Contentment in Christ

Once we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He becomes everything to us. He must become everything to us. We are in a continual struggle against Satan to keep other things (especially money) from taking the place of Christ. The World sends us a message that says more wealth and more stuff will make us happy. But God warns us in  that worldly wealth cannot offer us true satisfaction and security.

You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. (Revelation 3:17-18)

Only God can provide us with true wealth and open our eyes so we can see the truth. God has a higher purpose for us than riches far beyond our needs and 6,000 square foot homes. God wants more meaning in our lives than a brand new luxury car in the driveway and a shiny yacht next to the dock. God has a higher calling for our retirement years than fruitless day after fruitless day spent on the golf course, beach, or back porch. The World’s message contradicts God’s message so much that we must choose between the two. 

He who is not content with what he has will not be content with what he wants.

Life may seem like a race to accumulate more money, more wealth, more status, and more possessions. Sadly, many people are very greedy and look only for ways to get more for themselves, thinking, "If I could just get this certain thing, then I would be happy."

However, greed is not the path to contentment. Greed is when you always want a little bit more. Yet, greed causes you to never be satisfied, because you always want more and as soon as you get what you want, you want even more. And so you never get what you want, because what you really want is contentment.

The old cliche "money cannot buy happiness" really is true.

It is no wonder Ecclesiastes 5:10 says, 

Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. (Ecclesiastes 5:10)

Likewise, Hebrews 13:5 tells us: 

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." In other words, God is enough to keep any person content and joyful. (Hebrews 13:5)

The fact that God is always with you and that He will never leave you ought to be a cause of great joy in your life.

Luke 16:13-15 says:

“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”  The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.”  (Luke 16:13-15)

We must choose between serving God or Money. There is no middle ground. Devotion to Money is completely and absolutely opposed to devotion to God. Greed and generosity cannot exist together. Consumerism and contentment demand different paths. Choosing to love and serve Money means that you are choosing to turn your back on God. But if you want to serve God, you must give your heart completely to Him.

In Mark 7:21-23, Jesus tells us that greed and envy come from our hearts:

“For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.'” (Mark 7:21-23)

Once God has the commitment of our hearts, He can begin to transform our minds – change our thinking. The New Living Translation renders Romans 12:2 this way:

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.  (Romans 12:2 NLT)

The solution to serving God and rejecting the World’s message is not to start trying to do what we think are all the right things. The solution is to give ourselves completely to God – to offer our entire lives as a sacrifice to Him in thankfulness and love for what He’s done for us. Then as we focus on Him we’ll learn what His will is for us and how we can glorify Him.

This step of getting God’s view takes time. It is a gradual transformation in our thinking that God effects as we grow in Him. We have to see that our focus on the things of this world keeps us from seeing the importance of love and relationships. That misplaced focus keeps us from fully serving God. We must focus on storing up treasures in heaven rather than on Earth because that will show whether our hearts belong to God or Money. If we let the concerns of this life take priority over the concerns of eternal life, we will be unfruitful. Jesus warns of this danger in Mark 4:18-19:

Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. (Mark 4:18-19)

We must learn that everything belongs to God and everything comes from God. We must learn to be thankful in all circumstances. We must find satisfaction in our daily bread. We must learn that life is more than pursuing wealth, buying everything our culture tells us to want, and retiring early. And even though these ideas go against our human nature, we must understand that it’s not worth gaining the whole world if we end up losing our souls.

The transformation that happens as we let God renew our minds and thinking has huge repercussions in our lives. We gain understanding of what it means to be content in Christ. We see that our faith in Jesus gives us eternal life. We see the utter worthlessness of everything on earth when compared to our salvation and the riches of eternal life with God. We put our hope in Christ and the life He gives. Christ then gives us true contentment that conquers any circumstance we may face, but we must continue to focus on our hope in Him and weigh everything against the surpassing value of our eternal life with God.

When we find contentment in Christ and Christ alone, the importance of money in our lives diminishes and pales to the value we place on Jesus. We learn the secret to being happy in all situations – whether we’re full or starving, rich or poor, employed or jobless, single or married – nothing in this life matters at all when compared to the glorious gift of Jesus and the fact that no one and no circumstance can take that away from us. 

The apostle Paul knew how to be content.  He said, 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.(Philippians 4:11-13)

In other words, Paul said that regardless of his immediate circumstances he could be content. Why? Because he lived his life through Christ and in Christ. In short, Paul knew that the secret of being content is God!

If you don't have peace and joy right now where you are in your life, please understand that getting more things will not give you contentment. Instead, you need to seek God, because He is the source of true contentment. Then, once you have established God as the source of your contentment, you can be content in any and every situation.

When we see everything in light of eternity, we find that nothing on earth is of more value than our faith in Christ. We learn that while we may never be rich by the world’s standards, we have riches that can’t be measured in dollars, gold, houses, cars, or anything else in this life. We understand that contentment in Christ is true wealth.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:6-12)

Once we have this conviction of always finding our contentment in Christ, the Spirit will teach us to place much less importance on material things. We will no longer be focused solely on our own needs and wants – an early retirement, a bigger house, a nicer car, and so on. Instead, we’ll be consumed with a desire to focus on the needs of others – to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, and show God’s love to the world through our faith and deeds. This is the essence of contentment in Christ. We’ll spend less and less on ourselves and our desires as we seek to give more and more to others and fulfill God’s desires.


All Sufficient God

“Jesus replied, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’” (John 6:35, NLT)

Many wander through life, wondering if this is all there is. Maybe live hungry for something more, often feeling drained, worn and tired. Jesus takes authority over this age-old problem, for He tells us He is the Great I Am. He is more than sufficient for our every need, burden, or pain. He alone can fill every hole in our hearts.

Our all-sufficient God satisfies, for all is fulfilled in Him. In Him we are no longer hungry. In Him our thirst that seemed endless is finally quenched. In Him is Life, a life filled with the abundant fruit of His Spirit here on Earth, and a life everlasting with Him for all eternity.

This life is full of hurt, pain, and suffering, but this life is not all there is. There is all-sufficient life given to us by the Great I Am, our Creator – our Savior, and His name is Jesus Christ.

Satisfied in Christ

The Law of Life says that the presence of Christ within the believer results in spiritual satisfaction. If we have Him then we will never hunger or thirst again, because He is Infinite Supply.

Anything less than spiritual satisfaction indicates that there is a problem. I am not saying that one should be content with their progress and present knowledge of Christ so that they stop growing; but I am saying that no matter what stage of progress you may be at presently, Christ should be your satisfaction.

Today's Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,
Please open my eyes that I may see. Open my heart that I may know and understand how sufficient You are. Lord I don’t want to hunger and thirst anymore. Fill me Oh Lord; let my cup overflow with all of who You are, because of what You have done for me. I want to rest in Your all-sufficient grace, no longer needing anything of this world. What I really need is You, my Great I Am. Amen.

Biblical Principles in Network Marketing

As a Pastor, Bill Nissen was against Network Marketing for years.  In 2003, a friend helped 
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a way to serve people.  Watch This Video. It is longer than most (20 minutes) but carries essential information.