Week 28: July 10, 2016

Topic: Contentment - Part 1

Bible Reading: 1 Timothy 6: 1-6

Introduction

Contentment is one of the best virtues of Christianity and anyone who lacks this behaviour can never please the Lord. Such people should retrace their steps before it is too late so that they will not miss the kingdom of God.

The Devil knew that he has a limited time that is why he is using discontentment to derail peoples’ lives and tarnish their faith before the Lord.

· When youngsters lack contentment, they will be involved in activities that will not glorify God, but drag their families’ names in the mud and disgrace their parents.

· If it is a woman that has discontentment, she will not have a lasting marriage/relationship instead she will be changing spouses as if she is changing garments.

· When men are not content, they will be involved in nefarious activities which can damage their images and send them to prison.

Discontent people are always unstable; such people can never last at any job because they will continue to change work/job. In a nutshell, people like that can never know peace till the day of their death.

Steps of Faith

Lack of knowledge: The Bible stated that “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” Hosea 4: 6. Had it been that they have wisdom and knowledge of God, they will understand that what they need is prayer. They need to pray to Almighty God to give them the spirit of contentment and satisfy them early in their lives with His mercy. They must pray to the Lord to give them the goodness that they desire and deserve as His children. Psalm 90: 14.

If humans can think deeply, they will realize that prayer is the answer and not discontentment. They have to pray to God to give them their hearts’ desires, and satisfy their needs from the early part of their lives in manners that will erase any form of discontentment in their lives.

Peace is better than riches of discontentment: Anyone that has the divine peace of the Lord and contentment has everything, therefore “better is a dry morsel with quietness than a house full of riches of discontentment without peace” Proverbs 17: 1.

If you are knowledgeable, you will realize that when you eat your meal in peace and you are content, it is better than a fat bank account and investments without rest of mind.

Do not envy evil doers: Do not jealous the wicked people who prosper through their wicked schemes, but be content with what the Lord has done for you. Be content even if it is below your expectation and pray to God for increment. In as much as those evil doers together with their wealth will not last. They shall be cut down like the grass and they will wither like green herb Psalm 37: 1-2. If you want to abide forever, then be content with what the Lord has done for you. Show appreciation in your prayers before asking for what you want.

Do not learn the way of the gentiles: The Bible warned that we must not learn the way of the gentiles so that the heavenly signs will not trouble us. Therefore, we must be able to differentiate between Christians and gentiles through our actions, reactions and utterances. So do not act like the gentiles, but be content with what God has done for you Jeremiah 10: 2. God knows what is best for you and at the appropriate time those things will manifest in your life. Beware of evil company/friends that can make you to exhibit discontentment because evil company corrupts good habits 1 Corinthians 15: 33.

Do not destroy the relationship that exists between you and your Creator. Do not allow bad company/friends/companions to corrupt your good characters and morals through discontentment.

God Our Provider

Everything looks to God: Everything that God created look to Him in anticipation to provide them with meal on regular basis. It is only God that can provide not only meals, but all our desires. Invariably, God is the one and only being that is satisfying the desires of every living thing:

· He satisfies the desires of the animals and those of the insects,

· He satisfies the needs of the birds and the trees;

· He did not forget to fulfill the desires of the fishes and every creature that dwells in the sea.

· Most especially the desires of mankind that was created in His image to whom the dominion of this world was given Psalm 145: 15-16. You can only receive goodness from God if you are content and wait on Him to provide other things that are lacking in your life.

Jesus Christ explained this point when He said, “do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying (or through discontentment) can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow they neither toil nor spin” Matthew 6: 25-28.

This passage can only come to pass in your life if you are content with what the Lord has done for you because no discontent person can please God or walk with Him.

God is fair to all: Some people will start to query/question or doubt the Lord based on their situations. In fact, the people who always think that God is not fair to them must quit such thinking and be content, so that they can receive the goodness they deserve from God. Let me state categorically, God is fair to all His creations; He is just in all His ways because He is the judge of all judges and the judge of the whole world.

It is because people cannot comprehend that makes them to say, the ways of the Lord is not fair, whereas the Bible testify that it is the ways of the Lord that is fair while our ways are not fair Ezekiel 18: 25, 29, 33: 17. People make this mistake because God doesn’t see or think like we humans because “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord” Isaiah 55: 8-9.

The mere fact that things are not going your way does not mean that God is not fair and it is not an excuse for you to be discontented. If you wait on the Lord and endure, the plan that the Lord has for you, is superior to your desire; His plan will materialize in your life at the appointed time. Always remember, God’s time is the best. Therefore, wait for His time.

It is not by might: Whatever that is happening in the lives of the believers, God have the knowledge, there is reason(s) why God permitted it to happen and there is lesson(s) to be learnt from such event. Also, there is nothing you can achieve through discontentment, but you can attain a lot when you are content and allow the Lord to take charge of your life.

Let this be in your mind that every positive experience or your progressive condition is not due to your power of might. “It’s not by might nor by power but by My Spirit, says the Lord” Zechariah 4: 6. Since there is nothing constructive that can be achieved without the Spirit of the Lord, then why not be content and wait for Him to transform your life.

Basic necessities of life: When you have basic necessities of life, you should be content and pray to God to satisfy your other needs. You should also be grateful to God because many people in this terrestrial ball call earth lack the basic necessities of life that you take for granted. They did not have access to the necessities of life due to circumstances beyond their control like war, pestilence, and economic down turn. 1 Timothy 6: 7-8.

Let us be content if we have basic necessities of life and wait for God to fulfill our other desires, since we brought nothing into this world and it is certain, we can not carry anything out.

Control your desire: Try as much as possible to control your desire and do not allow Satan to tempt you through your insatiable desires. If you did not have self-discipline, then the Devil will use discontentment to lure you away. Remember each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desire and enticed, says the Bible James1: 14-15.

We know that temptation comes from our own desires, which entices us and drag us away from the righteous path. Therefore beware of evil desires that give birth to sinful actions, and when sin is allow to grow, it gives birth or leads to death.

Little that you have is better: It is better to be godly and have little riches/wealth than to be evil and rich. The Bible confirms that a little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked people Psalm 37: 16. Rejoice and be content with whatever you have because it is better than the abundance riches/wealth of the wicked.

Week 29: July 17, 2016

Topic: Contentment – Part 2

Bible Reading: 1 Timothy 6: 1-6

As previously discussed, the discontent people will never be satisfied by what the Lord has done for them. Instead of showing gratitude to Almighty God for His kindness, they will continue to complain that they deserve something better.

Many Christians are in bondage and they are experiencing spiritual warfare because of evil desires and pleasures that are waging war in their bodily members, fighting for control. Such lustful desire may be those committed through our sights and it may be things consumed with our mouths or do with our physical bodies. James 4: 1. The source of conflicts and restlessness among the brethren is the selfish desires and passions that are battling inside their bodies. Henceforth, be content with what the Lord has done for you, so that Satan will not use your cravings that are at war within you to destabilize your life.

Some people will even blame the Lord for their present condition, forgetting that God doesn’t do evil and He cannot be tempted by evil, says the Bible James 1: 13. For this reason, whenever the Devil is tempting you because of your discontentment do not say “God is tempting me” because God cannot be tempted by evil and He never tempt anyone (Satan is the tempter).

Teachings About Contentment

We will briefly study some of the teachings concerning contentment in the Bible.

Be satisfied: There are some risks associated with being poor and being rich. When you are rich or wealthy, pride will set in, thereby you may deny the Lord and say “who is the Lord?” that assisted you to become rich. When you are poor or wretched, you may steal, thereby dishonoring the mighty name of the Lord and sin against Him. Therefore the best thing you can do is to trust the Lord and let Him decide what is good for you. Pray to Him to make you trustworthy and honest; ask Him to give you neither poverty nor riches, but give you enough goodness to satisfy your needs Proverbs 30: 8-9. Be content with your present condition, and then ask God to satisfy you with exactly what you need for your Christianity journey and your survival in this world.

The Bible stated that “let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called”. 1 Corinthians 7: 20. We must understand the explanation of the passage that it is not limited to callings but include every aspect of our lives. Therefore do not act contrarily against the plan of God for you through discontentment because it will negatively affect the design of the Lord for your life.

Advice of John the Baptist: John advised the soldiers when he was asked about what they can do in order to inherit the kingdom of God. He told them:

· Not to intimidate or extort money

· Not to make false accusations

· Be content with their wages Luke 3: 14

I also advise you today to be content not only with your wages/salary but with everything that the Lord has done for you, so that you can inherit the kingdom of God.

Gift of God: I want us to know that one can gather wealth or be enriched through discontentment but that does not mean that such person will have the ability to enjoy it. Whoever that is given sound health and mind to enjoy goodness/riches that the Lord has bestowed upon them, it is the gift of God. Ecclesiastes 5: 19. Since it is the gift from God that can make you to enjoy the reward of your labour/efforts and accept your lot in life, then be content with what He has done presently for you while waiting for improvement (or better ones).

Blessing without sorrow: Only the blessing of the Lord can make one rich without sorrow or regret. If one gets rich through any other nefarious way including discontentment, such people might not be exempted from sorrow/sadness and they will live to regret their actions Proverbs 10: 22. Be content and wait upon the Lord to bless you, so that neither sorrow nor regret will be added to your portion.

Promises of God

God will not leave you: Don’t love money, be satisfied with what you have for God has said “I will never fail you or abandon you”. Brethren let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have because of the promise of God that He will never leave or forsake you Hebrews 13: 5. Do not allow the Devil to nullify the great promise of God in your life through discontentment. Therefore let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money or greed and be content with what you have.

Longevity and salvation: God will satisfy you with long life and show you His salvation, if and only if you are content with what you have and wait on Him to satisfy your other needs Psalm 91: 16. Since you know that God will satisfy you with longevity and give you His salvation, why not be content?

Finally, let us emulate Paul Apostle by learning to be content with whatever we have and any state we find ourselves. Let us learn “how to be abased and how to abound. Everywhere and in all things master both to be full and to be hungry, to abound and to suffer need” Philippians 4: 11-12. Brethren, learn how to live on little/almost nothing or with plenty. Master the secret of living in every situation whether it is with full stomach or empty so that you will be contented in all conditions.

The Seal: 1 Timothy 6: 6

Godliness and contentment is a great gain to all believers.