Resting in God

 
"But godliness with contentment is great gain." -1 Timothy 6:6
 
The drudgery of life can sometimes get to us. Bills that need paying, a job that's less than ideal, goals yet to be reached; we want to be thankful but find ourselves feeling more and more discontent. "Doesn't God have anything better for me?" we may ask ourselves. "Why can't I get where I need to be?" 

It is in these moments of dullness and restlessness we can experience the fullness of God's life in us - now. Contentment doesn't have to wait for a day when we reach a certain goal, or have certain things. It is attainable in the present, by the blood of the cross. True contentment is not born of us. Contentment is not dependent on our performance in life, or the things that we have, although we may believe that somehow it is. His blood on the cross was sufficient for our completeness in the present. 

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." - Hebrews 13:5
 
If you find yourself feeling discontent, consider what you have right now. Friends, family, or spiritual leaders that have been a blessing to you are a good place to start. Confirmations from God on the journey we've been on are also good reminders of His love for us. What has God done in our lives? As people we tend to get bored with things that are status quo. But we have to learn to recognize our accomplishments and be content in the moment, while still pressing on toward the goal. That is the place where we find true contentment. 

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Phil 4:7
 
May we rest in God's love and peace for us today, and every day.

Finding True Contentment

“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” -Ps 37:4

In certain faith circles, we can often confuse our faith in God with our expectation of God.  We might be taught to “expect the miracle” and wait for God to make it happen. But, we become frustrated in the waiting.  We lack the balance of working our own miracle, and still trusting God for the outcome.

How can we ever be happy though, still void of our miracle but believing it will happen?  Isn't God a good God? Well, first things first, the dream has to die.  Anything bigger than God in our lives God will deal with in our hearts.  HE wants to be the sole rescuer of our hearts, the love of our lives.  Sometimes He shows this love to us through other people and things, but He wants us to recognize He is the source of every good thing (James 1:17), so that our hearts don’t get caught up in idol worship.  And two, we can’t be afraid to do those things to work our own miracle.  This may involve worship, prayer, speaking aloud in faith – but it may involve the more practical side such as seeing a specialist doctor or signing up for classes at school.  God can move without those things, but sometimes we need to take a faith step - He can move through those things as we place our trust in Him!  We shouldn't limit God in the way He can work.

I met a woman recently who was unemployed for 2 years.  She said the day after she decided to lay it down she was called for an interview!  She had learned to be content in spite of her circumstances.  And God blessed her because she learned to fully trust in Him!

Is there anything in your life that needs to die so that you can have true contentment?  Ask God to help you.  Talk to a good friend or leader.  God wants us to have what we want and need, but He wants us to desire Him first so that we don’t miss out on our inheritance from Him. 

Arrive vs. Abide

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."  -John 15:7

Do you ever just feel like you want to "get there?”  Are you always feeling tension between where you are now and where you feel called to be?  I am reminded of a Switchfoot song, "This is Your Life", whose lyrics reflected, "This is your life, are you who you want to be? This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be?"  It's true that we never "arrive" in our Christian walk - we are always maturing and progressing, until the day we leave this earth.

While it may be true we're not quite where we want to be, we can still find contentment in our lives here and now.  The world is always progressing, always wanting more and more, never satisfied.  But as Christians, we have the answer for contentment in the arms of Jesus: "Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have." (Phil 4:11) "Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth." (1 Tim 6:6)

How can we learn to be content? First, we can be thankful for what we have.  Even people on the lower end of income in America have quite a lot compared to the world's wealth, and also compared with any other time in history.  Second, we can learn to be faithful.  "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much" -Luke 16:10.  Third and most important, we can learn to "abide" in God.  That is, we can experience God's presence most or all of the time, by worshipping, getting into the word, and having a "posture" of prayer. Once we are plugged into the source, we lack no good thing. (Ps 84:11)

Are you abiding in God today?  Let God's arms surround you as you go through life.  Life is much better when we're abiding in Him. 

What Is Tithing?

“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”  -Genesis 14:18-20

What is tithing?  Many people might argue that tithing is outdated, that it is an “old-fashioned” idea.  But is it?  Why did God want His people to tithe?

In Hebrew, the word “tithe” actually means 10%.  Tithing is giving 10% of all our “increase” (what we get paid) to God as an act of worship to Him.  We do this for various reasons - most of which are beneficial to us versus God.  God doesn’t need our money, but he does want our obedience.  Tithing is an act of worship meaning we agree that everything we have is His.  We are managers of all that is entrusted to us.  What we have is because of His goodness.

Craig Hill, founder of Family Foundations and author of several bestselling books on money cites the following 7 reasons why he believes each of us should employ the practice of tithing as a part of our worship to God:

• It builds faith in our hearts for God as our Source of provision
• It breaks the power of greed: “money managing me” vs. “me managing it"
• It breaks the power of fear of lack
• It establishes discipline
• It distinguishes between the Source of provision and channel of provision
• It provides support to kingdom activities
• It qualifies us to be trusted with more of God’s resources

Where should we tithe?  Malachi 3:10 talks about bringing the whole tithe “into the storehouse.”  Since we don’t have physical storehouses today, we can relate a storehouse to a place where we are being spiritually fed. More that likely this is a local church, but could be more than one place.

Have you employed the practice of tithing?  Pray and ask God how you might incorporate the practice of tithing into your life. “Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” -Malachi 3:10

A New Heart

"And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations." Ezekiel 36:24-28

You know, when we begin to think about the New Year, there is a lot of talk about New Year’s Resolutions.  In 2007, Richard Wisemen from the University of Bristol did a survey of 3000 people to see how many actually fulfilled their New Year’s resolutions.  According to his findings, a staggering 88% of people do not fulfill their New Year’s resolutions.  What does that say about us?  I think it says that only 12% of us keep our promises to ourselves!

Right before the time of Jesus, Israel had been stuck in a cycle of idol worship. The prophet Ezekiel prophesied that the people of Israel would become brand new: “I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you.”  Ezekiel prophesied the transforming power that Jesus would have in their lives.

Today, this hasn’t changed.  Jesus is changing lives & hearts all over the world, in every nation, in every kind of community!

Have you ever wanted a new heart, or a fresh start? If you want an authentic change in your life, and a new heart, why not ask Him to give you that today, even if you’ve already asked Him into your heart.  God is in the business of giving away new beginnings, because of His son Jesus who died, so that we might be live completely free and unfettered by our past.