One Thing

One thing I ask from the Lord,
    this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
    and to seek Him in His temple.
Ps. 27:4

Dear Friends,

I love the one thing of Scripture. As a 17-year-old new believer, I scoured the scriptures for all mentions of the one thing. And of course, I discovered the famed verse in Psalm 27 that the one thing is to seek the Lord, dwell in his presence, and gaze on his beauty. So in my first love for Jesus, I spent hours daily rapt by his face and captured by his Word. Those years were relatively free of the cares of the world, except for the usual college growing pains and pulling all-nighters to cram for an exam. I was sure I would, as it says in the verse, dwell in His temple all the days of my life and gaze on his beauty.

Now years later in a different season, I noticed something I never saw in my youth: that the context of this one thing is seasons of warfare (v.3) and days of trouble (v.5). I now realize that this life-long invocation to gaze is when we are in the thick of hardship and trouble. In this season of adversity, the Lord’s invitation has been to sit still across from Him and look into his kind, firm countenance. In our days of trouble, our priority is not figuring things out or planning or strategizing. In our days of trouble, the one thing is to behold His beautiful face. The promise is that as we behold him, He will keep us safe, set our heads above our trouble, and we will celebrate with joy (vs.5-6).

I had to learn the one thing in the past years of John wrestling with recurring cancer. I want to thank you who have prayed for Him. This week, his one-year checkups showed all clean and clear results. We are grateful.

Another one thing I discovered was Phil. 3:14 which says that “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:13b-14). This has become my life verse. Of course, as a 17-year-old, I overlooked that this verse is in the context of knowing Him, suffering with Him, and becoming like Him (v.12)! But the Lord has a way of adjusting our perception, doesn’t he!

So, in the midst of trouble, the one thing the Lord calls us to is to dwell in his presence and steady our gaze on his face. In the midst of suffering, the one thing the Lord calls us to is to press forward to pursue Jesus’ heavenward call. My heavenward call in this season is to lead All Nations to ignite disciple-making movements among the least reached.

What is your one thing that the Lord has invited you to? What is your heavenward call? I would love to hear and learn from your one thing from Jesus.

Blessings,
Mary Ho

Dr. Mary Ho, DSL

All Nations International, Inc. | International Executive Leader

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Mary HoSeptember 5, 2026Comment