_______
MARCH 5
CONTENTMENT
Someone once said that HAPPINESS is having what you want but JOY and CONTENTMENT is WANTING what you have!
Scripture says:
Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: FOR I HAVE LEARNED, in whatsoever state I am, THEREWITH TO BE CONTENT.
CONTENTMENT isn’t a TRAIT we are born with.
CONTENTMENT is something we must LEARN.
THE QUESTION IS HOW? Scripture says again:
1Timothy 6:6 But godliness with CONTENTMENT is great gain.
1Timothy 6:7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
1Timothy 6:8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith CONTENT.
Here we find a couple of very PRACTICAL ANSWERS to that question:
1. CONTENTMENT COMES FROM HAVING A RIGHT PERSPECTIVE ABOUT ETERNITY
I brought NOTHING into this world – I will take NOTHING out this world! I’ve never seen a U-HAUL trailer being pulled by the FUNERAL HEARSE.
2. CONTENTMENT COMES FROM ACCEPTING THE SIMPLE ESSENTIALS OF LIFE
If you have FOOD and RAIMENT be CONTENT.
But society’s plan of attack is to create dissatisfaction, to convince us that we must be in a constant pursuit for something “out there” that is sure to bring us happiness. . . . It says that contentment is impossible without striving for more. God’s Word offers the exact opposite advice: Contentment is possible when we STOP striving for more. (Charles R. Swindoll)
My Wife was in the Hospital on this date in 2017. During her stay, I wrote this Devotion, sharing the feelings that we experienced at that moment. I closed the thoughts of that day with the following words: ‘I can truly say, since my Wife has been here in the hospital . . . we have not talked about NEW CARS, NEW HOMES, OR NEW ANYTHING . . . but we sure have been THANKFUL that we have EACH OTHER.’
Thank God for:
CONTENTMENT
_______
_______
MARCH 4
AUSTIN’S BEDSIDE CHAT (AN ANNIVERSARY OF REMEMBRANCE)
We love all of our GRANDKIDS and each one of them are so AMAZING. I could talk about each one of them individually and as time goes on I will. However, one of the Grandkids made quite an impression during the time my wife was in the hospital. (NOTE: Today would have been the Anniversary of that event which happened in 2017).
Let my wife (DARLENE) tell you about AUSTIN’S BEDSIDE CHAT:
Austin walked up to me and stood by my bedside and said, ‘Grandma, I’ve been praying for you.’ He then leaned over and he gave me a big hug!
He went on to say, ‘My class at school prayed for you today!’ With my heart touched I replied, ‘Thank you for praying for me – I really need that.’
Austin (at that time – 2017) was turning 10 years old that week. He was already expressing the desire to be a ‘PASTOR’ like his Daddy and his Grandfather. He really demonstrated a lot of heart and early qualifications for such a calling as you’re about to see.
Austin continued, ‘GRANDMA, my Birthday Party is this Saturday . . . Do you think that you’re gonna get to come to my birthday party?’ I had to say ‘It just depends – if I get to feeling better and if the doctor lets me go home.’
With such sweetness Austin said, ‘GRANDMA, I hope you can because it won’t be the same without you being there . . . If you can’t come I’ll just change my party to next Saturday!’
As the conversation continued I wanted him to know that I truly appreciated his caring. I told him that I really wanted him to keep his Birthday Party scheduled the same because of all the people that will be there and so he could get those very special gifts.
He said, ‘GRANDMA, I LOVE YOU!’ ‘The BEST GIFT that I could get – is – IF YOU GET TO COME HOME!’
The Scripture says:
1John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in WORD, neither in tongue; BUT IN DEED AND IN TRUTH.
Don’t just say you LOVE somebody – SHOW them you LOVE them by your actions. AUSTIN (and I must say all of the Grandchildren) sure showed this GRANDMA some LOVE. It was AUSTIN’S BIRTHDAY but I got THE GIFT!
I’ll never forget:
AUSTIN’S BEDSIDE CHAT
_______
_______
MARCH 3
PERFECT PEACE
Years ago a major art gallery sponsored a competition for painters. Prizes were offered for the best painting on the subject of “PEACE.” The painting that everyone thought was sure to win portrayed this lush green pasture under a vivid blue sky, with the cows grazing lazily and a little boy walking through the grass with his fishing pole over his shoulder. It really made you feel PEACEFUL.
But it did not win. The painting that won was A REAL SURPRISE.
The scene was the ocean in a violent storm. The sky was ominous, the lightning was cutting across the sky, and the waves were crashing into the rock walls of the cliffs by the shore. NO PEACE. But you had to look twice to understand what was going on. There, about halfway up the cliff, was a birds’ nest, tucked into a tiny hollow in the rock. A mother bird was sitting on that nest – with her little babies, tucked underneath her, sleeping soundly. THAT WAS A PICTURE OF REAL PEACE!
Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in PERFECT PEACE, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Many are deceived into thinking that when one becomes a Christian – that – ALL of their problems and trials somehow just go away. Such thinking is not at all REALITY. It is our REACTION to those problems (I believe) that causes the non-Christian people to take notice and then to want what we have.
Horatio G. Spafford, wrote the great hymn ‘IT IS WELL’ in 1873 during the greatest crisis of his life – he had lost his business in the Chicago Fire – upon sending his family home to Europe he suffered more tragedy (his children were drowned at sea). On his trip to be with his wife (sole survivor) – he penned the following words at the very area in the sea where his children had died:
‘When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.’
My Wife was in the hospital when this Devotion was penned in (2017). I sent Special thanks to those who had prayed for my wife, DARLENE. I told them, ‘She had rested well, however, the colon had not cooperated as of yet.’ I wrote, ‘We will find out (perhaps today) the next course of action.’ We now know the outcome (but remember we Did Not know then). I realize that someone maybe facing a very similar situation and I’m hoping that our course of action back then will stimulate your FAITH right now!
I cherish the fact that We said (then) that we had:
PERFECT PEACE
_______
_______
MARCH 2
A MOMENT CALLED IN-BETWEEN
When I first wrote this Devotional thought (in 2017) I was sitting in a Hospital Room with my Wife. She had experienced a severe health emergency and we did not know how serious. It was in the midst of such difficulty, with all its’ ‘UNKNOWNS,’ that I penned the following words:
‘I find myself sitting here in a Hospital room positioned somewhere between DIFFICULTY and a MIRACLE. That IN-BETWEEN place – that REVEALS – the TRUE INNER SELF. That IN-BETWEEN place – that CHALLENGES your Faith – that CHALLENGES your make-up as a person. That MOMENT – that REVEALS – what is truly below the surface.’ I continue:
‘You see, it is easy to REJOICE . . . ‘After the Fact’ . . . ‘After the MIRACLE has happened!’ It is easy to shout on Resurrection Sunday but much more difficult to shout on Crucifixion Friday. Not to mention the SILENT SATURDAY and all the questions . . . What will happen now?’
When in this situation I find a passage of Scripture that I use as a guide:
Daniel 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
Daniel 3:17 If it be so, OUR GOD WHOM WE SERVE IS ABLE TO DELIVER US from the burning fiery furnace, and HE WILL DELIVER US out of thine hand, O king.
Daniel 3:18 BUT IF NOT, be it known unto thee, O king, THAT WE WILL NOT SERVE thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
The Three Hebrew Children declared so much WISDOM here that we all would do good to take note. They were in that IN-BETWEEN moment of (READ SLOWLY):
* THEY KNEW WHAT GOD COULD DO (He is able!)
* THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT GOD WOULD DO (But if not)
* THEY KNEW (SOMEHOW) HE WILL DELIVER US (out of thy hand/ Satan can’t conquer)
‘God is able to deliver us . . . BUT IF NOT . . . Be it known (the moment of truth revealed) . . . I will NOT SERVE you or BOW DOWN to you, devil!’
‘I believe God has His Hand on my precious wife (NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT) . . . At this moment, I WONDER as to HOW this answer will turn out. Will He heal miraculously or will He choose surgery or another way? Either way, we win, because We choose to trust the LORD even before We see the outcome.’ (Looking back, I Remember, this was a moment of Defining Faith!)
When your prayers have been said and your waiting for the answer to come – take it from me – Let those Hebrew Boys teach you . . .
Teach you what you must do when facing:
A MOMENT CALLED IN-BETWEEN
_______
_______
MARCH 1
ANOTHER CASE WON
It is extremely painful to watch a friend or an acquaintance being thrashed upon by a Prosecuting Attorney. The vicious assaults are almost too much to bear. The insults are humiliating. The charges are alarming. The viciousness is frightening. The accusations are painful. The revealing of PAST actions . . . can be so shameful.
In my lifetime, I’ve sat on the witness stand multiple times defending a friend. I’m thankful that (to God be the Glory) in those court cases a ‘Preacher’s Witness’ was as good as gold. I’ve watched Prosecutor’s slam fist to the table and say, ‘We had this case won if it had not been for that Preacher!’ I’ll never forget that statement being made and neither will ‘Mr. L. K.’ He shed big ole ‘crocodile tears’ as he left in freedom and I thought ‘Another Case Won!’
It becomes a very different feeling when the defendant is ‘YOU.’ I know . . . I’ve been there: I remember sitting there on the witness stand in that dingy courtroom. Nervous as I could be (I never felt any uneasiness when I was helping others in their cases) – The Difference – IT’S ME!
It’s hard to sit there while The Prosecutor is ‘LYING’ about you. Shaming you . . . Digging up every degrading fact possible . . . Manipulating evidence . . . even manufacturing unheard of evidence (Having to listen and not speak is almost impossible . . . at least it was for me).
The ACCUSATIONS I felt were so stinging that they were beginning to be believable even to me. Trust me, when you feel that way . . . well . . . you know the Judge will feel that way!
You hope against hope . . . Hands sweat . . . You have a rapid pulse . . . You feel guilt . . .
I remember taking a big deep breath as ‘My Friend’ took the stand on behalf of me. I didn’t tell him what to say and I didn’t want to persuade him either. I thought . . . just be true to yourself dear friend . . . Hold up your right hand . . . Will you tell the truth? . . . the whole truth? . . . nothing but . . . (I’m sorry all words fade into the distance when you’re as afraid as I was) . . . Nothing was in my mind but the Scripture:
Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having FORGIVEN YOU ALL TRESPASSES;
Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and TOOK IT OUT OF THE WAY, nailing it to his cross;
Colossians 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, TRIUMPHING OVER THEM IN IT.
Jarred out of my meditation by the loud sound of the Prosecutor’s fist slamming the table! . . . Satan screamed . . . ‘I would have won this case had it not been for that WITNESS!
My Friend, JESUS, put His arm around me and said, You’re forgiven . . . You are free . . .
Let’s go:
ANOTHER CASE WON
_______
_______