The Five “One Things”

Posted on by scottcatchot

The Five “One Things”. 

ONE is particular, specific, and separate.

It stands alone. Regarding numbers it is the principle primary number. It emphasizes significance, an unmistakable quality, and total autonomy.

In this crazy passed world, with its ups and downs and multiple things competing for our attention, it is important to pause and consider what is important. Evaluate priorities.

bible-gateway   When I performed a keyword search on the Bible Gateway website, I found the phrase “One Thing” was used 11 to 18  different times in Scripture depending on the English translation.

There are 5 that kept popping up regardless of the translation that really stood out to me that will be the focus of this lesson, The 5 “One Things”

  1. Psalm 27:4

“I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire:
to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking Him in His temple.”

King David is often called a “man after God’s own heart.” He chased and pursued man after God'sintimacy with the Father, sought His heart and desired to be made in God’s image over everything else he could want or desire. When He was confronted with his sin and mistakes, unlike Saul who wanted to be honored in front of the people, David was concerned with not losing the presence of God. Something interesting to point out, when David wrote this, the Temple had not been built yet. It seems David had a glimpse of the Temple not made by human hands where he could dwell with God forever. This is the one thing he sought.

  1. Mark 10:21

21 Then, looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

rich young rulerThe Rich young ruler only lacked one thing. He could not part with his possessions and wealth. There are many reasons this could be, maybe he lacked faith for God’s provision. Maybe it was the fear of losing everything, losing the status his position and wealth brought him. He may have considered, “what might everyone else think?”

 

surrender

Whatever the reason was, he did not give everything to Jesus. One thing He lacked was total submission of every area of his life being given over to Christ.

 

 

 

  1. Luke 10:42

42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Mary and Martha are two sisters that were close to Jesus. During a particular gathering at their home, Martha was very busy tending to the things to insure the evening went well as a good host would. However when she complained about her sister, an interesting point was made by Jesus. The one thing that is necessary is being with Jesus. Seek First the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you. Jesus is the physical representation of God’s Kingdom. So Seeking Jesus is the one thin that is necessary. There is no other way to the Father, except through Him. I have often heard it said, the greatest enemy to great, is good. Martha was doing good things, but Mary had chosen that which was better.mary or martha

Are you Mary or Martha? Click to find out.

  1. John 9:25

25 He answered, “Whether or not He’s a sinner, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see!”

blind but nowWe see the story of a man that was born blind. The religious leaders are stuck on being offended by Jesus healing on the Sabbath and not on the miracle. As they question the man, he doesn’t try to convince them of anything or have a well prepared apologetics response. It is O.K. to tell people I don’t know.  He tells them what he knows. I was blind, and now I see. To all the questions He had one focus. Revelation 12 tells us that they [the saints] overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. There is no greater apologetics or reply that we can give to anyone besides the truth, especially when that truth is the power of God working in our life. We should focus on what God has done in our lives.

 

 

  1. Philippians 3:13

13 Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, 14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

goalsetting5Paul did not let his past determine his future. He had a goal and he went after it with a singular purpose. Nothing was going to keep him from his goal.

These five verses showed 5 different people, from 5 different backgrounds, but at the heart of each story is one thing we need to grasp.

  1. Through David we see that knowing God is at the heart of prayer.
  2. Through the Rich Young Ruler we see that knowing God is at the heart of total surrender.
  3. Through Martha we see that knowing God is at the heart of service.
  4. Through the Blind man we see that knowing God is at the heart of witness.
  5. Through Paul we see knowing that God is at the heart of ambition.

The One Thing we need is a singular focus on Jesus in every aspect of our lives. Not just on Sundays, not just around our church friends, but everyday, everywhere we may be.

need jesus

 

What are you focusing on?

Posted on by scottcatchot

 

I got up this morning and did my normal morning routine; getting ready for work, drinking coffee, morning reading to my kids, etc. Things ran slow and I got off to work late, get to work and my computer is acting crazy. This school year (I’m a teacher if you didn’t know) has been a crazy one as far as technology goes, basically anything that could break or not work in my classroom has done so, repeatedly. Well this Monday morning was no different. I am running late, need to print out some things and well my desktop will not boot up. I have a laptop that I use more often, but i can’t print from the laptop..another issue, so I need the desktop to send anything to the printer. After 4 separate reboots I finally get it to pull up and the wait begins. Well class is already starting as I finally walk back in, papers in hand.I really hate being rushed yet it is what it is today. I usually have a second cup of coffee by now, but that has not taken place either as of yet. Regardless, the day has not got me flustered. Things are going relatively well. I get to a break in what I am doing and sit down to check the student’s journals from last week and enter the grades into the grade book. As I am on my laptop the “verse of the day” popped up.

“Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things.”
Philippians 4:8 HCSB

It was very appropriate to how things were going and How my reactions to these things was playing out. I struggle with becoming frustrated and irritated as well as grumbling and complaining.about things not going the way I think they should.This isn’t always apparent to others, it usually happens inside my head, but it does occasionally come out, especially in regards to being  being late. I hate being late anywhere. To me it is an integrity issue. If you say you are going to be somewhere or have a commitment to be somewhere at a certain time then it shows your character and reliability when you actually show up at or before those times. I really believe the old saying, “early is on time, on time is late.” Nevertheless I am working on not being legalistic about this area because the reality is, sometime life happens and it really is out of your control…especially with kids. The start of this actual year I have increased my daily time with the Lord and started reading to the kids from the Bible before we all leave for the day. I have always had study time, but this is in addition to my time and provides a more consistent daily routine for me and the kiddos. This is the reason I was not upset tis morning by all the mishaps and lateness. As I read the verse of the day I remembered what the next verse says.

Philippians 4:9Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

“9 Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Starting out my day thinking on The word, praying with my kids, listening to praise music on the way to work, these actions were actually me doing what verse 8 says, dwelling on things worthy of praise. Well therefore verse 9 came into play and the God of peace was truly with me today. It really is a simple thing on one hand, I was running late, computer was fussy and I didn’t get upset about it. Big deal. On the other hand, it is a reminder to how simple certain aspects of our walk really can be. Trust the scripture, put it into practice, and what it says will happen, will happen. So I want to encourage you to truly read wha the Bible has to say, and put it into practice. In the 1st Chapter of James it says,

“22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his own face[i] in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but one who does good works—this person will be blessed in what he does.”

The Bible has a lot to offer us and can help us with our relationship with the creator, but really only if we actually are putting it into practice. Let’s all be doers, it really does work.