The One Thing - United Faith Church Podcast

John 6:44

"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day." "My Father must be the one to draw you to myself...to come into the new life."

Hello, and welcome back to the One Thing Podcast! Today I would like to share with you a verse from John 6:44. It says, ‘No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.’ This verse is incredible! The very words of Jesus Himself saying “listen, nobody can come to me unless my Father allows it to be so. My Father must be the one to draw you to myself; to draw you to come to know me; to come into salvation, to come into truth, and to come into the new life, the new birth that only I can bring.”

"Come closer to God."

As you think about this verse for a moment, it should get us thinking: ‘So what do we do if it's God alone that can draw us to the Son? What part do we play? If it's not by our own effort; if it's only even initiated by the power and the mercy and the grace of God, what is it that we do as those who are waiting - maybe to be drawn today, maybe to come closer to God? Some may think: maybe we just wait, maybe there is nothing to do, maybe we kind of just sit aside with our hands folded, only hoping and waiting that God would draw us to Himself. But here goes the thing: God is calling us! He's saying that if you hear my voice today - that if you hear this Scripture and it's bubbling in your heart, that you must be drawn to the Son, that you've got to find Him and that you want to hear the voice of God drawing you in - then God says: today if you hear my voice, do not harden your hearts - don't walk away, don't step only to the side - but bow before the Lord of all.

"Draw me to Yourself."

Bow before the Lord Jesus Christ even now and look to Him, pleading, saying: Lord Jesus, open my heart, open my ears. Father in Heaven, I come to You in the name of the Lord Jesus, open up the heavens on my life today, draw me to Yourself. Have mercy God, let Your grace open my eyes that I would turn from darkness and turn to the light. There is hope today! There is hope that the Father would draw us in. Our duty, our hope is found in bowing before the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of all, pleading with the Father saying: Father, have your way this day.

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them.” I'm praying today that the Father would draw you in today. I'm praying that right now if you're listening, and your heart is moving, and your mind is beginning to get flooded with this Word, with the truth of God, I pray today that the Father would draw you in and that you would find the life that is offered only by the Lord Jesus Christ. He says that I will raise them up at the last day; that one day we will close our eyes, only to open to see Him in all of His glory; that one day He may return and we would be ready, as those who have already been drawn to His great glory and power. May the Father draw you in today and may you be blessed!

Psalm 128

"Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours." "All I know is that the greatest thing you could do is fear the Lord." Hello, and welcome to the One Thing Podcast. It's very interesting this morning, I was thinking about the book of Ecclesiastes and when you read that book it's from Solomon, a man who had experienced all the riches of the world, he experienced travel and in all the gold, all the silver, everything; and yet his conclusion at everything that he learned as being one of the wisest man to ever lived, was in the ending of that book he says, all I know is that the greatest thing you could do is fear the Lord.obedience to god brings blessingsAnd I was really thinking about that and so I was brought to the Psalm 128 verses 1 and 2. And it says, “Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.” And so what is God calling his people to do? What is the greatest thing that we can do? We are to fear the Lord. What does it mean to fear the Lord? It means that we walk with Him, we obey, we follow because we know that he is worthy, that he is King. We know that if God blesses us, we are blessed; if we are cursed, we are also cursed. We know that all things are in God's hands. We know that God can cause life or he can cause things to be destroyed; He is God, He is mighty, He is powerful. And He is calling us to fear the Lord.

"As we walk and as we fear the Lord, we will eat the fruit of our labor." For those who fear the Lord, we don't lack anything that is good. Those who fear the Lord also come to know God, to love him and to love the Lord your God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. And the part of this verse that also goes right along with it, he says, “You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.” To eat the fruit of our labor. As we labor in this world and in our prayers and as we begin to work toward the kingdom of God and to follow in faith and then to seek Him in all that we do - to let God be the priority of our lives and our day, to let God be our lifeline, to be everything, as we walk and as we fear the Lord, we will eat the fruit of our labor. And the fruit of our labor will be bright blessings and prosperity. We will prosper in the love of God, we will prosper in the goodness and in the power of God. We will be blessed in everything that we do; blessed in our homes, blessed in our jobs, blessed in our families, simply because of the fear of the Lord. God looks to bless those who fear him because those who fear him will lack nothing. The world will see that God is alive. The world will see that God is powerful and that he is just and also compassionate and merciful to those who fear him and walk in his ways.

"The blessings and the prosperity of God will be found in our lives as we fear the Lord." Will you fear the Lord today? Will you ask God to touch your heart and say, ‘Father, let me have the spirit of the fear of the Lord.’ And we know that the Lord Jesus Christ is the answer to all of it. It says in Isaiah that there was going to be One with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, all the aspects of the spirit were gonna be upon Jesus and one being, the spirit of the fear of the Lord. The Lord Jesus is the answer. As we trust in Him, as we look in Him - He feared and loved his Father and He did it in a pure and righteous way. And when Christ is in us, when we trust in Him, we too, will fear the Lord and the blessings and the prosperity of God will be found in our lives as we fear the Lord and walk in his powerful ways. May you be blessed today. May you seek His face in this precious, wonderful time, and may you find the Lord as never before.

John 6:44

"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day."Hello and welcome back to the One Thing Podcast. We're in such an incredible time, an incredible season for the Church of the Lord Jesus. I'm not just talking about one specific church or a couple churches, I'm speaking about the Church of Jesus worldwide. The Church that is joined in faith together, that is joined in our belief in the Lord Jesus who is King and Savior.

"He’s drawing His people to come close to Him..."

And what's awesome is in this time, God is drawing His people to Himself. As never before, God is going to draw His church, He's drawing the mothers, the fathers, the sons, the daughters by the power of His Spirit. He's drawing His people to come close to Him, to come back to be strong in the word of the Lord. To come back into moving and living in the Spirit that He's given, for these last days to truly demonstrate His kingdom.

"...anything good that comes that draws us to God, is all initiated by the Father."

Now, when we think about this, we know that the Lord has given us instruction. He says to seek me with all of your heart. He says to ask, seek, and knock and the door will be open. He gives us the idea, the instruction on seeking Him and how important it is. We know that Jesus saw His Father and His will in everything that He did. But also, there's one important thing that I would like to share with each one of you today. Jesus said in John 6:44 that; “no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws Him.” What a wonderful hope that we have! That we have our own effort, we begin to seek God as He puts that desire in our hearts. But that is exactly what it is. Every bit of our seeking, every bit of our desire to pray, anything good that comes that draws us to God, is all initiated by the Father. It's all a work by our great and merciful God.

So what does that mean for us today? It means that we pray for God's mercy upon His church. May we pray today for our families, that God's mercy would begin to draw our brothers, our sisters in, our sons, our daughters. That God, you would even in my own heart, begin to draw me in as never before. This is a great work of God, that He calls his children home to his heart. He calls us back to Him, to live our lives, to come into the power that He’s called us to live in. To come into the strength of the word that we as Christians were meant to have in our lives.

"Can you feel the presense of His power calling you to himself…?"

Do you hear God drawing you in? Can you feel the presence of His power calling you to himself and drawing you in? If not, may we come to the Father today saying, Father have mercy, open my deafened ears. Have mercy. Open my blind eyes that I would see, that I would hear, and come home and be to the place that you have called me to be. We have been called to do the will of the father and now is the time. Come home he says, come back to me. Come to the rock from which you were brought from.

So, may you be blessed today. May we come into the mercy of God in this time of returning. May the Father draw each one of His children near and may the church rise to do all that the Father has called us to do.

Philippians 2:13

"...for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose."Hello, and welcome back to the One Thing podcast! Today we're reading from the book of Philippians. today chapter 2 verse 13 and it says for it is God who is effectively at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

"The work that God does is a work that comes through faith..."And I love this verse because as Christians we have to understand the work of God in our lives.   You see the work that God does is a work that comes through faith and because of our trust in Him, because of the hope that we have in the Lord Jesus something even happens in our physical bodies.

It causes us to move.

It causes us to work and to do the things that God has called us to do.  But one thing that's so important to remember, this scripture is saying that God is doing His work, He's bringing about His will in our lives not because we deserve it not because of anything good or bad that we've done but simply for His good pleasure.

And that's something important to remember.

* Why does God do things in our life?

* Why does He call us out to follow Him?

* Why has He chosen us?

* Why has He called us by name?

The Bible says that even in our mother's womb He spoke to us and He already knew the plans that He would have for our lives.

But why?

The answer is very simple... because of His own good pleasure.

And so may we stop today may we begin to think on this to meditate on the the truth of God's Word.   That everything that He does, all of His desire is because of His own good pleasure.   He took pleasure in calling us by name.   He took pleasure in calling us to serve in a mighty kingdom to do His will on this earth and to one day also live with Him in eternity forever enjoying His presence.

"God is taking pleasure in seeing us break through."If we simply allow this to enter our minds to have this mind set everything in our life changes.  The reason that we do things the reason that we you know that we look to do the work of the Lord.   And it changes our perspective because we see everything rooted in God's pleasure whether it's a bad circumstance or good we can trust that throughout the day throughout everything some how some way God is going to lead us to Himself and He's taking pleasure at revealing Himself in our lives even in the tough situations and circumstances God is taking pleasure in seeing us break through. He's taking pleasure in seeing us hold on and demonstrate the power of His love the power of His word in our life.

"...all things in our life are about God's good pleasure..."And so you know as we look at this we know that it is not our own strength but God who is doing the work in us.  Now does that mean that we sit back and do nothing? No, but it does mean that we can look for God's will in our lives.   We can look for where to move.  We can find what to do by calling on Him by seeking Him by not stopping until He reveals Himself in us, by not seizing to pray not seizing to look for the move that He's calling us to do, or maybe the moves He's not calling us to do.

But it all comes simply by trusting in the Lord and knowing that this is all about His good pleasure.  So may we recognize today that God is looking to bring about His will and His work in our lives.  He is our strength the Lord Jesus is our energy.  He's the one that even creates the longing in us and gives us the ability to see Him and to seek His face this day.

So may we really grasp the will of God for our lives today.  May we stop and find that everything and all things in our life are about God's good pleasure being unfolded in each and every one of us.

Matthew 16:24

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.'"Hello and welcome back to the One Thing Podcast. Today the question is: Are you a disciple? God calls us to be disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. What do we know about being a disciple? Well we can easily look at the 12 who were trained by the Lord Jesus for years.Now we know, besides for Judas, that the disciples who remained with the Lord, they were men who were transformed literally by the power of the gospel. They were filled with the Spirit of God and they carried the message of the gospel in power all throughout the nations. They were so influential, they influenced others simply by being who they were in Christ. God calls us today to be no different. To be disciples, those who would seek after the Lord, those who would simply seek His face for who He is. And to make a dent in our nation, to make a dent in our families and in those who are around us, simply by walking in the power, in the message of the gospel.

And so the scripture I wanted to share is Matthew 16, chapter 16 verse 24, it says, then Jesus said to his disciples “whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

"...put down the way that we want to do things."

Something that Jesus presented here, He said if you want to follow me, if you want to be a disciple, first off you have to deny yourself. What does it mean? Does it mean that we deny ourselves food? Does it mean that we deny ourselves earthly pleasures or different things? Whatever it may be. Listen, the whole idea of denying ourselves means this, put down the way that we want to do things, put down our own mindsets, put away how we’re used to doing everything and simply come to the Lord, and say Lord here is my mindset.

"I want to think according to your word."

I don't want to think the way that I did anymore, I want to think according to your word. I want to think according to your Spirit and what your Spirit desires for me to do today. Really to deny ourselves is to simply lay down our will. Now I know it sounds simple right, but apart from the gospel of the Lord Jesus, man has his own will and desires to do that, putting God's will aside. But today, He says deny yourself, come to me, believe in me, lay down your will and let me do my will in you.

"...the only one that will live in me is Christ."

And what do we know about the next part of this verse, to take up our cross and to follow Him. Now when we think of the cross, we know that Jesus was placed upon that cross that was a criminal's death of that day for the Romans. They would take their enemies and put them on a cross, an excruciating way of punishment. He's saying pick up your cross. What man would ever want to pick up the cross? What would ever make us want to do that? I tell you this, that when we believe in the Lord Jesus, we are not only filled with the power of His word but we are able to pick up our cross. Simply to pick up our cross, it's an attitude, it's a mentality. The cross is an attitude, it's a way of doing things. It's saying, you know what, my way is finished. The old way is done. That old man, that old woman, that old child, that old teenager, you know what, I've come to Christ and he/she is gone. Now, the only one that will live in me is Chrsit. As Paul said, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

"He will empower you to do the work of God."

You see for us the cross, is a powerful, powerful, moment. The cross for us is a moment that we live in every day. Knowing that because our Lord sacrificed His life, we also lay down our life to Him. I want to say what the Bible makes very clear, the man or woman, the child, the teenager who lays down their life for the sake of the gospel,

1 Timothy 1:18-19

The Charge to Timothy Renewed

"Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith."Hello welcome back to the One Thing Podcast...reading a scripture from the book of first Timothy today. It's first Timothy chapter one verses 18 or 19 and this is Paul speaking to Timothy who he considered to be a son in the faith. Timothy was his right side man, he was a man who loved Paul and really love the Lord. And Paul is speaking to Timothy, he's giving him instruction....

Timothy being a young man in such a defiled world, a world that comes against everything about the message of the gospel but here we find this man Timothy who many of us can relate to being in a place where we want to stand for the Lord. We want to do what He has called us to do and Paul is giving him a command, he's giving him this more than just advice but really command from God that we can all partake in today and follow. And find ourselves being trained by him.

And it says here, Timothy my son I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience. And I wanted to focus on really what Paul first is saying here. He says listen Timothy I'm giving you this command in terms of the prophecies made over you recall what God has spoken to you.

Now these prophecies to Timothy, we could speculate that it could have been numerous things it could have been a prophecy of Timothy being a man of God and leading a people of God closer to Him in the pastoral ministry. Whatever it may be God we can relate to today has spoken many things into our lives. Maybe He says and has prophesied or spoken His word you know that you would stand in your family that your family would serve Him. Maybe he prophesied that you would simply be a person of powerful prayer that God is going to use to touch the nations...whatever it may be. We find that it can be a weapon in our battle against the darkness of this world.

"we've got to recall what God has already given"He says Timothy recall them recall them so you would fight this battle well. We have to recall the words that God has given us even if it takes us going back in our journal to certain points of life where God had spoken clear and we knew it was a word for the Lord. Sometimes we've got to just go back we've got to recall what God has already given. And in those things we remember God's power we remember who He is. And I love this because Paul says holding on to the faith in other words cling to the faith to make the claim to the faith John cling to the faith Suzanne whoever it may be listening right now, he's saying recall the words that God has giving you and cling to the faith and don't let go.

"...and what is our faith? Our faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ"When I think of clinging to the faith holding to the faith I think of a a small child where we've all seen at some point a young child where we approach them and say hello and maybe they're shy maybe they're a little frightened and what do they do? They hold on to their mom to their dad they cling to them and it's no different for the Christian. We want to cling to our faith and what is our faith? Our faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ.  That all the things that He spoke and all the things that He's called us to do for His will and for His kingdom, it's all rooted in clinging to the faith, never forgetting that it is the Lord Jesus who works in and through us.

So we go back over and over knowing that it is Christ who pleases God knowing that every work that is in faith in Christ is p...

John 15:4

"Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."Hello welcome back to the One Thing Podcast. I have a Scripture to share with you today coming from John chapter 15 verse 4. You may be very familiar with it but it's very important. It's where Jesus says, "Remain in Me, and I will also remain in you."

"Take every step in faith"How crucial it is to realize that the greatest thing that we can do is to remain in Christ.  What does that mean, what does it mean to remain in Him?  Does it mean that we stay at home with just our Bibles does it mean that we stay in the prayer closet?   No...what it means is that we continue to make every step to take every step in faith knowing that apart from Christ there is no good thing.

"Without remaining in His Word we cannot do a thing that is good"Without His blessing without His love in our hearts without remaining in His word and just continuing to trust in Him we cannot do a thing that is good. But those who remain in Him, those who throughout the day whether you feel it or not, whether you're at work or you're at school you just continue to trust that Jesus will lead you through...He will lead you to the Father despite every circumstance despite every situation.

Remain in Him, keep your eyes fixed on Him in your thoughts focus every thought to Him and even when you get caught up at work even when your mind seems to wander away to get consumed in your study or something else just immediately come right back to the Lord. Bring your thoughts to Him think about the Lord seated on the throne. May our hearts remain in Him.

"When we remain in Christ we are kept safe"May we continue to focus our heart on Him in our devotion or affection and simply come by faith knowing that those who trust in His name, those who look to Him, they will remain in Him and He will bring to completion the great work that He started in our lives. Remain in me and I will also remain in you. This life this world the devil himself seems to try with all of its effort to sway us to the left to sway it to the right every voice tries to you know get us to go another direction. But when we remain Christ we are kept safe.

Would you remain in Him today?

Would you take that effort to continue to focus your mind and your thoughts on Him, asking His Spirit to help you, asking for the Spirit to give you reminders throughout the day, asking for the Spirit of God to always direct your heart toward His will and toward His kingdom. God can do it, He can do it in each one of us, He can do it in those who trust in the name of the Lord Jesus. So may you look to Him today, may you remain in Him and may you produce an abundance of fruit that comes from His great power and great love.

Romans 8:6

"The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace."

Hello welcome back to the One Thing Podcast. I have a scripture coming from Romans chapter 8 verse 6, it says, “the mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.”

What does that mean for us today?

You see when we look at the world, we see that the world doesn't have peace. Right now you can tune into the news and there are so many crazy things that are happening from earthquakes to wars and rumors of wars. So many bad things seem to be happening all throughout the nation, but do not be fooled. In this day and age, this right now is the season of power and glory for the people of God.

"What is it that the Spirit of God is doing?"

So as we look around and we see the bad or negative things that are happening. What is it that we can do? The Bible makes it very clear, be governed by the Spirit of God. Let the Spirit of God fill your mind today. You're wondering what to do, how to act, what to say, what should our reactions be, how do we make the right decisions. Our duty is simply, not to walk in the flesh, not to walk around thinking only on the world or our basic physical needs, but to stop and to think about the desires of the spirit. What is it that the Spirit of God is doing? What is it that He is looking to do or to speak in and through us today? You see, the mind that is governed by the flesh is death, in other words, it's separate from God. It doesn't allow us to walk in peace and to be filled with the life that God causes to be filled with. But, the mind that is governed by the Spirit is life.

"What is life? It's to be in the will of God, it’s to spread His word. "

What is life? It’s to be in the will of God, it's to spread His word. It's to live out in the power of the spirit, the work and the will of God in our lives. And it is peace because it is at peace with God. Our decisions are all influenced by the spirit. We begin to decide in light of God's will, we begin to speak in light of God's will and simply live and function through the power of the spirit. How do we come into the spirit? The Lord Jesus has made a way! For those who trust in Him, those who are born of God, those who were born of the Spirit, are also filled with the Spirit of God.

"...may we trust that He made a way"

May we look to the Lord Jesus today, may we trust that He made a way, may we trust Him. And as we trust Him, we too can receive the very Spirit of the Lord Jesus, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of life. Will you walk, not in the flesh today, but will you walk in the spirit!

Psalm 36:9

For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.

Hello welcome back to the one thing podcast.  I have great news for all the listeners today and it comes from Psalm 36 verse 9.  The word says "For with you is the fountain of life in your light we see light."

Are you dry, are you thirsty?"God is saying today that there is a fountain that never runs dry.  There is a fountain of life.  You see many people choose to drink and live from the fountains of this world.   Fountains of money, fountains of things.  All these things that are temporary and leave us dry weary and thirsty. 

But God says today there is a fountain that never runs dry.  There is a fountain that you can drink from and never thirst but find satisfaction in the deapths of your souls.

That fountain is the Lord Jesus. 

He said in the scriptures come to me, come to me and drink from the fountain of everlasting rivers of over flowing water.   And that water, those waters are the very breath and life that the Lord Jesus gives to those who trust in Him...to those who turn to him to drink from this wonderful fountain. 

Will you turn to the Lord today?  Are you dry are you thirsty?  Are you looking for the light of the Lord Jesus.   He says come!  This scripture says in your light we see light.  You see as we drink from that fountain there is a life and a light that begins to flow through our minds and through our hearts. 

"Spring up a well in us today God!"In that light we see light, in other words when the light of God is upon us we see that He truly is the light and we take Him to be all that he promised to be... the light of the world who would always guide us to the father who would always guide us into the Kingdom of God and calls us to live in the life in the goodness that He promised. 

For with you God is the fountain of life in Your light we see light.  Will you drink from the fountain of God today?  Will you turn from the world?  Would you turn from all other cisterns that are broken and empty and drink from the well of living water? 

Spring up a well of life with in us today!  Thank you God that you are the fountain, thank you Father that you have sent your light.

Psalm 36:9

"For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light."Hello and welcome back to the One Thing podcast.  I have great news for all the listeners today and it comes from Psalm 36 verse 9.  The word says "For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light."

"Are you dry, are you thirsty?"God is saying today that there is a fountain that never runs dry.  There is a fountain of life.  You see many people choose to drink and live from the fountains of this world.   Fountains of money, fountains of things.  All these things that are temporary and leave us dry weary and thirsty. 

But God says today there is a fountain that never runs dry.  There is a fountain that you can drink from and never thirst but find satisfaction in the deapths of your souls.

That fountain is the Lord Jesus. 

He said in the scriptures come to me, come to me and drink from the fountain of everlasting rivers of over flowing water.   And that water, those waters are the very breath and life that the Lord Jesus gives to those who trust in Him...to those who turn to him to drink from this wonderful fountain. 

Will you turn to the Lord today?  Are you dry are you thirsty?  Are you looking for the light of the Lord Jesus.   He says come!  This scripture says in your light we see light.  You see as we drink from that fountain there is a life and a light that begins to flow through our minds and through our hearts. 

"Spring up a well in us today God!"In that light we see light, in other words when the light of God is upon us we see that He truly is the light and we take Him to be all that he promised to be... the light of the world who would always guide us to the father who would always guide us into the Kingdom of God and calls us to live in the life in the goodness that He promised. 

For with you God is the fountain of life in Your light we see light.  Will you drink from the fountain of God today?  Will you turn from the world?  Would you turn from all other cisterns that are broken and empty and drink from the well of living water? 

Spring up a well of life with in us today!  Thank you God that you are the fountain, thank you Father that you have sent your light.