ONE THING NEEDED
BREAD
4 One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD. Psalms 27:4-6 (NIV)
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42 (NIV)
10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:10-14 (NIV)
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:33-34 (NIV)
3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. 7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him. Psalms 37:3-7 (NIV)
6 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 7 You shall have no other gods before me.” Deuteronomy 5:6-7 (NIV)
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. 10 When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you–a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant–then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 13 Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Deuteronomy 6:4-13 (NIV)
9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. 2 Chronicles 16:9 (NIV)
BUTTER
“True worship will produce work, but work should never take the place of worship. If you are really in fellowship and communion with God, you will want to do things that please Him. Mary seized the moment and sat at His feet. There is a time to work, and there is a time to worship. There is a time to be active for the Lord, and there is a time to sit at His feet.” Greg Laurie
“It is no small thing to be on terms of friendship with God.” Cowman
“I make it my priority to persevere in His holy presence, wherein I maintain a simple attention and a fond regard for God.” Brother Lawrence
“The prayers we weave into the matching of the socks, the working of our hands, the toiling of the hours, they survive fire. It’s the things unseen that survive fire. Love. Relationship. Worship. Prayer. Communion. All Things Unseen — and centered in Christ. It doesn’t matter so much what we leave unaccomplished — but that our priority was things unseen. Again, today, that’s always the call: Slay the idol of the seen. Slay the idol of focusing on only what can be seen, lauded, noticed. Today, a thousand times again today, I will preach His truth to this soul prone to wander, that wants nothing more than the gracious smile of our Father: ‘Unseen. Things Unseen. Invest in Things Unseen. The Unexpected Priority is always Things Unseen.’” Ann Voskamp
“When Jesus is the axle around whom all the spokes of your priorities revolve, when He is the very center of your life, all other priorities will fall into place as everything begins to revolve around Him. When Jesus is at the center of the priority wheel, we will give Him the first fruit of the day—not the rotten, leftover fruit of our time and energy. We will make decisions with His will in mind rather than our own.” Michael Youssef
“There are two methods which the Lord graciously adopts, in order to draw our heart away from this present world. The first is by setting before it the attractiveness and stability of ‘things above’: the second is, by faithfully declaring the evanescent [temporary] and shakable nature of ‘things of earth.’… Now it is much better to be drawn by the joys of heaven than driven by the sorrows of earth. The believer should not wait to be shaken out of the present things…There is no difficulty in giving up the world when we have, by faith, laid hold of Christ: the difficulty then would be to hold it.” CH Macintosh
“To understand and embrace God’s vision, we must first ask Him for it. The Bible tells us we have not because we ask not–and sometimes when we do ask, we ask with selfish rather than God-honoring motives. But God promises us, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3). God wishes to reveal Himself to us, but we must first ask with pure motives and persistence. The word for ‘call’ in this verse means to do so continuously. We are commanded to ask continuously until God reveals His vision to us. Persistence teaches us to rely on God while He is shaping our hearts to delight in Him. God does a wonderful work in us when we seek His will. As we seek Him for His will, we learn who He is and begin to delight in Him and His will rather than our own. As He becomes the desire of our hearts, we are aligned and ready to receive His will and vision for our lives.” Michael Youssef
“I love Him because He first loved me. His goodness and mercy and compassion to me are new every day. And my assurance is lodged in these aspects of His character. My trust is in His love for me as His own. My serenity has as its basis an implicit, unshakable reliance on His ability to do the right thing, the best thing in any given situation. This to me is the supreme portrait of my Shepherd. Continually there flows out to me His goodness and His mercy, which even though I do not deserve them, come unremittingly from their source of supply – His own great heart of love.” Phillip Keller
“Those who are readiest to trust God without other evidence than His Word always receive the greatest number of visible evidences of His love.” C. G. Trumbull
HEART SAVOR
• Jesus is to be the Priority in my life.
• All other things fall under Him.
• It is no small thing to be a friend of God.
Beth Yoe's Sharing Bread 