Sharing good news of great joy to all people,
Elation Church. Today's message is, I would say
it contains a very simple truth, but if we can
take a hold of it, it'll be very impacting, very
transformative, okay? If we can really get a
hold of what God wants to speak to us through
His Word today, who is here to hear something
from God? Are you here to listen? Are you here
to receive something? Because God will meet you
at the level of your expectation to receive.
Okay? He will meet you there. So let's turn in
our Bibles today to Luke 10, 38 through 42, if
you have your Bible. If not, it's on the screen.
I'm reading out of the New Living Translation.
Let's read. Verse 38, She came to Jesus and said,
Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister
just sits here while I do all the work? Tell
her to come and help me. But the Lord said to
her, My dear Martha, you are worried and upset
over all these details. There is only one thing
worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered
it, and it will not be taken away from her. Everybody
say one thing. One thing. Say it again. Say one
thing. You know, when someone you love or someone
around you tells you, I need you to listen to
this one thing. You can get all these other things
right, but I need you to listen to this one thing.
It's an important thing. You better listen. And
if Jesus especially is saying, there's one thing,
one thing needed, one thing essential, one thing
necessary, we need to pay attention, right? Our
ears need to perk up when we see that in Bible.
He's like, this one thing is important. We need
to know what that one thing is, okay? Everybody
say one thing. One thing. Now, I don't know about
you, but one thing is often very hard to get.
And that is groceries at the grocery store. You
know, you go like you're preparing a recipe at
home. I don't know. Maybe I'm just the only one,
but you're preparing a recipe at home. And then
you got to go to the grocery store and you go
for one thing. There's one specific thing that
you need to complete your recipe. And there's
a Publix right by my house. So I get in the car.
I go over there. I go into the grocery store.
And I walk out with a bag full of groceries that
cost over $100. This one bag. I'm not exaggerating.
It's the truth. Yeah, you know, so you walk out
with this one little plastic bag. And I get all
the way home, get in the car, drive all the way.
And I get home and I'm like, honey, I'm back.
I got everything that I needed except the one
thing she told me to get or the one thing that
I needed for that recipe. How many of you feel
me? You're like, we've all been there, right?
It's important that we hold on to the one thing.
So let's go back into our story now with this
set of eyes and let's kind of nitpick it a little
bit and let's see what God's saying here. So
for one. we see that Martha is the one who welcomes
Jesus into her home. She's the one who welcomes
Jesus and the disciples into her home. A lot
of times we give Martha a really hard time. But
she's wanting what? She is wanting to spend time
with Jesus. She's wanting to get to know him
better. She's craving that. How many of you are
craving that for this year, for 2025? Yeah. So
it's like she's wanting that. She invites him
in to her home to get to know him better. But
listen, she does something. What does she do?
She mistakes proximity. Listen, she mistakes
proximity with intimacy. She mistakes proximity.
Jesus was in her home, but what did she do? She
didn't spend any time with him. She invites.
She does this huge ordeal. It's this huge thing.
She gets them, the disciples. She's having a
lot of people over. She's making this big dinner.
And the only thing important to her is, man,
I've got to do this food, and I've got to make
sure the disciples are taken care of. I've got
to make sure everyone's done, and I've got to
do all these things, all these details. I've
got to run to Publix 500 times. You know? I've
got to do all these things. But she mistakes.
Him being in her home. for her spending time
with him. You know, I think this is something
we can easily understand like in the confines
of marriage, right? Or if you've spent any time
in a relationship. A lot of times when a relationship
suffers is what happens. Just you think that,
oh, you get comfortable because you're close
to someone, because you're riding in the car
with them each and every day. You're under the
same roof in the same bed, but that doesn't mean
that you're intimate with one another. That doesn't
mean that you're sharing life. It doesn't mean
that it's, you know, you're spending quality
time together just because you're near someone.
Proximity does not equal intimacy. Don't forget
that. Jesus was in her home. I want you to get
this picture. Jesus is in her home, but she spent
no time with him. Why? Verse 40, but Martha was
distracted. She was distracted by the big dinner
she was preparing. This Greek word here, I'm
not even going to try, but you can see it on
the screen, means directly translated to be distracted,
but it also carries with it to be pulled away.
To be pulled away and to be over -occupied. What's
pulling away? What occupies us? Moving on, getting
ahead. Dad mentioned this last week when we were
talking about, and there's a paper being too
busy and distracted, and then that kind of like
springboarded something that was already like
in my heart where we were going with this. And
I was just like, yeah, that's the connection
point. That's where we're going. And he said
this, sometimes we allow the trivial to keep
us away from the spiritual things. And that's
what she's doing right here, right? She's allowing
the trivial to keep her away, to pull her away
from the spiritual things. Was the meal the important
part? The meal's important. You know, this is
like important things. It's something that she
felt the need to do, felt urgent to her, felt
necessary, right? Clearly see that from the story.
But get this picture, Jesus' words are filling
Martha's home. I don't know if she's in the kitchen,
he's in the living room situation, but, you know,
she can overhear him if you're in the same house
and someone's talking. He's probably projecting
his voice and people are listening to him, people
are gathered around. He has a word to say. Jesus
never spoke, right? Jesus never spoke and didn't
have something to say. Every time Jesus was speaking,
people were like, wow, I've never heard this
before. I've never seen this before. And then
it goes beyond that because there is a word spoken
in her home that she's not listening to. She
hears it. She hears the reverberation out of
the room and in her walls, but she's not hearing
anything that he's saying. You know, she's not
taking... A hold of any truth that's coming out
of the mouth of God. And it has no impact on
her. Martha is sacrificing the essential for
the urgent. She's sacrificing the essential for
what she deems is urgent. But there's actually
only one thing. Everybody say one thing. There's
only one thing going on in the house that is
necessary. There's one thing needed. There's
one thing necessary and essential for her. And
she's missing it. And Jesus answered and said
to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled.
about many things. Verse 42, but one thing is
needed, and Mary has chosen that good part. So
Jesus says, there's one thing left undone. You're
doing a lot. You're working real hard. But there's
one thing left undone. There's one thing needed
that you're missing. There's one thing. That
is the most necessary thing in your life. What
is the one thing that we see in this story? What
is the one thing that Mary chose? What's the
difference here between Mary and Martha? Verse
39 says this, and she had a sister called Mary
who sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. The
one thing, necessary thing, is the word. Is a
word from God. It's the one thing. We can try
to make it a bunch of other things. We can think
that it's all these other things. We can make
up all kinds of things. But Jesus is saying here,
there's one thing that you need. There's one
thing. You should be dependent on. There's one
thing necessary for your life, for you to experience
the life that Jesus wants for you. There's only
one thing. It says Mary heard. This word heard
in Greek is to hear, means to listen, but it
also means to understand. Like we talked about,
and we know the difference between hearing and
listening, right? But she's understanding. It's
both the physical act of hearing, but it also
encompasses the deeper understanding of what
is heard. She's gaining something. When she's
hearing it, it is coming alive on the inside
of her. It's beyond auditory reception. It's
an attentive and obedient response. We've been
talking a lot about the response to the word,
right? But this word encapsulates that. It's
like it's being attentive. She's sitting at Jesus'
feet. She's not thinking about all these different
things. No, she is focused in because she's like,
I want to hear what he's saying. I want to know
it. I want to gain a hold of what he's trying
to communicate. I want to grasp it so I can run
with it, right? What was heard? So she hears
his word. Now let's bring it to us. Let's bring
it to us. Stay with me. Let's bring this whole
truth to us. I know you've been thinking there.
Some of you are already running ahead, but that's
good. That's good. If you've asked Jesus to be
your Lord, God the Holy Spirit has taken up residence
on the inside of you. The word says, don't you
realize that your body is the temple of the Holy
Spirit? You are the temple of God. You are the
temple of the Holy Spirit. We might dive into
that a little more. He lives in you and was given
to you by God. So at salvation, the Holy Spirit
takes up residence on the inside of you in the
same way he is in Martha's house. Okay? We've
invited him in. During salvation, we've invited
him in. We've confessed our sins, all those things.
He becomes our Lord, our Savior, our Master,
the Boss, the One in Charge. But Martha believed
that the necessary thing was the food, right?
She believes that the necessary thing for her
was the preparation, was to get these things
done. And these are good things, right? She's
wanting to take care of her, be a good host.
Be a good host, take care of everyone, make sure
it's all good. This is a good thing. She's preparing
for the Lord. It's not just doing it like she's
actually laboring to serve the Lord and the disciples.
I would hope if you invited Jesus over to your
home, you're not going to set out a pack of Doritos
and some chips ahoy and be like, here you go.
You know what I'm saying? You're going to fix
up. You're going to clean your house. You know,
the only time you clean your house is when you
have a good event, right? The only time when
you really take care of something, like all of
a sudden you're like, oh, I've got to wash these
windows. Now, I haven't seen the windows. I haven't
even paid attention to the windows. The only
person that pays attention to the windows is
the dog. You know, she's over there licking the
window half the time. But I'm like, I'm trying
to figure out, you know, and then all of a sudden
you're like, man, these windows are so dirty.
How did this, I've got to take care of this,
right? I have company coming over. I have somebody.
I'm distracted. I'm sorry. Shine. Squirrel. Let's
go. There's a lot of things that she deemed was
necessary and important. She thought the food
was important and it's a good thing. Everybody
say a good thing. It's a good thing. It's not
a bad thing. It's a good thing. But there was
only one thing that was necessary. One thing.
We're back at it again. There's only one thing.
That is needful. One thing left undone. I want
to ask you this question. Don't get mad at me.
But what is the one thing you believe is necessary
in your life right now? I hope so. What is the
one thing that you go, I can't live a day without?
Don't you think about that. Take off your Sunday
school helmet. You know, take off your church
helmet. We're here. What is the one thing that
if you woke up without tomorrow, that it'd just
be like, man, I don't, you know, it could be
a lot of things. You know what I'm saying? What
is the one thing you believe is necessary in
your life right now? And what's the first thing
that like pops into your head? Is that the one
thing Jesus said it is? Is it the word? Is it
the word of God? A lot of times we get stuck
on the things of God. And the one thing necessary
to us is these things that he's provided for
us. Because he is the source, right? Every good
and perfect thing comes from him. A lot of times
we like to focus on those things instead of the
source. the person of those things. And we let
those things become idols to us to pull us away,
take captive, right? They hold us back like a
prisoner. Those things from God, sometimes if
we allow it to, when we forget who gave it to
us in the first place, what happens? Those things
get a hold of us. What is the one thing Jesus
said it is? So, God, he is in your home, and
like Martha, we decide what the necessary thing
is. But there is only one thing that is essential,
and that is what Mary chose, to sit at Jesus'
feet and hear his word. To sit at his feet and
hear his word. Okay? There's a word from God.
And what you need in this world more than anything
else is a word. One word. You need a word every
moment. We're not supposed to rely on our own
understanding, but in all our ways we're supposed
to acknowledge him. For he will direct our paths.
A lot of times we decide our own paths and then
ask God, we invite him to bless it. Come with
me, bless my path, bless my way. Because we rely
on our understanding. We rely on our own logic,
our own reasoning. We rely so heavily on our
own knowledge and not on the revelation from
the Holy Spirit. But our reliance should be on
what He is revealing to us in that moment, in
His direction, in His guidance, in His path,
in His way. If we're making up our own way, He
gives you a brain, but He wants you to surrender
to Him. To lay down your life, right? And to
say, God, because he cares about your trivial
things. See, all the time Jesus is up there talking
in Martha's home, and he cares about what Martha's
doing. He sees it. His heart's hurting. It's
like, you've done the, you know, you're choosing
something over me. You're missing it. I got a
word from you. And see, Jesus has got a word
for you. For 2025, he has a word for you individually.
He has a word for your family. He has a word
for your job. He has a word for everything that
consumes your life. He's got a word for you.
And with one word from God, you can walk on water.
With one word from God, you can do. The impossible.
If you have a word from God, you have something
to stand on. We need to hear a word from God.
Because the word is the one thing, the necessary
thing. Jesus, when he was tempted after 40 days
in the wilderness, It says in the verse before
this, it says he was hungry. His physical body
was hungry. He needed nourishment. He needed,
you know, he's hungry. He was God, but he was
fully man. And he had fasted this whole entire
time. So he had not eaten. And Satan came to
him and was like, hey, you're God. Turn these
stones into bread. That's easy. It's easy for
you to do. You're God. You're able to do it.
Turn these stones into bread. It's very interesting
what Jesus says here. He's quoting the Old Testament.
He says, but he answered and said to them, it
is written, man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth
of God. You know, but the context here is that
he's hungry. His body is hurting. He's like,
man, if I could just have a turkey sandwich like
this would be great. But he said, man does not
live by bread. Man lives by the word. And this
is what he's wanting for us in this year, in
this moment, is to live off the word. The thing
that satisfies you, the thing that fills you
up, the thing that I like to say cranks your
tractor in the morning, the thing that nourishes
your body that you can't get enough of, the thing
that energizes you, because that's what food
does, right? Your body processes it and it gives
you energy. It gives you nutrients to accomplish
the things that you need to do in this world.
And that's important. You can only go so many
days without eating. But a lot of times we like
to feed, we feed our bodies three square meals
a day, but we feed our spirits one two -hour
snack a week. And then we wonder why we're facing
problems and we wonder why we're having issues
and we wonder why, you know, I'm close to God.
God lives on the inside of me, but I don't feel
him. I don't hear him. Is God holding out on
you? No. God is in you. And he didn't quit speaking.
God is who he is. And he's always speaking. To
those who are listening. To those who want the
word more than the bread. Without food, you die.
A lot of us think that, well, you know, I can
just... You know, we're like, okay, I'm a Christian.
God's on the inside of me. I'm all good. And
if God really wants to speak to me, he'll get
my attention. Right? So I can just... I do my
own, I got my own thing. I'm like, and it's not
even bad stuff. See, a lot of times we want to
run. We're like, we're talking about bad. No,
no, no. It can be good things can pull you away
just as easy things. The things of God can pull
you away from the person of God if you allow
it to. The devil's smart. We always want to think
that he's just, you know, oh, it's a trick of
like those things. And those things can trip
you up too. But a lot of the times, he's tripping
you up on the things that you think are good.
Things that you think are right. Well, I'm doing
the right thing. I'm living right. I'm doing,
you know, I'm doing X, Y, Z. I got all these
things. I'm doing it right, God. But you feel
like something's missing. You're missing a word
from him. You're missing intimacy with him. You
have proximity, but you're mistaking proximity
with the intimacy. And just like you can sleep
in the same bed with the same person every single
night and not have a relationship with them,
not have fellowship with them, and you can totally
miss out. You can have God on the inside of you
and not enter into his presence. You can have
God on the inside of you and not be in a relationship
with him. We use that word relationship, but
I kind of want to take it, the real word, because
like you enter into a relationship with God.
This is something that like it's kind of been
a mark. You enter into a relationship with God
at salvation. But fellowship is something that
you have to enter into, that you have to work
towards, that you have to put effort into, that
you have to sow into to reap the harvest from.
There is one thing necessary to you as much as
food, and that one thing is God's Word. Let's
talk a little bit about those who receive the
Word now. We've talked about the importance of
it, the necessity of the Word. Let's talk about
those who receive it. Because just because God
is speaking, just because God is in you, does
not mean you are listening. Just because you
hear it doesn't mean you're getting a hold of
it. Just because He's, you know, all those things,
doesn't mean the revelation is happening. Doesn't
mean that his word is burning alive on the inside
of you like an unconsumable fire. Only those,
think back to our story, God speaking in the
house, there's a lot of people doing other things,
but only those sitting there at his feet receive
the word that is spoken. And I imagine there's
some people, too, who were sitting there who
didn't fully receive it either, right? They could
have been sitting there and still kind of like
wondering, well, I hope Martha gets finished
with that meal. I'm like getting hungry, right?
But those who were hungry for the word from God
that was going to impact their life, that was
going to change their year, that was going to
change their life, those who were hungry for
that word, And those who were humbling themselves
before the Lord, looking to him as master, as
teacher, as friend, were the ones who were going
to receive his revelation. God gives grace to
the humble, the verse says. I don't have it up
there. So how do we receive God's word? How do
you and I receive it? How do we get a hold of
it? By positioning ourselves in his presence.
By positioning ourselves, humbling ourselves
at his feet. actively listening to understand,
actively waiting upon the Lord for him to speak
and not just speaking to him, saying, why aren't
you listening? Why aren't you responding? Why
aren't you doing this? I need this. I need this.
I need this. Help me, help me, help me. Be with
me, be with me, be with me. And the Lord's saying,
be with me. Sit at my feet because I got something
to tell you. Only those in the presence will
receive his word. Let me remind you or tell you
that you are spirit and you are seated with God
in heavenly places, the verse says. We're going
to get into this. But you, right now, your body
is the temple of God. And God is where? He's
in heaven, but he's also here. That means there's
something inside of you. Listen, there's a place
inside of you in the presence of God. And by
the Spirit, you have access. You have access
right here. You have access in your car. You
have access in your home, in your closet, whether
you get into a submarine and travel to the bottom
of the sea, whether you climb to the highest
mountain or get in a rocket and keep going. The
Spirit of God is on the inside of you if you
are a believer. His residence, He has taken up
residence on the inside of you. Therefore, therefore,
Dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter
heaven's most holy place. Why? Because of the
blood of Jesus. How many of you have ever checked
into a hotel? All right? I thought about this
this morning. You check into a hotel, you go
up to the desk, somebody's just like, you know,
picking their nose or something, you know, and
you walk up and you're like, hey, I got a room,
you know. They give you a little card, and they
swipe it, and it activates the card, a little
fob, and it gives you access to a room, to a
place. Just this little piece of plastic, all
right, and just gives you... access into a room
so that you can enter in. And when you enter
in, I don't know about you, but when I enter
into a hotel room, I grab all my luggage, all
my stuff, and I just throw it in there, and I
walk in there boldly, and I'm like, this is mine!
I strip the bed, and I'm just like, yes! I boldly
enter it, and I go, and it's great, because I
have access to something that is mine. Come on.
Come on. You have access. Why? What you've done,
what you have. No, you don't have. No, you have
access to heavenly places because of the blood
of Jesus. Amen. God has given you access by his
blood. He's paid the price for it so that you
can walk up and like, I got it. I'm coming. And
I walk. You walk up and you tap that and you
enter in with boldness and authority and you
say, here I am God. We don't like to do, we don't
get this, but it says boldly enter. You have
access, but there is so many Christians in this
world not entering the things in which they have
access to. You can be a Christian your whole
life. And keep walking down the hallway thinking,
man, I wish I had that. Man, I wish that was
available to me. And the whole entire time, the
word is here. The logos, right? The word is here
for a problem that you have. The word is here
for every need that you have. Don't come to God
asking for your need. He's already supplied your
need. The works of God are done, are yes and
amen, the Bible says. And we're asking him to
do something that he's already done for us and
then complaining because we don't have it. And
God, the whole time, he's just saying, look,
read the word. Get into the word. There's a word
for you. The Holy Spirit's speaking to you about
the individual things, about the trivial things.
But you're not listening. You're doing every
other thing except the one thing that is necessary
for your life. If we had two lists of like everything
that I need and all my want and I just wrote
it down. You know, I listed it all out. And then
the one thing that I need. The one thing, the
necessary thing that God says that I need. Right?
Is the word. Because his word will supply every
need that you have. There's nothing that a word
from God. There's nothing. But if you focus on
your need and your lack, instead of the person
and the word, you will have what you're focused
on. You'll have what you say. Go back to what
we were talking about. Some of you have been
here. Some of you have been listening. But you
will have those things, listen, that you... focus
on that your mouth is speaking you will have
those things your lack if that's what you're
focused on but in 2025 or if after today you
make a decision i'm going to focus on the one
thing the word and i'm going to get a hold of
it and i'm going to enter the boldly place because
i have access by the blood of jesus so now there's
no excuse for you not to enter in There's no
excuse for you to sit idly by and not do something
about it because God will meet you there. You
draw near to him. He draws near to you. You have
access to him. Full access. The same access that
Jesus had. You have access. Come on. By his blood.
So take a hold of it. Do something about it.
Labor today to say, I'm going to enter in. Nothing
will keep me. Nothing will pull me away. And
the things that pull me away, I recognize, are
not of God. I will boldly enter in by the blood
of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and
life -giving way through the curtain into the
most holy place. And since we have a great high
priest who rules over God's house, let us go.
Say, I'm going. I'm going right in to the presence
of God with sincere hearts, fully trusting him.
It's good. It's good. Psalms, we read it this
morning. Psalms 100. How do you enter in? How
do you enter in? How do you boldly enter in?
You need a word. In his presence you receive
the word, but how do you enter in? How do you
go from point A to point B? David had something
to say about it. Psalms 100. Four, enter his
gates with thanksgiving. Enter his gates. How
do you enter his gates? With thanksgiving. Being
thankful for the things that he's done for you.
Because when you're thankful for it, you're acknowledging
him for it. You're attributing those things to
him when you're thankful for those things, right?
For everything that he's done for you. What else?
Go into his courts. Does anybody know it? Say
it out. Go into his courts how? With praise.
Praise is the act of faith, right? We praise
God for the now, for what he is doing. We thank
God for what he has done, and we praise him for
what he is doing. You think praise is just singing,
but God's working on your behalf something greater
that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no, come
on, bigger than you can even imagine. He's doing
things for you. He's doing things for those who
labor to enter in. He's doing things for his
children constantly. And when you thank him,
when you get into a point where you, for one,
honor him by sitting at his feet, taking the
time to give him honor. He will reveal the mysteries
of heaven to you and the word of God to you.
Those who sit at his feet, sit in his presence
and say, God, I'm listening. I am here. I'm not
leaving until you speak to me. Or until I hear
you, more or less, because he's always speaking.
Hebrews 4, 16. So let us come boldly to the throne
of our gracious God. There we will receive his
mercy. And we will find grace to help us when
we need it most. It's just the word. The word's
good. John 15, 5 says this, Yes, I am the vine,
you are the branches. Those who remain in me
and I in them will produce much fruit. For apart
from me, you can do what? Nothing. I have a lemon
tree in my backyard, and I've had to prune it
last year. Some branches were producing fruit,
some were not. So what branches did I prune?
I pruned the ones that were not producing fruit,
right? Because there were some branches on the
tree that were not drawing nutrients from the
source. They were not drawing energy from the
rest of the vine, from the plant, right? They're
not producing fruit. So a lot of us want to come
to God and we're like, God, give me the fruit.
Give me the fruit. Give me patience. Give me
kindness. Give me gentleness. Give me self -control.
I need these things. I need these things. I need
these things. But really all you need to do is
to turn around and start drawing from the source
of those things. And then that fruit will be
produced in your life. For apart from God, He
is the Word. You can do nothing. All your labor,
all your stuff is nothing apart from God. I just
want to end here that Sometimes, like if you've
been a Christian for a while, you know, like
when you read stuff, and there's so many like
good resources, and I'm not knocking any of that.
There's so many like good things that you and
I can practically do on a day -to -day to grow
and develop. We were talking about thriving last
week. There's so many things we can do to grow
and develop in our life in relationship and fellowship
with God, okay? There's a lot of good things.
But it's easy to think of God all of a sudden
as this machine in which I pull levers. Come
on. It's easy to get in this mindset that I can
pull levers and twist knobs and then I receive
from him if I do this. And to fall back into
this works -based thing. Is it good to pray 10
minutes a day? Yeah. Of course. Is it good to
read your Bible reading plan? Right? To have
that on your phone, and every day you call it
up, and it tells you exactly, and you're like,
my goal for 2025, I just want to read the Bible
all the way through. That's great. But if you're
sitting there, I can't tell you how many times
I've read the Bible, and I've just kind of went.
Okay, how far am I supposed to read? Okay, all
right, 82, and I'm reading. Okay, boom, I'm done.
Let's go. You know? I got it. I did my thing,
and that's good. God's going to bless me for
it. We're good. I'm going to continue about my
own day. And I leave what? With no impact on
my life. Has no impact on my life. Is that what
was written was bad? Are the words that I'm reading,
or am I just not hearing it? Am I just not getting
it? Am I not relying on the Holy Spirit? And
if I'm not taking the time with the Holy Spirit,
I will never get a hold of this. If I'm not entered
into His presence, if I'm not entering His courts
with thanksgiving, if I'm not entering His courts
with praise, I will never get this. This will
seem foolish to me. It just seems like a waste
of time. Unless I'm connected and drawing from
the source. Unless that is the one thing that
matters to me in the moment. Because I can't
go a day. I can't go a moment. I can't go a single
second, a single breath without a word. Go into
church every week and still not experience his
presence or his voice just because you come to
church. It's a great thing. Keep coming to church.
It's good, but that's not his presence. If that's
the only time you enter into the presence of
God, you're going to live a lackluster, powerless
life. Don't feed your body three square meals
a day and then a snack. Feed your spiritual self
a snack, right? I think that was like Smith Wigglesworth.
I'm not sure. Anyways, I've been all into it.
Anyways, so don't feed your body a snack, your
spiritual body a snack, and then wonder why your
spiritual life and, you know, you lack and you
don't have and you don't, you know, and you need.
There's all these things. Feast, hunger for his
word. Taste and see that the Lord is good. And
you will be satisfied. You will be filled. Come
on. We live not by the bread. We live by the
word. And I will be a doer of the word, not just
a hearer only. I will let his word come alive
and burn within me, filling my mortal body. Come
on. It's not about doing X, Y, and Z. You can
do all these things, these spiritual things,
and not get it. You miss it. We got a lot of
that going on, right? A lot of that going on.
There's a lot of people thinking, I'm doing this.
God, I'm doing this. Come on, speak to me. But
you need to honor. And who you honor, when you
honor someone, a part of that is allowing them
and accepting what they have to say. Right? If
I don't honor them, I don't accept what they
have to say. If I honor them, I allow them to
speak into my life, to correct me, to show me.
It's humbling yourself, realizing that I don't
know exactly everything. And those who sit at
his feet will hear his word. Moses said this,
if you don't personally go with us, don't make
us leave this place. And that's kind of the attitude
that you and I need. going into each day. Is
that, you know, I know we're going to the promised
land. I know you have all these great and precious
things for me. But if you're not coming with
me, if you're not guiding me, if you're not directing
me, I need you more than my next breath. If you're
not coming with me, I would rather stay in the
wilderness, come on, than to live one day, one
moment without a word, without his presence.
And you have access wherever you go to boldly
enter in, to boldly hear, to boldly know the
word. You can hear it. Begin to praise him, begin
to thank him, and he will begin to speak to you
revelations from heaven, giving you knowledge,
giving you insight into things that only he knows.
Okay? It's not just about having a devotional
every day with God. It's good things. But don't
let it be a trivial thing that just occupies
your time, that pulls you away from the person,
right? Come to those devotions and say, God,
speak to me in this moment. I want to see what
you want me to see. I want to hear what you want
me to hear. I will not just do things out of
obligation. The older I get, the less I want
to do things out of obligation. I only want to
do the things that I really want to do. And if
you're just reading your Bible and you're not,
you know, you need to stop and check yourself
and just be like, look, something's missing.
My missing thing is my connection. I got to get
tethered in. I got to start drawing. Thank you,
God, for your goodness. Thank you for your love.
Thank you for your presence. God, thank you.
You are so good to me. Your word is so good.
I just can't get enough. Speak to me, God, because
I'm listening. I will take a hold of the things
your promises today. And I promise you, your
life will be different tomorrow. Okay? So let's
learn from Martha, not allow ourselves to be
distracted and pulled away from the one thing
that we need most in this entire world. One thing
that we need in your life. One thing you need
in your life today. Don't be pulled away. If
God says you can have it, you can have it. You
can enter it. You have access. You have self
-control. You control what you're busier. You
control what you honor. You control what you
listen to and who you receive from because you're
constantly receiving. And let's remember the
one thing we went to the grocery store for. Okay?
Let's pray. God, I thank you for your word. I
thank you for the truth of it. Thank you for
speaking to us today. Help us to get a hold of
it. Help it to transform our lives. Help us to
seek you first and above and before all things.
In Jesus' name, amen. This online worship experience
was brought to you by the Friends and Partners
of Elation Church.