Contentment

Paul Reveals The Secret To Contentment

Paul rejoiced in the Lord Greatly

Rejoice with what God gives you!

The church at Philippi supported Paul on his missionary journeys on multiple occasions. It enabled him to carry the gospel all over the known world. He was grateful to have the support of the people of Philippi.

Paul recognized that what God provided for him was enough. As he wrote to the Philippians that he was not speaking from want. Whatever he had he was grateful. He said that if it was plenty he was content or if he had to work another job to support the ministry he was grateful. He had learned to be content with whatever the Lord blessed him with.

He mentioned that there were times when he had humble means and times when he had an abundance. His contentment was not dictated by what he had or what he did not have. Personal possessions did not affect his contentment.

This is a difficult concept to grasp. We have so much in America that, our contentment is heavily dependent on what we have or do not have. I see this in the marketing of cell phones. Every year or two the latest version of the Iphone or Android comes out and most people have an opportunity to upgrade when they come out. I know many young people have to have the latest and greatest cell phone, when the one they have works perfectly fine.

I see the tragedy of the older generation fighting over the estates of mom and dad when they pass. They will fuss and fight for the stuff that they did not work for, but feel entitled to. We need to be content with anything they leave to us or if they leave nothing to us. Tell story about man who’s cousin, aunt, and great grandmother passed.

The key to being content is being grateful for what God has blessed you with. When you realize that it is God that provides for you all you have, then you can find tremendous joy in what he has blessed you with.

When Tatum and I went to Guatemala, she made the observation that these people had very little, but seemed to be happier than most of the people she hung around. A lot of the people in Guatemala don’t have electricity or running water. They have learned to be content without what we would consider as basic necessities. Isn’t it interesting that the way we minister to third world countries is by thinking that ministry entails giving them the stuff we think they need to be happy. Now I am not discounting providing food, water, and shelter because these are the things the Bible points out are necessities for living. This is what we are called to do. Use shoebox ministry as an example of giving wants rather than needs.

God has chosen to richly bless all of us with material blessings. We need to be thankful for what we have.

Philip Parham tells the story of a rich industrialist who was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat. "Why aren't you out there fishing?" he asked.

"Because I've caught enough fish for today," said the fisherman. "Why don't you catch more fish than you need?' the rich man asked. "What would I do with them?"

"You could earn more money," came the impatient reply, "and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you'd have a fleet of boats and be rich like me."

The fisherman asked, "Then what would I do?" "You could sit down and enjoy life," said the industrialist. "What do you think I'm doing now?" the fisherman replied as he looked placidly out to sea.

Our Daily Bread, May 18, 1994.

Rejoice in whatever circumstance you find yourself!

Paul often found himself in times of persecution. Even in Philippi, he was thrown in prison for doing the Lord’s work. I find it ironic that he was thrown in prison for casting a fortune telling demon out of a young girl. The people did not see the miracle of healing of this little girl, they saw the loss of profits that they would experience without her possession of the demon.

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22 The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

Paul had been beaten and was in prison, but we see him praying and singing hymns and praise to God. Logically this does not make sense. He had done a mighty work of God and got beat for it and was thrown into prison. If I were Paul I may consider what I signed up for if this was going to be a repetitive thing. He did not let the circumstances dictate his contentment. In the harshest time he found a way to praise God.

Folks we need to have the same spirit as Paul. We are not always in control of our circumstances. There will be things that are tough and just don’t make sense. We need to learn how to be content in whatever circumstances we find ourselves.

Those that lack contentment in there circumstances are what we call “moody”. If things are going the way they want them to be then they are a pleasure to be around. When things aren’t going the way they want, you cannot get away from them quick enough.

So how can we learn to be content on all circumstances?

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me!

You see this verse is not about overcoming some major obstacle in your life or attaining to some significant goal. This verse is about how the strength of God teaches and empowers you to be content in whatever circumstances you are in. If it pertained to some accomplishment then it may not always come true. For example, let’s say two teams are playing in the championship game and both teams claim this verse to mean that God is going to empower them to win. One of the teams will walk away and say God is amazing he gave us the strength to win. The other team will say that passage of scripture is a joke. We claimed it and it didn’t help us win.

Contentment in all circumstances is our greatest strength. This passage of scripture is not advocating being lazy and being satisfied with where you are. It is saying that when you do what God calls you to do, be satisfied in the obedience and not the outcome!

How do I tap into this strength?

Abide In Christ!

Abide in Christ and He in you!

To abide with Christ means to know Him. The way you know him is by his revelation of Himself to you. The way He reveals himself to you is through His Word. We must read our Bible every day to abide with Him but doesn’t know Him. You see the Bible is the only book that we can read and it reads us. Christs speaks to our souls through the reading of Scripture. We learn to recognize His voice. For example, it will reveal sin our lives through the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The Bible also has principles that when applied in our lives reveal the manifestation of Christ.

Prayer is another way to abide in Christ. Prayer is the way we communicate with Christ. Communication is the only way to have a healthy relationship. Prayer affords us the opportunity to talk with Jesus. More importantly it gives Jesus an opportunity to speak to us. Jesus has a way of speaking into our souls that gives our minds clarity into who He is!

You see, when God’s Word abides in us, we will know how to pray. When we know how to pray God will answer our prayers

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

When you do this consistently you learn who Jesus is e you experience Him in tangible ways.

Bear fruit that glorifies God

When you walk with Christ you will experience the fruit of the spirit.

My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so [a]prove to be My disciples.

A follower of Christ will exhibit the fruits of the spirit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Do these characteristics describe your life?

Abiding in Christ makes your joy full!

These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

You see true contentment is not found in what you have or what is going on in your life. True contentment is Abiding in Christ with whatever you have and whatever is going on in your life.

Maybe you are hear today and you have sought contentment in the things that the world offers. It will not be found in the things of the world.

Maybe you feel alone and life has been unfair to you. You can invite Christ into your life and never be alone again.