The One thing - Daily Devotional by Joseph Prince

	When It Is More Blessed To Receive
	Luke 10:42 42“… Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
	If Jesus comes to your home, what would you do? Would you ask Him to sit down and start serving Him? Or would you sit down and start drawing from Him? Would you let Him serve you and fill you up? Jesus walked into the house of two sisters, Martha and Mary. (Luke 10:38-39) Martha saw His weariness. She knew that Jesus had been walking for miles, going about doing good, healing the sick and meeting the people’s needs. Obviously, He must be tired, she thought, so she saw Him as someone she had to care for. Mary, however, saw beyond Jesus’ external weariness into His divinity. She saw that He was someone she needed to draw from. And by doing that, she made Him feel like God — the Saviour who had come to serve her and not be served by her. (Matthew 20:28) Jesus even commended her for choosing the better portion! Our human minds just find that hard to believe. Some people tell me, “But Pastor Prince, the Bible says that it is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) When it comes to man, that is true. But when it comes to God, He wants to give. In fact, unless you learn how to receive from God, you will have nothing to give to man. Which sister gave Jesus the sweeter feast and filled Him up? Martha who was busy preparing food for Him? Or Mary who sat still and drew deeply from Him? Mary made Jesus feel a sense of His divine glory. She allowed Jesus to be the giver, to be God. Like Martha, we always reverse the roles. We somehow think that God needs our service, but He actually wants to fill us first. Mary’s hungry ears and heart were more precious to Jesus than Martha’s busy hands and feet. We use our ears and hearts to draw from Jesus. We use our hands and feet to serve Him, and there is a place for that. But our sense and appreciation of God’s divine fullness is more precious to Him than all the service we can render Him. And when you draw from Him, you cannot help but become a great giver and server.
	© Copyright Joseph Prince, 2006. All rights reserved.
	All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version ®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

.....time is on my side, yes it is

So, I spent most of yesterday, just chillin' out on my couch watching my kids play with a cup of tea in hand....been fightin' a nasty head cold,....I noticed on my tea bag a little quote..."When God made time, He made enough of it." And that struck me! There I was relaxing out of necessity tempted to complain because I was forced to slow down and only take it easy.....I thought how cool, God gives us so many opportunites to take time to just be... and I have found that this year, as crazy as my circumstances have been, and believe me they have been strange and intense, God has made the time for all of it and it hasn't been unbearable or overwhelming, just sort of slow and steady.....(let me clarify, in the midst of feeling my world emotionally crash in on me, not knowing what would come next, he poured out so much grace and kindly let things fall into place smoothly -things that seemed impossible to me, and to others, he just took care of it....)

Most of our world doesn't have enough time, most people I know are always pressed for time and stressed out to the max because they don't have enough time to do everything they think they should. I don't believe that is the heart of God for us. God made the world and that's no small task, but then he saw that it was good and rested!! Even God chills out!! And if you read about the life of Jesus, it seems as though he was always teaching and healing and walking from town to town, yet he always had time to spend with his Father, and lots of it, he always took time to pull away from the crowds who wanted to see and hear Him, to rest and sit with his disciples. It just seems to me there was an easy flow of life, I mean they got a ton accomplished but was it bam bam bam, go here do this do that, I gotta get more done, or I'm not doing enough......No!

I love the story of the time Jesus was hanging out with Mary and Martha, and I can picture Jesus sitting down talking to the people in the room, eventually everyone would have a meal together, so of course someone had to prepare it (and in those days there was more cultural importance on meals and honored guests and all that I don't really know much about) anyway, it was the ladies home so naturally they needed to get dinner ready or beds made or whatever..... but Mary was just sitting, doing nothing but listening to Jesus - Martha was overly occupied and too busy, distracted with much serving, getting kind of ticked off that Mary left all the work to her, so she presents her case to Jesus, "tell her to help me!" But the wise, patient Jesus says " Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but only one thing is necessary, Mary has chosen the good portion, that which is to her advantage, which shall not be taken away from her." She was putting the tasks aside to "be with Jesus" and sit at His feet. I just love this story! Anyway, it goes to show God doesn't need our service over our time spent with Him!

I am more and more inclined these days to just be still and not get overwhelmed with all that I think I have to do or that others may seem to demand of me. When I feel guilt or pressure creep in I have to talk myself out of it because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, none, no guilt, no pressure to perform, none!! I know God will give me grace to accomplish all he has for me to accomplish in his timing.

Anyway, this has been somewhat of a strange babbly post, but these are my spontaneous thoughts, just spurting out of my brain.............