One Thing

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.