Contentment in Christ

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain.

For we brought nothing into this world, and

it is certain we can carry nothing out. And

having food and clothing, with these we shall

be content.”

      1 Timothy 6:6-8 (NKJV)

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we’re reminded to give thanks to God for His countless blessings in our lives.  And gratitude is certainly the attitude of heart we should consistently have, not only on Thanksgiving.  But it seems to me that contentment goes hand in hand with gratitude.  For while we thank God, how often are we truly satisfied with what we currently have?  There always seems to be more on our list of what we want or think we need. 

To paraphrase Charles Spurgeon, if we aren’t content with that we have, we will not be satisfied if it were doubled.  True contentment is in our mind, not in the extent of our possessions. That’s why contentment may be hard for us to gain and maintain, especially in our culture when we are daily bombarded with ads and media and other promotions of materialism.  We want the latest and newest things, or maybe it’s a change of circumstances we desire, thinking the grass is always greener somewhere else.

We don’t need to worry about our physical needs because God supplies us “according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19, NKJV)  For most of us, however, our wants go beyond necessities and are really luxuries, things that are pleasurable and make our lives more fun and comfortable.  There is nothing wrong in having possessions or riches as long as we don’t have a love of money. (1 Timothy 6:10)  But we should be honest and acknowledge that our self-indulgent desire for more is really a sign of discontentment and dissatisfaction with what God has already so graciously provided for us.

When we find ourselves in that condition, we can confess our wrong attitude and ask God to cultivate true contentment in our hearts.  That comes when we remember that we have all that we need in Christ. 

Hate your parents

Luke 14:26

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.”

The Sunday School lesson for my Jr High group this week used this verse.  The theme this week was our relationships with our parents.  Hate your parents?  Yes, we are told we must hate our parents to be a disciple of Christ.  Now does this really mean hate them the way that we think about hating someone?  No. 

Of course, what we were talking about here is that you cannot put your parents before Christ.  Christ must be above all our other relationship if we want to truly follow him. 

Think about the relationships that you have.  Do you ever put one of those relationships before Christ?  I know that I have a time or two.  As we go into the Holiday Season, it’s easy to get busy and push away from God, saying that we are just too busy right now.  I challenge you to think about this in the coming weeks.

Rest in Peace?

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever,

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so . . .

Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,

Bound in affliction and irons—

Because they rebelled against the words of God,

And despised the counsel of the Most High,

Therefore He brought down their heart with labor;

They fell down, and there was none to help.

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,

And He saved them out of their distresses.

He brought them out darkness and the shadow of death,

And broke their chains in pieces.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,

And for His wonderful works to the children of men!”

    Psalm 107: 1-2, 10-15 (NKJV)

An employee in the MSP cafeteria died unexpectedly the other day and there has been an outpouring of

commendation about her, remembering her warm smile and cheerful manner, and relating stories of her kindness. Many of the comments included the phrase “Rest in peace.”  Certainly, if she was a believer, I would rejoice that she is resting in peace with Jesus now.  Of course, only God knows for sure.  But apart from a personal faith in Him, her eternal state is not hopeful---regardless of how nice of a person she was and how well-liked.

Interestingly, in Sunday school this past week, the pastor spoke about grief.  He said that it’s common for people to talk about a person who dies as going to a “better place” or “resting in peace” because it’s too uncomfortable to talk or even think about the alternative.  But hell is a reality.  Fortunately, throughout the Bible, we see illustrations of God using grief for redemptive purposes, and pastor spoke of evangelistic conversations he has had when spending time with those who were grieving.

Death and funerals often bring opportunities to talk to the surviving family and friends about faith, maybe not right away but after the reality of the loss has set in.  We who are the redeemed of the Lord should speak of His abundant grace and rich mercy in saving us.  And when anyone cries out to the Lord, He will save them too and bring them out of darkness and the shadow of death.  That’s an amazing truth to share with someone who is grieving and bring them real comfort and hope.

War

Revelation 12:7-9

7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

To start today, I want to thank all of you that are Veterans!  War is not a new concept.  Even back to the old testament we can read about wars.  The wars that happen here on earth now, are not something we tend to like to think about.  As Americans, we have had it much better than some, thanks to those who serve our country. 

We often do not think about a war having taken place in Heaven though.  In Revelation 12, we see that there was a war.  Michael and his angels fought the dragon and his angels.  The dragon lot and was cast out of Heaven, sent to earth.  This dragon, also known as Satan now fights a war with those on earth, daily.  He battles to bring us to his side and take us away from the Lord. 

Today, along with remembering and thanking the Veterans that have fought for us here on earth, I want to remind you that you are also constantly at war with the devil.  He lost the war in Heaven.  Will he lose the war here on earth as well?  As part of God’s army, we need to continue to battle to save the lives of all of those around us.

God Knows

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And my thoughts than your thoughts.”

    Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV)

“When I consider Your heavens, the work

of Your fingers, the moon and the stars,

which You have ordained, what is man

that You are mindful of him, and the

son of man that You visit him?”

    Psalm 8:3-4 (NKJV)

Looking up at the stars, I feel very small and I’m amazed that God cares for us and loves us so.  When I’m waiting on Him and feel alone, I need to remember this. He hasn’t forgotten me; He’s working out His plan in His time. When I’m filled with uncertainty, it helps to reaffirm His lordship in my life. 

Many times I don’t understand what He does or doesn’t do, but that’s as it should be because His ways and His thoughts are not ours.  So when I’m walking down that road and I don’t know what’s ahead, I need to trust that He loves me and will show me the way.  When the way seems dark and I don’t know what to do, I need to put my hand in His and depend on Him to lead me one step at a time.

God understands perfectly all that I don’t know. He know the answers to all my whys. Nothing comes as a surprise to God because He is sovereign. There is peace and comfort when I rest in His will and depend fully on Him, even when I don’t understand.

Obey God or Man?

After being put in prison for giving credit to Jesus for healing a lame man, what would you expect Peter and John to say at their interrogation?

I’m sure they were prayerful. As such:

Acts 4:8-12    ⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹ If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, ¹⁰ then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. ¹¹ Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected,
    which has become the cornerstone.’

¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

I know I would be prayerful in a situation like this. However, the Holy Spirit would really need to help me be bold like Peter! He didn’t hesitate (or tread lightly), even though he had no idea what additional punishment lay ahead.

In fact, after the religious leaders conferred with each other:

Acts 4:18-20    ¹⁸ Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹ But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! ²⁰ As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Wow! Peter and John didn’t compromise.

Where are you and I tempted to listen to and do what someone else says rather than what God says? Maybe it’s to avoid conflict. No matter what the earthly consequence, we’re to obey God over and above anyone else.

Alice

Serve Others

I Peter 4:10

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

Each of us has been given gifts from God that we are to use to serve others.  For me, one of my gifts is serving others.  I like to do for others whatever they need.  Sometimes that’s making meals for families that just welcomed a new baby.  Sometimes it’s watching a friend’s kid. 

We are each called to serve others.  While this looks different for each of us, it still shows God’s love when we do for others.  Think about the times that others have done something to serve you and the feeling that you had from that. 

How are you sharing God’s love with others by serving them?  Often you may not even think about it, because it’s second nature.  Today I encourage you to find a special way to serve someone who may not know God’s love.

Cloud of Witnesses

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by

so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside

every weight, and the sin which so easily

ensnares us, and let us run with endurance

the race that is set before us, looking unto

Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”

     Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV)

The Bible doesn’t hide the flaws of the men and women who are depicted in Scripture.  But it can be a bit intimidating to read about the great faith they demonstrated in challenging circumstances.  They and their stories seem larger than life.  Yet it was in those very circumstances that God showed Himself strong.  So many people in recent times are part of that great “cloud of witnesses” and demonstrate that He works like that today as well.

One such example is Joni Eareckson Tada.  She became a quadriplegic as the result of a diving accident when she was a teen.  It was a crisis of faith and she understandably asked a lot of hard questions of God.  But He brought her through it and her quadriplegia has become a wonderful platform to glorify God. He has used her in a mighty way to minister to others with disabilities, their families and caregivers, as well as believers in general.  In addition, she is an accomplished artist and God has given her a beautiful voice.

When we experience a tragedy, when something happens that bursts our dreams and dashes our hopes, it’s normal to ask the “why” questions of God. But if we can get past that and ask Him “what” and “how” instead (i.e., what He wants us to learn from it and how He wants to use it), we might be amazed to find that God intends to use these difficult circumstances for His great purposes if we let Him.  God works best in our weaknesses, so surrender the circumstances to Him.  He is the author and finisher of our faith, so trust and obey Him. We can run with endurance this race with His strength and by His power.

Calming the storm

Matthew 8:23-27

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

This weekend, I experienced what, I think, the disciples must have been feeling in this passage.  We had a Cub Scout camp out.  My husband was sick, so it was completely up to me to step up and do it.  That was fine however the weather was 100% rain and 50 MPH winds.  After we went through the activities that were outdoors, we changed out of our freezing cold, wet clothing and cuddled into our sleeping bags.  It took a bit to get my son to sleep but after he was out, I laid there, listening to the winds and rain, a bit afraid of what the night would bring.  I started praying, “Lord, save us!”.  The rain was predicted to go until 8 AM so I fully did not expect to sleep at all through the night.  As I laid there praying, there was a low in the rain and winds.  I finally fell asleep for a bit. 

I woke up again a bit later, first thought being concerned again.  That’s when I felt the Lord telling me, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”  I felt some peace and knew the we would be okay.  While the winds continued a bit, the rain did stop about 2 AM. 

Through our lives, we often face different storms.  The Lord is waiting for us to trust him.  Have you seen him calm the storms in your life?  Take the time today to trust that the Lord is in control and will calm the storms at the right time.

Psalm 6--Deliverance

“O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger,

Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.

Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am weak;

O LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled.

My soul also is greatly troubled; But You, O LORD--how long?

Return, O LORD, deliver me! Oh, save me for Your mercies' sake!

For in death there is no remembrance of You;

In the grave who will give You thanks?

I am weary with my groaning; All night I make my bed swim;

I drench my couch with my tears.

My eye wastes away because of grief;

It grows old because of all my enemies.

Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity;

For the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.

The LORD has heard my supplication;

The LORD will receive my prayer.

Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled;

Let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly.”

     Psalm 6:1-10 (NKJV)

God is a mighty deliverer, as many stories in the Bible illustrate.  Just think of how He parted the Red Sea to deliver the children of Israel from all of Pharaoh’s armies.  Or how He protected Shadrach, Meschach and Abed-Nego from destruction in King Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace.   Or opened the prison doors and shackles for Paul and Silas.

And God still delivers today.  From desperate situations, from fear, from sickness, from oppression, etc.  But deliverance doesn’t always come when we’d like and we have to wait.  Sometimes God uses the situation to grow our faith, to help us learn patience and perseverance, to strengthen our dependence on Him.  But we can be sure that He hears our prayers and His timing is perfect.

So don’t give up, don’t be discouraged. Press into Him; trust fully in Him.  God is rich in mercy and His abundant grace is sufficient to sustain us until deliverance comes.