One Thing - Access

Sharing good news of great joy to all people,

Elation Church. Welcome to week number four in

our series entitled One Thing. It's cool to see

how God works and God just continues to bless

and use His Word, right? Expound on it, right?

Takes you further, takes you on a journey, right?

Leads you to where you need to go. I wanted to

start today a little differently. Instead of

opening up our immediate passage like our text

that we've been reading out of, I want us to

go back on week two. We finished with the Ephesians

1 prayer. And in it, in Ephesians, Paul is praying

that the followers of Christ would receive revelation

and spiritual wisdom and understanding from God.

And I hope that you picked up, we had some papers

in the back. It actually had the Ephesians 1

prayer. And Paul is, he's talking, he's encouraging

all prayers to pray this. When we come to God,

when we come to Scripture, before we come to

church, we need to be expecting something. We

need to be expecting to hear from God, not just

doing religious duty, not just marking off a

little time card and punch card like, okay, I'm

here, I did my thing, God bless me. I came to

experience God. When I open up my Bible, I come

to hear. what God wants to say to me. I come

to change and be changed because the Word of

God is like a mirror, right? When I come to it,

I look in it, and sometimes I don't look that

good. Sometimes you come to the mirror and you're

like, oh boy, it's going to need some work today.

And then sometimes you come to the mirror and

you're like, all right, we can work with that.

Like something happened, right? Same thing with

the Bible. When we come to the Bible and we're

reading it, it kind of exposes us, right? We

see for ourselves. Sometimes it's like, oh, boy,

oh, my, what's happening? The Holy Spirit starts

working on us a little bit to conform us into

whose image? God's image, right? To make us look

more and more like Christ. The more and more

you spend time with someone, the more you talk

like them, the more you start acting like them,

you pick up their habits. Come on. You know where

I'm going. Don't make me repeat it twice. The

more time you spend with God, the more you're

going to look like him. Hallelujah. More like

you're going to talk like him. He's going to

desire the things that he desires and expect

the things that he expects. Right? All right.

Enough of that. God. Let's go to Ephesians 1

prayer. I want to read it. And then like we finished

in week two, I want us to kind of go over that.

And I want us to pray it, kind of personalize

it, take a hold of it, and pray it for ourselves.

Okay? So if you want to turn in your scriptures.

Open up your Bibles to Ephesians 1, we're reading

15 through 23. It says this, Ever since I first

heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus

and your love for God's people everywhere, I

have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray

for you constantly. Asking God, the glorious

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you

spiritual wisdom and insight. so that you might

grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your

hearts will be flooded with light, so that you

can understand the confident hope he has given

to those he called his holy people, who are his

rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that

you will understand the incredible greatness

of God's power for us who believe him. This is

the same mighty power that raised Christ from

the dead and seated him in the place of honor

at God's right hand in heavenly realms. Now he

is far above any ruler or authority or power

or leader or anything else, not only in this

world, but also in the world to come. God has

put all things under the authority of Christ

and has made him head over all things. For who?

for the benefit of the church, and the church

is his body, it is made full and complete by

Christ, who fills all things everywhere with

himself. That'll preach. We can just go home

right there. That's good stuff. The word is powerful.

Dad worked on this and converted it to like,

our language for us to take a hold of this okay

so i want us to pray this together and i want

you to do it not just out loud and repeating

words because we all know that you can repeat

words and it means nothing to you all right so

personalize this internalize this and pray something

like this to god okay and this is a practice

that we need to make a habit that we need to

make a ritual in our lives That when we come

to God, we expect to hear from him. We expect

to understand. Okay? Let's pray. And I'm praying

for myself. You pray for yourself. Father, I

ask you this morning for spiritual wisdom, for

revelation, and insight, so I can grow in my

knowledge of you. I pray that my heart will be

flooded with light so I can understand and take

hold of the confident hope you have given me.

I want to know. I want to understand. I want

to take hold of the incredible power and authority

you have made available to me. This same power

that raised Jesus from the dead and seated him

in heavenly places, make it known to me. Reveal

it to me. Make it fresh to me. Jesus, you are

in authority over all things. You are the head.

I am part of your body. I am in you. You are

in me. And all things of this world are under

my feet. Reveal to me who I am in you and all

I have in you. Amen. Amen. Let's dive into our

main text. It's found in Luke 10, 38 through

42. Story of Mary and Martha. Very familiar story,

so don't check out. We're going to read it again

because there's no way that you got a hold of

all of it. In one time or in four times reading.

I feel like we could read the Bible a hundred

times and learn something new because it's living.

It's a living book. So let's read the story.

Verse 38, as Jesus and the disciples continued

on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain

village where a woman named Martha welcomed him

into her home. Her sister Mary sat at the Lord's

feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha

was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing.

She came to Jesus and said, But the Lord said

to her, But there is only one thing worth being

concerned about. Mary has discovered it and it

will not be taken away from her. So as we read

that story, what was the one thing worth being

concerned about? What was the one thing, because

he's talking to Martha, right? What is the one

thing Martha did not do that Mary did? What was

the one thing necessary? What was the one thing

needed? And that was to sit at Jesus' feet and

hear his word. Too many times we mistake proximity

for intimacy. We think that just because Jesus

is in the home that I'm good. We think that like

he's in us. I do my religious duties week in

and week out, whatever. And I feel like that's

all there is to God. And if he needs me, he'll

get a hold of me. So we just kind of live our

life and just, you know, if all of a sudden the

clouds open up and we seek the spectacular. We

want God to just bust open the clouds and all

this kind of stuff. And can he do that? Yeah.

But often we seek the spectacular and miss, miss

the things that God wants to do for us. Miss

what God wants to speak to us. God's not spooky.

The Holy Spirit's not spooky. Okay? Too many

people, we get all weirded out when we start

talking about the Spirit. If you start feeling

that way, that's like, that's not of God. That's

not what this is about, okay? But God wants to

speak to you. He has a word for you. Mary sat

at Jesus' feet and she heard his word. This Greek

word here. It can be listening or heard. Sometimes

it's translated like in different translations

in your Bible. It'll say a different word. But

the Greek word, the definition of it, says to

hear, but it goes beyond just hearing, right?

I can audibly hear a sound and the sound of my

voice bouncing off the walls in this room, but

that doesn't mean I'm listening, right? It's

kind of like when a mother says, I know you hear

me, but you're not listening to me. Kind of grab

your attention a little bit, right? It's the

same thing. But we can also listen. Look, we

can also listen and not understand. We can listen

and not understand. Like we looked at the story

of Samuel. He heard and he was like, he listened,

right? But he didn't quite understand it until

a little bit later, right? Because we need help

listening. We need help of the Holy Spirit to

understand the things that God is speaking to

us, to cause his word to come alive on the inside

of us, to bring revelation. So this word encompasses

both the physical act of hearing and also the

deeper understanding of what is heard. It's beyond

auditory reception. It's also attentive and obedient

response to what is heard. So it's like... Mary's

sitting at the Lord's feet and she's not thinking

about, oh, well, what am I going to do tomorrow?

Or I wonder what we're going to do after this.

Or like, I wonder if, you know, is Jesus going

to do party tricks afterwards? Is he going to

like heal people? Like what's going to happen

after? No, she's not wondering and daydreaming.

She's sitting at Jesus's feet going, come on,

God, give me something. I want to hear something

that's going to change my life. I came here,

and I'm sitting here, and I'm going to take hold

of your word, and I'm going to act upon it. You

give me one thing to stand on, one thing to do,

I'll do it. Because I want to serve you. I want

to follow you, right? I believe you. That's a

sign of belief. That's a sign of faith is the

willingness to act upon the word that is spoken.

Amen? So Mary, she's sitting there with anticipation

and a desire to do. We've talked about that.

So the one thing is necessary for you and for

me. One thing. What are the necessary things?

What do you deem necessary in your life today?

That if, you know, Everything else about today,

just think over the course of one day. If you

didn't do one thing, if you didn't do this one,

like focus on it, would it just all fall to pieces?

If you weren't involved in it, what would it

do? What is the one necessary thing that you

wake up and be like, I got to get this done.

It's the most urgent thing in my life. And is

that the one thing? that Jesus is saying here?

Is that the one necessary thing? We can mistake

the urgent for the necessary. And the urgent

things in our life can be crucial things, can

be critical things, can be important things.

But if you miss the main thing, if you miss the

most important thing in your life, and that is

to hear, from God, you're going to be struggling

and fighting and his life is going to be very

difficult for you when it could be my yoke is

easy and my burden is light. The one thing, the

necessary thing is not for you to logically produce

the works from your hand. But the one necessary

thing is to spend focused, intentional, intimate

time with God and receive a word from Him, and

the rest of these things will be added unto you.

Because what I can do with my own hands is limited

compared to what God can do is unlimited, is

supernatural. So if I want supernatural things

to happen in my life, I can't... break natural

measures, I'm just going to expect a natural

result. If it's all what I can do in my own flesh,

that's all I'm going to get. I'm not going to

get any farther than that. But if my reliance

and my source, come on, stay with me. If I desire

his word, His word fulfills me, gives me more

energy than the bread that I eat, than the food

that I eat. That's when life's going to get really

good. Because that's what God wants for us. This

life is short. It's like a vapor. And we need

to start getting concerned and like, this is

the most important thing. God speaking to us

and us living according to his word. What he's

saying. What he wants us to do. And that doesn't

mean that you go live in a monastery somewhere

like a monk in a cave. No. Because God is where?

God is here. He's on the inside of you. And he

is speaking. He is not far. I'm getting ahead

of myself. But it is at his feet, listen, it

is at his feet that we receive his word. Because

I think this is a really important part that

we miss. There was a lot of people in the room

who didn't receive that word, and it was no value

to them. They heard the sound of it, but it was

no value to him. Jesus himself is speaking things

into the room, but it's no value to those. who

are just hearing it. It's only valuable to those

who are at his feet, ready to receive it. Okay?

Humbling yourself before the Lord. He gives grace

to the humble. He, what? He resists the proud.

Another verse says, I don't have it up there,

sorry. You can Google it. That's the good thing

about Google. It can tell you everything. Not

everything. But he gives grace to the humble.

So those who humble themselves before the Lord,

he gives understanding to. He gives grace. He

gives his word. Someone said this week, I heard

someone say there was a reason why God said,

I want to make sure I say this right. There was

a reason. He's like, he doesn't cast, Jesus doesn't

cast pearls before swine. I don't know if you've

heard that passage before. He's like, I'm not

going to cast my pearls before swine, things

like that. And it was, the point of it was this.

He's not calling us like pigs. But you know,

the pig doesn't value the pearl. Right? You don't

give a pig a pearl. Because he doesn't value

it. It has no value to him, so why give it? So,

in that same way, if we value, if we're hanging

on every word from God and we're living in that,

and that's the most valuable thing to us, we

are going to receive those treasures from heaven.

Okay? So, it is at his feet we receive his word.

The grace with his word. comes the grace and

understanding to do what he wants us to do. And

in these past two weeks, we've talked about how

his word leads us to become who he wants us to

be. I'm just going to sit on this thing because

I wanted to make everybody happy. It's time for

a real talk, okay? Welcome to Jeffrey's TED Talk.

Yeah. I've spent a lot of years, and, like, I

was very blessed and fortunate to grow up in

a home that God mattered and that being in church

mattered and Scripture mattered. That's a blessing,

and that's a privilege. Not a whole lot of people

get, okay? My home was always filled, like, from

the things on the wall to, like, you know, if

LifeWay sold Scripture toilet paper, like, we

would have it. You know what I'm saying? Like,

some people grew up collecting, like, I don't

know, all these kind of things. I grew up, like,

collecting Bibles, you know, and I just, like,

oh, this is a cool one. Let's get this one. Oh,

this one's metal and magnetic. Oh, this one has,

you know, fun colors on it. And it's like, oh,

this is great. And I'm very fortunate. We joke

about that, but I'm like, I'm very fortunate

to grow up in that kind of household. And it

was always stressed upon me the importance of,

like, knowing God, of hearing God. And you hear

all these terms, right? And even in my school,

like, my education was centered around Christian

values. And, like, that was a blessing to me,

right? Because it was constantly taking me back

to who God is. It's constantly, like, grounding

myself, okay? And even in school, like, I go

to Liberty, and then I went to Trinity, and I

graduated. I did nine years, or almost nine years,

and I graduated with a Ph .D. in philosophy and

Christian apologetics, okay? Don't call me doctor.

I will be upset. It's offensive. Don't do it.

I didn't do it to get the title. I did it because

I genuinely wanted to know. And I thought that

learning this information, now this might sound

silly to some of you, but I'm just being honest.

I genuinely thought, there was a point in my

life where I genuinely thought that if I gained

this information, it was going to change who

I was. And it would lead to my becoming who I

needed to be for God. And I thought this information,

I was like, I just need more. I need to read

more. I need to absorb more. And all that's good.

It's important. Don't get me wrong. I love reading.

But there's a difference between reading a book

and reading words. And all of a sudden, God's

speaking to you. Because information, the degree

and the piece of paper on the wall, didn't change

who I was. It didn't impact my life. I didn't

all of a sudden wake up one day and I was just

like, oh, I'm just, you know, wow. Look at me.

When I learned that God would speak to me, And

when I finally figured out what that was like,

it is those moments, those moments that led to

my becoming, to me changing, to me growing in

to who God wants me to be. Because it wasn't

information. Information's important, and I draw

from that a lot. But those times where God revealed

his word to me, The same scriptures that I had

read for hours and hours and hours and writing

papers and all this kind of stuff, that stuff

meant nothing to me. It didn't change my life.

It was just information, just busy work in my

head. And then there was a difference. All of

a sudden I'm like, wow, this means something.

And then it changes the course. It changed my

direction in life. Changed who I was. Changed

who I wanted to become. Changed my focus. Because

only revelation, a word from God, can bring transformation

to you. Not information. We have a lot of information.

But only revelation from God. Him bringing that

to us. And I want to go ahead and put this out

here. I know I'm running out of time. I'm burning

the clock, so to say. But I want to tell you

this. Like, in church, if you grow up in church,

people talk about it. If you're new. People say

things like hearing from God. What does that

mean? God speaks to me. What does that mean and

what does that look like on a day -to -day basis?

I know people who have heard the voice of the

Lord audibly. Okay? I know that. Me personally,

I've never heard an audible voice of the Lord,

but I know that he has spoken to me. Because

when God speaks to you, he... gives you understanding

and revelation about something that you wouldn't.

He brings it into your purview that you wouldn't

naturally know, that you didn't work to receive.

Maybe he pulls from that, but it's an inner knowing.

It's an inner voice from the Holy Spirit that

all of a sudden urges you, prompts you, leads

you, guides you into the truth of his word and

causes it to become a fire on the inside of you,

an unquenchable fire. It just, boom, and all

of a sudden, You, any other thing that you thought

about when the Holy Spirit speaks to you and

it comes alive on the inside of you, you know

beyond a shadow of a doubt. You're like, man,

that was God. God revealed this to me. And you

just got a hold of it. It's a deeper understanding,

okay? That's what it's looked like for me. But

God still does reveal himself. He still speaks

audibly. And all those things happening, but

on a day -to -day basis, the Holy Spirit wants

to lead you in everything, okay? Guide you into

the truth of his word. Recapping a little bit,

Samuel, listen, was in the tabernacle. God spoke

to him multiple times. We learned this was week

two again. We see that God speaks to him multiple

times, but it was not until Samuel recognized

it was God, with a little help from Eli. And

humbled himself, because he said what? He came

and he's like, speak to me, your servant is listening.

That he received a life -changing word that would

lead, that one word from God would lead to his

becoming. From Samuel, and he's just a young

boy. And it doesn't matter how old you are. It

doesn't matter where you are in life. It doesn't

matter what's going on or what you've done or

not done. God has a word for you today. And he

wants to change your life. Then we talked about

Moses. When God saw Moses turn aside, this was

last week, when God saw Moses turn aside from

his routine tasks and concerns, And all of a

sudden he was looking at the burning bush, that

story, and it says that he turns aside and looks.

I think I have it up here. Yeah, Exodus 3, 2

through 5 says this. When the Lord saw, get this,

when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look,

God called to him from the midst of the bush.

When Moses turns away from his tasks of taking

care of the flock or whatever, When he turns

aside to look, that's when God called to him

from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses.

And he said, here I am. Moses is like, here I

am. The words from this encounter with God changed

his life, led to his becoming. This was the start

date, right? To all the great things that Moses

was going to do. It all started right there with

one word from God. And that's why his word is

so important to us. Something that stood out

to me last week at the end of this, just kind

of want to point this out here. In verse 5 it

says, Then he said, this is God talking to Moses.

It says, Do not draw near this place. Take your

sandals off your feet, for the place where you

stand is holy ground. What changed? What changed?

Moses was standing in the same dirt as he was

before. He's still right there by his little

task, wandering in the wilderness with his little,

you know. He's still just in it. Look, come on.

Did the dirt change? No. He's in the same dirt.

He's in the same location. But now something's

different. Now something's different. Come on.

Moses is standing in God's presence. But I thought

he was in the dirt in Mount Horeb. No, now he

is standing in the presence of God on holy ground.

Take off your sandals. Don't let anything in

this physical life get between you and what I

have for you and the word that I want you to

speak. Throw it off. Get it away. Taste and see.

The Lord is good. Amen? Moses is standing in

God's presence on holy ground. Moses was at two

places at one time. Think about it. He's at two

places. His flesh was in the desert at Mount

Horeb, but his spirit is now in the presence

of God. There's a lesson here. Don't miss it.

You don't have to go off. You don't have to have

some physical geographical place to access the

presence of God. And don't let anyone tell you

otherwise. You have access. Say, I have access.

I have access to the throne room of eternity.

I have access to the very presence of God right

here where I'm at. No matter where. No matter

I'm at work, I'm in my car. No matter. I have

access. But it takes me to turn aside. It takes

me humbling myself. It takes me sitting at his

feet, valuing his word. No matter where you are

in the natural, you have access to the presence,

to his presence. let's turn now to ephesians

it says god even when we were dead in trespasses

i love this made us alive together with christ

get happy we are made alive some of us still

feel like we're dead in the room we're dead from

the day before no we're alive together with christ

amen by grace we have been saved And he raised

us up together. Woo! He's alive. God's alive.

We're coming in on Easter. I'm already happy

about it. He's alive, and he raised us up together.

His resurrection promises us our resurrection,

right? So we will rise up with him, together

with Christ. Why? Because we are in him. And

he made us what? Sit together in heavenly places

in Christ Jesus. We just read this and we don't

act like it's real. But it's time for the people

of God to start acting like the word of God is

real. God's waiting on us to get a hold of it,

to walk in it, to believe it. Because you live

and you act on what you believe. And if you're

like, well, I believe it, but I don't really

do it, no, you're just deceiving yourself. And

a lot of times we, you know, if you're a Christian,

you believe that that's a part of that, is you've

been made alive together with Christ, that by

grace you've been saved. You take a hold of that.

If you haven't taken a hold of that, you're not

a Christian. Okay? And he's raised us up together.

We're going to be raised up with him. That's

a promise for God. We take a hold of, but we

stop there. This third thing here says that he

made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ

Jesus. So God is in us. Everybody say, God is

in me. God is in me. And he is seated. Where's

God seated? He's seated at the right hand of

the Father. And since we are in Christ, who's

in Christ? Raise your hand. There you go. I'll

embarrass you if you don't raise your hand. It's

fine. Since we are in Christ, get this. The verse

just said, we are seated with him in his presence

in heaven. Woo! Come on. I may be right here

today and talking, but man, in Christ, I'm seated

at the right hand of the Father. God is sitting

down. His word is yes and amen. His promises

are fulfilled. Amen. His promises are already

there and available for us and we have access

to it. When we pray, we're not saying like, oh,

manufacture this thing for me to have. He's already

made it available. He's just like, you need to

take a hold of it. And many Christians are not

entering into the things in which they have access

to. And you're missing out. And it's not that

God's holding out on you. And if you only knew

what you were missing out on, if you only knew

what a relationship with God looks like and fellowship

with Him, Constantly. Few only knew. But we are

seated with him in the presence in heaven. 1

Corinthians 6 .19 says this. Don't you realize

that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit

who lives in you and was given to you by God.

This word temple is very interesting. The Greek

word here. is referring specifically to the inner

sanctuary. So if you're familiar with the tabernacle

or the temple in the Old Testament, and that

picture, it's not just referring to the whole

outer court. They had different layers, and this

is referring to where God's presence dwelt, the

Holy of Holies, the innermost part. which only

the high priest could enter once a year on the

Day of Atonement. So God here is not saying that

we are just the general temple, but we are this

inner part, the holiest of holies, the place

with immediate intimate access to God. So we

have immediate unlimited access to the most holy,

sacred place. And if we're in God's presence,

and he's in heaven, when we enter in, we are

entering into the throne room of eternity. When

we come to him, when we turn aside, you've got

to realize that your body may be in a physical

place, but your spirit, because we're spirit

beings, God is spirit, we're spirit beings. And

by the Spirit, by the Holy Spirit on the inside

of us, by the blood of Jesus, has given us access

to this place. Jesus had a, I would say, you

know, as our archetype, as our model for how

to live, right? He prayed a lot. He communed

with the Father a lot. In fact, he said, anything

that you hear me say is from my Father. It's

because my Father told me, right? He also, at

times, would go off. Like after he fed the 5

,000s, he would go off and he would pray to his

Father in heaven. At the Garden of Gethsemane,

he would pray. He would have those times. Why

was it important for Jesus to have those times

with the Father? Think about it. Just a little

food for thought. I think it was important to

him, but also I think as a model for us, we need

to see that importance. If it was important to

the master, is it not important for the servant?

I don't believe we're placing enough importance

on this. We need times of intimate fellowship

and communion with the Father. We say that cliche

like Christianity is a relationship. You know,

it's not a religion, it's a relationship. God

really wants fellowship, uninterrupted fellowship

with you to do life together. And in Matthew

6, we're about to turn there. There's something

very interesting, and then we're done today.

But the disciples come to Jesus. Listen, don't

miss this. The disciples come to Jesus and they

say, teach us how to pray. And a lot of times

we focus on the prayer, which is the Lord's prayer.

Our God in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Your

kingdom come, your will be done. How many of

you have heard that? Yeah, we focus on that.

And a lot of times we'll even pray that before

certain things. And it's fine, even though God

warns us about vain repetition. Sorry. So we

need to be careful because he's a person, we're

a person. If I went to my wife every single day

and I was just like, you know, hey, honey, how's

it going? You're great. You're beautiful. Bye.

If I said that exact same rhyme like every single,

like just every single day and that was it, what

kind of relationship would we have? That'd be

pretty poor, right? Yeah. So don't say the same

things. I ain't going to listen to that. You

know, that's not. That's not cool. But listen,

in Matthew 6, I want you, don't miss this, before

Jesus gives them what to pray, because the disciples,

they're going, teach us how to pray. We see that

you go off and you're talking to God and something

about your prayer is so different and so radically

different than mine. And you come back and all

of a sudden, you know, you've been with the Father,

you're saying like, something's different. I'm

missing out on something. And it's funny, they

didn't say, like, teach us how to heal. Teach

us how to do all these spectacular things. You

know, they're coming to him and they're saying,

teach us how to pray. Teach us how to pray like

you pray. And before he tells them what to pray,

listen, a lot of times we skip over this little

introductory part. Before he tells them what

to pray, he tells them how to pray and where

to pray. Look at this. Matthew 6, 6. When you

pray, go into your room. And when you have shut

your door, pray to your Father who is in the

secret place. And your Father who sees in secret

will reward you openly. Let's break that down.

So when you pray, he says to enter, to come into.

Okay? He's saying to enter. It's interesting,

right? When you pray, enter. Come into. Where

are we going to? Your room. I thought your was

just kind of like inserted, but it's actually

there. It's personal. It's possessive. Your room.

And that word there, that Greek word, temion,

it conveys the concept of a private or inner

room. It's used in the New Testament specifically

to refer to a place of privacy or intimacy. It's

a metaphoric place. An inner place, not a physical

place. Got me? Tracking? We're good? So when

you pray, go into your... Room, something that

belongs to you, something that you have access

to and enter in. You know, when you walked in

this room this morning, you were out in the lobby.

When you cross that threshold, all of a sudden

it's like, boom, the whole room's bigger. Things

change. It's a different place. And I believe

this is one of those thresholds that God wants

us to cross. If you don't like where you're at,

you need to enter into his presence. And look,

everything gets better. Everything's better in

the presence of God. Come on. If you don't like

your surroundings, get over and enter. Cross.

Come into. Inside. Where are we going? This is

not saying that you have to pray in a closet.

There was a popular Christian movie that kind

of promoted this idea, and I've heard people

all my life talk about this inner closet. You've

got to find a closet, have your little prayer

place. And that's fine, right? You sit in your

car and you find a little place to quiet your

mind and to eliminate distractions. Everybody

has their own process, right? But we don't need

to make that thing just... Sacrilege, some kind

of religious thing that's not reality. Because

God, a lot of times we like to treat God as like,

well, I visit him and then I leave him. Once

I leave this place of intimacy, I walk out and

keep going about my day. So I keep returning

when I need a recharge or a fill. And then I

go out into my life and then everything's normal.

Nothing changes. God doesn't want this. He wants

this. He wants your heart. He wants your day.

He wants your moments. He wants your breath.

He wants your life to be a living sacrifice to

him. It's pleasing to him, right? We don't have

to pray in a closet because we have access. When

we pray, we are commanded to enter our inner

private place that belongs to us. Come on. And

get this. A little fun, little inclusion here.

When you have shut your door. When you have shut

your door. So that is meaning, those are the

words there, and it means to shut, to close,

to lock the door, gate, or entrance. It describes

the act of closing a door with the implication

of preventing entry or access. This is an important

thing that can keep you from entering in. So

we're supposed to enter in our inner place because

we are the temple. We're entering in the presence

of God. And we have to shut the door. Look to

your neighbor and say, it's time to shut the

door. Time to shut the door. A lot of times,

a lot of times we're like, well, my mind just

wants to go this way and over here, and I just,

you know, I don't have, you know, everything's

just distracting. Soon as I'm trying to do that,

you know, I have good intention, I have desire,

and I go, and then something's knocking, something's

pulling at me, pulling away. Now, it can be good

things. It can be urgent things that pull you

away. But in those moments, you need to realize

that it's the thief who comes to steal. What

is he stealing? The most valuable thing to you

is what he steals. And if he can steal God's

word from you, he can keep you from being, keep

you from having the promises, keep you. From

experiencing God. We have control. And before

you say, well, I just don't have control, and

you don't understand, that's the fruit of the

Spirit. It's just been like on me lately. But

I have control over what has entry or access

to me. Why? Because I'm strong enough? Can I

build up mental fortitude enough to prevent things

giving me access? Maybe if I can just hold that

door shut. Put on some noise -canceling headphones

and block out the world around me. And just,

I'll go to some village and, you know. Is that

what God wants? No. See, we've got to realize

when we read things like this in Scripture, God's

telling you to do something. He's commanding

you. And God's command and his word gives you

the ability to stand on it for it to be real

in your life. So if he says I can shut the door,

then I have the ability to. And if the enemy

tries to say, you can't do that, you turn around

and tell the enemy. Say, you have no authority

here. Come on, I'm in Christ. He is above all

things. He's in authority. I'm in Him. And you're

under my feet. If God has authority to do it,

I have authority in Him. And if He's telling

me that I can, then I have the ability to. We

have the authority over what has access to us.

We have authority over what can pull us away.

We have control and authority over our minds,

the thoughts and what I think. I have control

over my focus. I have control over that. And

God has given me that authority. Especially when

my focus is for Him and on Him, nothing can pull

me away. Because that is my God -given command.

That's my God -given right. So shut the door.

Turn aside. Shut the door. Let's continue on.

The father who is in the secret place and your

father who sees in secret, We reward you openly.

Your prayer life, because you are a house of

prayer. The temple of God was a house of prayer.

And God sees that. And what happens in that time

and that fellowship with him impacts everything

outside of that moment. If you could draw a circle

around you while you were praying, whether you're

at your job or whatever, I don't care what you're

doing, if you're praying and in the Spirit and

talking to God and you're fellowshipping with

Him, everything outside of that circle is going

to be fine. It's going to be taken care of. That's

all God wants for you. That's all you need. He

provides. He's the source. We've been talking

about that all day, right? He's the source. He

provides. He takes care of me. He leads me beside

still waters. So why do I fear? Why do I worry?

If I'm with God, I'm talking with him, and my

value is his word and his treasure, right? And

it's not the stuff. The things of God are not

the stuff of God. If we get concerned trying

to achieve the stuff, we're never going to have

anything. Right? It's about the person. It's

about the person. And that's what God wants for

you. He just wants you. The other week, someone,

they were like, you know, they were coming to

me, and I was like, God just wants you. They're

like, what do you have me to do? God just wants

you. He wants to spend time with you. He'll show

you. He'll do something for you. He'll lead you.

He'll guide you. That's what he wants. And that's

what we need more than anything else. This year,

this week, I don't care what you came in with.

I don't care what baggage you got. I don't care

what's happening in your life. The one thing

you need and the one necessary thing I need is

not more information, but I need revelation from

God. Amen? Pray to your Father who is in the

secret place. This refers to what is not visible

or known to others. It contrasts to what is outwardly

visible to what is inwardly concealed. It's heaven.

It's the holy ground that Moses was standing

on. It's the secret place of God. And I don't

know if you've ever been to Disney before. There's

these places in each park called Club 33 lounges.

I know we're in the Disney Mecca, so, you know,

illustrations are slim. So, but in the parks,

there's like a secret place where only those

who have access can enter, can step away from

the day -to -day and the fun and all the crowd,

and they can be nourished, and they can have,

you know, come on, and they can enter into a

place that only they have access to. Heaven is

not a secret place because it is hidden from

us or he's hiding it from us. It's secret because

only those who are in Christ have access to enter

and take hold of the God -given rights and privileges.

I read this the first week, but it's so powerful.

We just got to see this again in this light.

Hebrews 10, 19. And so, dear brothers and sisters,

we can boldly enter heaven's most holy place.

Not just heaven. It's not just the outer courts.

And those are wonderful. It's not just that.

We can enter the most holy place. The holiest

of holy place. The throne room. Come on. By his

death, Jesus opened a new and life -giving way

through the curtain into the most holy place.

If we're not entering it, we're not taking advantage

of the things that God has for us. He's made

something available to us that we're not walking

into. And as Christians, I think we need to realize

this. We need to start doing it. I don't care

if you've not done it, but we need to change

and start entering in. Because once you know,

once it's revealed to you, you need to take a

hold of it and walk in it. So enter through the

curtain into the most holy place. So let us come

boldly. This is verse 16, backing up. So let

us come boldly to the throne of our gracious

God. And what? There we will receive his mercy,

and we will find grace to help us when we need

it the most. How many of you are thankful for

the mercy of God? How many are thankful for the

grace and his precious promises from him? It's

there. It's that place is where we receive it.

It's not praying and asking for those things.

It's at his feet. When we humble ourselves before

God, that's when those things come real to us.

That's when the word of God, we receive it, and

then now I can do the impossible because I'm

standing on a word from God. I have the ability.

I have the authority. With one word from God,

You can walk across the water and defy the natural

laws of reality, right? With one word from God,

that's something I can stand upon, something

that I can take to the bank. Because it matters.

You and I need a word for God more than anything

else, more than your next meal, more than your

next breath. We need a word from God. And what

happens in 1 Corinthians 2, 9 through 10? This

is fun. But as it is written, I have not seen,

nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart

of man the things in which God has prepared for

those who love him. God has something that's

mind -boggling. I'm popping. Greater things than

you can even imagine he has prepared for those.

Don't get mad at me. This is what the Bible says.

If you have a problem with it, you have a problem

with Scripture. Don't think God wants you broke,

busted, and disgusted. He has great things prepared

for you. Do you believe that? His plans for you

are good to prosper, Jeremiah 29, 11, to give

you a future and a hope. That's who God is. Don't

let anybody tell you otherwise. That's what he

has for you. We need to believe that. I'm just

letting it sit because I want you to see it.

I want you to get a hold of this and really,

really get it. Things that you can't even see.

Things that you have never heard. Things that

have never entered your heart. He has prepared

for those great and precious things for you.

But God has what revealed them to us, how? Through

his Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things,

yes, the deep things of God. Now we have received,

not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who

is from God, that we might know the things that

have been freely given to us by God. I will know

them. I will see them. I will see them before

I see it. Right? The things that God has freely

given to us. One thing is necessary to spend

focused, intentional, intimate time with God

and receive a word from him. Sit at his feet.

Sit at his feet. Humble yourselves before him.

And say, speak, your servant is listening. Right?

And turn aside from the trivial things in your

life and value his word. Value his word more

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