The Father loves you so much! And He wants to be your closest Friend and Confidant. He wants you to draw near to Him on a daily basis, to fellowship with Him and to seek Him continually.
I know that it’s so easy to get distracted with the cares of life and the busy-ness from day to day, but we must pull ourselves away from the world and spend quality time with the One who loves us more than any other.
Psalm 27:4 (Amp.) says: One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek, inquire for, and [insistently] require: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and gaze upon the beauty [the sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness] of the Lord and to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple.
I encourage you to make this scripture your prayer and pray it from the depths of your heart!
We all have vital needs: wisdom, strength, finances, healing, help with relationships, etc. But the one thing that we need most is Him.
In the story of Mary and Martha, while Martha is busying herself with all kinds of work, she quickly gets frustrated with her sister. Instead of helping Martha in the kitchen, Mary has seated herself at the feet of Jesus and is intently listening to His teaching.
Martha comes to the Lord and complains to Him in the hopes that He will “get on to” Mary and make her help. But instead, the Lord chastises Martha and commends Mary, saying:
Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, 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).
Other Bible translations say that Martha was:
- Overly occupied
- Too busy
- Distracted with much serving
- Anxious and troubled about many things
- Pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen
- Fussing far too much
- Getting herself worked up over nothing
But Mary seated herself at the Lord’s feet, listening to Him, hanging on every word He said, (AMP, MSG).
Jesus said that what Mary chose was better. What did she choose?
She chose His presence.
As a wife and mother, there is always something that seemingly needs to be done – cooking, cleaning, laundry, errands, etc. But only one thing is needful, and that is making time to be in His presence.
Yes, there are things in life that are extremely important, and yes, we have to take care of these things. But we must also put first things first—and that means making time for the Father instead of making excuses. Our children should grow up seeing us make our time with the Lord a priority.
He loves you immensely! He desires to bless you with every spiritual and earthly blessing. He wants to give you the desires of your heart. (Eph. 1:3; 2 Cor. 9:8 Amp.; Ps. 37:4)
When you give Him your time and attention, He will give you all of Himself! He wants your life. He wants your moments. He wants your heart to be His and no one else’s. And He wants to lavish His love upon you!
So make time for the one thing that is needed. Make time to just sit in His Presence and let Him speak to your heart. He can fix any problem. There is nothing too difficult for Him!
It is so amazing how God can lead us when we are seeking Him. This is a subject which the Lord has been speaking to me about for several months now. I listened to a sermon two times that talked about this exact passage with Martha and Mary- and the one thing- just being with Jesus- listening to Him- sitting at His feet. Seeking Silence.
It is so easy to get busy “doing” that we forget to invite Him in. Thank you for such a lovely post. God bless you.
You are so right! But it sure makes our days a lot more peaceful and much more satisfying when we take the time to sit at His feet and listen…and then obey. 😉 Blessings, Alisha
Wonderful post, one that I needed to read!
Thank you, Sam. Praying for you as you undertake your new adventure working in AND outside the home. Blessings!
I love this: “When you give Him your time and attention, He will give you all of Himself! He wants your life. He wants your moments. He wants your heart to be His and no one else’s. And He wants to lavish His love upon you!”
We can’t receive all that love without being in his presence. Great post!
Amen to that! His presence has it ALL! Blessings, Alisha
Hi there! I found you through the Legacy Leaver link up!
Great encouragement to spend time with the Father!
Thank you Jenifer. Great to connect with you!
Amen! So very encouraging, Alisha. I am coming to you from Mary Beth’s blog. I must tell you: I am working on relaunching on my blog, switching from Blogger to WordPress, new name, etc. I have been spending much time deciding on a great name for my blog, and I seriously considered “Flourish”. So, I love your name! Your blog is beautiful.
That’s so cool! We must be kindred spirits! 😉 I’ll have to check out your blog. Thank you for your kind words! Blessings, Alisha
I joined in with Hello Mornings at Inspired to Action this summer to make getting up BEFORE my son and spending time with the Lord a priority. I’m so glad I did! I will continue doing it, too.
Welcome to the WIP Wednesday link-up! Thanks for joining us!
Mary Beth
Thank you for the welcome, Mary Beth. I did Hello Mornings over the fall or winter of last year, but missed the summer session. I am registering for the next session, because I definitely need the “planning your day” help! Blessings, Alisha
Love this… and you and I both wrote posts on ONE. God is desiring our focus on Him.
visiting from Denise In Bloom.
Yes He is! I look forward to visiting your blog & reading your post. Blessings!
Amen! We desperately need to sit in His presence. It can be so difficult to make time in this season of my life, but so very important. Thank you for this reminder and for linking up to Thrive @ Home Thursday!
Thank you for the link-up…so glad to connect! Blessings!
What a beautiful reminder of what is best for our lives. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Misty. Blessings to you!
Wow I needed to read this today. Thank you!
I believe it’s a reminder we all need each day (especially me). There’s nothing that compares with His presence! Blessings!
This is so well written – thank you!
I agree that we MUST discipline ourselves to spend time in His word. Especially I think when we have little ones that we are responsible for. If we don’t make His word huge in our lives, then how can we make It huge for them?
Even if there aren’t littles watching, its our responsibility to seek Him first and oh, there is just so many truths in this post.
Have a blessed day and thank you for taking a stand to remind everyone of such a profound truth.
Patty from http://www.fanta4two.com
You are right, Patty. It is our responsibility to seek Him first. And the great thing is that He will always be there waiting for us! God bless you!
This is exactly where I am right now. Taking a close look at how I spend my time and making a quiet time for just me and God before the kids get up. It is such a precious time! I found your blog though Big Family Friday link up.
Blessings!
Thank you so much for visiting Heather. You are right — that quiet time with the Lord *is* precious time!! Blessings, Alisha
You’ve beautifully written about the most important thing we need to do, making the choice to be in His presence. Amen! It’s all about being intentional every day, choosing to put Him first. Thank you for speaking to our hearts. Thank you also for linking up at Legacy Leaver Thursdays! I hope to see you next week.
Blessings~
Shari
Thank you for your kind words, Shari. It’s so good to connect with you! Blessings, Alisha
I love this. Above all, I always pray that I will know/understand what it is God wants from me and that I will have the courage to do it.
Amen. That’s what we all need to be praying. Blessings, Alisha
Alisha…I dislike it when my day starts without reading my Bible. You say it here: it is so important we read and come into His presence daily. Thank you for the sweet encouragement and for sharing at WJIM.
Alisha…you are one of my featured blogs this week. I’m excited to feature your post and your blog. Have a blessed week.
Wow! I’m honored to be featured on your blog! Thank you so much Naomi!! Blessings! Alisha
I’ve always liked the story of Mary and Martha and their roles in this story. I think I’ve always been more the Mary type. My mother was Martha. Seems like she was always busy about many things. I know if she had been there she would have been busy in the kitchen.
Blessings,
Charlotte
I’ve always felt like a “Mary” too…I’d much rather be sitting & listening than working in the kitchen! Lol! God bless you, Alisha