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How to Be Content I’m satisfied with just a cottage below…………are we truly?
Hebrews 13:5-6 “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say: The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” “Happiness cannot be pursued directly, it must be obtained thru other efforts”. What is Contentment? Freedom from anxiety or worry. A Greek origin “independence or self-sufficiency” But the Apostle Paul used the word in a Christian sense to show that real satisfaction or sufficiency comes from God: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Phil 4:13. · Learning to be content requires understanding three major principles: Principle No. 1: Where contentment cannot be found · (Hebrews 13:5) "Let your conduct be without covetousness” · What is covetousness? To fix the desire upon. Desire earnestly. Stretch after.
Contentment is not found.. In Purses ($200/week), In Possessions, (If so, we should all be content) In Places, (Hawaii, Kosovo) In Positions, (Supervision, Director, Manager) In People (Hollywood Marriages, They have all of these things) Our lives need to be free from... (1) Wrong Attachments (2) Temporal Attachments (We need future attachments) · Paul’s Example No.1 Wealth · Philippians 4:11-12 "... for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." We also can learn to be content and to be discontent. · Paul’s Example No.2 Health · II Corinthians 12:7-9 "... a thorn in the flesh was given me... Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient [i.e., enough, satisfying] for you’..." It was true for Paul, it is true for us today also. ·
Learning
to be content requires understanding three major principles: Principle No. 2: We Can Have Immediate Satisfaction · (Hebrews 13:5b) "... be content with such things as you have." God desires that we be satisfied Right Now with... (1) What You Have · I Timothy 6:6, 8 "Now godliness with contentment is great gain... and having food and clothing with these we shall be content." · Luke 3:14 “And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.”
(2) Where You Are · Psalm 75:6-7 With Advancement - "For exaltation comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the Judge: He puts down one and exalts another." · Psalm 139:16b With Daily Events - "... and in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them." · Proverbs 16:33 With "Chance" Events - "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord" · Learning to be content requires understanding three major principles:
Principle No. 3: Intimate Communion with God · (Hebrews 13:5c-6) "For He Himself as said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" Our contentment becomes a reality when we:
(1) Lean on His Provision ·
Psalm 23:1 "The
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want..." (2) Learn His Promises · John 4:13-14 "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst..." · John 6:35 "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." ·
John 7:37-38 "If
anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me... out of
his heart shall flow rivers of living water." (3) Love His Person · Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." · John 14:23 "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."
You also can be content: Sufficiently satisfied. It doesn’t mean settling for less, but knowing you have the very best.
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