:14.390 going to change their year, that was going to 00:28:14.390 --> 00:28:17.230 change their life, those who were hungry for 00:28:17.230 --> 00:28:21.119 that word, And those who were humbling themselves 00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:28.579 before the Lord, looking to him as master, as 00:28:28.579 --> 00:28:33.200 teacher, as friend, were the ones who were going 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:44.099 to receive his revelation. God gives grace to 00:28:44.099 --> 00:28:47.720 the humble, the verse says. I don't have it up 00:28:47.720 --> 00:28:53.309 there. So how do we receive God's word? How do 00:28:53.309 --> 00:28:57.210 you and I receive it? How do we get a hold of 00:28:57.210 --> 00:29:02.589 it? By positioning ourselves in his presence. 00:29:07.829 --> 00:29:11.710 By positioning ourselves, humbling ourselves 00:29:11.710 --> 00:29:19.920 at his feet. actively listening to understand, 00:29:20.220 --> 00:29:29.900 actively waiting upon the Lord for him to speak 00:29:29.900 --> 00:29:34.319 and not just speaking to him, saying, why aren't 00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:35.539 you listening? Why aren't you responding? Why 00:29:35.539 --> 00:29:38.359 aren't you doing this? I need this. I need this. 00:29:38.359 --> 00:29:42.720 I need this. Help me, help me, help me. Be with 00:29:42.720 --> 00:29:45.420 me, be with me, be with me. And the Lord's saying, 00:29:45.619 --> 00:29:53.220 be with me. Sit at my feet because I got something 00:29:53.220 --> 00:30:00.539 to tell you. Only those in the presence will 00:30:00.539 --> 00:30:08.799 receive his word. Let me remind you or tell you 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:15.380 that you are spirit and you are seated with God 00:30:15.380 --> 00:30:18.299 in heavenly places, the verse says. We're going 00:30:18.299 --> 00:30:22.329 to get into this. But you, right now, your body 00:30:22.329 --> 00:30:26.609 is the temple of God. And God is where? He's 00:30:26.609 --> 00:30:30.349 in heaven, but he's also here. That means there's 00:30:30.349 --> 00:30:34.190 something inside of you. Listen, there's a place 00:30:34.190 --> 00:30:39.750 inside of you in the presence of God. And by 00:30:39.750 --> 00:30:47.269 the Spirit, you have access. You have access 00:30:47.269 --> 00:30:50.710 right here. You have access in your car. You 00:30:50.710 --> 00:30:54.089 have access in your home, in your closet, whether 00:30:54.089 --> 00:30:56.829 you get into a submarine and travel to the bottom 00:30:56.829 --> 00:30:59.089 of the sea, whether you climb to the highest 00:30:59.089 --> 00:31:02.170 mountain or get in a rocket and keep going. The 00:31:02.170 --> 00:31:04.789 Spirit of God is on the inside of you if you 00:31:04.789 --> 00:31:07.849 are a believer. His residence, He has taken up 00:31:07.849 --> 00:31:13.470 residence on the inside of you. Therefore, therefore, 00:31:14.730 --> 00:31:19.349 Dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter 00:31:19.349 --> 00:31:28.809 heaven's most holy place. Why? Because of the 00:31:28.809 --> 00:31:42.210 blood of Jesus. How many of you have ever checked 00:31:42.210 --> 00:31:47.019 into a hotel? All right? I thought about this 00:31:47.019 --> 00:31:49.140 this morning. You check into a hotel, you go 00:31:49.140 --> 00:31:52.039 up to the desk, somebody's just like, you know, 00:31:52.039 --> 00:31:53.539 picking their nose or something, you know, and 00:31:53.539 --> 00:31:56.079 you walk up and you're like, hey, I got a room, 00:31:56.200 --> 00:31:59.960 you know. They give you a little card, and they 00:31:59.960 --> 00:32:03.720 swipe it, and it activates the card, a little 00:32:03.720 --> 00:32:08.920 fob, and it gives you access to a room, to a 00:32:08.920 --> 00:32:12.619 place. Just this little piece of plastic, all 00:32:12.619 --> 00:32:15.319 right, and just gives you... access into a room 00:32:15.319 --> 00:32:17.740 so that you can enter in. And when you enter 00:32:17.740 --> 00:32:19.079 in, I don't know about you, but when I enter 00:32:19.079 --> 00:32:21.440 into a hotel room, I grab all my luggage, all 00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:23.619 my stuff, and I just throw it in there, and I 00:32:23.619 --> 00:32:25.859 walk in there boldly, and I'm like, this is mine! 00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:33.579 I strip the bed, and I'm just like, yes! I boldly 00:32:33.579 --> 00:32:37.099 enter it, and I go, and it's great, because I 00:32:37.099 --> 00:32:42.980 have access to something that is mine. Come on. 00:32:43.789 --> 00:32:49.750 Come on. You have access. Why? What you've done, 00:32:49.950 --> 00:32:52.549 what you have. No, you don't have. No, you have 00:32:52.549 --> 00:32:56.609 access to heavenly places because of the blood 00:32:56.609 --> 00:33:02.349 of Jesus. Amen. God has given you access by his 00:33:02.349 --> 00:33:05.750 blood. He's paid the price for it so that you 00:33:05.750 --> 00:33:09.750 can walk up and like, I got it. I'm coming. And 00:33:09.750 --> 00:33:13.339 I walk. You walk up and you tap that and you 00:33:13.339 --> 00:33:16.799 enter in with boldness and authority and you 00:33:16.799 --> 00:33:23.640 say, here I am God. We don't like to do, we don't 00:33:23.640 --> 00:33:27.200 get this, but it says boldly enter. You have 00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:30.240 access, but there is so many Christians in this 00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:32.880 world not entering the things in which they have 00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:36.759 access to. You can be a Christian your whole 00:33:36.759 --> 00:33:40.170 life. And keep walking down the hallway thinking, 00:33:40.289 --> 00:33:44.569 man, I wish I had that. Man, I wish that was 00:33:44.569 --> 00:33:49.170 available to me. And the whole entire time, the 00:33:49.170 --> 00:33:55.990 word is here. The logos, right? The word is here 00:33:55.990 --> 00:34:01.390 for a problem that you have. The word is here 00:34:01.390 --> 00:34:06.309 for every need that you have. Don't come to God 00:34:06.309 --> 00:34:09.849 asking for your need. He's already supplied your 00:34:09.849 --> 00:34:16.030 need. The works of God are done, are yes and 00:34:16.030 --> 00:34:19.829 amen, the Bible says. And we're asking him to 00:34:19.829 --> 00:34:23.170 do something that he's already done for us and 00:34:23.170 --> 00:34:26.889 then complaining because we don't have it. And 00:34:26.889 --> 00:34:28.550 God, the whole time, he's just saying, look, 00:34:28.710 --> 00:34:32.969 read the word. Get into the word. There's a word 00:34:32.969 --> 00:34:40.079 for you. The Holy Spirit's speaking to you about 00:34:40.079 --> 00:34:42.719 the individual things, about the trivial things. 00:34:45.039 --> 00:34:49.420 But you're not listening. You're doing every 00:34:49.420 --> 00:34:53.460 other thing except the one thing that is necessary 00:34:53.460 --> 00:35:01.000 for your life. If we had two lists of like everything 00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:03.579 that I need and all my want and I just wrote 00:35:03.579 --> 00:35:08.400 it down. You know, I listed it all out. And then 00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:14.559 the one thing that I need. The one thing, the 00:35:14.559 --> 00:35:18.300 necessary thing that God says that I need. Right? 00:35:18.719 --> 00:35:23.760 Is the word. Because his word will supply every 00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:29.360 need that you have. There's nothing that a word 00:35:29.360 --> 00:35:38.940 from God. There's nothing. But if you focus on 00:35:38.940 --> 00:35:44.739 your need and your lack, instead of the person 00:35:44.739 --> 00:35:49.960 and the word, you will have what you're focused 00:35:49.960 --> 00:35:53.800 on. You'll have what you say. Go back to what 00:35:53.800 --> 00:35:55.800 we were talking about. Some of you have been 00:35:55.800 --> 00:35:57.920 here. Some of you have been listening. But you 00:35:57.920 --> 00:36:00.800 will have those things, listen, that you... focus 00:36:00.800 --> 00:36:03.900 on that your mouth is speaking you will have 00:36:03.900 --> 00:36:06.599 those things your lack if that's what you're 00:36:06.599 --> 00:36:10.400 focused on but in 2025 or if after today you 00:36:10.400 --> 00:36:14.440 make a decision i'm going to focus on the one 00:36:14.440 --> 00:36:16.579 thing the word and i'm going to get a hold of 00:36:16.579 --> 00:36:19.860 it and i'm going to enter the boldly place because 00:36:19.860 --> 00:36:23.719 i have access by the blood of jesus so now there's 00:36:23.719 --> 00:36:28.300 no excuse for you not to enter in There's no 00:36:28.300 --> 00:36:34.480 excuse for you to sit idly by and not do something 00:36:34.480 --> 00:36:37.659 about it because God will meet you there. You 00:36:37.659 --> 00:36:41.400 draw near to him. He draws near to you. You have 00:36:41.400 --> 00:36:46.260 access to him. Full access. The same access that 00:36:46.260 --> 00:36:51.400 Jesus had. You have access. Come on. By his blood. 00:36:52.840 --> 00:36:58.329 So take a hold of it. Do something about it. 00:36:58.949 --> 00:37:03.849 Labor today to say, I'm going to enter in. Nothing 00:37:03.849 --> 00:37:07.110 will keep me. Nothing will pull me away. And 00:37:07.110 --> 00:37:09.449 the things that pull me away, I recognize, are 00:37:09.449 --> 00:37:16.849 not of God. I will boldly enter in by the blood 00:37:16.849 --> 00:37:20.690 of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and 00:37:20.690 --> 00:37:24.050 life -giving way through the curtain into the 00:37:24.050 --> 00:37:27.380 most holy place. And since we have a great high 00:37:27.380 --> 00:37:30.880 priest who rules over God's house, let us go. 00:37:31.019 --> 00:37:35.199 Say, I'm going. I'm going right in to the presence 00:37:35.199 --> 00:37:39.659 of God with sincere hearts, fully trusting him. 00:37:44.719 --> 00:37:51.860 It's good. It's good. Psalms, we read it this 00:37:51.860 --> 00:38:09.710 morning. Psalms 100. How do you enter in? How 00:38:09.710 --> 00:38:14.269 do you enter in? How do you boldly enter in? 00:38:14.670 --> 00:38:17.550 You need a word. In his presence you receive 00:38:17.550 --> 00:38:20.130 the word, but how do you enter in? How do you 00:38:20.130 --> 00:38:24.829 go from point A to point B? David had something 00:38:24.829 --> 00:38:30.369 to say about it. Psalms 100. Four, enter his 00:38:30.369 --> 00:38:43.050 gates with thanksgiving. Enter his gates. How 00:38:43.050 --> 00:38:47.750 do you enter his gates? With thanksgiving. Being 00:38:47.750 --> 00:38:51.349 thankful for the things that he's done for you. 00:38:51.489 --> 00:38:53.909 Because when you're thankful for it, you're acknowledging 00:38:53.909 --> 00:38:57.400 him for it. You're attributing those things to 00:38:57.400 --> 00:38:59.980 him when you're thankful for those things, right? 00:39:01.199 --> 00:39:05.619 For everything that he's done for you. What else? 00:39:10.179 --> 00:39:15.219 Go into his courts. Does anybody know it? Say 00:39:15.219 --> 00:39:19.019 it out. Go into his courts how? With praise. 00:39:21.480 --> 00:39:25.119 Praise is the act of faith, right? We praise 00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:29.659 God for the now, for what he is doing. We thank 00:39:29.659 --> 00:39:32.559 God for what he has done, and we praise him for 00:39:32.559 --> 00:39:38.380 what he is doing. You think praise is just singing, 00:39:38.460 --> 00:39:42.380 but God's working on your behalf something greater 00:39:42.380 --> 00:39:48.000 that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no, come 00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:51.519 on, bigger than you can even imagine. He's doing 00:39:51.519 --> 00:39:55.710 things for you. He's doing things for those who 00:39:55.710 --> 00:39:58.590 labor to enter in. He's doing things for his 00:39:58.590 --> 00:40:01.630 children constantly. And when you thank him, 00:40:01.769 --> 00:40:04.289 when you get into a point where you, for one, 00:40:04.349 --> 00:40:09.590 honor him by sitting at his feet, taking the 00:40:09.590 --> 00:40:16.039 time to give him honor. He will reveal the mysteries 00:40:16.039 --> 00:40:19.679 of heaven to you and the word of God to you. 00:40:19.739 --> 00:40:22.579 Those who sit at his feet, sit in his presence 00:40:22.579 --> 00:40:26.579 and say, God, I'm listening. I am here. I'm not 00:40:26.579 --> 00:40:30.519 leaving until you speak to me. Or until I hear 00:40:30.519 --> 00:40:33.840 you, more or less, because he's always speaking. 00:40:40.780 --> 00:40:44.179 Hebrews 4, 16. So let us come boldly to the throne 00:40:44.179 --> 00:40:49.760 of our gracious God. There we will receive his 00:40:49.760 --> 00:41:00.599 mercy. And we will find grace to help us when 00:41:00.599 --> 00:41:10.139 we need it most. It's just the word. The word's 00:41:10.139 --> 00:41:16.260 good. John 15, 5 says this, Yes, I am the vine, 00:41:16.440 --> 00:41:19.900 you are the branches. Those who remain in me 00:41:19.900 --> 00:41:24.980 and I in them will produce much fruit. For apart 00:41:24.980 --> 00:41:30.300 from me, you can do what? Nothing. I have a lemon 00:41:30.300 --> 00:41:33.639 tree in my backyard, and I've had to prune it 00:41:33.639 --> 00:41:36.059 last year. Some branches were producing fruit, 00:41:36.179 --> 00:41:40.460 some were not. So what branches did I prune? 00:41:40.579 --> 00:41:43.800 I pruned the ones that were not producing fruit, 00:41:43.980 --> 00:41:46.519 right? Because there were some branches on the 00:41:46.519 --> 00:41:49.400 tree that were not drawing nutrients from the 00:41:49.400 --> 00:41:52.159 source. They were not drawing energy from the 00:41:52.159 --> 00:41:57.420 rest of the vine, from the plant, right? They're 00:41:57.420 --> 00:42:00.750 not producing fruit. So a lot of us want to come 00:42:00.750 --> 00:42:02.769 to God and we're like, God, give me the fruit. 00:42:02.869 --> 00:42:04.570 Give me the fruit. Give me patience. Give me 00:42:04.570 --> 00:42:06.610 kindness. Give me gentleness. Give me self -control. 00:42:06.750 --> 00:42:09.130 I need these things. I need these things. I need 00:42:09.130 --> 00:42:11.989 these things. But really all you need to do is 00:42:11.989 --> 00:42:15.170 to turn around and start drawing from the source 00:42:15.170 --> 00:42:18.389 of those things. And then that fruit will be 00:42:18.389 --> 00:42:36.000 produced in your life. For apart from God, He 00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:44.239 is the Word. You can do nothing. All your labor, 00:42:44.320 --> 00:42:55.440 all your stuff is nothing apart from God. I just 00:42:55.440 --> 00:43:03.289 want to end here that Sometimes, like if you've 00:43:03.289 --> 00:43:08.309 been a Christian for a while, you know, like 00:43:08.309 --> 00:43:11.289 when you read stuff, and there's so many like 00:43:11.289 --> 00:43:14.789 good resources, and I'm not knocking any of that. 00:43:14.849 --> 00:43:17.210 There's so many like good things that you and 00:43:17.210 --> 00:43:20.730 I can practically do on a day -to -day to grow 00:43:20.730 --> 00:43:23.309 and develop. We were talking about thriving last 00:43:23.309 --> 00:43:24.769 week. There's so many things we can do to grow 00:43:24.769 --> 00:43:27.590 and develop in our life in relationship and fellowship 00:43:27.590 --> 00:43:30.940 with God, okay? There's a lot of good things. 00:43:32.980 --> 00:43:37.900 But it's easy to think of God all of a sudden 00:43:37.900 --> 00:43:42.780 as this machine in which I pull levers. Come 00:43:42.780 --> 00:43:46.639 on. It's easy to get in this mindset that I can 00:43:46.639 --> 00:43:49.820 pull levers and twist knobs and then I receive 00:43:49.820 --> 00:43:55.139 from him if I do this. And to fall back into 00:43:55.139 --> 00:44:03.119 this works -based thing. Is it good to pray 10 00:44:03.119 --> 00:44:11.119 minutes a day? Yeah. Of course. Is it good to 00:44:11.119 --> 00:44:14.800 read your Bible reading plan? Right? To have 00:44:14.800 --> 00:44:16.840 that on your phone, and every day you call it 00:44:16.840 --> 00:44:20.019 up, and it tells you exactly, and you're like, 00:44:20.119 --> 00:44:22.579 my goal for 2025, I just want to read the Bible 00:44:22.579 --> 00:44:24.880 all the way through. That's great. But if you're 00:44:24.880 --> 00:44:27.179 sitting there, I can't tell you how many times 00:44:27.179 --> 00:44:30.739 I've read the Bible, and I've just kind of went. 00:44:31.599 --> 00:44:34.420 Okay, how far am I supposed to read? Okay, all 00:44:34.420 --> 00:44:38.400 right, 82, and I'm reading. Okay, boom, I'm done. 00:44:38.460 --> 00:44:42.480 Let's go. You know? I got it. I did my thing, 00:44:42.599 --> 00:44:44.699 and that's good. God's going to bless me for 00:44:44.699 --> 00:44:46.699 it. We're good. I'm going to continue about my 00:44:46.699 --> 00:44:50.519 own day. And I leave what? With no impact on 00:44:50.519 --> 00:44:54.360 my life. Has no impact on my life. Is that what 00:44:54.360 --> 00:44:57.599 was written was bad? Are the words that I'm reading, 00:44:57.699 --> 00:45:00.659 or am I just not hearing it? Am I just not getting 00:45:00.659 --> 00:45:04.619 it? Am I not relying on the Holy Spirit? And 00:45:04.619 --> 00:45:06.760 if I'm not taking the time with the Holy Spirit, 00:45:06.940 --> 00:45:09.760 I will never get a hold of this. If I'm not entered 00:45:09.760 --> 00:45:15.679 into His presence, if I'm not entering His courts 00:45:15.679 --> 00:45:18.440 with thanksgiving, if I'm not entering His courts 00:45:18.440 --> 00:45:24.000 with praise, I will never get this. This will 00:45:24.000 --> 00:45:26.619 seem foolish to me. It just seems like a waste 00:45:26.619 --> 00:45:31.500 of time. Unless I'm connected and drawing from 00:45:31.500 --> 00:45:37.460 the source. Unless that is the one thing that 00:45:37.460 --> 00:45:42.079 matters to me in the moment. Because I can't 00:45:42.079 --> 00:45:46.840 go a day. I can't go a moment. I can't go a single 00:45:46.840 --> 00:45:55.730 second, a single breath without a word. Go into 00:45:55.730 --> 00:45:58.090 church every week and still not experience his 00:45:58.090 --> 00:46:00.349 presence or his voice just because you come to 00:46:00.349 --> 00:46:02.570 church. It's a great thing. Keep coming to church. 00:46:04.130 --> 00:46:08.469 It's good, but that's not his presence. If that's 00:46:08.469 --> 00:46:10.489 the only time you enter into the presence of 00:46:10.489 --> 00:46:13.190 God, you're going to live a lackluster, powerless 00:46:13.190 --> 00:46:25.739 life. Don't feed your body three square meals 00:46:25.739 --> 00:46:29.000 a day and then a snack. Feed your spiritual self 00:46:29.000 --> 00:46:32.920 a snack, right? I think that was like Smith Wigglesworth. 00:46:33.000 --> 00:46:34.860 I'm not sure. Anyways, I've been all into it. 00:46:34.900 --> 00:46:38.420 Anyways, so don't feed your body a snack, your 00:46:38.420 --> 00:46:41.559 spiritual body a snack, and then wonder why your 00:46:41.559 --> 00:46:44.199 spiritual life and, you know, you lack and you 00:46:44.199 --> 00:46:46.039 don't have and you don't, you know, and you need. 00:46:46.679 --> 00:46:52.159 There's all these things. Feast, hunger for his 00:46:52.159 --> 00:46:58.000 word. Taste and see that the Lord is good. And 00:46:58.000 --> 00:47:01.400 you will be satisfied. You will be filled. Come 00:47:01.400 --> 00:47:06.360 on. We live not by the bread. We live by the 00:47:06.360 --> 00:47:10.840 word. And I will be a doer of the word, not just 00:47:10.840 --> 00:47:14.360 a hearer only. I will let his word come alive 00:47:14.360 --> 00:47:21.159 and burn within me, filling my mortal body. Come 00:47:21.159 --> 00:47:26.719 on. It's not about doing X, Y, and Z. You can 00:47:26.719 --> 00:47:30.480 do all these things, these spiritual things, 00:47:30.619 --> 00:47:35.980 and not get it. You miss it. We got a lot of 00:47:35.980 --> 00:47:39.260 that going on, right? A lot of that going on. 00:47:39.579 --> 00:47:41.480 There's a lot of people thinking, I'm doing this. 00:47:41.559 --> 00:47:49.789 God, I'm doing this. Come on, speak to me. But 00:47:49.789 --> 00:47:54.969 you need to honor. And who you honor, when you 00:47:54.969 --> 00:47:59.989 honor someone, a part of that is allowing them 00:47:59.989 --> 00:48:06.670 and accepting what they have to say. Right? If 00:48:06.670 --> 00:48:08.789 I don't honor them, I don't accept what they 00:48:08.789 --> 00:48:12.989 have to say. If I honor them, I allow them to 00:48:12.989 --> 00:48:17.230 speak into my life, to correct me, to show me. 00:48:18.250 --> 00:48:22.110 It's humbling yourself, realizing that I don't 00:48:22.110 --> 00:48:29.210 know exactly everything. And those who sit at 00:48:29.210 --> 00:48:35.489 his feet will hear his word. Moses said this, 00:48:35.710 --> 00:48:40.489 if you don't personally go with us, don't make 00:48:40.489 --> 00:48:44.590 us leave this place. And that's kind of the attitude 00:48:44.590 --> 00:48:53.190 that you and I need. going into each day. Is 00:48:53.190 --> 00:48:58.369 that, you know, I know we're going to the promised 00:48:58.369 --> 00:49:01.050 land. I know you have all these great and precious 00:49:01.050 --> 00:49:08.489 things for me. But if you're not coming with 00:49:08.489 --> 00:49:12.489 me, if you're not guiding me, if you're not directing 00:49:12.489 --> 00:49:18.300 me, I need you more than my next breath. If you're 00:49:18.300 --> 00:49:21.539 not coming with me, I would rather stay in the 00:49:21.539 --> 00:49:26.920 wilderness, come on, than to live one day, one 00:49:26.920 --> 00:49:30.400 moment without a word, without his presence. 00:49:33.360 --> 00:49:41.079 And you have access wherever you go to boldly 00:49:41.079 --> 00:49:46.239 enter in, to boldly hear, to boldly know the 00:49:46.239 --> 00:49:51.619 word. You can hear it. Begin to praise him, begin 00:49:51.619 --> 00:49:55.159 to thank him, and he will begin to speak to you 00:49:55.159 --> 00:49:58.699 revelations from heaven, giving you knowledge, 00:49:58.800 --> 00:50:03.780 giving you insight into things that only he knows. 00:50:04.960 --> 00:50:10.920 Okay? It's not just about having a devotional 00:50:10.920 --> 00:50:16.400 every day with God. It's good things. But don't 00:50:16.400 --> 00:50:18.440 let it be a trivial thing that just occupies 00:50:18.440 --> 00:50:21.980 your time, that pulls you away from the person, 00:50:22.139 --> 00:50:27.900 right? Come to those devotions and say, God, 00:50:27.960 --> 00:50:30.820 speak to me in this moment. I want to see what 00:50:30.820 --> 00:50:33.639 you want me to see. I want to hear what you want 00:50:33.639 --> 00:50:39.340 me to hear. I will not just do things out of 00:50:39.340 --> 00:50:42.500 obligation. The older I get, the less I want 00:50:42.500 --> 00:50:45.349 to do things out of obligation. I only want to 00:50:45.349 --> 00:50:50.530 do the things that I really want to do. And if 00:50:50.530 --> 00:50:52.010 you're just reading your Bible and you're not, 00:50:52.090 --> 00:50:54.289 you know, you need to stop and check yourself 00:50:54.289 --> 00:50:56.489 and just be like, look, something's missing. 00:50:56.969 --> 00:51:02.530 My missing thing is my connection. I got to get 00:51:02.530 --> 00:51:04.489 tethered in. I got to start drawing. Thank you, 00:51:04.489 --> 00:51:07.409 God, for your goodness. Thank you for your love. 00:51:07.449 --> 00:51:10.889 Thank you for your presence. God, thank you. 00:51:10.909 --> 00:51:14.829 You are so good to me. Your word is so good. 00:51:14.889 --> 00:51:22.969 I just can't get enough. Speak to me, God, because 00:51:22.969 --> 00:51:28.690 I'm listening. I will take a hold of the things 00:51:28.690 --> 00:51:35.650 your promises today. And I promise you, your 00:51:35.650 --> 00:51:41.269 life will be different tomorrow. Okay? So let's 00:51:41.269 --> 00:51:44.050 learn from Martha, not allow ourselves to be 00:51:44.050 --> 00:51:47.590 distracted and pulled away from the one thing 00:51:47.590 --> 00:51:51.190 that we need most in this entire world. One thing 00:51:51.190 --> 00:51:53.030 that we need in your life. One thing you need 00:51:53.030 --> 00:51:57.590 in your life today. Don't be pulled away. If 00:51:57.590 --> 00:52:00.409 God says you can have it, you can have it. You 00:52:00.409 --> 00:52:04.670 can enter it. You have access. You have self 00:52:04.670 --> 00:52:11.679 -control. You control what you're busier. You 00:52:11.679 --> 00:52:15.139 control what you honor. You control what you 00:52:15.139 --> 00:52:19.260 listen to and who you receive from because you're 00:52:19.260 --> 00:52:23.760 constantly receiving. And let's remember the 00:52:23.760 --> 00:52:28.099 one thing we went to the grocery store for. Okay? 00:52:29.119 --> 00:52:34.639 Let's pray. God, I thank you for your word. I 00:52:34.639 --> 00:52:36.559 thank you for the truth of it. Thank you for 00:52:36.559 --> 00:52:42.460 speaking to us today. Help us to get a hold of 00:52:42.460 --> 00:52:48.920 it. Help it to transform our lives. Help us to 00:52:48.920 --> 00:52:55.239 seek you first and above and before all things. 00:52:56.679 --> 00:53:01.940 In Jesus' name, amen. This online worship experience 00:53:01.940 --> 00:53:04.420 was brought to you by the Friends and Partners 00:53:04.420 --> 00:53:05.500 of Elation Church.