The Secret to Contentment

Philippians 4:11-12(NASB) Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

I used to think that I was content with my life until I really felt content with my life. I don’t think I have ever been happier than I am now, and it isn’t because things are so much better than they ever were. It’s because I’ve truly learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I finally have peace with who I am and where I am. What changed?

Earlier this year I had a major surgery to deal with some medical issues that I had been having for a while. There were so many unknowns going into that surgery that I had an emotional meltdown about every week. There were so many tests, scopes, scans, scrapes, consultations and referrals that I didn’t think I would ever be well again. But God! He put me in the right place at the right time to have the right surgeon with the right set of experience and expertise for my unusual case.

Recovery was a long road, but I can testify that right now I feel better than I’ve felt in years! Anytime I feel like complaining about anything, all I have to do is think about what I was going through earlier this year, and I immediately thank God for life, health and strength. The secret to contentment is gratefulness!

True Worship of the True God

“True worship is to be so personally and hopelessly in love with God, that the idea of a transfer of affection never even remotely exists.” – A. W. Tozer

Idolatry is common and rampant in our society. To spend all of our days worshiping the unseen God is dismissed as foolish and short-sighted. To stand amazed before the omnipotent God is considered ignorant and unenlightened. Some in our culture cannot worship God because they are too busy trying to explain away the notion of the one true God.

Some want to believe (and do believe) that there is god in all of us, so that we are justified in worshiping ourselves. Others believe that everyone who believes in a god is worshiping the same god in different ways. Still others believe that there is no god at all and worship science, reason, and logic. It has been said that everyone will worship something. Even agnostics worship their complacency.

Make no mistake; there is one true God. If you love anything or anyone more than Him, you are practicing idolatry. When you come to know God for yourself, you can’t ever go back to the emptiness of your soul without Him. Chasing whatever this world has to offer cannot fill the void of being incomplete. No amount of money, friends, or possessions can give you the kind of peace and eternal security that loving the Great I Am provides.

False Teaching and Your Responsibility

Jude 1:4 (NLT) I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Just look around. A lot of churches have adopted these all-inclusive, universal philosophies. Although I agree that we must love everyone, I don’t agree that we must accept whatever anyone wants to do. God’s grace does not give us permission to live however we want to. God’s grace keeps us from being destroyed by our mistakes.

Contrary to popular belief, all roads do NOT lead to God, God is NOT in all of us, and we are NOT all saved (and some of us just haven’t acknowledged it yet). Those are false teachings that have crept into the church. We need to get back to studying the Word of God for ourselves, so we can know the Truth. You cannot be swayed with the lies if you have hidden the Truth in your heart.

We need to know God’s Word and apply it to our daily lives. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to give us understanding as we read and study, so that we can “rightly divide the Word of Truth” (ref. II Timothy 2:15). There are many false doctrines that incorporate enough truth in them to trip up the best of us. We cannot solely rely on the pastor, Sunday school teacher, or our parents to spoon-feed us with the Word of God. We have a responsibility to be diligent in our own studies, pray for God’s guidance and protection over our minds, and seek the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to teach us what we don’t know and remind us of what we do know. 

It Is Time to Break Camp

Deuteronomy 1:6-8 (NLT)“When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions—the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills, the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River. Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants.’”

You have stayed at this mountain long enough. It is time to break camp and move on. God is saying these words to us today. We have stayed in sin long enough, we have stayed in mediocrity long enough, we have stayed in laziness long enough, we have stayed in foolishness long enough, we have stayed stagnant long enough! The Promised Land awaits us, but we are stuck in the comfort of our traditions. It is time to do something radically different.

As I was reading through some news headlines this morning, I knew that God was speaking to me. He told me that the world is lost without Him, but the people don’t know how to find Him. People are searching everywhere but Jesus Christ to find God. I must break camp (from my comfort, from my selfishness, from my traditions), and spread the Gospel. I can live my Christian life a lot louder than I have been. The world needs to know that there is a Savior, and His name is Jesus.

You don’t have to accept the world’s standard of citizenship. We are citizens of a different kingdom, and we have a higher calling than “live and let live.” We have been called to love the people of this world, and love them all the way to Jesus’ feet. The world may be falling apart, but there is a better place for us. It is God’s will that none should perish, so it should be our will that none should perish. Time is running out; we must preach the Gospel to any and everyone who will listen (no matter their race, ethnicity, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc.). Sometimes we may even have to use words.

Who Are You?

Philippians 4:12-13 (NLT) I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

With Christ, there is nothing we can’t handle. Whatever life happens to throw our way, we are able to overcome and succeed. For those of us who live in Jesus Christ, we can actually prosper with nothing. Even at our lowest, brokest, and worst, we belong to a royal priesthood! Our riches are not found in our possessions but in our identity.

We are joint heirs with Jesus Christ, and our Father owns EVERYTHING! Whatever suffering we may have to go through here on earth is temporary. Just knowing that my circumstances cannot control me helps me to press through, up, and over any obstacle in my way. Through Christ, I am stronger than hunger, poverty, sickness, oppression, betrayal, hatred, lies, etc. I am an overcomer, and I win!

When we stop looking at our weakness and look to God’s strength, we find everything that we need to persevere through our battles. The secret to contentment is understanding who we are in Christ Jesus. “If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom.” Deuteronomy 28:13 NLT

Rejoicing for People We Don't Like

I am studying the book of Jonah again, but this time God has me focused on a different principle. Rejoicing for my enemies. Jonah 4 is about God rebuking Jonah for not wanting Nineveh to be saved. If you’ve got a little time right now, grab your Bible (physical, electronic, memorized). Read Jonah 4.

It’s easy to empathize with Jonah because we don’t want our enemies to enjoy the goodness of God either. I am not judging you, but I am telling the truth about myself. The blessings of the Lord, His compassion, His mercy and His grace are all mine. The people who reject God, reject me, reject my beliefs, and reject the statutes of God are my enemies. Why should those people benefit from the benevolent character of MY God?

Well, friends, it just isn’t about what we think. Every human being on this planet is a child of the Most High God, whether they choose to acknowledge Him or not. God is sovereign over all of His creation, He makes the sun to shine on the good and the evil, and He sends the rain on the just and unjust (Matthew 5:45). Every time God spares the life of one of His enemies, He has given them another chance to get right with Him. We should rejoice in the opportunity He has provided for them.

He does not want anyone to perish, so why do we? Before you get all self-righteous on me, think about the people groups you believe are going straight to hell. Now, thank God that He spared you because you should be going straight to hell, too.

Freedom to Obey

Romans 8:2 (NASB) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

For those of us who are in Christ Jesus, we no longer have to abide by (or try to abide by) the letter of the Old Testament law. This does not mean that we are free to sin, but that we are free from being condemned to death because of our sin. We can now go boldly before God’s throne, covered in the blood of Jesus Christ, and ask for forgiveness.

We also are not exempt from the consequences of our sins. Forgiven or not, if we murder someone, we have to go to prison. The principles of sowing and reaping carry from the Old Testament into the New Covenant. If you sow foolishness, that’s what you’ve got coming. Salvation is not some magic license to do whatever you want. For those who love God, obedience is a natural byproduct of that love.

I am so grateful for the freedom that Christ has purchased for me with His perfect sacrifice. I want to please Him with my every breath. Of course, I make mistakes (and some of those are more intentional than others), and I need the Holy Spirit’s help every moment. The beauty of salvation is that we are continually growing, developing, and becoming more like Jesus Christ every day, if we choose to.