Quick Reminder: Be content in the Lord God

• Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
• 1 Timothy 6:6-12 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.
• Proverbs 19:23 The fear of the LORD leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.

Remember the wisdom, commandments and the great deeds of God

 

You most probably might be familiar with the Bible verse about God’s people getting destroyed for lack of knowledge. Now this comes in Hosea 4:6 but that is not there entire verse. The full verse is given below:

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:6)

This verse clearly says that the people of God get destroyed due to lack of knowledge and it shows where this lack of knowledge comes from. Now, I totally agree that if one never read nor heard of the Lord God and his wisdom and about the Gospel of Jesus Christ his Son, then such a person lacks knowledge in spirit. However, coming to the above mentioned verse, it means that due to the people of God rejecting the knowledge which comes from God they enter the path of destruction. And this is not the only thing the people do wrong. I mean, they  forget the law of God, which leads to God’s judgement on them and their children.

What I’m trying to say is that don’t just read the Word of God, but make sure you do not reject it. Because when you choose to accept it, your chances become better for remembering the wisdom which the Holy Spirit has inspired all through the Scriptures.

Let me make it real to you; If a pilot suddenly in mid flight says he forgot the route to Canberra to Oregon, wouldn’t the passengers in the aircraft panic? If a soldier in the middle of the battle says he forgot how to reload his rifle, would the enemy ceasefire for him till he learns it for sure?

Then, even in the realm of spiritual things there are things, bad things which happen to those of God’s people who don’t make a commitment to remember all the instructions the Lord wants them to remember. For instance, there are people who attend church but never teach their children about not stealing. Suddenly, the children steal at school and get caught and so then their parents are called for by the school authorities to their shame. Next, instead of accepting the fact they didn’t teach their young one’s not to steal they blame God for ‘letting this thing happen to my family’. What a vile little concept of justice they have! For when they try to find fault with God they end up not respecting him as they should.

When the Bible clearly says that the people of God are to teach their children to fear the Lord God and follow his commandments, they cherry pick the things they want to follow and skip the part about exhorting their young ones to live in a holy manner at all times. And when their children are in trouble due to stealing, these very people have the audacity to blame the Lord! “Pathetic”, is what I’d call their actions.

Don’t follow the path of ignorance which only leads to trouble. If read the Bible and hear the Gospel preached, why not make it a point to remember the Word of God? This will ensure that when you live your life you never forget to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Bible verses for reflection:

* “Only take heed, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children— how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ (Deuteronomy 4:9-10)

* then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (Deuteronomy 6:12)

* “Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today,  (Deuteronomy 8:11)

* Remember His marvellous works that He hath done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth; (1 Chronicles 16:12)

* Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. (Luke 8:18)

* The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip. (Psalm 37:31)

* Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits (Psalm 103:2)

* My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. (Proverbs 4:20)

* For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” (Luke 8:17-18)

* Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:1-4)

* Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. (Revelation 3:3)

 

Christ be with you!

Stop the Monday whining and complaining

Before I get to the point, let’s give all praise and glory to our Lord Jesus Christ for every spiritual blessing that we have in him. Let’s thank God for sending Jesus for our salvation and freedom from sin and death. Now let’s ask the Holy Spirit to lead us in all truth and keep us free from all deception.

Nowadays its profoundly common to see a meme on various social media websites which basically shows someone, usually a baby, crying and the words on the picture say, “It’s Monday again!”. Good grief, what stupidity has this world come to? Instead of motivating each other to face life bravely, some weirdo comes up with a cry baby version of starting the working week and this stupidity goes viral! When was the last time wisdom went viral? Can’t recollect it, right? Because all this stupidity is made to look funny and in the name of fun people pass it on to others to get a vain laugh. The devil uses people’s dependence on foolish entertainment to make them more foolish. There are three truths one must hold on to when any such memes about Mondays come up.

Firstly, there is no need to be sad about Mondays. Many people never got up on Monday because they died on Sunday. Be happy that you are alive on Monday. Why are you even feeling sad? Some complain that one has to go back to work. Really, is that the best excuse? You are going to work because you in your free will chose to get that job. If you are not happy with that, please give that job to the many people, in fact thousands of people who are unemployed for months. Not just about work, we have the kids and youth who complain about going to school or college on Mondays. Maybe these people don’t appreciate the fact that many other youngsters in the world do NOT have access to education and put to slave labour in which they are not paid at all. Yes this actually happens in certain Third world nations. Why does one have to be stupidly unhappy about the fact that you can do so much good on a Monday? No one good reason to be sad about it.

Secondly, there is no need to encourage others to be sad about Mondays. You are called to give hope to others. Is this how a person of faith should make others feel bad instead of telling them how to go forward in life? Either one is faithless or is simply into the hands of the sinful world to say that Mondays are times be in despair just because you have to face life at work, school or college.

Thirdly, we must live a life with our hope in God instead of whining and complaining all the while. The one who hopes in God knows that one’s earthly existence is only temporary. There is a time to pass into eternity and live in heaven in the presence of God and his holy angels where one will lack no good thing and will always be happy. That is if one truly believes unto the Lord Jesus Christ for his or her salvation. Now one might wonder, what is to be done in one’s times on earth. I’d say don’t spend it complaining and whining. Spending your time exaggerating your problems is not going to help anyone. Instead of glorifying your problems, start using wisdom in tackling them. There are lots of principles in the Bible that you could put to use to face your challenges in life, instead of posting your worries on social media or messaging to earn sympathies from some and ridicule from the rest who don’t care. Pray often and give your worries to the Lord God who cares for you. Don’t handle it alone.

A few scripture verses along with some explaining that should help you help in this regard. Here we go:

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22) (Being depressed is going to make you feel weak but if you are joyful you will be much relaxed.)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6) (You are encouraged to bring all your fears and anxieties in prayer to God.)

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. (James 4:1-3) (Impure passions causes quarrels and fights with others. Prayers said with impure motives are not acceptable to God. So pray with pure motives instead.)

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10) (In Christ Jesus, you have a lot of good works to do. Be grateful to God for that and keep doing those good things.)