Skip to content The Mistake of Misplaced Priority - Jesus Encounter, Part 6 Aug 13 · 45 min ...more
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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 I wanna talk to you on the mistake of misplaced priority. I don't like the title, and I'm the 1 that came up with it.0:12 It seems negative. I don't wanna do negative stuff, but it is a common mistake to misplace our priority. Now some of you are like, don't you mean priorities0:24 as in plural? No. The singularity of the word priority is intentional because Christians must have 1 priority. God's people must have 1, not0:36 many, 1. And everything else is tethered to the 1. Some of you live like this. You say, well, God comes first, and then his family, and0:48 then his work, and then his, you know, rec my my community and recreational activities. So I've got this priority list. I've got this I've got this hierarchy of things that I put in order. That's not the way1:00 to live. You know what you gotta do? You gotta put God in the center. He's he's tied to everything. God's first in my relationship with God.1:12 God's first in my family, in my parenting, in my dealing with my siblings, in honoring my parents. God's first in my workplace.1:25 God's first in my community. God's first in my hobbies. God comes first. He's gotta be the center. It's like a it's like a a bicycle tire. Jesus isn't 1 of the1:37 spokes. He's the center, and all the spokes are tied to him. And they're all equally distant from each other. That's a good balanced life. But if we're honest, we get out of1:49 sorts so very easily, and it was like, you know, a bike without of sorts priorities or or misbalanced spokes is bouncing all over the road and, you know, he's up and down. It's not a smooth ride.2:01 How many of you, life don't raise your hand. But life's not smooth right now. Yeah. Yeah. I felt the groan. Well, let's smooth it out, shall we? And2:13 and there's this wonderful invitation in the scriptures from Jesus himself. It's in your notes there. It's Matthew chapter 11 28 to 31 of my favorite verses, and it says this, come to me all2:25 who labor and are what? Heavenly. Let's put this verse up on the screen, guys. And it says, and I will give you that word? Rest. Rest was part of2:37 the creation event. 6 days God worked, and on the seventh day God rested. So the Bible talks about the rest that the land had once Joshua occupied2:48 it for the people of Israel. Uh-oh. Before that, the the ark that Noah was in came to rest on Mount Ararat. And there's an invitation in in the Psalms and an3:00 invitation in Hebrews chapter 4 that you, the people of God, enter into the rest of God. Did you know that you are made to rest? Rest is a3:12 good thing. It's in the top 10. It's number 4. Honor the Sabbath. What does Sabbath mean? It means to cease. It means to stop. It means to stop every normal thing and just rest3:24 in the presence of your savior. Hopefully, you're doing that today. I I hope that you can have a day where you don't touch regular work, and you can just sit in3:36 the presence of the Lord. Not not not Indian style with your fingers like this and looking weird. No. I'm not talking about that. But just taking a day to say yes to God. That's the invitation Jesus3:48 makes here. And then he says, take my yoke upon you. Yoke is about work. Partner with me. Let's a yoke would go on 2 oxen. Take my yoke. Jesus said, let let's do this together and learn from me. For I4:00 am, what? Gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for what? Your souls. You see, that's where God wants to bring the rest, to the deepest part of you.4:11 And then he says, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. So there's a problem here. We don't take him up on this offer nearly enough.4:25 We're way too busy. We're so occupied with so many things. We're tethered in life to so many responsibilities and relationships and even4:36 quasi pseudo responsibilities. Like, some of you think that your favorite app is actually something that you must do, and it's not. It's a pseudo responsibility. It's4:48 tethering you to all these things that you think demand your time and effort. And I wonder who today needs to cut some of the tethers off so that you're not pulled in 1000 directions and you5:00 settle your soul in with your savior who invites you to rest. Like, that's the invitation. I know some of you are like, well, doesn't God want me to work for him? Yes. But he wants5:12 you to rest. He wants you to work from the rest that he gives you. Anybody notice that today is the first day of the week? Today is what? Sunday. Sunday. Sunday.5:24 Yeah? I used to love those commercials of the monster truck puddles, you know, and all that stuff. Sunday. Sunday. Sunday. How many remember those? I love those. Yeah. Yeah. Well, in Jesus, it's Sunday. Sunday. Sunday.5:35 It's rest. We don't have to we don't have to crush any cars today. We can just take it easy. And it's the first day. Now the Jews, the5:47 Hebrews, the Old Testament people, they worshiped on what day? And they still do, by the way. Saturday, which is what day? Number 7. 7. And so5:59 isn't it interesting that in the old covenant, they worked all week to get to rest, but in the new covenant, we rest first.6:11 Somebody say rest first. Rest first. You see, you settle yourself in Christ first, and then you work from that rest. And I think that some of you, if you can get this right,6:23 your life is gonna find balance and peace that you've never had before. Write this down so I know you're getting it. If the devil can't get me to sin, he will try to keep me busy.6:35 And that's some of your problems. You're pulled in all kinds of directions. You're pulled in your family life in several directions. You're trying to please everybody. You're pulled in your work for place. You're6:47 always trying to, you know, I don't know, win people's approval. You're stressed about things that aren't even in your domain, and you're always stressed about so many other or or maybe in your community, you're you're6:58 obsessed with having the perfect image in your community, the house with the kids, the dogs, the 2 car garage, the white picket fence, I must, and you're just constantly chasing. Or7:10 or some of you, you're involved in the stock market, and your whole week is just like a up and down. You're just a mental mess because every nick tip7:22 tick up and every tick down is another tick on your heart. And or or some of you, you're just you've got multiple children, and they're different, and you're stressed because they're fighting each other, and you're7:33 fighting them. And then they have all these activities, and you gotta make sure that they're not blaming you for their mental problems later in life. So you take them to everything you possibly can, and then you have7:45 to worry about sicknesses, and you have to worry about diseases, and you have to worry and then you have to worry about Washington DC. And some of you, that's doesn't mean you're always worried about Washington DC. What7:54 are they doing? Those nut cases, what are they doing to us? Anybody with me on that? And if you're not careful, you just get so busy with things that don't matter, you'll forget about the 1 who does.8:07 I'm gonna look at somebody who did, and it's in Luke chapter 10. Stand with me at all locations. I'm gonna give you a heads up. I don't like this passage. This 1 bugs me8:19 because I am somebody in this passage, and some of you are somebody in this passage. And it's the person who gets rebuked in this passage. So today, we're gonna talk to 1 particular kind of person today, and that8:31 person's name in this passage is Martha. So let's read it together. Verse 38. Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her8:42 house. And she had a sister called, what? Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much8:54 serving, and she went up to him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help9:06 me. But the Lord answered her, Martha, Martha, when Jesus says your name twice, watch out. You are anxious and troubled about many things. Listen to that again.9:18 You are anxious and troubled about many things. Some of you, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but 1 thing is necessary.9:31 1 thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken from her. This is God's word. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for the opportunity to9:43 pause, to stop, to rest in you, and may the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight. And may we hear your voice, receive your truth, and9:54 see Jesus. Him and him only in his mighty name we pray at every location. Everybody said Amen. Amen. God bless you. Every location, have a seat. 2 sisters that we're introduced to in this passage, Martha, Mary, They10:06 couldn't be more opposite if they tried. We know that they live in Bethany. Bethany is a village 2 miles east of Jerusalem. It's still there to this day. There is a place that you can go to in Bethany. It's called10:17 Lazarus' tomb. We don't know if it was really Lazarus' tomb, but this is where Lazarus was raised from the dead a week before Jesus' final week in Jerusalem. And so what has happened in the gospel of Luke? Let's take a10:29 look at the context of the gospel of Luke. We're in Luke's gospel. We're in chapter 10. And in chapter 9 of Luke's gospel, it begins what commentators call the travel narrative, the travel10:41 narrative. Because some of you don't know that Jesus' first 2 years of ministry were front loaded with miracles, miracles, signs, and wonders. He was casting out demons. He was, raising the10:52 dead. He was feeding the thousands with small lunches, and and he was doing wonders before the people, to to bring them to the truth. And and so at the end of about 2 years of doing this, he11:04 knew that his time was coming to an end. He didn't come to show off and to do a bunch of miracles. He came to die for our sins. Amen? That's why Jesus came. The cross wasn't an accident.11:16 It didn't happen to Jesus. The cross wasn't a defeat. The cross wasn't, you know, well, they reject it. God tried, and he put his best effort out there, and people no. No. No. The cross was on purpose.11:29 In 9 in Luke chapter 9 verse 51, it says that he resolutely set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he knew that for the last year of his life, he would travel from the northern area in Galilee. He would cross over the11:40 Jordan to Perea. He would come through that area, minister to those people along the way, and back into the city of Jerusalem, and he would die for the sins of the world. Now we are 6 months away from his cross, and he11:49 knows he's gotta get there. So this is a travel narrative. Somebody say travel narrative. Travel narrative. He's on the way to the cross. And you can imagine that he's got things on his mind. He's got heaviness in his12:00 heart. He knows that he's gonna be separated from the father. He knows that the sins of the world are gonna be placed on his shoulder. Your sins and my sins are gonna be placed on his shoulder. The heaviness of this12:11 responsibility. And he's walking, and and and that's how Luke introduces this text to us in verse 38. Look with me again. It says, as they went on their way so this is on the way to the cross, and he comes to a village12:22 and a woman named Martha. And Martha is 1 of those people that you just gotta love because she's the kind of person who sees a need and meets it. I love these people.12:34 They get the job done. She sees Jesus, and she just decides, I'm gonna bring him into my house. He looks like he could use a meal. He looks like he could use a place to sleep, and we're gonna we're gonna12:46 bring him home, and we're gonna take care of him because this guy's got a heavy load. And so Martha is some of you. Martha is a type a personality. The doer, the12:58 hostess with the mostess. She's on top of it. She is head of the party planning committee. She gets annoyed with Phyllis when Phyllis messes up13:10 the color of the streamers. Amen. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Any office fans out there? She is a doer, and she is always on it. She volunteers for community service. She's she knows13:22 people's names. She knows people's allergies. She knows how to please people. And she's an accomplished woman, and she's the older sister because her name comes first in the text. And13:33 so there's a good chance, by the way, that she's also a widow. So her husband probably died, and she's living now with her sister Mary and Lazarus, her brother. And they welcomed Jesus in. And and I think there are many13:44 Martha's in all of our locations in this place. If you are a Martha type a get her done, and and then maybe you're a guy and you're like, well, I'm not a woman, and so I don't identify as a woman either. And so, you13:55 know, so just let's call you a, Marty. Okay? So if you're a a Marty or a Martha, can you just raise your hand? Let me see all the look at how quickly the hands raised. Look at that. They're all like, yep. That's me. He14:07 said, raise your hand, and I'm gonna put my hand right up. There we go. That's the that's the job that I have been given, and I will do it to the best of my ability. And so, I hear you because that's me. I'm a doer. I'm14:17 an accomplisher, and I like that. And she is the woman who introduces Jesus to her house, and then the scripture says that she had a sister, verse 39, and the sister's name is Mary. And here's Mary. Mary is the14:29 contemplative 1. Mary is the 1 who's just going with the moment. She's living in the moment. She's absorbing the presence of she's sitting at his feet, and she's listening, and14:41 she's she is an experience oriented person. She just loves to absorb the Lord. Any Marys in the house, they don't raise their hands. You see? Because they're just14:52 in they're just in the moment. They're yes. That's me. Okay. I've been giving you bible study pro tips all series long. Let me give you a number 5 today. Here we go. Play the part15:04 of the character of each story. You are invited to see yourself somewhere in the spectrum of Martha, the doer, and Mary, the beer. RC Sproul taught this passage, and he15:16 said, Martha is a doobie, and Mary is a b b. Are you a doobie or a b b? Are you a getter get it done, or are you a be in the moment kind15:28 of person? And and some of you, it's 1 end to the other. And and and if I'm in the house that day, Martha has me impressed. Yeah?15:41 No. Jesus didn't ask to stay with them. She welcomed Jesus. Hey, Jesus. I got a place for you to stay. Secondly, is and how many know it's a pain to have people over?15:53 You know, this is why you don't do it. This is why so many people don't wanna be small group leaders. You mean I have to have people in my home every week? And how many are thankful for their small group leader at Waters16:03 Church who opens their doors every week? Come on. Let's give them a praise. Thank you so much every location. Those are the heroes of our church because it is a pain to have people over. But she opens16:15 her doors for Jesus, and then she gets busy. And she she cooks and she bakes and she's serving and she's and she's doing all of this for Jesus.16:27 And so in my opinion, Martha is the hero, but in Jesus' estimation, Martha is the 1 who needs to be rebuked in this moment.16:39 And I don't I don't understand that because I would think, you know, she's doing all this for you, Jesus, and maybe you could show a little bit of appreciation, and that would be good. But here's what she did. She she's16:48 she's begging us to ask the same question that I've been asking myself all this week. Are you making the mistake of misplaced priorities where everything takes your time and you16:59 give no time to the Lord? What does that look like? Well, Martha is exhibit a. Write this down. There's 3 signs from Martha's life. Sign number 1, you've got a misplaced priority. Number 1, I have many17:11 distractions. I have many distractions. I've got things pulling on me constantly. And that's what I hate about these phones, and I know I have the watch, and17:23 some of you are like, you're big fat hypocrite because you got the watch that also notifies you about what's going on your phone. And I understand that. It's true because the watch always just kinda pulls at you. Ding.17:34 Somebody likes your Facebook post. Who? Who? Oh, them again. I don't care. You know, move on. Right? Oh, it was mom. She's supposed to like my Facebook post.17:46 Ding. You know? You've you've got an appointment coming up. Oh, I don't wanna do that appointment. Oh, I don't wanna go to that meeting. And ding. And and this is our life today. And technology has just wormed its way17:58 into our souls. And that's what happens when you're a Martha. You're just you're pulled in all kinds of directions. Look at how the text says it in verse 40, the first part of the verse. It says, but Martha was18:10 distract somebody say distracted. Distracted. With what? With Not serving. There's so many things to do. Jesus is here. Let's get the bed ready. Let's get the let's get the pots on the pan on the on the on the cook on18:21 the oven, on the stove. Let's get the let's get the the the the bread needed. Let's get everything going. This is Jesus. This a big time guy. This is a huge prophet. This is God's son. Let's get him going. And she knows18:31 that he's God's son because she calls him Lord in this passage, but she doesn't treat him like Lord because she corrects him. It's a funny thing. And this is the Martha's syndrome that many of you are in. You're always18:42 busying yourself with Jesus, but you're never hearing Jesus speak to you. You're you're obsessed with what you do for him18:54 instead of rooting yourself in what he's done for you. The word distracted in the Greek is, it means to be pulled as in a leash.19:07 It's like a leash on her neck, and she's just and she's not she doesn't got 1 leash. She's got, like, several leashes, and they're pulling her in all kinds of directions. Blaise Pascal, a French philosopher and scientist19:18 said he said that the the the sole cause of man's unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room. I I I'm like19:29 that. Here's what I did this week to prepare for this message. I tried to be a Mary. And so I got my phone off, and I took my watch off, and I moved to the center19:41 of my office, and I did this. What? Follow me camera. And I sat like this, and I learned a couple of things. Number 1, after 40, this this position is intolerable.19:54 This is very painful. Now every muscle of my body wants me to stand up. And I so I just kinda did this instead. And I just sat, and I was like, okay. What what is it like20:05 to be Mary where we're not letting everything pull on us? When did you do this last? I bet it's been months. I bet you've some of you,20:17 you've never done it. But Jesus says, this is the 1 thing that's necessary. 1 of the bible pro tips that I gave you was repeated themes20:29 and keys, key phrases in a bible book. 1 of the key phrases in Luke's gospel is necessary. So this passage ties to 1 of the themes of20:41 Luke's gospel. It is necessary that you you pause with god. And some of you I'm so excited for you because you're gonna start a new20:53 habit. I know you're gonna start a new habit because you really appreciate the preaching and teaching of god's word at this church. That was a terrible amen, but I'm gonna take it. I'll take the 2 or 3 people who21:05 are still listening. Okay? You're gonna start a new habit now to stop what you're doing in life and spend time in the presence of Jesus.21:16 Amen. Amen. This could change your life because there's a lot of problems that Martha's got going on. She's, again, measuring her life, listen to21:28 this again, by what she does for God instead of what God has done for her. Now that leads to some problems. Look at verse 40.21:41 She went up to Jesus and said to him, Lord how many of you ever said this to the Lord? Do you not care? He's the Lord. He loves you. He21:53 made you. Of course, he cares. But sometimes in life, we feel like he doesn't care. And Martha is she's in a trap. It's a trap I'm gonna get to in just a moment. Let me unpack the past. Do you not22:04 care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Oh, Martha, Martha, Martha. 3 traps of busyness. Write these down. 3 traps of busyness that she's in.22:16 Number 1, she's in the performance trap. The performance trap. Number 1, I must do. I must perform. I must achieve.22:28 I've gotta have a 4, or I don't feel like I'm worthy. I've gotta have the kids in order and disciplined, or I feel like a failure as a parent. I've gotta get into that I've gotta22:40 get into that school, or I'm worthless. And some of you, that is your trap because you have set up these idols. And how many know that idols in your life can be good things?22:51 They're not always bad things. They're not always sin. They're not always the big 3 of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Sometimes an idol is the23:03 perfect Christian family. And and to break you free from that idol, God gives you 1 of those children. You know what I'm talking about.23:16 The 1 you you think, look, well, I don't know where you came from, but you didn't come from me. God's like, no. He came from me. That's my gift to you, to break you free of thinking that your life23:28 will be complete if you have the perfect Christian family. Performance trap leads to the comparison trap, number 2. Because when we're when when our life is about performance, then we're always looking at other people.23:39 Lord, don't you care that my sister isn't it funny that she's talking about her sister more than she's talking about her? This is this is when you're a Martha, and this is the distract these are the leashes on your neck.23:51 Lord, look at them. Why do you bless them and not me? Don't you see what I have done for you? Don't you see how I have served you? Oh, what did the prodigal son's brother say when the24:03 prodigal son came home and they threw a party and the father was so excited to have his son home? And then he saw that somebody was missing in the party. He said, I have 2 sons. Where's the other 1? And he found out that24:13 the oldest son was still in the field working. And so the father goes out of the out of the house, out of the party, and comes to the older son and says, come on home. Your son your brother is home. And what does that24:22 older brother say? This son of yours has wasted your inheritance with prostitution while living. And all my life, I've served you. And there's another pass is there24:34 another translation that says, a slave for you, and you've given me nothing. Performance trap leads to comparison trap. Some of you, that's where you are. You you're24:46 not the bad guy or the bad girl. You're the good guy or the good girl. You're the good Christian who thinks that you deserve more because of how you've done for God. Can I tell you that24:58 God does not need your performance? What kind of God needs you to perform? A God of your own making. We don't serve a God who is pleased with our offerings25:10 and pleased with our sacrifices. We're not gonna fast as a church to show God that we really love him. No. We're gonna fast as a church to show God that we really need him.25:23 God does not need me to preach. Did you know that? He can find somebody else. There's a passage in Numbers where there was a donkey that preached at a prophet. God can use a God can open25:35 the the mouth of a donkey to preach the word of God. That's a humbling reminder that it is not what I bring to the table, it is what God brings to the table. It is not what you've25:47 done, it's what he's done. It's not about your good works, it's about the cross of Jesus Christ. And the comparison trap will lead to the entitlement trap,25:59 and it's hard to get out of the entitlement trap. All these years I've slayed for you, and not once did you give me a goat that I might celebrate with my friends. Older26:11 brother mentality. Good Christian mentality. I deserve better than this, Lord. I'm serving Lord, do you not care?26:24 Tell her to help me. Tell her to help me. What a prayer.26:38 Have you ever prayed that God would tell somebody else to do something? Yes, you have. Don't act so spiritual. Lord, tell them.26:51 And I have read the gospels enough to know that Jesus refuses to be your personal Karen. He will27:03 I'm sorry to offend all the Karens in the house, but you don't understand what I'm talking about. The person who just in interferes in other people's business. Jesus27:17 is not interested in telling other people what you want him to tell them. Some of you, you're not getting it.27:30 Your life is gonna be miserable because you do this all the time. Lord, fix my husband. Fix him, Lord. Fix him. Don't you understand? He just27:42 doesn't treat me right. Fix him. Fix him, Lord. So there's 3 times in the gospels where somebody comes to Jesus and asks Jesus to fix somebody else. There's 1 time where a guy comes to Jesus27:54 and says, Lord, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. And then Jesus unloads on greed, and he directs it at the guy who asked the question. His28:06 answer is, be on your guard against all kinds of greed because you can be poor and greedy at the same time. I know Washington DC won't tell you that,28:18 but Jesus will tell you that you can be poor and greedy. Because it's not about a financial it's not about a financial balance in your checking account. It's about a spiritual condition in your heart.28:32 So he corrects the guy. There's another passage. This one's very familiar, where they bring the woman caught in the act of adultery. They say, Moses says to stone her. And what does Jesus28:44 do? Let him who is without sin29:00 They they came to Jesus to fix that. No. I'm gonna fix you. Then there's that passage at the resurrection when Peter and Jesus are walking, and and Peter's like, what's gonna happen? Jesus is like, well, you're gonna be29:12 led this way, and, really, he's gonna you're gonna die a horrible death for me, Peter. And and Jesus, well, what about him? And he says, don't worry about him. You follow me. See, some of you gotta get to this point29:22 where you stop worrying about everybody else. That's another form of busyness, and let God fix you. I I know that there's people that bother you.29:34 That's life. But maybe it's not what they're doing to you as much as it is how you're receiving it. Maybe it's not what they're doing to you as much as29:46 how you are responding to it. Maybe you're oversensitive. May maybe you need to stop defining yourself by their acceptance. That's another performance29:58 trap. Yes? Why do they always have to say that about me? Don't they really know me? No. They don't know you, and what they say doesn't define you. You're not defined by the words of others. You're defined by the words30:09 of your father. He he loves you. I'll say it again. You're not defined by the words of others. You're defined by the words of your father. Thank you for asking me to say it30:21 again, sister. They needed to hear it again. You're not defined by what your parents, your sister, your brother, your wife, your husband, your children. You're not defined by what they say about30:33 you. If that's your life, you're in the performance trap, which leads to the comparison trap, which leads to the entitlement trap. And before you know it, your prayers are centered on what God needs to do in others30:44 instead of what God wants to do in you. Point number 2, you're a Martha if you're anxious and troubled. Anxiety is a serious problem, but30:55 it's brought on to us. We bring it on ourselves. We bring it on ourselves by interfering in everybody else's life, by measuring ourselves, by how many people like31:07 us. What young lady in our house today needs to realize that not being invited to the party where everybody's posting pictures about it on Instagram is not actually that important.31:20 In the grand scheme of life, it's not that important. It's not. I know it when you're 16, those things feel like they're huge. Man, talk to someone,31:31 not your parents, who's 45. And I'll tell you, man, that stuff is stupid. And the day I graduated high school, everybody that I thought was so important, the day31:43 after I graduated high school, those people, I never saw them again. Don't define yourself by temporary acquaintances. You got31:55 you're bringing anxiety in your life. You're checking on too many things. You're involved in too many. Like, some of you gotta cut off the Facebook groups that you're involved in. You're in every neighborhood Facebook32:05 group. Aren't you? You're in every single 1. And you're the you're the moderator. Aren't you? You're the moderator, you sick weirdo. Stop it.32:18 Let it go. Who cares what they are doing? This is Martha syndrome.32:29 Anxiety. This word, he says, you are anxious. Let me give you this word in Greek. It's, and it means an apprehension about possible danger or misfortune. That's what he's32:41 talking about. That's the word for anxiet anxious in this passage. There was a time that I went through, a season that I went through where things were good in my life, but I would wake up at 2 AM almost 3 times a week.32:52 I would wake up at 2 AM, and I would have just this foreboding over my life. And I would think, the church is gonna close tomorrow, and I'm not gonna be able pay my mortgage, and and my kids are gonna walk away from the33:04 Lord. And I don't know how I'm gonna handle this, and I've got too many things. Oh my goodness. Anybody ever been there just foreboding dark? It felt like a darkness just hovering over my head. And I would and then I33:15 would do a stupid thing. You know what I would do? I would turn on the television and watch television thinking that would fix it. That doesn't fix it. I found a key. There's a key. There's a secret. Be a Mary.33:28 Be a Mary. So what I started to do was like, alright, devil. If you're gonna wake me up, I'm gonna work I'm gonna read the word of God. And I'll keep the lights off and I would open that Bible app on my phone so I could33:37 keep it nice and dark and just me and Jesus, and I would just read until I fell asleep again. It was amazing how I would only have to get through, like, 1 or 2 chapters, and I'd be tired, And I fell into the33:49 sweet peace of Jesus. The bible says that he gives sleep to his beloved. You ever think about the bible tells us that god wants to give you good sleep? The devil wants you awake34:01 and struggling and wrestling and nope. The Bible says, my father wants me rested. He leads me beside quiet waters. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He restores my34:12 soul. That's my father. You are anxious, and you are troubled. The word troubled means, emotionally upset. So she's she's thinking about misfortune,34:24 and she's upset emotionally. How did she get here? She based her life on what she did instead of what god came to do for her. On the way to the Jesus is on the way to give his blood for her, and she's measuring34:36 her life against her sister and against what she's done. Number 3, you're a Mary. Write this down. Your life is complicated, Too complicated. That's point number 3. My life is too complicated. Because what34:48 does Jesus say? He says, you're anxious and you're troubled about what? Many things. And and this is the Mary34:59 syndrome. How many know that anxieties have babies? You you you're worrying about 1 thing that leads to another thing that leads to another thing, and then before you know it, you've given35:11 yourself a to do list that's a mile long. Because 1 anxiety. How am I gonna pay my rent today? Oh my gosh. If I can't pay my rent, how am gonna buy food? And I'm if I can't buy food, how am I35:23 gonna survive? And if I can't survive, how am I gonna take care of this? How am I gonna do that? I'm gonna I don't know what. And before you know, you've you've you've let the you've let the brain in league with the35:32 devil build a generational kind of, like, you know, system inside of you that just causes you to panic constantly about so many you've got35:43 multiple leashes on your neck pulling you in multiple directions. And and what I know about my life and I've got dogs. And, what I love about35:55 them, I don't I don't want them. Pastor Shane and Mary Anne forced me to get dogs,36:07 and I blame them. But these these dogs love to be with me. And in the morning, in my favorite time of the day,36:19 Cheryl gets out of bed a little bit earlier than me. And as soon as she gets out of bed and goes into the living room, the dogs know that's the sign. There's space next to master. And36:31 before I know it, feel a little and then number 2. And then they know now they just put their backs up against me, and then they just rest with me. And then they wait for me to turn36:43 over, and then I, like, pet them, and then they lick my face, and I throw them off the bed. You know, it's not a coincidence that dog is god36:54 backwards because he wants to just be with you. Now he's not a dog, and you're not the master.37:07 He's the master, and you're the child. And he's just waiting for things to get out of the way so that he can have time with you.37:20 Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.37:32 What are you what's on your calendar this week that you need to stop giving free rent up in here or in here37:44 and just say, he's the master. I've got 1 leash that I'm tied to. I've got 1 master in my life, and I am tied37:56 to him. Write this down. Discipleship is a call to simplicity. It is. It's a simple gospel, isn't it? Paul said that to the disciples to the Corinthians. He says, to the Galatians.38:08 He says, I fear that your mind might be deceived and you might be led away from the simplicity that is in Christ. It's not a complicated thing to be a Christian. It really isn't. To be38:20 a Christian is to know that you're not good enough to get to heaven, that you're really actually a sinful, broken, messed up person38:32 that God dearly loves and has made a way for you to come into relationship with him. What does Jesus say to Mary?38:43 Martha, 1 thing is necessary. 1, Mary's chosen. Notice the word chosen. Underline chosen in the in your notes, please. She made the choice, and you've gotta make the choice38:55 for the good portion. And if you make that choice, here's the promise. It won't be taken away from you. You never will lose it. You'll never be lost. If you if you make the choice39:07 to define your life by what Jesus has done for you and not by all the measurements of humanity and all the games of our communities and social medias and all the stuff, and you let thatShow more
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