 I believe that God wants to talk to you. It's time to come back to the simplicity of loving Jesus. In life, we can be distracted by so many things. Things can cause us to worry. Things can cause us to fret. Things can cause us to become frustrated or angry or unsatisfied. But when we come back to the simplicity of loving Jesus, everything falls into place. Perhaps you're in a season now where you sense as though there's nothing but turmoil and chaos all around you. Maybe you're living in confusion. Maybe you're living in spiritual weakness. Maybe that fire that you once sensed burning in your heart for the Lord has begun to weaken. And you're lifting your eyes to heaven now and you're saying, Lord, how do I come back to that place of burning for you? How do I come back to that place where Jesus is my obsession, my focus, my passion, my all in all? I pray as you listen to this simple message that the Holy Spirit would begin to light a fire in your heart again. Go with me now to Luke chapter 10. I'm gonna begin reading at verse number 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, 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. This is the one thing that far too many Christians neglect right here found in scripture. The Bible here describes a story of Jesus visiting the home of Martha and Mary. Now, both of these women recognize the greatness of Jesus. Both of them loved Jesus. Both of them welcomed Jesus. But they went about trying to connect with him in very different ways. They both wanted the same thing, a connection with the Lord to please him. But they went about it in very, very different ways. Martha became busy. She was so distracted by what she was doing for him that she forgot to sit with him. On the other hand, Mary was sitting with Jesus and Martha rebukes Mary for it or she wants the Lord to rebuke Mary. And she says, Lord, it's not right that I'm over here preparing this dinner. It's not right that I'm over here working to please you and Mary's just sitting there talking with you, enjoying conversation. Tell her to help me. And she fully expected that Jesus would rebuke Mary and say, go help Martha. Go get to work. Make sure you're doing something productive. But no, what does Jesus do? He says that Mary has discovered, she found the one thing, the one thing that truly matters and it will never be taken away from her. I want you to write this in the comment section. Write the one thing, the one thing. Type that in the comment section right now whether you're watching live or on the replay. The one thing, what is the one thing? What is that one thing that truly matters? What is that one thing that once found can never really be taken away from you? What is that one thing that's more important than doing things for God? Very simple. It's that first love. It's love for Jesus. It's connection with Jesus himself. Let me ask you. Do you remember what it was like when you first gave your heart to Jesus? Do you remember those early years of your Christianity? Perhaps you're in them now. Those times of simplicity. Where all you knew is that once you were blind, but now you see. All you knew was that you left behind a life of sin. All you knew was that guilt and shame were suddenly lifted from off of your shoulders and the newness of spiritual life was before you and you were overflowing with joy and peace and you were totally focused on one thing, just knowing Jesus. I just wanna know him. I just wanna draw closer. I just wanna know everything I can about him. You would read the scripture, not because it was an obligation, but because you just wanted to hear the voice of God to hear what he had to say to you. You would attend church, not because you felt guilty if you didn't, but because when you sat in church, you were able to worship him with his children and hear messages about him. Why? Because you simply loved him. Do you remember when you would avoid certain compromises, certain sins? Not again, out of a sense of obligation, but simply because you loved him too much and you wanted nothing to disrupt that fellowship that you had with him. You wanted nothing to distract you from the Lord. Well, what happens? Things become complicated, don't they? We actually complicate it. And in fact, when you really look and see as the Holy Spirit might reveal to you, you eventually find that that which is religious is always complicated. It's a complex, burdensome system placed on your shoulders. And that which is truly spiritual, that which is truly life-giving, that which is truly of the Holy Spirit is always very, very simple, not always easy, but very, very simple. And again, we complicate it. Remember those simple times. The sweetness of knowing Jesus. The stability you found in your emotions, in your mind, in your spirit, in your life, because you were anchored on one hope, one truth, Christ himself. Do you remember the joy that you sensed when you finally realized your purpose in God? Do you remember overflowing with that joy when you begin to hear about your identity in him and how he loves you? And do you remember when that love was enough? Do you remember when that love was enough, when that love of God, simply knowing that he has you in his hands and that nothing can snatch you from him? That simple faith. Those times sometimes become shaken. That simplicity sometimes becomes complicated. What do we do? We turn our Christianity into a long list of dos and don'ts. We wear on our shoulders the burden of earning our own salvation, not realizing there's nothing we could do to earn that in the first place. Don't hear what I'm not saying. Of course you should live holy. Of course you should live clean. But remember this, we don't live holy to be saved. We live holy because we've been saved. He's already saved us. And that is our response to him, our worship back, our reasonable service. It's our way of saying thank you for saving me now. I live a life pleasing to you, dedicated to you, dedicated to your glory. Well, we stray from this. And we have this long list. And there's nothing wrong, please hear me now. There's nothing wrong with doing things for God. There was nothing wrong with what Martha was doing. She was preparing a meal for Jesus. She wanted to please the Lord. She wanted to put a smile on his face. There's nothing wrong with that, but sometimes, believers, sometimes, we become so distracted by what we do for him that we simply forget being with him, knowing the beauty of that fellowship. Praying just to pray. Not praying to get something. Not praying to accomplish a goal. Not praying to check it off a list of religious obligations, but praying simply because we enjoyed prayer itself because prayer itself is time spent acknowledging the presence of God. Do you remember when you would worship just to worship? Not worship to get breakthrough, not worship to have an atmosphere, not worship to feel better, but worship simply because you knew he was worthy. And there's nothing wrong with wanting something from God. Course not. He's a good father. He desires to give to us and give us miracles and breakthrough. Of course, my goodness, what happened to the days of simplicity where worship was simply a response from your being, where worship was simply you responding to the greatness and the glory of God that was revealed by the Holy Spirit to you. What do we do? We compile our lists. Sunday morning church, daily Bible reading, 20 minutes in prayer, make sure to do this for the ministry, that for the church, that for fellow believers. Make sure to grow in this gift. Make sure not to do that. Make sure to do more of this. And we look at our Christianity like a performance. And what eventually begins to happen, and this is very subtle, is we move from confidence of acceptance in Christ to trying to earn his approval, trying to earn that acceptance by what we do for him. And it's a very subtle shift, but human nature does always tend to go that route. Human nature always errs on the side of religion. And so we go from that confidence in him, that knowing who we are in Christ, that realization of our connection with him to trying to earn that connection, to trying to earn that fellowship, to trying to earn his love and his approval, not realizing we already have it. You see, we serve not to win that approval, we serve from the place of approval. And perhaps in this season, you've experienced a great shaking. I know over the past several years, many believers have experienced this shifting. I feel like this is the way I put it anyway. I feel like over the last three or four years or so, it seems as though somebody grabbed the earth, shook it up, and then everything settled in a new place. Relationships shifted, businesses shifted, governments shifted, ministries shifted, family dynamics were shaken. How you viewed the world, what you placed your faith in, the sense of security in one thing or another, all of it shaken. And now many of us have come to this place where we're grasping for something familiar, where we've lost, so it seems, our sense of direction, our sense of belonging, that sense of familiarity. And for many in this season, things just seem so out of place and they can't quite put their finger on it. But over the past few years, that's what many have been experiencing, this great shaking. Many times, God will allow great shaking in our lives to reveal to us what remains stable. And the only thing that remains stable is Him. You build your life on Him and you have a solid foundation. But still, even though many of us have had this connection with God, we can't quite bring ourselves to snap out of this sense of insecurity, confusion, uncertainty. Again, like everything familiar and comforting has been taken away or rearranged in such a way that something just seems out of place, God is calling you back to the simplicity of loving Jesus. We get so wrapped up in our ministries. We get so wrapped up in our doctrines. We get so wrapped up in our debates. We get so wrapped up in our preferences for different types of church cultures. And what ends up happening is because we step off the foundation of Christ, we step out of spiritual stability. And God is calling you back. I believe you're watching this right now. I believe you're listening to this right now because God is speaking to you. And that great shaking that brought about a great sense of discomfort, uncertainty, is to reveal to you that your faith was in the systems all along. Your faith was in the things around you all along. You see, the only way you can be shaken when everything around you shakes is if you're relying on the things around you and not the Holy Spirit within you. And that reveals to you what your trust is in. Some of you, your faith was in the political system. Others, your faith was in the financial system. Some, your faith was in church organization. All but when those things were shaken, that misplaced faith was revealed. And God says, I want you to focus on me. You're busy. All these other things, good things, nothing wrong with them, not in and of themselves. But he's calling us back to this place of simplicity. My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details, all those little things. There is one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it and it will not be taken away from her. God help us to come back to the place of simply loving Jesus. Do you realize that out of that love for Jesus flows everything? Do you realize that all true ministry is an overflow of your fellowship with Jesus? Do you realize that your ability to love others comes from your relationship with Jesus? Your spiritual authority to do good works comes from your relationship with Jesus. The character of Christ in you has everything to do with your connection with Christ. The more connected you are with him, the more surrendered you are to him, the more his character begins to develop in you. It changes everything about you. It changes the kind of preacher you are, the kind of minister you are, the kind of parent you are, the kind of child you are, the kind of student you are, the kind of business person you are, whoever you are, relationship with Jesus changes everything about you. And if you find that old habits are beginning to return, habits of the flesh, lust, fear, confusion, pride, doubt, you find that these things are creeping their way back into your life. It's because you've drifted from the secret place. He is the one true vine. We're just the branches. When we abide in him, when we abide in him, that's when we bear much fruit. But the moment you begin to allow that fellowship to be distracted or to be diminished by the distractions of the world, well now you're no longer connected in a way that can produce fruit. Now I'm not saying that he disconnects from you or abandons you or takes his Holy Spirit from you. I'm talking about a connection in terms of your surrender to what he's doing in your life. And he's wanting us to come back to this place of simplicity. It's time to get back to preaching Jesus. Listen, healing is wonderful. I love seeing God heal the sick. Deliverance is beautiful. I love seeing demons come out of people. And I love seeing bondage being broken over people's lives. I love seeing people get delivered from addictions. It's all great. Prophecy, amazing. I've seen some accurate prophecies that just confound the mind. How do they even know that? Well, that's the spirit of God speaking. Prophecy is great. Ministry work is great. But if you have all those things and you don't have a focus on Jesus, what's that all for? You see, the moment you begin to focus on what Jesus does, instead of who he is, you're in danger. You're in danger. You become obsessed with healing, healing, healing, healing, miracles, miracles, miracles, miracles, danger. Deliverance, deliverance, deliverance, deliverance, deliverance, deliverance, deliverance, danger. Prophetic, prophetic, prophetic, prophetic, danger. Ministry, ministry, ministry, danger. There's nothing wrong with these things in and of themselves. And we should be carrying out these acts as the Holy Spirit enables us. But don't forget, Jesus doesn't just give healing, he is healing. Jesus doesn't just give deliverance, he is deliverance. Jesus doesn't just inspire words of prophecy. He is the centerpiece of prophecy. He is the purpose of ministry. He is the goal of prayer. He is the focus and the object of affection when it comes to our worship. Jesus is the all in all. And the moment we forget that, I know this isn't a flashy message. I know this isn't a complex teaching. I know this seems simple, but often it's the simple things that bring the greatest breakthrough. Why do you feel confused? Why do you feel like you're not quite where you used to be? Why do you feel like things are uncertain? Why do you feel so out of place? It's because you've neglected the secret place. You want that sense of familiarity back? Come back to that place of just loving Jesus. You want certainty and stability, mental and emotional stability, spiritual stability, come back to that place. First love, don't be a Martha, be like Mary. Let me be clear. Yes, do things for Him, but make sure what you do for Him comes out of your relationship with Him. Because if what you do for Him doesn't come out of relationship with Him, then what you do for Him becomes burdensome religion. And you get so wrapped up in the flesh, self-reliance, legalism, and that just chokes out the fruit of the spirit. God is saying, through His word, come back to the place of simplicity. In Jesus, there is peace. In Jesus, there is joy. There is certainty, stability. In Jesus, there is unity. When you get Jesus, you get it all. What does the world have to offer? What does the Christian world have to offer, if not for the presence of Jesus? We need to be ruined for anything less than the genuine presence of Jesus upon our lives and the genuine character of Jesus demonstrated through our lives. I just want Him. You know, it can become complicated and this isn't a message for just pastors and ministers, but I'm speaking to you from where I'm coming from. I have to pray all the time, Lord, don't let the ministry you've blessed become a distraction. Help me just be a good Christian. I pray all the time, Lord, just help me to be more like Jesus. People from the outside looking in, they see the social media presence. And by all worldly metrics, it can look like what the world would call success. I'd rather use the term fruitfulness for the sake of the kingdom, but the world calls certain things success. They have the metrics and the numbers, they're measuring systems. Do you know all of that can become a distraction? People see the crowds coming to these events that we host around the world and they think, wow, there's success. And sure, that's great and thank God for it and we love to see souls saved, but souls aren't my number one love. Jesus is. And in fact, it's my love for Jesus that drives me to win souls because I think he deserves to reap the reward of his suffering. But you know, when these lights turn off and that camera and this microphone, they're put away and the stream ends, the events close, the people go home. If I don't have that presence in my life, the pressures that come against me could destroy me. And this of course is me speaking as your brother in Christ as a minister, but this can apply to all believers. Guard that secret place. You want that sense of familiarity aback. You want that sense of security, certainty. It's only found in the presence of Jesus. We as the body have to come back to that place. I pray this, please hear me now. This is a prophetic plea, a prophetic plea. I pray that we in the body of Christ would come back to the simplicity of loving Jesus and just being good Christians. I love ministry. Like I said, I love miracles and all the demonstrations of the Holy Spirit's power. But if we have not that love for Jesus, what's it all for? So my challenge to you, very simple, come back to the secret place. Come back to that simplicity. Come back to the purity of loving Jesus to where he becomes the object of your affection. Where he becomes your sole purpose in life. Not a priority, the priority. Where Jesus becomes your obsession again. And you become so focused on him that the things of this world begin to lose their allure. You become so captured by the presence of Jesus that nothing deters you from staying on track from abiding in that vine. Lord, may you bring us back to that place. Father, I pray for that one receiving now. And I ask you precious Lord, bring us back to the secret place. Right now, I believe God's gonna do something for you. Listen to me. I believe God's gonna do something for you right now. I want you to allow yourself to let go of the cares of this world. Let go of the cares of ministry. Let go for now, for now. Let go of your theological questions. Let go of the doubts and the confusion and the concerns and just focus on Jesus. Father, I pray that the Holy Spirit would cause them to realize the presence of Jesus in a way that would transform them. Let your power flow. Let your presence mark their lives. Receive that now. Let your presence mark their lives. It's time to repent. Lord, bring them back to that place of simplicity. Bring them back to the secret place. Cause them to be focused on Jesus alone. Many are being touched by God's power and I'm telling you, there is a strong anointing here right now. As you focus on Jesus, your bondages will be broken. As you focus on Jesus, your sicknesses will be healed. Just focus on him. Don't worry about any of that other stuff. Just focus on Jesus now. Thank you, Lord, for powers flowing, like a mighty river refresh your people. Say this out loud. Say, Jesus, say it out loud. Say, Jesus, I just want you. Lord, let them be filled with a fresh touch of power. I want you now to invite the Holy Spirit to do as only he can. I thank you, Lord. I pray you bless your people. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. I want you to say it because you believe it. Say, amen. If that message challenged you, it blessed you and you think other people need to hear it, then do me a favor and leave a like on the video right now. Yes, that actually does help to spread the message. And also if you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to my channel so that you can receive more teaching and sermons on the Holy Spirit, prayer, spiritual warfare, and similar topics. 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