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    The apostle Paul declared that he could be content in whatsoever circumstances he found himself.
    He knew how to abase and he knew how to abound. He could rejoice always in every situation. He suffered for the Lord. He was beaten until near death by his enemies. He was ship wrecked at sea on three occasions. Yet in spite of all his difficulties and handicaps he could still rejoice. How could he live above his circumstances? He kept his focus on the Lord and God's purpose in his life.
    At the base of all discontentments is a lie from the devil. Satan’s lies cause us to have fear, unbelief, and self-pity. We begin to believe that we have got to have more money, a new car, a larger house, or a better paying job in order to be content. His lies cause us to loose sight of God's resources. God has already given us enough to perfectly happy and content in him. When we let worry and anxiety come in to our heart, we are simply operating in misplaced faith. Our faith and emotional well being need not be in our possessions, but rather in the surrender of our possessions, hopes and desires to God. Being content is the belief that God will supply all our needs. Even when God withholds something we want we can still be content knowing that God is working in us for His specific purpose. We should never be so consumed with our goals or wants that we cannot enjoy what we have already. Contentment is never the result of how much we have, but our attitude of surrender toward what we already have. Those things that we will not surrender to God will govern our joy in the Lord. We can all be very rich and content if we learn to enjoy what we already have in God. If we allow the seeds of discontentment to grow in our heart, it will drain us of our spiritual strength and make us desire more and more of this worlds goods to make us happy. Most of our financial problems are not caused by a lack of money, but by our own lack of contentment in Christ.
    Heb. 13:5 "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have:"

When the children of Israel come to cross over the Jordan to claim the promised land many of the people were afraid. Joshua believed God. He had walked close to the Lord. He knew what God had done in the past. He remembered how God had parted the Red Sea and provided food and water for the children of Israel under Moses' leadership. He knew that God was with him as He had been with Moses. Trusting and obeying God, Joshua courageously gave the command to move forward. The people had to keep their eyes on the priests who were carrying the ark to the edge of the Jordan River. When the priest came to the edge of the river they saw that it was flooded. The water was moving to quickly for them to cross over alone in their own strength. When the priests obeyed God the river stopped and formed a wall of water on one side. The Israelites then crossed over into the promised land on dry ground. God had kept his promises.
Someday we too will cross over troubled waters, but we will not have to cross over alone. God has given us His many promises if we will trust and obey Him. He has promised us that He would provide for us everlasting life and forgiveness of sins. When our health is gone we can be assured to see Him in our heavenly home. He has promised us answered prayer, Phil.4:6. He will supply all our needs - food, clothes, home, etc., Phil 4:19. God has promised us help and courage to face whatever troubled waters we must cross. How faithful God is to his people who will trust and obey Him!

Discouragement Psalm 23

Have you ever experienced something of devastating that you were convinced you could not continue on down the path that God has for you? In spite of how difficult the experience and how deep the hurt we can always take comfort that God is always with thru it all. He never wastes any of His opportunities to make us more like Him and to strengthen our faith. Often times when our faith is being challenged thru trials and obstacles we will struggle to believe that God is with us or that He will do what He has promised. It is not a sin to be knocked down, but it is a sin to do less than our best not to get back up after the devil has delivered a knock out blow. When things seem impossible, remember that, "...with God all things are possible..." Mt. 19:26. It is easy to miss out on God's blessings because we tend to focus on the trial rather than on God's plan and purpose thru the trial. Instead of focusing on the good we focus on the negative Phil. 4:8. Do not allow yourself to follow your feelings, but rather follow the truth of the word of God. God loves you unconditionally and He only has your best interest thru the hurt and pain Jer.31:3. He will reward your faith and obedience in Him. Ask God to reveal His purpose thru His truth. Sometimes we already know God's purposes, but we are unwilling to accept it in our mind and heart, We need to see things from God's perspective. I Thes.5:24 "Faithful is he that calleth you, who will also do it." God will bring you thru and bring it to pass." Ask yourself, How does God see this trial verses my view of it as an obstacle? Remember that God will supply all our needs whatever the trial, Phil. 4:19. Go back to the personal words that the Lord has given to you when discouragement attacks your peace and threatens to paralyze you. Gods grace is always sufficient for you, "My grace is sufficient for thee...." Remember that when you at the point of despair and ready to discontinue going down the path God has for you, don't let circumstance know you out into the field of disobedience. Continue in perseverance, remembering that, "...the God of peace will be with you..." Phil. 4:9
Thought: You can be knocked down, but you can not be knocked out when God is near.

"Godliness with Contentment" I Tim. 6:6

Bad financial health is often the beginning of the breakdown of family relationships. For many families the lack of money is often rooted in the lack of Biblical character. Biblical character must be rooted in the fear of the Lord. When we walk in the fear of the Lord we will have godliness and contentment in the life. Godliness is the quality of being god likeness. The fruit of the spirit is necessary (Gal. 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, ....") to have godliness in the life. If you do not earn the right to have something because of godliness in your heart, you may have gain, but you will not have great gain. You can not find contentment without godliness. Winning at the casino is ungodly gain and will not leave you content. Cheating on your employer is ungodly. It may bring gain, but it is not great gain because of the ungodly character. The gain you receive will only lead to more discontentments. Rebellion towards your parents is ungodly. You may get what you want, but it will only lead to more discontentment and further rebellion towards authority. Doing less than your best in school is ungodly. You'll can never be content with willful, ungodly ignorance. In fact if you choose to be dumb, you better be tough. Godliness says I will only enjoy that which I have earned the right to have. I can't enjoy elicit sex, because it is ungodly. I can't enjoy someone else wife because that is adultery. I can't enjoy someone else belongings because that is covetousness. I can't enjoy someone else reputation because that is a false witness. I can't enjoy someone else money because that is stealing. Taking God's tithe is ungodly; therefore, I cannot have great gain. You can never be satisfied financially without godliness. If you have godliness in your heart, you will have the right focus on God, which will bring contentment, which will equal great gain. When godliness is weak, the tendency is to look to the accumulation of goods gained thru ungodliness to measure your success. The real measure of a man's wealth is not found in the abundance of his possessions, but in the fewness of his wants.

“Goals for your Life” I Pete. 4:1-13

Recently a Sunday school class of young adults was asked, “What would you do with the rest of your time on earth if money were no object?” Sadly the answers focused on personal comfort. “I would quit work and travel.” “I would buy a new house, a new car and just enjoy myself.” How dismaying to think that God sent His some to die so that we may have a meaningless life centered on selfish pleasures. Every pleasure will have a shelf life and will eventually turn into meaninglessness without God. Resist those desires that will quickly fade into meaninglessness. Instead try something new something infinitely more challenging and meaningful. 1) Have the mind of Christ; vs. 1 “arm you likewise with the same mind.” You will become what you think. You will never go where your mind has not already been. Every downfall always begins with a process of wicked thinking in you mind. You’ll never get victory over fleshly desires until you have the “same mind” as Christ. Start a scripture memorization program. Get the wisdom of God. Josh. 1:8, Prov. 3:13, etc. 2) Do the will of God, vs. 3-7. You can make your own choices about walking in the flesh, but you cannot choose the consequences of those choices. There is always a heavy penalty for sin. Don’t allow the world to make you into its mold. When sin comes in the perfect will of God you are forces to choose from several bad choices. Always stay away from situations that will lead you away from the will of God and force you to choose between several more bad choices. Divorce and remarriage always leads you into many more bad choices decisions. Rebellion always leads you into more bad choices. Always make the most selfless decision, not the most selfish decision. When you don’t know what to do always give God the benefit of the doubt. Seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit and get advice from someone who is walking in the Spirit, not the flesh. Always make the decision that will not cause other Christians to be divided. You can not loose with God. Be thoroughly repentant and seek God’s will. 3) Have fervent love for God and others, vs. 8. Be more interested in others than you want others to be interested in you. No one ever lost their first love for souls without first losing their first love for Christ. These are all kinds of Christians in churches across America who is Christian in name only. They can toot the horn, but that doesn’t mean that there is gas in the tank. In many churches we sing, “Oh How I Love Jesus,” but are so busy doing something that we have forgot that our first love is to be for God. You can not have a true love for God if you have lost your first love for your mate or your parents. You cannot have a true love for God and others when you are in love with things, pleasures and yourself. Have you gotten so comfortable with the world that your core passions and values are spelled out by what you would do for the rest of you life if money were no object?

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