The One Thing - United Faith Church Podcast

Daniel 1:8-9

There are so many people throughout the Scriptures that we can find were receiving the favor of God and we can see great exploits that they have done and things that God had done through them because He had poured out His favor. But one man in particular I'd like to talk about is Daniel. Daniel was part of the exiled Jews who were exiled away from their home from their country, and now brought under King Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was looking for young men who would be trained to serve in his royal palace, and Daniel was a part of that group of men who were selected to be prepared to see if they were going to meet the requirements in order to serve under this king, under Nebuchadnezzar. Part of this whole preparation, it would be, you know, a set amount of time - but part of this preparation required these young men to be studying, to be learning and to be doing all sorts of things to prepare them. And part of it also was to eat the very specific foods and wine that were given by the king. The king was serious about every aspect of those who would serve in his royal palace - he was concerned of their eating he was concerned of their learning and their wisdom and their skills.

Now Daniel realized and knew that some of these foods were considered unclean for a Jewish man - maybe there was certain meats or maybe certain types of animals - that were presented that he knew would be a defilement according to his faith in the Lord. And so it says in Daniel chapter one, verse 8, “But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods. Now God had given the chief of staff both respect and affection for Daniel.”

Now, what is that favor really rooted in? Who really prompted in this man's heart to give Daniel such favor and to allow him, as you read on, not to have to eat these certain foods? God - who but God? The Lord - who is faithful to those who are also faithful to Him. If we like Daniel, have a heart that looks to never compromise but to always serve the Lord full-heartedly - regardless of what culture may say regardless of what any other may say or prompt - if we honor Him with our hearts, if we honor Him with our lives you can be sure that the favor of God will be poured out.

I encourage you to read the book of Daniel, because as you see, God's favor was so great upon him, that God protected him from the lions in the lion’s den. God protected him all throughout - made him a great influence in the nation that he was exiled to, found great favor not only in the eyes of the chief of staff but even favor in the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar - God led Daniel all through his life and he was blessed because he found favor in the sight of God. And because of that he brought God great glory - a man who simply settled in his heart and said, ‘God You are my everything. God, I'm not looking to defile myself or let this world touch me and pull me away from You. God I'm not gonna defile myself or my eyes, but I'm going to go after You - I'm going to live for You.’ And how we can never out give God - how great God is to those who belong to Him. The favor of God.

May we have a heart like Daniel this day. May we call out to the Lord Jesus, who is the very favor of God in the flesh - He is the very favor of God who had come in the flesh and is even now coming to live in men and women who call upon His Name. I praise God today, and thank God for each one who is listening even now. Praying that His favor would be poured out over your hearts your minds and your family, even this day. In Jesus’ Name, amen.

The post God’s Precious Favor – EP81 (Daniel 1:8-9) appeared first on United Faith Church.

Ephesians 4:30

Hello and welcome to the One Thing podcast. I would like to share with you a verse from the book of Ephesians. It’s Ephesians chapter 4 verse 30 and it says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

Furthermore, Paul says here that He is the Spirit of God who is our seal, who has sealed us for the day of redemption. Now what does that mean? In simple words, He is our seal. He is the proof in our lives that we belong to God. That's right, those who belong to God have the Spirit of God. When we carry His presence, when we walk in the Spirit’s power, it is proof, a seal that we belong to the Lord. It is a proof that we hold onto in faith knowing that one day, we will see our God face to face.

Is it our ears? Where our ears have not been attuned to His voice? Where we like to maybe hear certain things but then we don't want to hear other things that God wants to speak? Maybe we withhold our listening heart, our listening ear because we're a little too busy and we're listening to everything else that is happening. Have we grieved Him by withholding our eyes and looking at this world and looking at the things that we possess as more real than the Spirit's power, more real than God, more real than the Scriptures?

Today, maybe if we find that our ears have not been open, that we have grieved the Spirit, then today may we turn to repent and ask the Lord that He would open our ears to the Spirit. No longer to grieve Him but now satisfy as those who are available, who are ready to hear and to listen and to respond. If we find that our eyes have grieved the Spirit by looking to everything else and keeping focus on everything else but His word and His truth and what He is calling us to do, then may we turn this day and fix our eyes, asking the Spirit to fix our eyes upon Jesus. To fix our eyes upon what matters in this life. To fix our eyes not on the temporal things that will one day pass away but to fix our eyes on the work of God, which is an eternal work that will last forever.

I'm praying today that we would no longer grieve the Spirit but we would truly walk in the Spirit. That we would take that seal, that proofing that God has offered and given and walk in faith and true power that God has called us to live and to demonstrate.

I'm thankful today for the Spirit of God. May we stop and begin to thank God for the working of the Spirit in our lives. The Spirit who even causes repentance. The Spirit who causes us to grow closer to God, to hear, to see and to be able to respond and walk with Him. To have a communion with God that God has intended from the beginning of time.

I pray today Holy Spirit, that You would move in this Word. I'm praying that You would move in those who are Yours, God. That You would move in Your people and I thank You and bless You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

The post The Gift of the Spirit – EP80 (Eph. 4:30) appeared first on United Faith Church.

Mark 1:11

Hello and welcome to the One Thing podcast. A question for today, some thought for our hearts and our minds is: What pleases God? What can we do to make God happy? What can we do to truly please God and bring a smile to Him, to have something to truly delight in? What is it that we can do? What type of people should we be?

I asked this question to a few different people, and there were a couple different answers that I began to get. One person said, “I truly believe that my effort of working really hard is pleasing to God when I just give it my all and I really do a great job”. Another person actually responded and said, “I think I have a really hard time pleasing God. You know, part of me really wants to do a good job at it. Another part of me just seems to fail miserably over and over and it's so difficult to please Him”. And lastly, another person said, “It’s a person who prays a lot and I find that I am praying a lot more and I feel like because I'm praying more and because I'm thinking a little bit more about God, that it's so pleasing to Him”.

Now, I want to go to the Word of the Lord. And in the Word of the Lord, I'm so excited because it states clearly what is pleasing to the Father, what is truly pleasing, what type of person, what can we actually do to please the Father? And it'll truly answer every single one of the people that I've spoken to, even you today as you may be thinking, “What is pleasing to the Father? How can I please Him?”

Think about that for a moment. The Son and the Father. The Father and the Son. God is looking down and He is saying, “You Jesus, are my Son whom I love.” See, the love between the Father and the Son is a perfect love. When Jesus looks to His Father, His Father looks directly back at Him and everything that He does is pleasing to Him. How do we know? He says, “...with you I am well pleased.” He is well pleased with Jesus. He is perfectly delighting and pleased in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus and the Father are one and they are one in love. They are one in mind, they are one in will and in purpose and this love is a powerful love. It is a pleasing love to the Father. And see, everything that Jesus did, everything that Jesus does, even this day, is pleasing to His Father. There's no mistakes about it. There's no left or right to it. There's no other ups and downs. It is truly Jesus and so what does that mean for us today? My friends, it is that the only thing that is pleasing to God is that we would be full of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And why is this so incredible? Because when Jesus is in us, when we are filled with Christ, we cannot fail because He is pleasing to the Father. When Jesus speaks through us, when our prayers are no longer just our prayers, when they are the prayers of Christ in us, they reach the Heavens, they reach the Father and they are truly pleasing. When our efforts are not rooted in us just kinda trying hard, when the effort that we have is actually being compelled by Christ in me, Christ in you, this is the effort that is pleasing. This is the walk that is pleasing to God. And you see, even when we fail at times, there is hope. There is hope in the power and the grace of God. The mercy of God that picks us back up to go at it again because Christ in me cannot fail. Because Christ in me is the hope of glory.

Are you filled with Jesus this day? Are you looking to please the Father? Have you thought that being able to please Him is praying more or maybe just trying to study more? Now listen, all those things are good. All those things should be a result of Christ moving in us and giving us a desire for the Word and giving us a desire to move and to walk with God but ultimately, the only one that can truly please the Father is the Son.

Praise God today that we are no longer on the outside; we don't have to remain away from God. Praise God today we don't have to live in our own efforts. Praise God today we don't have to live according to what we think we are capable of doing but we can live in Christ.

May we cry out to Him today if we find that we truly have not lived a pleasing walk with God. If we find that we have been caught up in just doing works and things but doing it apart from the power of Christ in us, then I pray today that we would turn to Jesus. That we would find Him and that He would enter in to once again be Christ in the flesh, living and walking and breathing through you and through me.

Be blessed today and may you hear the voice of the Lord calling you to Himself and may you come deeper into Christ more than ever before. Amen.

The post What Pleases God? – EP79 (Mark 1:11) appeared first on United Faith Church.

2 Corinthians 5:16

Hello and welcome back to the One Thing podcast. A good question for today is: How do we evaluate our own lives? How do we evaluate others? In what ways do we think, in what ways do we perceive or decide and discern what is good or bad? More importantly, how do we see God - through what eyes through what mindset? And I love in 2 Corinthians, chapter 5 verse 16 and we’ll be reading from the NLT today, how it gives a description of exactly that: How we should evaluate things in our lives, including ourselves, including others, and more importantly, the Lord.

Now you may be thinking and asking, ‘Why is the human point of view so bad? What is so terrible about it?’ Well, initially, when God first made man, His intention was that our view would be His view, that we would be one with Him. That we would always perceive and share and do all things according to His Word and according to His truth. But we know that because of sin - because of what sin has done - it's darkened our environment it’s darkened our world it's darkened our mindset it's darkened everything so that we have learned to evaluate from a human point of view that is a fallen point of view. A point of view that's been corrupted by sin. And we can understand and think about the many issues that this causes. Because we're not aligned with God, we're not aligned with His truth. Everything we think and everything that we do is according to a fallen thought process and a fallen mindset. In other words, completely the opposite of how God would do something completely opposite of how God would go about.

The problem is that apart from the Lord and apart from thinking and going about His ways and evaluating according to His Word leads us to death, it leads us to perishing. The Bible says unless we believe in Him unless we follow Him - we perish we do not receive life and light which is really truth. But at the same time I love this - at one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. We evaluated from a human point of view but Paul says how differently now we know Him. Now we've come to know the Lord.

There is hope today, that we can come into Christ we can call upon His Name, and receive His truth, and walk in His truth - no longer thinking and perceiving things from our own human fallen point of view but now thinking and seeing as God would. Why is this incredible? Because even if we are in the worst of circumstances, even if this day - when we look at this world and we look at what's happening between viruses between the economy, between political uprise and violence and all sorts of terrible things in the world - those who are in Christ -

And so today, there is hope. Today, there is hope that comes from being in Christ: It is that we no longer live from the old point of view. We no longer live from the human point of view but we now live from God's point of view. Even if it seems as though we have been defeated - even if it seems as though something is not going as we've planned, even if it seems like we're praying and nothing seems to be shifting, yet God today is the victor, and He is moving in our lives. And in the end He always comes out on top and we will reign also with Him.

Will we look to Christ today? Will we be as Paul - no longer looking to be in the old way or in the old human point of view but now coming to know the Lord, knowing how He thinks what He loves and what He prefers. This is the Christian life. It's a life of hope it's a life of joy, because we are one with God. We are brought back to where God had really intended from the beginning - we are brought back to walk with Him, and to walk in His truth, and to walk in his power.

The post God’s Point Of View – EP77 (2 Cor 5:16) appeared first on United Faith Church.

Matthew 18:3

Hello and welcome to the One Thing podcast. We're coming close to the new year. And everyone's thinking: How do I want to enter this new year? Do I want to enter this new year in shape? Do I want to enter this new year with the goal of becoming more fit? Do I want to change my style of eating? Do I want to enter this new year with a sense of being better with my money, or being more motivated in my life? And we're all thinking of how are we gonna to enter into this new year - how will we begin, and how will we continue, and what is our goal? What are our thoughts fixed on? What are our minds set to do?

Matthew chapter 18 verse 3, Jesus says, “‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom...’” Today, brothers and sisters, we are not looking to just change our bodies or to change or be motivated to be better with certain things in our lives. But today God is calling us to enter the kingdom of heaven. And He says that we must change. What is it that needs to change? See our mindset and our hearts need a transformation.

He says, “Unless you become like little children…” What are little children like? I love when I speak to my little nephew and some of the kids that I see in church, and I love their simplicity. I love that you can speak to them - you can talk to them - and there’s such an innocence in all of their responses. You can say, ‘How are you doing?’ and they're just like, ‘Great, of course I'm doing great!’ You know, I love the fact that not only do they have such an innocence, but there is a simplicity. You can tell them to go into the corner and to grab a certain toy and to share it with you and they’ll move! You can ask them how to do a certain game or to play with a certain toy and they’ll tell you, so simply, because in their heart there is a simplicity that is pure, and it is a purity and a humbleness that God is looking for also in His people.

So I pray today that we would enter in. We would be thinking about this new year in light of the Gospel - in light of the power of God. And that truly, we would change and become like little children. Praying you be blessed this new year, and that in this new time, God would do all that He has set forth to do in our lives. Amen.

The post Entering The New – EP76 (Matt 18:3) appeared first on United Faith Church.

Matthew 6:33

Hello and welcome back to the One Thing podcast. Today the Lord had placed a verse on my heart, and it's a very familiar verse probably to many of you listening. And what I love about it is its simplicity. And I'm praying today that, even as we share this verse, that God would shed a new light in each one of our hearts to give us a new understanding, and to really further His Kingdom in our lives.

So what does it mean to seek? Now think about this: In life, some of us have played a sport - maybe soccer, maybe basketball. And what do you do when you want to get really good as a team player, or even as an individual player? You - as a basketball player - you aim for that hoop. You aim to be the best that you can at shooting a three-pointer. Even if you're not so good at it you practice and you practice and your aim - what you're striving for - is to make that goal, to make that ball get into the net. No matter what you need to do - spend hours training spend hours working and sweating - and all the things that it takes to get better, you're willing to do it because it's your aim. It's what you're focused on. It could be soccer it could be, like I said, any type of sport. Or even within the job, or in the school, there's something that we can aim and strive for. You may be a student. And not only do you want to just pass but you want to excel. You want to excel your peers, excel those that are all around you and you want to be the best that you can in that classroom. So you aim. You strive you put forward every effort. You exert yourself to study harder to go beyond just the books but to, you know, read extra books or to look for an experience in any level of job opportunity that can help you to become the better worker or the better student, whatever it may be.

I'm praying today that this would open up our eyes - that this would be a light to our heart - to give us a new focus a fresh focus on what God is calling us to do in this season. Bless you all, and I'm praying that the Kingdom of God would be our aim. That today we would come into a new place going after it with all of our hearts, and seeking the Lord. Amen.

The post Aiming for the Kingdom – EP75 (Matt 6:33) appeared first on United Faith Church.

2 Thessalonians 3:5

Hello and welcome back to the One Thing podcast. I couldn't help but to think today as I look at the news - I see different platforms in the media - of a lot of people expressing themselves. When we see our nation and we even look at the world as a whole, there are different gatherings there are all sorts of protest and - not that every single one is terrible and not that every single person is a terrible person - not saying that. But what I am finding is that there is a huge mass of expression coming from anger or disagreement, and a lot of those expressions - the way that man has been expressing themselves - has been through violence. Violent acts, maybe rioting or, you know as we look at the news we see people breaking stores open and all sorts of things that are just terrible.

But here is the hope: As Christians we can ask ourselves: What are we expressing? What has God called our lives to be showing? What is supposed to be seen in our lives - and I love this Scripture in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 3 verse 5. It says, “May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.” You see, this is such a hopeful verse. It's a simple prayer of Paul and he’s saying, “May the Lord lead our hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God” - and it's beautiful!

I'm just seeing that the Christian - the man or woman of God the child of God - is the one who has received His powerful love, and understood how gracious and how great that it is that an expression of that same love is also brought about. You see, we don't riot, we don't rise up in hatred or in bitterness or, you know, raging disagreement, but we rise up in the love of God. How does that look what does that mean? It means that we are patient through every circumstance. It means that we do not react according to our flesh, but we react according to God. It means that we do not speak out of line and we do not speak without self-control, but we speak and we express - even with our words - the love, the peace and the goodness of God.

So I pray today as Paul prayed, that the Lord would lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God in the patient endurance that comes from Christ. Praise God today that He is calling us to a deeper walk with Him. Praise God today that He has made a way that we would express His love - knowing His great love for us, and also bringing it back to Him and to our brethren. Thank You God, that You are so good. Amen.

The post Expression of His Love – EP74 (2 Thess. 3:5) appeared first on United Faith Church.

Psalm 130:5

We live in a world where waiting has become a foreign word. We live in a world where waiting has been the last thing really on our list to do. We can order things on our cellphones in a matter of moments, we don't really even have to wait to get home to get on our laptops or on our computer, right? We don't have to wait for much even when we order things we have all sorts of shipping options that we can pay extra money to maybe get something overnight rather than waiting for two days, rather than waiting for five days - even if it's something that we don't need in an emergency sense. Many people tend to just say, ‘You know what? I want the two day shipping I want the one day shipping so I can hurry up and get it. I just can't wait to get it at the door.’ And we can go on and on about so many different ways that the world we live in has become a fast paced race without stopping without ever really having to wait. Whether it's food we're getting, whatever it may be - it's all at our fingertips literally. And the art - and I say the art of waiting - has been really a lost art which for Christians for those who are after the Lord, waiting is such a powerful thing. It's in the waiting where character is formed it's in the waiting where our hearts are formed, where we learn some of the greatest lessons and the deepest things that God has desired for our lives.

I have a Scripture today, and it's Psalms 130, verse 5. It says, “I will wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His Word I put my hope.” I love the heart of the psalmist here saying, ‘I will wait for the Lord - everything in me is gonna wait for what God has.’ Now listen, maybe today you're waiting on a deliverance to come through. Maybe you're waiting for God to deliver you from a mindset that has just been warped or caught up in depravity. Maybe you're waiting for God to touch you, maybe you're waiting for the presence of the Lord to come - whatever it may be, what do you do in the waiting? When we’re waiting, there's some very important things to think about, there are some very important things to be doing as we’re waiting upon something from God - we're waiting on something for God to bring through that maybe He promised, maybe something that we heard in His Word - whatever it may be, what do we do in the waiting?

Another thing that's so important is, you know he says, “...and in His word I put my hope.” So the psalmist here is saying, ‘You know what, I'm looking at Your Word. I'm examining it. I'm trusting in Your Word and I'm putting my hope in it.’ You see, when we're waiting, the time of waiting is not only a time of worship, but it's a time of examination...To examine the Word of the Lord. To make sure that our feet are aligned with the Word. See if we're gonna put our hope in the Word - if we're gonna be waiting on the Lord - then in this time of waiting, will you stop to examine your life to say, ‘Father, in this waiting time, am I really ready? Am I ready for Your deliverance? Am I ready for You to come through and to do all that You said that You were gonna do? Is my heart in the right place God - when You come to deliver me will I forget You? When You come through - when God, that blessing comes that I've been waiting for - will I still be thanking You?’ You see, this is truly a time of examination as we wait upon the Lord. We examine our lives. We examine His Word to make sure that our lives, our motives in our hearts are aligned with that Word - and therefore we can put our trust and our hope in it.

Will you trust in the Lord today? Will you trust in His timing? As you wait upon the Lord will you cry out, will you worship Him will you draw near to Him will you come closer to Him - closer than you've ever been before. I encourage you this day. I will wait upon the Lord. “I will wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His Word I put my hope.” May you find hope today in the waiting. May you find the Lord, may you find His Word, and may you find that you are drawing closer to Him more than ever before. God bless.

The post In The Waiting – EP73 (Psalm 130:5) appeared first on United Faith Church.

Hello and welcome back to the One Thing podcast. What does it mean to be wise? Now, wisdom can mean a lot of different things - and a lot of good things. But, one thing I would like to share with you today is something dear to my own heart, and it's a Word that I want to share from Ecclesiastes; but before I get there, I want to talk about foolishness. What does the Bible consider to be foolishness before the eyes of God? What does it mean to be a foolish person? One thing that I've realized in this Scripture is that the most foolish thing that we can do, or the most foolish way that we can live our lives, is to not realize that one day our lives will end. What do I mean by that?

Why is it foolish not to realize this? Why is it foolish not to think about it? Because we can go on, we can decide to go our own way and to do our own thing - but it will end one day. See, the Bible says that the rich and the poor have one thing in common: that one day we will lie on our deathbed. Now is this something that should stir us up just to be full of fear? No, but it is something to truly think about, because it's as though we're all thinking we're gonna live forever, we could just do what we want - but the reality is there's a day of reckoning for every man and for every woman.

Only a fool thinks about having a good time all the time. You see, the world is just constantly thinking about ‘how am I gonna please myself? How am I gonna have a good time? I just want to have the money, I just want to do my thing.’ But listen: you can have a million dollars, and if your life is required this hour, the million dollars means nothing. But if you have Christ, even if this be the hour that you close your eyes, you will also open them to the Redeemer; that's right, for I know that my Redeemer lives - those who walk in Christ, those who are with Him - even on your deathbed, there is victory. For those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, His promise is that we too shall live forever.

The post True Wisdom – EP72 (Ecc.7:4) appeared first on United Faith Church.