2 Lies and The Truth Wk 4

Intro

I want to begin today with a question. More rhetorical but it’s something to think about.

How much (fill in the blank with whatever is really important to you) would be enough for you to feel like you’ve “made it”

How much money

How much more time

More followers

More security

More stuff

How much would it take for you to feel like, “yep that’s enough for me to feel comfortable”

You see there’s a lie that or culture keeps tellings us. It’s deeply ingrained in our culture, you see it everywhere, it isn’t always explicit, sometimes it is. But it is always there.

You see it on Amazon Prime, Instagram, billboards, reels, stories, even the way we talk about success and a times not just in the world but also in the church.

Here it is,

“More is always better.”

More stuff equals more success which MUST equal more fulfillment…right?

Here’s the problem. Most of the time…

More never seems to be Enough.

No matter how much we have, no matter how much we get, life always seems to whisper “Just a little more.”

But there is hope, there is freedom. You can escape the never ending cycle of trying to get a little more.

When you stop chasing “more,” you make room for what matters most.

So, today I’d like us to tackle a couple of lies and on amazing truth about finding fulfillment in life.

Spoiler, it isn’t found on Amazon, or in your Bank Accounts or Roth IRAs

The first lie I want to expose is

More Stuff = More Success = More Fulfillment

Let’s be hones this is the formula for good life according to the world.

Nice house? Full Closet? New Jordans? New Car? New Phone? Filled Calendar? Abbreviations after your name? If you just get those things then things will be great.

Jesus sees things differently than that.

In Luke 12 Jesus says

Luke 12:15 “Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.””

Jesus isn’t saying that money is bad but Jesus is warning us against basing the worth of our life on the things that we have, or the money we have.

In fact in Matthew 6 Jesus says,

Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Again it isn’t that money is bad, or any of the things that we have mentioned already, but Jesus does warn us that…

What we treasure reveals what we trust.

But a life built on the pursuit of more only leads to disappointment. It only leads to chronic comparison and compulsive consumption.

Because it causes us to focus on what we don’t have. We compare what we have with what others have, or we compare what we have to what we want and we set out to consume what we can until we feel satisfies…except we never feel satisfied.

Jim Carrey famously said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do evertyhing they ever dreamed of so the can see that..it’s not the answer.”

The question is for each of us is what I asked before “how much more will be enough?” How much of our life is built around having more in order to be fulfilled?

The second lie I want to talk about kind of goes along with our “more conversation”

2. Contentment is Either Weakness of a Lack of Vision

I’m a driven person, I’m always trying to be better, I’m always trying to improve but I can’t let my drive overshadow with my contentment with where God has me at any given time. It’s a tension that a lot of us have to manage.

Culture says, “Don’t settle. Dream bigger. Hustle harder.” But if you are content, you must have given up your drive, you must be settling.”

But that isn’t necessarily the case.

Paul says in Phlippians,

Philippians 4:11–13 “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

Paul is saying that contentment isn’t a weakness, nor is it being lazy, it’s actually a strength.

Now I am not saying - or is Paul that you shouldn’t be improving, or that you shouldn’t have vision. But what Paul is saying, is that you shouldn’t ever depend on other people or your circumstances for strength or worth.

It isn’t as if Paul is saying “aw man, there’s nothing I can do, I’m just going to sit here.” No Paul is saying that I don’t need my circumstances to change in order for me to know that God is here and I can make it through this. I don’t need someone to give me money, or a raise, or a pat on the back to make me believe that I can make it through this circumstance.

Contentment isn’t a lack of vision - contentment is confidence that God will get you through it.

It means that you don’t need more to feel fulfilled or safe or secure or that God loves you or that you are worth something. It means that you are confident in God’s love for you, his provision for you and that if you are obedient to Him you can make it through any circumstance.

If Paul went hungry, it didn’t mean that God didn’t love him or saw him, if he was poor or didn’t have any money, he didn’t need to be hopeless, because God was with Him and would give Him the strength to make it through anything.

Think about a toddler. If there is a toy they want but can’t have or can’t reach they will scream and scream like the world is coming to an end even if they are already holding 5 toys in their hands.

Most of us focus on what we don’t have and act like the world is falling apart around us.

Contentment is focusing on what we have, being grateful for it and finding our value and security in God, and believing that, no matter what, He still is on the throne.

So the question for us today regarding contentment is: What have you been chasing that you think will give you a sense of self-worth but is actually keeping you from finding your contentment in Christ?

Now that we have talked about the two lies that culture tries to sell us, let’s look at a deep truth that is contrary to what the world says.

3. Less of Me=More of God=Fulfillment

The truth is you don’t need more stuff, You don’t need more hustle, you don’t need more square footage, more followers, more employees, more respect.

You need more of God. More of His Presence.

We mentioned a passage of scripture a few minutes ago I wanted to take a closer look at it.

Matthew 6:19–21 ““Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Jesus is showing us that there is a difference between the treasures here on earth and the treasures that last, treasures that exist with our relationship with God.

Some would say souls, some would say righteousness, some would say obedience and they would all be correct.

When we become less, when our lives are more focused on God being more and us being less we begin to store up different treasures, ones that will last. Jesus doesn’t tell us exactly what they are but his audience would have known that scripture calls God’s righteousness a treasure, his word is a treasure, His kingdom is a treasure all of those things can be included.

But what’s just as important is that you find them when you allow your heart to be filled with His presence…why because it says where your treasure is there you heart will be, but you can flip that around where your heart is reveals where your treasure is.

If your heart is centered on yourself that is what you treasure, but if you heart is centered on Jesus that is where your treasure is and that will last for eternity.

Look at what you are pursuing in your life - is it fame, influence, money, security, clothes…what are you spending a majority of your time, treasure, and talent. Is it Jesus? Is it His Kingdom? Is it His righteousness?

Whatever you pursue reveals what you believe will fulfill you.

What is your heart filled with - because that is your treasure and anything less than Jesus will fade away. Only He is the eternal treasure. Only a life centered on Him will last eternally.

You know when you are trying to download that app you want, or take that video but your phone has run out of space. Sometimes you have to delete what doesn’t matter in order to make room for what does.

What is taking up room in your heart?

So many of us spend most of our lives chasing after things that can never fulfill us rather than chasing after God.

What are your chasing after?

We have spent 4 weeks shining the light on some biblical truths to counteract the lies that society tells us.

We have talked about replacing “your truth” by knowing “The Truth” which is Jesus

We have talked about moving ourselves out of the center of our lives and Placing Jesus in His rightful place.

We have talked about letting Jesus transform us from the inside out.

And today we’ve discussed how less of us and more of Jesus will actually give us the fulfillment that we are really longing for.

Are you catching a theme here. The answer to all the lies the world is trying to sell us us Jesus. We said it in the the first week of this series.

Jesus says about himself.

John 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus is the truth, he’s the way, he’s the life - He doesn’t have the answer, He is the answer to everything that we need.

That’s the invitation to trade the false truth for The truth

To trade and empty life centered around you to a life of purpose centered around Him

To trade empty fruitless pursuits for pursuing the presence of God.

Because that is where we will find hope, purpose, and freedom.

It begins with Jesus

Some of you are tired, not because you are weak and not because you are lazy, but because you have have been striving, pursuing something that seems to be just out of reach.

But Jesus says in Matthew 11:28

Matthew 11:28 NIV84

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Come to Him today stop striving and start surrendering

CapeYEs