[0:00] Amen. Let's start at verse...
[0:36] Start at verse 4. John 15 and verse 4. And the Word of God says, Abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine.
[1:00] No more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine. Ye are the branches. He says, I want you to understand where you are, where I am.
[1:14] I'm the vine. I'm the source. And you are the branches. And he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.
[1:30] Remember, say much. Much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. Amen. Now we're going to go to Luke 10.
[1:41] Luke chapter 10. Verse 38. All very familiar. You can probably write it this morning. Some point this year.
[1:55] Luke 10, verse 3 and verse 38. And it says, Now what came to pass, as they went, that he entered, thinking of Jesus, that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
[2:14] She welcomed him in. Martha said, Yeah, come on in, Jesus. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
[2:27] But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me? Everyone say left me. She has left Martha to serve alone.
[2:41] Bid her, therefore, that she help me. She's telling Jesus what to do. Hey, tell her to come back. And Jesus answered and said unto her, verse 41, Martha, Martha, now we're careful and troubled about many things.
[2:55] But one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. And I want to preach. I want to just, I want to talk on this subject.
[3:08] Sit yourself before you wreck yourself. Sit yourself before you wreck yourself. Amen. Hey, let's have a word of prayer.
[3:18] Father, we love you. God, so much has already happened here this morning, God. And Lord, Lord, help us to hear your word. God, I'd be ready, God, when you are trying to speak to us this morning, God.
[3:30] Help us have ears to hear. Help us be that good soil, God, that receives the word, and not that ground that rejects the word. Lord, help us this morning, Lord.
[3:40] We love you. We praise you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen, amen. Praise the Lord. You ever have those conversations with your spouse, and it just, thank you, sister.
[4:03] The timing is impeccable. My goodness. But you have those conversations with your spouse, and talking about your children. But it's like, you know, God is speaking to you through your wife about your children.
[4:21] Okay? Like God is working something out, but he wants to, he's trying to, he's talking to you to try and work something out in you. And, you know, we go on date nights, and it seems like we always have conversations about our kids.
[4:35] We can never just be us, you know, talking about us, and about our lives, and about whatever. Anyways, but, Deanna and I were talking about our son, one of our sons, I'll let you guess which one it was.
[4:46] And she said, you know, you ever notice how, he can't just sit still? He can't just sit still. You know, he, he said, okay, sit down, and he's just jumping around, and he's, okay, you can just guess who that might be.
[5:01] I know. Sorry, Cash. No, not him. And I said, yeah, you know what? I did, I have noticed that. I have noticed that about my, about, about my kid.
[5:14] And he's, you know, he's super fidgety, just all over the place. He wiggles, he bounces, he hits things, taps things, you know, everything's a drum to this kid.
[5:26] And even when we try to watch a movie, or watch, or just sit and read the Bible, you know, it's like he's constantly moving, doing something. And I, I said, yeah, you know, I've asked him, hey, sit with me.
[5:41] Why can't you just sit down with me? Why can't you just be with me? And why, hey, why can't you just settle down and just be with dad, just hang out? And, and, it was, it was like in that moment, we were discussing, like I felt this, this nudge, or I felt this, this whisper, or I felt just, this impression on my heart, not like I heard the audible voice of God, but, it was like, Matt, why can't you sit still?
[6:13] Matt, why can't you stop fidgeting? Matt, why can't, the Lord's saying, Matt, why can't you sit with me? A while. What are you, what are you doing?
[6:26] Why are you constantly moving around and, and fidgeting? Why can't you just sit and be with me? And it hit me. My soul, it's as fidgety as Tom's body.
[6:41] Oh, I said, I named him, whoops. But I, you know, I, I get restless, you know, I get hurt, and I get busy. I, you know, I feel like I, at times I rush through prayers.
[6:54] And I'm expecting everyone to kind of be real right now, and, and just kind of, you know, understand what I'm saying, because I think we all can relate to that. We rush through scriptures. We rush through our Bible reading.
[7:05] We put our, we put our Bible reading on two times, so we can get through it. Come on, somebody. Let's, come on, be honest. We put our Bible reading, don't leave it at the regular speed.
[7:16] We put it on two times, and, we don't know anything that was said. I thought, man, Lord, you got me on that one. I mean, there's many others, but Lord, you got me.
[7:29] I, I don't sit well. I don't sit with you. I don't just, I'm not just still with me. And I know I'm not alone. I know I'm not alone.
[7:41] I mean, not in this generation. Come on, somebody. Because here's a reality. There was one study that said Americans check their phones 96 times per day.
[7:53] You're probably on your phone right now. You're probably fidgeting with your phone right now. The average person touches their phone, and you're like, and?
[8:03] The average person touches their phone 2,617 times every day. Our attention span is eight seconds, and the goldfish has an attention span of nine seconds.
[8:24] Come on, somebody. We are losing the goldfish. We live in a world that's constantly overstimulated, over-notified, over-scheduled, overwhelmed, getting nowhere fast.
[8:42] Stillness is foreign. Silence feels awkward to people. I got a, there's someone that told me, I can't sit in silence. I can't stand it.
[8:54] I got to have a fan on. I got to have a movie on in the background. I got to have some plane on in the background. I just can't stand silence. I'm like, well, you can't stand your own thoughts?
[9:04] They said, no, actually, that's important. Sitting feels unnatural. We feel like we have to be doing something, and moving around, and I get it. We're all, we know the things that we have to do, and things that we got to get done.
[9:17] But there's, there's a blessing in sitting. There's a blessing in waiting. There's a blessing, and we're going to talk about this, abiding. Abiding. So when Jesus says, abide in me, it feels like he's speaking another language to this generation, to our culture.
[9:35] Because to sit and abide, to sit and wait, to sit and be with him, in our culture, in our generation, feels kind of awkward. Because abiding is not the way we live.
[9:49] Hurrying is the way we live. Hurrying to the next thing, the next movie, the next episode, the next show that we got to watch. There was another quick study about Netflix, how we, we'll spend 16 minutes, looking for, something to watch on Netflix.
[10:07] We'll be scrolling to find something. Anyways, but let's get to the word. Let's get to the word, see what Jesus is telling us.
[10:17] We read in John 15, and as part of this, as part of this, that chapter 14, and 16, are these chapters that are part of this, what's called the farewell disclosure.
[10:31] Okay, they're, they're in the upper room, and Jesus is about, in a few hours, about to be, betrayed, and be, crucified, and taken, and flogged.
[10:41] And, but Jesus is with his disciples, and this farewell disclosure. And John 15 is not random. It's, not a, a picnic.
[10:52] It's not on a hillside. It's not in front of a crowd, but, Jesus, is meeting with his, his disciples. Okay, is being intimate with his people. And this is his last conversation, before the cross.
[11:06] And right at the center, the heartbeat of what's happening, in John 15, we read, abide in me, and I in you.
[11:21] He's already washed their feet. He's all, do likewise to one another. Talked about loving one another. But, now he goes into this, this, this lesson about abiding in him.
[11:36] He said, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me, I am the vine. And you're the branches.
[11:47] He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. I know, in all honesty, we want to be fruity.
[12:02] I kind of, I kind of caught you guys a little bit. In all honesty, we want to bear fruit, right? I know that that, that has connotation to it, but, we want to bear fruit. And the reason why we don't bear fruit, is because we are not abiding, in him.
[12:17] And we're going to get into, why we don't, and, you know, the benefits, and not just the benefits, but, what happens when we do. But just in the very get go, I want to say, we need to abide in him.
[12:31] We need to take some time, to sit at the feet of Jesus, and be connected to him. You know, we've had a lot, listen, this morning, we've had a lot of emotion going already. And right now, I, I can still feel the Holy Ghost.
[12:43] I can, I can still feel the Spirit of God moving. And, and he's reaching someone this morning. And if you're, I mean, if you're distracted this morning, if your mind's somewhere else, I'm telling you, don't miss your blessing.
[12:57] Don't hide, also. Don't miss it, and don't hide. Hmm. What abide in the Greek is, meno, or a meno.
[13:10] And it's not complicated. It means, stay, remain, continue, dwell, linger, don't rush off, don't disconnect, tarry.
[13:24] Jesus is not, he's not suggesting, this is not a polite suggestion. That he's giving, he's instructing. He's telling them, you're about, he's telling his disciples this.
[13:37] He says, you know, I'm going to die. I'm going to be gone. I'm going to send the comforter, the promise of the Father, I'm going to send the comforter. He says, but, you're about to face a bunch of pressure.
[13:51] Something you've never felt before. You're about to walk through storms. You're about to be persecuted. You're about to be imprisoned. You're about to be whipped and beaten for the gospel's sake.
[14:04] You're about to minister. You're about to minister beyond capacity. You're about to preach revivals. He says, but you can't do any of it without staying close to me.
[14:17] You can't do any of those things and bear fruit without staying connected to me. Abiding is not optional.
[14:31] It's growth. Abiding is not bonus. It's the source. Abiding is not extra. It's essential to our walks with God.
[14:42] And perhaps the reason why we're not moving beyond the place where we are right now is because we're not abiding in Him. The reason why we're not growing spiritually, the reason why we're not advancing or seeing things happen in our lives is because we are not abiding.
[14:59] The closest thing we get to abiding sometimes is just Sunday mornings. Hello? This is not, look, this is not, how do I say this?
[15:16] I'm trying to give us some hope this morning. That Jesus wants us to abide. He wants us to stay connected to Him. Amen. Come on, somebody. And Jesus is giving us these instructions.
[15:28] And He's saying, you can't do anything. You're not going to be able to do those things without me. Why would we try and do something without the Lord? Why?
[15:40] Ask yourself. Think about it. Why would we try and do something without Jesus? Being connected to Him. Why would we try and make decisions without praying?
[15:51] Why would we try and do things without seeking His face? And call it on God. Making family decisions, life decisions, without first seeking the Lord. You know, I was talking with a friend the other day.
[16:04] And I was like, you know what? I think I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that. And he says, well, have you prayed about it? I said, oh, here we go. Never going to hear this whole praying about it thing.
[16:15] He says, dude, be specific. So fleece God. Like Gideon did. He said, be specific. Give a time frame. Say, God, this, this, and this, this time frame.
[16:31] I thought, you know what? That's really good. You're right. And I felt convicted about that. Because I should pray about that. I should ask God to help me just make those decisions.
[16:42] Amen. Instead of just deciding emotionally. Right? Because our emotions are up and down. Our decisions kind of go that way sometimes too. So now we're in the upper room, right?
[16:54] With the Last Supper. But now I want us to go to a different room. A smaller house. That's in Bethany. Let's go to Luke 10. And here we have Mary and Martha.
[17:06] And they're inviting Jesus. Well, Martha invites Jesus into her house. Don't skip that.
[17:19] Martha invites Jesus in. Martha welcomed him. Opened the doors. Martha wanted his presence in the house.
[17:30] Come on, somebody. She wanted it to be there. Mary didn't do that. Martha did. And here's the thing. We need Martha's in the church. We need Martha's that work.
[17:42] That do stuff. That build stuff. That take care of things. That host. That they work hard. They serve. They carry the weight. They build. And they do. But Martha's story teaches us that you can invite Jesus here.
[17:57] And hear me on this one. Martha's. She teaches us that. You can invite Jesus into your house. And still not sit with him. You can invite Jesus.
[18:10] And invite his presence into this place. And still not experience his presence. Still not sit at the feet of Jesus. Like we invited the presence of God this morning.
[18:22] We worship. And God's gracious to us. But how many of us actually sat at his feet? How many of us actually entertained his presence?
[18:35] Welcomed him. Yes. But also said, yes, Lord. I want to sit in your presence. Because I want to be changed. I want to be transformed. I want to be different, Lord.
[18:45] All right. You can welcome him in. But you can. You may not remain in him. And Jesus says, Martha, you are cumbered about so much.
[19:01] Because she comes out of this. These houses. Maybe 800 square feet. Okay. That's like my little house. When I first got married right here on Eagleberry Street. It was like a little, like 400 or 500 square foot house.
[19:15] You know. It's like you step into one. You stand in the living room. You step here. You're in the kitchen. You stand in the living room. You step there. You're in the bedroom. You stand here. You step there. You're in the bathroom. You're in the backyard. You know.
[19:26] It's so small. You're like right there. Mary. And Jesus is, or Mary, she's running around.
[19:38] And she's doing all these, you hear the clay pots. You hear everything clatter and ping and bang and all the stuff moving around. You smell the bread that's making them burning.
[19:51] You hear all the conversation. You feel the energy of the place that's going on. And then Mary, she calls out her sister. She said, you know, why does she get a sit at his feet?
[20:08] And I don't. She has left me. Don't you care? So here's what this lets me know.
[20:20] And plus you can just look at the context of the culture. You know, the women would prepare the meals. They would prepare for the guests. Everything ready. And so when she says, she left me, it implies that Mary was serving.
[20:39] It implies that Mary was serving. She was working. But when Jesus entered the house and started to speak, she stopped. And she sat at his feet.
[20:51] Which again, also was against cultural norm. Women would not be at the feet of a rabbi or the feet of a teacher. And Jesus affirmed it and says, hey, she's chosen the better thing to do.
[21:05] You're covered about so much. You're distracted. Hello. We're talking about distractions again. You're doing so much. You're being so busy thinking you're doing the right thing.
[21:17] I know I'm talking to somebody right now. But Mary has chosen the better thing to do. And that's to sit at my feet and hear my words and hear my teachings.
[21:30] But I also want to say this. Martha was not wicked. She was stretched. She was distracted and she was overwhelmed. Does that sound like 2025?
[21:42] Does that sound like your house? Come on, somebody. So when she said, left me, she left me, it was because there was something better that Mary saw.
[21:56] She took advantage of the opportunity. And when Jesus is in the house, we got to take advantage of every opportunity, church. When his presence is in the house, that is the opportunity we need to take a hold of.
[22:09] Amen. Not conversation, not on our phones. It's dwelling in his presence and feeling after him. Say, Lord, I'm struggling this morning.
[22:20] God, I got a stony heart. God, I got a thorny heart right now. I got a thorny soil. There's cares of life that are crushing out and pressing out and choking out the word of my life.
[22:30] The enemy is choking out the word of my life. The enemy is stealing the word out of my life. And I feel myself drifting out, God. Would you help me?
[22:41] Those are the moments we got to take advantage of. I don't feel like shouting this morning. I just want to talk to us today. Amen.
[22:53] Mary wasn't lazy, but she made a choice. She chose presence over productivity. She chose presence over productivity. And she sat at his feet, saying, Lord, I'm your student.
[23:11] I receive your teaching. I am present. Because when you sit at someone's feet, when you sit down, I mean, you're vulnerable. You are surrendered.
[23:22] And in that moment, she was totally surrendered to what God was doing in that room. God in flesh.
[23:33] I am surrendered. Mary was not avoiding responsibility, but she was choosing, in that moment, discipleship. Amen. Let me pray for a minute.
[23:51] God, we love you today. Lord, we thank you, God, for your word and for your presence. Would you help us, Lord, to hear the voice of God speaking to us? Would you help us, Lord, to feel after your spirit?
[24:04] God, help us to feel after the Holy Ghost this morning, God. For your presence is in this house. Help us to abide in you, O God, today. Hallelujah.
[24:15] In the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. So imagine, they're in this tiny little house.
[24:29] This little place with a few different rooms. And it's packed with people in it. There's lots of noises. If you've ever had guests over your house and you're trying to host, there's a lot going on in that kitchen.
[24:47] I mean, you see, like, you see stuff flying across the room just preparing. You see lettuce just going this way. You see mashed potatoes go, I mean, tamale leaves going this way. Someone bring tamales next week, please.
[25:02] But a small stone home, a one room, no privacy, food simmering, bread baking, oil lamps going off. And the voice of Jesus is filling the whole house.
[25:16] Just put yourself there in that room. The voice of Jesus is filling the whole house. And all you see is this lady packing or running back and forth.
[25:27] She's pacing back and forth. But Mary, can you see this in your mind's eye? Jesus seated and teaching. And Martha back and forth.
[25:39] Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Clanging stuff. But Mary is still at the feet of Jesus. Still and quiet hearing the words of the master.
[25:53] She's focused. She's focused. Busy in the same room where Jesus is present. But too hurried to be close to him.
[26:06] That's us sometimes. We can be busy around him but not sitting with him. But the question is, why don't we abide?
[26:19] Why don't we? Ask yourself that question. Think about it. Why don't I sit at the master's feet? Why do I not abide?
[26:30] If I know I'll bear much fruit, if I know I'm going to bless my life and better my life, why don't I do it?
[26:41] Why? Why don't we sit? Why don't we tarry? Why don't we stay?
[26:51] Stillness exposes what noise hides. Stillness in his presence exposes what noise and activity hide in our lives.
[27:05] Silence brings up feelings we avoid. Fear, anxiety, insecurity, unresolved pain. Things God wants to heal.
[27:18] Hello. God wants to heal. Amen. Noise hides it but stillness reveals it and it makes us uncomfortable. So we run to stillness and rather running to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[27:33] Here's a second, another reason why. Distraction feels easier than intimacy. Distraction and busyness feels easier than intimacy.
[27:46] Getting on our phone or whatever device we might have. Putting something on. Being busy about stuff.
[27:58] Feels a whole lot easier than actually sitting at the feet of Jesus and working out those things in our hearts. Allowing God to work out those, that feeling of insecurity, that feeling of whatever it might be.
[28:13] Maybe you have regret in your life. Maybe you feel you regret some things and you have a hard time sitting still in God's presence and allowing him to touch you. But don't let regret stop you from coming to the master.
[28:28] Don't let regret stop you from coming to his feet and sitting in his presence. Hallelujah. Don't let regret for something that you said or something that you did that may have hurt somebody.
[28:42] Stop you from coming to the feet of Jesus and allowing him to heal your life. Because that's what he wants to do. He wants to bring healing. Thank God for that.
[28:55] Thank God for healing. Thank God for healing. But it's going to require us to sit at his feet and say, God, how would you heal my heart? God, I feel this pain in my life, God, and regret in my life, Lord.
[29:07] And it just, God, would you do surgery on me? Would you heal me? It's easier to scroll than to surrender.
[29:19] It's easier to watch than to worship. It's easier to move about than to meditate. Hello. Praise God.
[29:31] Help us, Lord. And we don't abide because we're numb to those things. The third reason why, hurry has become our normal. Hurry.
[29:41] Especially in the Silicon Valley. Get raised at a little slower pace, but it's starting to pick up a little bit. But hurry has become our normal. We live fast. We think fast. We move fast.
[29:52] We scroll fast. Our souls have forgotten how to slow down. You know, yesterday we were at the house and we decided to just, my wife's like, you know what?
[30:06] Our home is not homey. So we had to move some things around. So she's like, you know, we're going to move this here. We're going to move that there. I already planned to work on the garage.
[30:17] And she was like, let's go. I'll go out there with you. It's changed. She goes out there. And I'm working my way down. I'm like, all right. Let's go.
[30:29] So I get into the garage and she's already like, she's up around. And the Bella's out there vacuuming up some glass. You know, gosh, great. Let's go.
[30:40] They're already out there. We've got to get out there. It's bad. And then we bring in the table together. We bring in the, you know. But finally, at the end of it, you know, we're sitting there.
[30:54] We're pretty much done with what we were supposed to be doing that day. And we're sitting there and Deanna's still like, I love her. And she's still picking stuff up. Come sit with me.
[31:08] Let's talk. Yeah, but there's, I know. I'll help. But just come. Just come sit with me. Let's talk. Our souls have forgotten how to slow down.
[31:22] This is not a knock on her. I love her. And she just wants to get stuff done. And we kind of balance each other out, you know. Because I like to just chill. I want to just sit back and, you know.
[31:35] My wife, she wants to just get stuff done. There's certain things that I'm like, okay, I want to get this done. But I feel like at work, that's all I'm doing.
[31:46] Telling people what to do and move this here. I'm going to get home. I just want to. But, you know, our souls forget how to slow down. Amen.
[31:58] It's a big problem. We confuse activity with spirituality. Serving does not equal sitting. Doing does not equal abiding. Busyness does not equal closeness.
[32:12] It's true. This does not equal those things. You can be extreme. Think about it. You can be extremely active. You can be extremely active. Sorry, I'm going.
[32:23] My voice is changing. Going through puberty. Finally. You can be extremely active for Jesus. And extremely, but you can be extremely distant from him.
[32:36] You can be busy, busy, busy for the Lord. But at the heart of it, you're still far, far away from him. You don't know how to tarry anymore.
[32:52] We don't know how to tarry anymore. We don't know how to wait. We don't know how to linger. And for me to talk slow, paced right now, it's kind of making me uncomfortable.
[33:07] I'm sure. I mean, that's where we want the preacher to come in. Hey, my boss, go. Hey, hey, hey. You know. She had to buy a Honda. You know, all this stuff. And it's like. But for someone to slow down and say, hey, let's break this down.
[33:21] Let's talk about it. Because it's important. Makes some of us uncomfortable. But we've forgotten how to tarry. We know how to rush. We know how to produce. We know how to perform.
[33:32] We know how to multitask, which is a lie. We know how to check off boxes. But we don't know how to linger. We don't know how to wait. We don't know how to sit. We don't know how to remain in God's presence.
[33:46] Without doing some of this. Checking our emails. Getting on Instagram. Checking X, formerly known as Twitter. Okay. We don't know how to just sit and linger in his presence.
[34:02] We believe victory comes from striving. We believe victory comes from activity. And on and on and on it goes.
[34:13] Okay. On and on it goes about why we don't. And you have your reasons why. You have your reasons why you don't. I've seen all of you do that.
[34:24] All of us do that. But you know, some of us, we know why we don't. Let's be honest. But that's just a perfect moment for the enemy to get a foothold in our lives.
[34:37] Our unwillingness to sit at his feet is the enemy's most perfect opportunity. Because as a roaring lion, he roams around.
[34:50] He looks who he's going to devour. Satan is not afraid of busy Christians.
[35:03] Hello? But he's terrified of abiding ones. Because abiding is where clarity comes from. Where chains break. Lies unravel. Wounds heal.
[35:15] And peace enters. Identity is strengthened. And victory rises. What does abiding do for us? It brings peace.
[35:29] Abiding in his presence brings peace. Real peace. Deep peace. Peace that Jesus gives and the world cannot give. Amen. Amen. When we sit at his feet and we abide in him and we, he's our source.
[35:46] And the world's chaotic. When we have this peace because we're abiding in him. Because we slow down and say, Lord, I got to sit at your feet.
[35:57] And then the world asks you, this is the consequences of that. Why are you so peaceful? Why are you so calm? Let me tell you about Jesus. Let me tell you about what he's done for me in my life.
[36:11] And what he does for me. Let me tell you about him. Can you sit a little while with me while I tell you about my Jesus? Abiding brings clarity. Because it's in those moments that God speaks to us.
[36:26] Where our minds clear. And we can hear the direction. We can feel the direction of God in our lives.
[36:38] When we're so distracted and we're not abiding in God's presence. Everything seems okay to do. Everything seems right to do. And we're so in part with options that we just kind of have this analysis paralysis.
[36:56] Meanwhile, God's saying, move. Do this. I want you to do this. I want you to speak this. But to actually understand those instructions, we've got to sit a while at his feet.
[37:08] So it's peace that he brings in abiding. It's clarity that he brings in abiding. And victory comes with abiding.
[37:21] Because it's in his presence. It's in his abiding that walls fall down. Hallelujah. You got some walls in your life? Some of you might not admit it, but are there some walls in your life?
[37:34] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. It's in that abiding moment, moments, that the walls come down. It's in that abiding that the strongholds break.
[37:48] That strongholds break in our lives. Strongholds of unforgiveness. Strongholds that we build up in our own minds. Anxieties that we create in our own lives.
[38:02] Because we're not abiding and resting in his presence. I heard a great podcast. Dr. I don't remember her name.
[38:14] Is it Bonte Marshall? Is that Cassie Neal I'm talking about? Anyways. She's apostolic. She's a licensed UPCI minister. But she's also a psychologist.
[38:28] And she talks about the strongholds of the mind that we create ourselves. And we take the lives that the enemy produces, but we build these bricks.
[38:39] And we build these strongholds in our minds and in our lives. Because we give in to the lives of the enemy. But it's in the abiding that we can discern the difference. We can break those strongholds and they can come down.
[38:52] So you win when you abide in him. And you lose when you rush your way through his presence. Amen. But what does abiding look like?
[39:07] What does abiding look like for you? It's not deep. It's not complicated. It's not crazy algebra.
[39:19] It's nothing like that. It's not mystical. It's just real. Have a place of devotion in your life.
[39:30] I know I said it a while back, but you know how you can tell if you have a devotional life? If you can tell me, or you can tell somebody time and place. If you can name a time and place that you have devotion, you have a life of devotion.
[39:47] Here's the time. Here's the place. Say, I pray at this location and at this time. I pray on my way to work.
[39:58] It's 645. Whatever. But it creates a rhythm. It creates a rhythm in our lives. The second thing is, you know, a 60-second stillness break. Take a 60-second stillness break, church.
[40:11] Just one minute. Just one minute. Close your eyes. Breathe. Whisper. Pray. Say, Lord, I remain in you. God, I abide in you, Lord.
[40:23] And reset your soul. And the third thing is, you know, one verse you carry all day. Not a chapter, not one verse. Repeat it. Meditate on it.
[40:35] Let it shape your thoughts. This is not rocket science. This is really simple stuff. Somehow we just, we make it so complicated.
[40:49] It's so complicated that we don't do it. And we don't abide. And then we struggle. Church, we need to sit ourselves before we wreck ourselves. We need to sit ourselves at the master's feet.
[41:04] I'm talking about all of us. Every one of us. Sit ourselves at the master's feet before we wreck ourselves. Amen.
[41:14] Amen. We need a terror in his presence. When these altar calls happen, you know, are you rushed? Do you want to get to lunch? Do you want to get back home? I mean, I don't know.
[41:25] I'm just, I'm just asking you to think about it. I know me. Now there's a plane later. I got a few, hey, I got a few players on my fantasy football league that I want to see.
[41:36] Make sure they, not that I have any, you know, any way to make them score points. But I want to check and make sure that I'm winning. I get it. We got stuff going on. But when the moment comes, will we be like Mary and sit at his feet and leave all that other stuff and sit there and hear his words and be transformed?
[41:59] Or will we be like Martha and continue to be encumbered and distracted with so much serving that we could miss the moment of sitting at the Lord's feet?
[42:11] It's all about posture, church. It's all about the posture that we take with Jesus. The posture that we take. Is it at his feet? Is it in that vulnerable position?
[42:23] Because another, you know, another thing I thought about, the reason why we don't do it is because we give up control. And some of us want control. We like the control.
[42:38] But it requires us to surrender. Praise God. Let's all stand. Church, we're always going to need Martha's in the church.
[42:57] Church, we're always going to need people that serve and that carry the weight, that works with their hands.
[43:11] Again, I'm not knocking Martha. But we have to, have to. If we want to live for God, if we want to be successful and live for God, and we want to see our family's state change, their situation change.
[43:28] If we want to see our husbands, you know, living for God, or God touching their lives, our wives. Imagine what your own personal abiding would do.
[43:43] What kind of a witness that would be for them. We need to tarry. That's going to happen. Because tarry is where joy strengthens.
[43:56] Peace settles. Unity forms. Vision clarifies. Healing does come. Church's morning is not about to.
[44:11] Church's morning is not about to. We'll talk about this. It's about to. Some things about it. I don't want to say, you know, I see your faces.
[44:23] I see the reaction. I see the droopy eyes. You know, I see all those things. I can also see determination.
[44:39] I see. Only Cecilia, I see a determination. Play her eyes.
[45:05] for a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man who's a man That's true.
[45:39] Like a candle. He's been around a while. He's been around again. He's been around again. He's been around again.
[45:54] Church. God's striving for you.
[46:11] You just sit. I'm not even sharing in God's presence. Some of you are tired in your soul. Hear me, church.
[46:21] Hear me. Remember this morning. Some of you are tired in your soul.
[46:33] Some of you are restless. Some of you are overwhelmed. Okay. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.
[46:44] Let's go. Let's go. Some of you are overwhelmed. Some of you feel distant from God. Some of you feel spiritually fidgety this morning in your life.
[46:59] Some of you feel Martha's pressure. Some of you do. that some of you need to marry some foster. So this morning, this morning, this morning, Jesus is in this house.
[47:21] We've already felt his presence. We've already prayed. We've felt a touch of God. Jesus is in this house. He's not asking us to serve.
[47:31] He's asking us to sit. He's saying, sit yourself before you wreck yourself. Amen.
[47:49] Jesus. Jesus. Lord, I'm tired of my soul.
[48:10] I'm tired of my body. Lord, I feel weary. I feel full. I feel distracted. I feel restless.
[48:22] Lord, I feel distant from you, God. I feel so much pressure. So long.
[48:33] You need something for everybody, God. Hallelujah. But this morning, this is that merry moment. This morning is that merry moment in your lives, church.
[48:46] For his presence is here. Will you sit at the master's? Will you slow down long enough to feel the touch of God in your life?
[49:02] Will you be still long enough to feel the touch of the master? Will you abide long enough to get your breakthrough? Will you carry long enough to break those strongholds in your life?
[49:15] Will you sit long enough to feel the rest in your soul? Come on, church. Let him finish to you. Let him calm you down.
[49:27] Let him heal you. Let him break the strongholds in your life. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Let him tear the walls in your life.
[49:38] Let him restore that peace that passes all over the sand in your life. Hallelujah. Come on, church.
[49:50] Watch what God does. Come on. Rest in his presence and watch what he does. Hallelujah. If you said it for me, he can do it for you.
[50:00] If you said it for somebody else, he can surely do it for you in your life. Praise God.
[50:14] Praise God. Watch what's it going to take.
[50:27] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Come on. Don't be in a hurry for just tearing. Rest. Be still. Play those. Yes, Lord, hallelujah.
[51:07] Come on, that's it. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Jesus. Glory to God.
[51:20] Glory to God. Yes. Hallelujah. Come on, God's doing it.
[51:35] God's doing it. Come on. Feel his touch. Feel his goodness. Feel his peace. Feel his joy. We're going to hurry this morning, Lord.
[51:53] We're going to hurry today, Lord. We're going to be still. We're going to do this.
[52:24] That's it, church.
[52:39] Hallelujah. If you want to come to the Psalms and put on to her this morning, I'll come pray with you. Someone will come pray with you. Hallelujah.
[52:49] Hallelujah. Yes, Lord. Hallelujah. Some of you are right there.
[53:31] Some of you are right there. I want you all to listen real fast.
[53:46] Listen real fast, please. I want you all to listen real fast.
[54:24] I want you all to listen real fast.