Do You Know the Secret of Contentment?
Good Morning Friends,
The joy of the Gospel is certainly an invitation deep inside of us that practically orders us to rejoice. It is like celebrating a new birth wrapped in a prayer that resonates with our desire to have a meaningful and joyful life. Oh we still need to strive to improve ourselves spiritually but can make a choice to rejoice in regards to the level of our physical possessions. We can link prayer and praise as an act of living and growing hope that mitigates unrealized expectations. Do You Know the Secret of Contentment?
Scripture: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:4-9 (NRSV)
Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment;
1 Timothy 6:6 (NRSV)
Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.
Deuteronomy 15:10 (NRSV)
Message: There are lots of ways to pray and if we are going to pray unceasingly we had better find not only traditional ones but new and exciting ways as well. I think gardening is a great way to pray. Making music and singing can be prayer. Weaving is another way. Few testimonies witness to our faith more than a joyful and happy Christian that suffers through the daily chores of raising multiple children. They are examples of people who take their worries and shape them into prayers. They are examples of how God speaks to our needs for peace with each other, peace within and peace with God. It is in the blending of repetition with focus that somehow prompts tension to pass with each breath. Today I can see these activities as a practical prayer that might have just had its roots in ancient prayer practices designed to deepen the understanding of the relationship between our body, the body of Christ and prayer. Here I contemplate Jewish prayer shawls and the possibility that Paul might actually have made them to meditate on God’s laws. Here, in my imagination, I pray with the Apostle Paul as he is praying in prison while shackled, yet still joyous. Here I contemplate Jesus unable to move on the cross. Here I breathe a sigh of relief that I have been released to move in a world of ideas, power and influence that converge with spiritual, economic and social capital. Here prayer becomes a strategy to create a collective impact by engaging people of faith to develop new initiatives that build the capacity of community to see with the eyes of God. And somehow in this way we see room for improvement but also experience contentment. Here in prayer we learn from life’s circumstances and see our faith working for justice through God’s intention for us to experience love in the process. Somehow the act of letting God know concerns of importance, allowing God into the equation, allows His supernatural wholeness into the situation as well for families as communities. So, come as you are. Come together with Christ. Honor the life He has given you. It is here we learn that Jesus suffers with us in the very emotional, physical and spiritual draining experiences of life. It is here when we have come to the end of our energy, He opens up the door to joy and we get a second wind. Indeed life can get rough, but as Christians we have access to an unshakable joy and a supernatural peace and a holy mindset that pleases God. And with these gifts God blesses our work, both fathers and mothers, both husbands and wives as we take the talk of our concerns to Him in prayer and He in turn answers with an opportunity for us to experience Him.
Pray we are not anxious. Pray we know how to have little. Pray we know how to have much. Pray we understand the true nature of wealth. Pray that we realize that the secret of contentment is being satisfied with Christ. Pray we realize that we can do all things through Christ. Pray we realize that a content person is concerned for others. Pray that we realize that contentment comes in our lives when we rely upon Christ for the power to prevail over circumstances.
Pray we rejoice in all things. Pray we understand the myth of more. Pray we rely on the Lord. Pray we be creative collaborators in building the capacity of communities to pray together about everything that brings us peace, joy and His righteous presence.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 