Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42)
The sisters of Bethany, together with their brother Lazarus they speak of a family of God.We can liken them to two types of believers, DOERS and LISTENERS.What is the main thing in the House of God? To be busy for God or to be Involved with God? God has many servants (Marthas) but not many friends (Marys)
Jesus was often entertained in this home. It speaks of our heart-Revelation 3:20. He wants to come in but finds us too busy, No fellowship with Him
Martha wanted to please Him with service but Mary wanted to express her love and gratitude. He cast seven demons from her, she also anointed His hair and washed His feet-John 11;1-2. We cannot
minimize the importance of Service but we must get our priorities right-Service and Hospitality or
Relationship: what comes first? Jesus did not show disrespect for Martha, He loved them all- John 11:5.
What is God really asking from us? Deut.10:12. 
It is so easy to be sidetracked with Service and works for God, a pitfall for many workers of the Gospel. (1 Cor. 9:26-27)
 The Church in Ephesus was a model of a perfect Church, yet Jesus found fault with them and warned them-Rev.2:14.  Their First love was more important to Him, than their works. Remember the unwise virgins of the parable? They neglected their relationship with the Lord because of neglect of the Word: the oil. (Mt. 25:1-13)
Martha felt neglected. Her mind was distracted feeling her service was not appreciated, she even accused the Lord of not caring......but in the end Mary was commended.

Spirit filled Life (Luke4:18).
The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me The ministry and work 
of the Lord Jesus Christ while on this earth. The Holy Spirit was resting upon Him without measure.   
It is the same Holy Spirit that wants to indwell us so that God maybe glorified in our lives. For ministry and service the Holy Spirit is indispensable and without Him our ministry will be powerless and unproductive. The Holy Spirit is called the 'Spirit of the Lord', the One that proceeds from God the Father-John 14:16.-Acts1:4. 
What God promises is a) good, and b) Necessary.
Many believers are Baptized in the Holy Spirit but their lives lack the Power simply because they focus on the works of the H.S. and not on Christ Himself. 
Jesus said,  'Upon Me'. For the H.S. to rest upon someone He must find suitable ground. Remember Noah and the dove? Do we want the H.S. to rest upon us? Make sure your heart is a suitable place for the H.S. to rest and have control of your life.
Was the work and ministry of the Lord Jesus something not to be imitated or to look upon? He
said on one occasion, 'The works that I do you will do and greater......' John 14:12, HOW? They were accomplished by the power of the H.S. filling ordinary fishermen and simple believers after Pentecost, but remember what preceded their ministry. . . . the teaching of the Master and 10 days of prayer in one accord.  

 Worldliness  

 What is it?

To belong to the world inwardly or outwardly or both. We may do so consciously or unconsciously. Both cases are unacceptable to God and to the christian life. It is not always easy to draw clear lines

on this issue but God demands separation from the world-1 John 2 :15-17.

Why does God demand this?  Because it is Satan's world and his system, his life, behaviour, etc. If a

believer lives and behaves according to the world's ways and life, he or she identifies with this Satanic system.

Believers are  in the world but do not belong to this world-John 17:14-17.

When a person is saved, God gives him or her a new nature that wants to grow and be like Christ. At the same time the Old Nature (the Old Man) that belongs to the world will always desire the things of

the world. We need to crucify that character and deny its desires daily. Believers may be sincere in wanting to live this New Life but do not always manage to overcome the desires of the Old life and its ways.

How do we recognize the ways of the world in a person? 
Outwardly- Appearance, places we go to, things we do, e.g. provocative appearance. etc.-Gen.3:21.

Inwardly-Desires, thoughts, pride,arrogance, double mindedness, vanity, and many more-Eph.4:17.

Paul the Apostle tells us how we should talk/ behave in Col.4:6.

What is it?

To belong to the world inwardly or outwardly or both. We may do so consciously or unconsciously. Both cases are unacceptable to God and to the christian life. It is not always easy to draw clear lines

on this issue but God demands separation from the world-1John 2 :15-17.

Why does God demand this?  Because it is Satan's world and his system, his life, behaviour, etc. If a

believer lives and behaves according to the world's ways and life, he or she identifies with this Satanic system.

Believers are  in the world but do not belong to this world-John 17:14-17.

When a person is saved, God gives him or her a new nature that wants to grow and be like Christ. At the same time the Old Nature (the Old Man) that belongs to the world will always desire the things of

the world. We need to crucify that character and deny its desires daily. Believers may be sincere in wanting to live this New Life but do not always manage to overcome the desires of the Old life and its ways.

How do we recognize the ways of the world in a person? Outwardly- Appearance, places we go  things we do, ex., provocative appearance. etc.-Gen.3:21.

Inwardly-Desires, thoughts,pride,arrogance, double mindedness, vanity, and many more-Eph.4:17.

Paul the Apostle tells us in Col.4:6.

Spiritual Immaturity.
What is it? The inability to grow in the Faith and remain a spiritual baby feeding on milk-Heb.6:1-3,5:12-14. 
There are certain signs to show how to identify believers who live immature lives in the Faith:

1. Preoccupation with First Principles and not moving on to deeper things, these are-
Repentance, Faith toward God, Baptism, Laying on of hands, Resurrection from the dead, Judgement to come.
These can be divided into Three parts:
A Truths concerning Conversion. 
B Truths concerning Church Ordinances 
C. Truths concerning Future Judgement.
These basic truths should be grasped within a few years of Conversion, then  move on to deeper things 'Let us go onto perfection- Heb.6:1.
More Signs of Spiritual Immaturity:
An inability to discern  right and wrong ( spiritual blindness).
Another sign- Rom.12:1-2.Many believers want to grow in the Faith but their minds are not renewed,hence no change- The basic cause of Immaturity (1 Cor 3:1-3).
Does it matter if we remain so?
God's will is for us to grow in Christ-Eph. 4:11-15.
If I do not grow in the Faith what do I do? Repent, turn to the Lord, Feed on His WORD, be filled
with the Holy Spirit, Find a Church that rightly divides the Word, find like minded spiritual
company.

Prayer & Victory ( Exodus 17:8-16)
Another incident in Israel's life on the way to Canaan, the PROMISED LAND.
Satan and his forces-the victory against him by Prayer and Intercession.
Moses instructed Joshua to engage Amalek , a nomadic tribe that
opposed Israel on their way to Canaan, in battle. Likewise, we have a lot of opposition
from Satanic forces that attack and hinder us during our spiritual progress to
Heaven. The opposition we have is not always clear yet we know we are against
a strong enemy who is determined to hinder us from our Heavenly goal . Often we do 
not know where the attacks come from but the Apostle Paul warns us in Eph. 6:12,
our fight is not against flesh and blood.........'.
The fight against Amalek was ordered by God and Israel had to face the enemy. It was a fight
to destruction. Similarly, God wants us to fight the Devil and his forces to the end. We are not
to give up or postpone it indefinetely. King Saul was instructed to deal with the  Amalekites
and wipe them out, but he partly obeyed, thus bringing the wrath of God upon him 1 Sam.15.
There should be no compromise in our fight with the Devil. We cannot afford to engage ourselves in things that suit us or are easy targets, or cause us weariness. Sometimes our attack against the devil will involve great unpleasantness; but we must be prepared to go through and gain victory. The fight by Moses and the Israelites against the Amalekites was done in an unorthodox way. Though Joshua and the Israelite fighters were involved in the physical realm the victory was gained in the spiritual real by Moses' intercession, Aaron and Hur. Moses went on the mountain holding the rod of God, which was God's vested authority in Moses. Down below we have Joshua and the Israelites, a group of warriors, like us untrained in the art of warfare. The art of intercession is shown with Moses holding the rod of God and his hands raised in the attitude of prayer. As long as his hands were lifted up the battle went against the Amalekites. The opposite took place when Moses hands grew weary. It speaks of us in the battle against the Devil and his forces. In the same way that Moses was assisted by Aaron and Hur we have the Holy Spirit whom God sent to aid us. In Romans 8:12 we read "We do not know what we should pray for... but the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us." Final victory was gained by Moses' intercession, victory like we have when we involve the help of the Holy Spirit in prayer. God's battles in our lives are always fought in an unorthodox way. Victory is gained beforehand and confirmed for those who keep God's standard high to the very end. After that, the way forward for the Israelites was opened up to move on to the Promised Land. 
The Devil will do everything in his power to hinder us from moving on in the faith, sometimes physically and sometimes spiritually; we need to know his methods: the way he acts. 
1 Peter 5:8 tells us that we face a powerful enemy; but God has made provision for us in equipping us with weapons suitable for the fight (Ephesians 6)
The Israelites, though untrained in warfare, were sent to fight Amalek. We read "the battle is not yours, but the LORD's". We are God's army and we fight under His banner. God's army is a victorious one, though at times it looks as though it is on the run against the enemy.

Spirit Filled Life
John 7:37-39.

The Feast of Tabernacles. God's provision for His people in the desert - Deut.16:13-15. Ritual on the last day. the High Priest poured water in front of the Temple Gate, a ritual that offered no life or flow of the Holy Spirit in the midst of God's people.
Jesus stood up and drew attention to Himself, the source of Living Waters. 'If anyone believes in Me....'. the invitation for a
spirit filled life. 
John makes it clear here that the river cannot flow without the
agency of the Holy Spirit. He is the one to release that river.
What is the river? The Word od God.
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was restricted to a few selected people, because no perfect vehicle was found to express
Himself. The promise therefore was left for someone to be found on earth able to fully reveal the Holy Spirit's attributes to everyone.
Christ, through the sacrifice on the Cross fulfilled the Promise-
'for the the Holy Spirit was not yet given'.
John came preaching Salvation but something more was needed. The gap created by sin had to be bridged. before the Holy Spirit could come in full power. Christ had to be glorified also as Sovereign through the Ascension, then it became possible for the supplies to be returned to Heaven in order to present to the Father the efficacy of Redemption.
This was done 10 days later at Pentecost. The action came from God, nothing from man, Christ is the only source of God's supplies to us. It is the H.S. that releases in us whatever we have of God.
'If any man thirst...'. A clear invitation to be filled.

Spirit filled life
The Christian Faith is a Religion of the Spirit and unless we are continually filled with the Spirit's resources our lives will be largely ineffective and unproductive.
The Word of God gives us Two Commands concerning this issue:

1. Eph.5:18 tells us we should ensure that we are always filled with the Spirit of God.
We can only be filled if we allow the Spirit to fill us. Water always finds its own level, and so does the Spirit. The parallelism in this verse portrays someone who gets drunk. If you are drunk you are under the control of alcohol. A person filled with the Spirit is under the Spirit's control. Jesus of  Nazareth was filled with the Holy Spirit and 'went about doing good'. 
The filling is a must before Christian service. The Apostles were baptized and filled before their world-wide ministry. Compare their lives before and after the filling. Jesus said 'the wind
blows where....'. So is the person who is directed and controlled by the Holy Spirit.

2. 1 Thess.5:19, concerns the loss of the Spirit's filling.
How do we quench the filling?
Picture the filling like a spring of water that flows out. To stop the flow we have to block the spring.
Quite often this is not done on purpose but unintentionally. We can block the spring and the
flow in many ways. Even a clean obstacle can stop the flow. Quite often we bottle up the activity of the Spirit by not using His functions, gifts, etc. We can also block the activity of the Spirit by not taking heed to His promptings or impulses. The method of worship can equally quench Him. The Holy Spirit does not work in our lives by force.