Only One Thing

ILL>> Doc Edwards - read the first few paragraphs

When it is this hot - you do what you have to do and get out of the heat. But you have to know what your there for...

One thing

David had whittled his life down to one point: “One thing have I desired of the LORD.”

TURN IN YOUR BIBLES TO PS 27 >> READ WHOLE CHAPTER !

>> EVERYONE HAVE YOUR BIBLE >> HOLD I T UP

>>>>> BRO. ______________ WOULD WANT ME TO ASK YOU! <<<<<<<<

Also Paul did that with his life. He said, “… but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13–14).

How?, whittle down your life, as you would whittle down a pencil, until you can write with it. Our lives are very complicated, so just keep whittling. Most of my life I felt like Martha in the kitchen. She was encumbered with much service (see Luke 10:40). Poor Martha reached for a pot to cook something in it; then she reached for a pan to boil something in it, and she reached for another container to put the potatoes in, and by that time something fell out of the cupboard. She became frustrated trying to do everything at once.

How complicated life has become for many of us. We are frustrated, under the heat & tension all the time. It is wonderful to whittle your life down to what is important. It is a relief to reduce your life to the lowest common denominator.

The whole tone of this psalm fits the period of David’s flight from Absalom. In fact, verse 10 may refer to the situation described in I Samuel 22:3–4. At this time, David had to especially wait confidently upon the Lord.

In order to know what that one thing is, you must understand the ...

I. The Protection of God

A. By Salvation

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation;

Whom shall I fear?

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path”

(Ps. 119:105).

B. By Strength

The LORD is the strength of my life;

Of whom shall I be afraid?

“If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31).

2 When the wicked came against me

To eat up my flesh,

My enemies and foes,

They stumbled and fell.

3 Though an army may encamp against me,

My heart shall not fear;

Though war should rise against me,

In this I will be confident.

HOW DOES GOD PROTECT US? OFTEN WE THINK IT IS CIRCUMSTANCE OR CHANCE BUT KNOW BETTER.

GOD ALWAYS MANIPULATES EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CHANCE - IT IS ALWAYS GOD! HE PROTECTS US.

ill>> AN ELDERLY MAN WALKING ALONE HEARS THE MUFFLED CRY OF A WOMAN BEING ATTACKED. ...

from book -

Small Miracles - Extraordinary Coincidences of Everyday Life

In order to know what that one thing is, you must understand the ...

II. The Place of God

A. Passion for the Church

4 One thing I have desired of the LORD,

That will I seek:

1. Present

That I may dwell in the house of the LORD

All the days of my life,

THIS IS THE ONE THING!

WHY GO TO CHURCH? Drucilla Watley sent

A man who attended church regularly once wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday.

"I’ve gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them. So, I think I’m wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

I’ve been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this:

They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!

When you are DOWN to nothing... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible!

Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment! All right... now that you’re done reading... send it on!!! I think everyone should read this!! "When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, "Jesus, could you get that for me?