The One Thing You Need Most - June 22, 2025

Open your Bible, go over to Psalm 46.

This morning's message, I've titled it The One Thing You Need Most.

The One Thing You Need Most.

And you say, Well, what is it?

Well, we're going to get to that.

But there's one thing you need most.

And uh in Psalm 46, Psalm 46 in verse 10, it says, be still.

Can you say, be still?

Turn to your neighbor and say, be still.

Be still and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the heathen.

I will be exalted in the earth.

As humans, we think it's our job to keep everything going.

And we can get into the rat race.

We can try to keep up with everybody.

And we can run ourselves ragged, can't we?

How many of you this week, this month, this year, you have been overwhelmed.

You have been overburdened.

You've been stressed over finances, stressed with relationships, stressed with people, trying to just keep up.

And many times you find yourself going too fast, being in a hurry, perhaps being short with your relationships.

And today we're going to speak about the one thing you need most.

Turn your Bible to Luke chapter number 10.

The Bible says in Luke 10, and it'll be up on the screens for you as well, in verse 38, it says, Now it came to pass as they went, they entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him, Jesus, into her house.

And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word.

But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?

Bid her therefore that she help me.

And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful, or full of care, full of anxiety, and you're troubled about many things.

I think she just had so much on her mind trying to get the house ready and everything going.

And I think she was frazzled.

Have you ever been there before where you're frazzled and you're kind of moving at a frenetic pace and you're just distracted and disjointed, and it just can be a lot.

And I can understand Martha's situation here.

She wants everything to be perfect.

Do I have any neat freaks that want everything perfect out there?

And that was Martha.

And she's at this spot where she's like, tell Mary to get up and do something.

But Jesus does not tell Mary to get up and do something.

For she's doing the one thing that she needs to do.

And he says this to her, to Martha, who's cumbered about in trouble.

He says, one thing is needful.

And Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her.

It's like Jesus is saying, Mary's actually doing the thing that I want her to do.

And it's almost like I'm here at the house now, and she's giving me her time, her attention, her affection.

She's resting so she can enjoy the company.

And Martha has her eyes on the wrong thing.

And I got to thinking about our lives specifically in 2025, and how fast they are, and how there's very little margin in our life, and especially living in San Diego, how much you have to work, and to be able to pay for taxes, and taxes, and taxes, and taxes, and gas and food, and how both parents have to work, and there's a lot of things that we're having to do in order to keep up.

And I'm not saying that all of those things are bad, but I'm saying that they can really fracture your heart and cause you to live a distracted life so that you're not really all the way in any spot because your mind's all over the place thinking what you have to do next.

And I got to thinking about the devil and I got to thinking about his temptations.

It's been said if the devil can't make you bad, he'll make you busy.

How many of you are a very busy person?

And you've already got the rest of the day planned, and if church doesn't get out a certain time, it's already messing you up.

And that's a problem.

That's a problem because God is not just an addition to your life, He is your life.

And sometimes we we flip this thing the wrong way, and then we wonder, why am I full of anxiety?

Why do I not have any margin in my life?

Why is it that even when I when my spouse or my children are trying to talk to me, I'm not all the way there?

Why is it that I'm I'm constantly, and don't take this the wrong way if you're taking notes on your phone and using it as a Bible reference?

This is you're doing good.

Keep taking your notes.

But why is it that I, like a crackhead, am constantly like like always pulled to this device so much so that I don't give proper time and attention and affection to the deep, meaningful relationships in my life.

And I got to thinking about how hurry is ruining our lives.

You know, hurry is the great enemy of our spiritual life.

We tr we say yes to everyone and everything, and we've confused what our wants are and our needs are, and with access to every person all the time and advertising everywhere, we feel like we have to have it all.

And then we go to try to get it all only to find out what does it profit if you gain the whole world, but then you end up corrupting your soul.

And then you're not even enjoying the vacation, you're not even enjoying the marriage, you're not even enjoying the church service, you're not, you're not enjoying anything because you've trained yourself to go at such a high speed because of this consumerism culture that we've created.

And I'm not saying I've got this figured out because I'm still a student, and you know me, I'm like ready to go all the time.

It's really hard for me to sit and to be still.

But I have found if I don't learn how to sit and be still and do this one thing, I'm never really gonna have singleness of heart.

I'm always gonna feel anxious and overwhelmed in my head.

And I got to thinking about the lie, the problem, if you would, that the devil puts out there.

You have to rush around in a state of urgency.

If you want to achieve, you gotta do it all.

And God becomes the God of mammon, the God of more, the God of better.

And I want to say this to you, it's a lie.

More and faster is not always better.

You know, there was a choice that the devil put before Eve in order to get her to sin.

If you would just go after this, the knowledge of good and evil, you'll have this.

You'll be like God.

He tempted her.

She was deceived and she took it.

And I think for many of us, we go after the same trap.

I need more education, I need more money, I need the next relationship.

But I want to tell you, the answer is not more.

The answer, the solution is Jesus.

He's always been the answer.

He's always been the solution.

Even from the time of the garden, he said, I give you the tree of life.

Take this tree of life, take all the fruit that comes from it.

Just don't chase and go after this one thing because it's going to ruin you.

And unfortunately for mankind, we've sinned and we've chased after the distraction.

And so I want to encourage you today in this.

God does not want you to live overwhelmed, insecure, and anxious.

He doesn't want you to live a distracted life at a frantic pace, feeling empty all the time.

God wants you to rest in Him.

God wants you to enjoy your blessings.

God wants you to enjoy your salvation.

And if we're going to do that, there's some things that you need to implement into your life, and I need to implement into my life for a healthy disposition and for a proper way of living in Christ.

You know, the Bible says in Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not, who knows the next word, want.

See, if we can truly rest in Christ, we can be at peace with what He's given to us.

Now we're given a very important admonition, a good word from Paul to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 6.

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

It'll be on the screens.

In verse 3, it says this.

It says, If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes and words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railing, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, destitute of the truth.

Look at this next part.

Supposing that gain is what?

It's a lie.

Gain is not always godliness.

Those extra hours at work, that extra job, that extra promotion, that extra relationship, that more, is not always godliness.

Sometimes it leads you astray.

And it robs you of your soul health, your physical health.

It says, From such withdraw thyself.

But godliness with contentment is great gain.

For we brought nothing into this world and is certain we can carry nothing out.

And having food and raiment, let us therewith be, what's it say?

Content.

See, because we've taken the bait of gain as godliness, we end up being pulled around by the devil, and we're never able to just rest content.

Never able to just, hey, you know what?

I'm going to enjoy my blessings.

I'm going to enjoy my family.

I'm going to be at peace today.

I'm going to relish God today.

I'm going to walk in the unhurried rhythms of his grace today.

He's been so good.

I'm going to delight myself and bask in his glory because God is enough and he is for me and he loves me.

But if we're going to, if we're going to live in that place, we've got to disattach from the enemy's tactics, from his devices, from what he's trying to do to us.

The scripture tells us, it goes on in 1 Timothy, and it says this, it says, But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and in many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

For the love of money is the root of all evil, which some while while some have coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

But thou, O man of God, flee these things, follow after righteousness and godliness and faith and love and patience and meekness.

Fight the good fight of faith.

Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

The admonition, the encouragement is to not take the bait that gain is godliness.

Don't think that more money is the solution to your problems.

It's not more money that you need, it's more Jesus that you need.

It's more time with God.

It's not more baseball, not more sports.

We live in such a pace where you think you have to go to every game and make every school function and every church event and who ends up losing in the end?

Time with God, a healthy soul, because you're constantly dancing and moving to the beat of the cultural, secular whims of society.

And enough is enough.

Amen, sister.

I'll take it.

I'll take it.

Enough is enough.

You've got to put a boundary out.

You've got to say, stop.

No.

I'm not going to do this.

I'm not going to go there.

I'm not going to this event.

I'm not doing this.

No.

Get thee behind me, Satan.

And even good things, if they're not in alignment with God, can become evil things.

Gain is not always godliness.

And we must learn to abide with Jesus and to be able to say, you know, I'm not going to pierce myself through.

Why am I going to say yes to all these things all the time to go after all the things and have all the stuff only to keep piercing myself through with sorrow?

I must turn to Jesus.

I must get the help from on high.

I must learn to fight the good fight of faith and I must come to Jesus.

In Matthew chapter 11 and verse 28, Jesus says this come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you what's the word?

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

Rest.

Rest.

I'll give you rest.

This is not just sleep, physical rest.

It's emotional rest, it's mental rest, it's spiritual rest.

It's the opportunity for you to stop and replenish.

It's the ability to let your spirit and your soul catch up to your body.

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do things.

All things are lawful, but not everything's expedient for the alignment of the soul health.

And so he says, Come to me, I'll give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you.

Learn of me, I'm meek and lowly in heart.

And ye shall find rest unto your souls.

You know what he's saying?

Come with me.

I'll show you the unhurried rhythms of my grace.

Hey, stay with me.

Don't try to go after your own schedule and do your own things.

If you want my lifestyle, you must stay with me.

This is not weekend visitation.

This is you learning to walk with me and talk with me and let me guide you forward.

When it's time to go, we'll walk at a pace where we can connect well.

And when it's time to stop, we're gonna stop and learn to relax.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

I don't know about you guys, but I I have a hard time with this.

Anyone else have a hard time with this?

You know, I mean I remember when I was younger in business, everybody'd be on their phones, and I'd think, oh, you know what?

Highly successful people are always on their phone.

And I would pick up my phone just to look busy.

Just to look productive.

I just wanted to fit in, because you know, you're trying to imitate, you're thinking if I do everything they do, then maybe they'll think well of me, and and maybe something good will happen.

Really, I was just an idiot copying the wrong thing.

I didn't know why I was doing what I was doing.

And I got to thinking I I I don't need to move at the pace of everybody else around me.

I need to do right by God and let Him guide me.

And so this message is about going from hurry to being holy.

It's a path back to peace if you're needing peace.

We're gonna talk about how to live an enjoyable life with God.

And to where if you're on an off day or you have a break time, you don't always have to go and be with everybody else all the time.

I told this to a pastor I had lunch with the other day.

I said, the older I get, and the more people I serve, the more I realize I need my private time with God.

I need my replenishment.

I have limitations, I have handicaps, I have weaknesses, and without Jesus filling me back up, I'm just gonna ruin myself.

And the same for you.

And as you age and you change and things adjust in your life, you have to make those adjustments.

And so I want to encourage you, don't live in this frantic pace.

There's some tools that I want to give to you that will be a help to you.

And so here's three practices, three practices to an unhurried life.

Number one, number one, solitude.

Solitude is a time of separation and reflection, a time where you get alone.

It's a time where you get renewed.

And I want to remind you, Jesus practiced this.

And if Jesus got solitude and got away by himself to be with the Father, so do you, and so do I.

We are not better than our master.

We must learn to operate in his unhurried rhythms if we want to have his power and his grace on our life.

I'll give you some scriptures where Jesus got away, Matthew 14, 23, and when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray, and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

So he went to a mountain to pray.

In Matthew 26, 33, then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder.

He was getting away to pray.

You know, the church prayer meeting on Wednesday nights, I heard it was our lowest service yet.

That's a service you should be at.

You need to pray.

I promise you, if you're at home, you're probably not getting the same impact of prayer.

Jesus said his house will be a house of prayer.

Could it be the reason you're so distracted and duplicitous in your heart and trying to put up a front and a pretense for everybody is because you don't have the private time you need with God.

So you're carrying all these weights, trying to put up this image of hypocrisy in order to be accepted and liked by other people when really you just need to get with God.

I told my wife this the other day, I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I'm not.

And there's a lot of time, a lot of times people are putting up an image and a front on who they're really not.

And it's because they're in a trap.

Jesus got alone.

In Mark chapter 1, verse 35, in the beginning, in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place and there prayed.

Mark 1:35

Hey mama, hey daddy, I get it.

Sometimes it's like I got kids all over me.

You got to get away and pray.

You listen, it's not just gonna happen for you.

You have to prioritize it.

And that's what Jesus is.

And by the way, I want to tell you, Jesus was highly sought after and is highly sought after, and yet he made time for solitude.

In Luke 5, 16, and he withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed.

Question, how good are you at withdrawing yourself from the crowd, the congregation, and the core in order to get with the Christ?

See, you can't be so held down by the peer pressure of everybody else.

Go to this, do that.

You have to get to a place where you're like, you know, thank you for the invite, but I need to withdraw, and it's it's time for my prayer time, or it's time for me to go to bed, or it's it's my break time.

Oh no, everybody's doing it.

Listen, I respect you, will you respect me?

I must have time with my father.

That's a spirit of health and a spirit of maturity.

One other scripture about Jesus getting away, Luke chapter 6, verse 12.

Luke 6:12

And it came to pass in those days that he went into a mountain to pray, and look what it says.

And continued there how long?

All night.

In prayer to God.

Question, when is your private time?

Does your family ever catch you?

Does your family ever catch you praying out loud?

Beside your bed or beside the pool or maybe uh on a walk?

When is the time that you and God, what's when's your you and God time?

Because if you don't have that, you're just playing Christianity.

You're just going to church and checking off the box, and you have a transactional relationship with God, and you can't figure out why you're not getting the power of God, it's because you're not spending enough time in his presence.

And in his presence there's joy and pleasure forevermore.

And so the number one thing you need for an unhurried life is you need solitude and you need silence.

And the way I know that is when I look at myself and things get quiet around the church, or there's an empty spot in the music, I try to fill it right away.

That's a bad thing.

There's supposed to be quietness, there's supposed to be reflection, there's supposed to be times when you don't have your phone with you, you don't have your computer with you, you don't have an audible book, you don't have a friend with you.

You need to learn how to be yourself with God.

And you'll never find yourself unless you're with God.

Because you must lose yourself to find yourself, and when you lose yourself to Christ and you die to self if you would, then Jesus gives you his life.

And so the first point for an unhurried life is solitude.

When's your solitude?

Like when is it when do you get alone?

It's just you and Jesus.

Second point for an unhurried life?

Sabbath.

A Sabbath rest.

The word Sabbath shows up in the Bible many times.

And it's a time where you stop and you pause and you rest, and it's a day of doing nothing but worship.

Now I gotta tell you, I struggle with this.

I want to go and do and all the things.

And I found myself so anxious all the time and thinking I'm doing this command just because I'm not going to work.

But my heart, my spirit is still moving a thousand miles an hour.

And the Holy Spirit began to show me, you're not calming down.

You're not stopping.

And I need to change you.

And I can't change you unless you learn to take a Sabbath.

And so you say, Well, what's a Sabbath?

Well, in Genesis chapter 2, verses 2 and 3, it says, And on the seventh day, God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made, and God blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Genesis 2:2

God, after he created six days, he rested.

Why do you do that?

To give us an example.

In Exodus 20, verses 8 through 10, remember the Sabbath.

Exodus 20:8–10

Remember means to bring to the forefront, to observe, to act upon, if you would, the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord.

In it thou shalt do no, do any not do any work, thou, nor thy sons, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor stranger that is within thy gates.

God is saying, You need to observe this.

In Isaiah 58, verses 13 and 14, talking about fasting and God's renewal, it says in thirteen, If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honorable, and shall honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause thee to write upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.

Isaiah 58:13

You know what he's saying?

Is if you stop with all of your work and your will and your ways, and you focus on me and delight in me, I will take care of you.

I will bless you if you learn to have a Sabbath.

In Mark chapter two, it was a Sabbath day, if you would, and the disciples were hungry.

And of course, every law can become rigid and bombastic and harmful.

And so Jesus told them, Go ahead, take the get the bread, and Jesus would take a lot of flack from actually for actually doing something for soul health or physical health on the Sabbath day.

And the Jews would say, You're breaking the Sabbath commandment.

And Jesus said this in Mark chapter 2, verse 27.

Mark 2:27

He said, The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.

And what he was saying is, I gave the Sabbath as a blessing for renewal and relationship, but I don't want it to be used as a forced law of burden of control to mess you up worse.

And so when you're practicing this principle of the Sabbath, you don't want to sit there and be a rigid Pharisee with it.

You have to understand the why of it.

And let me say this to you, you do need to fight for it.

Because now, with everybody having access to us all the time, email, direct message, social media platforms, phone calls, people, Amazon dropping off stuff, people all over you all the time accessing you 24-7, and nobody has boundaries anymore.

Nobody has respect for other people's wishes and desires anymore, which means this: you have to do this for you.

You have to value you, you have to value your relationship with God, you have to get to the point where you say enough is enough.

I'm taking a Sabbath rest.

Now, I don't know what day that is for you.

I know for me it's Thursdays.

That's a day I'm gonna put my phone away.

And I I wasn't putting my phone away, and I couldn't figure out why I wasn't feeling rested.

And it's because I constantly, listen, you always have the office with you.

Now, if you're an employee and you punch in and punch out, a lot of times it's it's over when you leave.

But when you're a business owner, you're a pastor, you're an entrepreneur, this device, it means the office goes with you everywhere.

And so I learned I have to put this thing, I have to turn it off or put it away or leave it in order to have proper boundaries so I can heal inside.

And I have to fight for it.

Now, the first hour, I'm constantly going like this.

You know how when you get in the car and you forget you you you you fear you forgot your phone, your keys, or your wallet or whatever it is, and you're like we don't realize how addicted we are to things until God shows us that those good things are actually destroying us.

And so in Hebrews 4.11 it says, let us uh labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

You have to fight for your boundaries.

And I'm not saying fist fight over it, but I am saying you have to be strong and fierce to protect your private time.

And if people don't respect that, let them.

Let them have whatever wishes and desires they want.

You just make sure you're doing right in God's eyes.

I'll say this: if you're coming for baptism, we have several baptisms we're doing this morning.

If you're coming for baptism, now's a good time to go and get changed.

And so if you're out there right now and you're getting baptized, go ahead and head on back and get changed at this time.

Let me give you point number three.

You're gonna like this point.

I'm done.

I'm done.

Now the message is done, but the work must go on with you.

Or actually, the lack of work.

Did you hear that one?

But you have to work to not work.

I always tell people I'm different.

I have to I have to tell myself not to work out.

There's people that force themselves to work out and it's a pain.

Listen, I'll go two, three times a day, seven days a week.

I am just a freak when it comes to it.

And I'll I'll bust it for two, three, four hours, and I'll love every second of the torture.

I've just trained my mind that way.

But there's a law of diminishing return where you just your body can't recover unless you let it rest.

And the the rebuilding process happens when you rest and when you sleep.

It's not when you tear it down.

And the same is true when you take your solitude and when you take your your um your Sabbath rest.

Now let me give you this third point.

Write this down.

If you want to have an unhurried life, and like I said, I'm not a master, I'm a student with this stuff.

Simplicity.

Simplicity.

There's a lot of things you just don't need in your life, guys.

There's some things that you can cut back, you can cut out.

Especially if you want to live live lighter and love deeper and love better.

Like your mind is constantly on all these things, and every possession that you purchase, your mind has to think about.

It's not just the purchase of it, it's also the stewardship of it, it's all of it.

And if we don't get to this place where we get back and say, you know what, godliness with contentment is great gain.

I need to be godly.

And if this business, this sport, this person, this ministry is taking away from my soul health and me being godly, I need to be willing to put this stuff on the altar.

And if I don't get the promotion, or my kid doesn't play in this next game, or I don't get that, but guess what?

I have soul health and I'm good with God, then I'm happy with that.

I would much rather have a healthy soul and be right with God than to have all the praise of man and have my kids running around and my family running around, and there's no relationship.

Simplicity.

You know, in Micah chapter 6 and verse 8, it tells us this about what God requires of us.

Micah 6 · chapter mention

It says, He hath showed thee, oh man, what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee, but that uh you do justly and love mercy.

And look what it says, and walk humbly with thy God.

Hey, when's the last time you were just able just to kind of just relax and just maybe enjoy a walk on the beach?

Hold your spouse's hand and take a walk at the park.

Put away your phone and be like, hey, I'm all the way here.

How are you doing?

All I'm saying is like, more sometimes gets in the way of actually enjoying the blessings you have.

That's all I'm saying.

And so when you're when you're thinking about this, what is it that you need to cut out of your life?

There's some things you can just say no to and cut them out.

Jesus said it this way in Matthew 6, 19.

He says, Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, where thieves do not break through nor steal.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

One of the best things I love about ministry is I'm glad I'm not chasing the dollar around so much that I can't prioritize what God prioritizes.

I'm glad I got to go up and and and be with the teenagers.

I'm glad I I can say, you know what, more money's not the answer here.

Jesus is, and these kids need it.

You know how many mamas and daddies are out there chasing for more money because they're trying to live out a higher life because of everybody else's influence in their life, that their kids are not actually getting high-quality attention and affection and training and development and character.

And then we wonder why they chase all the same problems and they don't have healthy boundaries in their life.

You have to live it.

You have to live it, model it before them.

Jesus said it this way in Luke chapter 12.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

He said, Take heed, be careful, watch out.

And beware of covetousness.

For a man's life consisteth not in things, in the abundance of things which he possesseth.

He says, Hey, listen up, church.

Jesus said it this way: you need to watch out that you're not living a covetous lifestyle thinking, going after the love of money, which is actually the want of money, the want of more and better and speed, and I gotta have everything.

A good indicator that you're going after the abundance of things is your children don't know how to be patient.

Your children don't have a work ethic.

Your children don't know how to how to enjoy God.

They constantly, I'm bored, I'm bored.

And they fail to realize because you fail to realize, boredom is actually a portal to prayer.

And it's not an excuse to go do the next thing.

Your job is not to sit there and entertain your kids in the church all day long.

Your job is to walk with God and to please Him.

And to learn how to do that, we've got to have these boundaries, and simplicity is a way to do that.

And of course, Jesus gives the parable about the rich man.

And he says, This He spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully.

And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do?

Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits.

And he said, This will I do.

I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods, and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years.

Retirement.

He thought the goal was retirement and acquisition of more things and accomplishments.

And he says, Take ease, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

And God said unto him, Thou, what's he calling?

He says, You're an absolute fool.

This night thy soul shall be required of thee.

Then who shall those things be which thou hast provided?

So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

Listen, your purpose here on this earth is not to make a bunch of money and get a bunch of houses and a bunch of businesses, though those are great tools and they're great servants, but they are terrible masters.

And your job as a parent is not to get your kids all exposed to every single travel ball and every single degree and all this other stuff.

Though those are great tools, they're terrible masters.

Our job is to not become foolish, but to become wise.

And to walk with him and say, you know what, I'm going to invest into eternal things.

And if that means I need to cut off some things and live a simpler lifestyle and not have the latest gadget and gizmo and fall into this trap of consumerism, and if that means I need to tell my son or my daughter or my wife, you know what?

No.

Just because we did it before, and just because other people are doing it, it doesn't line up.

We're going with simple living.

We're going to go with minimal right now.

I'm not saying we can't have abundance and express ourselves in some sort of generous way later, but we are not going to live that way.

When the quality of, when our income raises, the quality of our life doesn't always have to raise.

But the quantity of our giving can.

And how we give and serve Jesus can.

And how about this?

The amount of time that we get solitude and that we get Sabbath and we get to enjoy God, that should take priority and preeminence over always having more stuff.

And so, in summary, Paul says it this way I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

I know how to be a base and I know how to abound everywhere and all things.

I'm instructed.

That's why I said I'm still learning.

I'm just a student here.

I'm gonna mess this up.

Give me another day, give me half a day, give me a week, and I'm gonna, I'm still gonna fight on my Sabbath, and I have to fight for it.

Still have to fight for my private time, my solitude, my silence.

I still have to tell myself, Jason, you don't need the new golf clubs.

You have golf clubs.

I still have to tell myself, just because everybody has newer, nicer things and they got all this other stuff, Jason, you don't have to have what they have.

Would you rather have a close relationship with God or do you want to have all the stuff?

Would you rather have a high-quality relationship with your son or your daughter by instructing and teaching them and showing them how to respect, or do you want to go after have more stuff?

I still have to tell myself these things.

And when I don't get what I want and my children don't get what they want, I have to be able to teach myself and them, hey, listen, godliness with contentment is great gain.

It's not my will be done, it's not your will be done, it's his will be done.

Let's learn to be content with less.

Let's learn to practice living in the moment and enjoy what we have.

In this message, we talked about this one thing that you need most.

It's Jesus.

It's Jesus.

So let's spend some time in prayer, letting him help us to unravel ourselves from a hurried lifestyle.

And let's let him help us to relentlessly eliminate a panicky, frantic spirit from our life, so that when we are having relationships, we can be all the way there, fully engaged, enjoying Jesus, enjoying our blessings.