Monthly Archives: February 2025

PARTNERS WITH CONTENTMENT

Christian life, ,

Philippians 4:10-13 NLT
[10] “How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. [11] Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. [12] I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. [13] For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Ahhh! Contentment! Almost a forgotten word in today’s world. Discontent in all its ugly forms is the name everywhere. Strife, conflict, murder, theft, greed…these and more are all the symptoms of discontent.

James had something to say about the discontent that rears its ugly head even in the family of God, a sign that the flesh at work.

James 4:1-3 NLT
[1] “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the EVIL DESIRES at war within you? [2] You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. [3] And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.”

Since James was writing to people in the church, this is quite an indictment! Is it possible that God’s own children can behave like this?

If course, if the core of this behaviour is discontent, then this horrible attitude will come out in many corrupt ways.

Discontent ruins inward peace and manifests something far worse than simply being dissatisfied with our lives, our circumstances, or what we possess.

Discontent is a slap in God’s face, a declaration of mistrust in God’s goodness, an insult to the very nature of God who is love personified. Discontent accuses God of shortchanging us. Satan’s ploy in the Garden of Eden was to stir up mistrust by triggering discontent. God said, “You may eat from all the trees in the garden except one.” The devil said, “Why is God withholding something good from you?”

Discontent is a symptom of the old nature’s ability to stir up trouble. Discontent has tentacles that reach deep into the lives of others around us as well, spreading its poison by the way our discontent affects other people. Discontent is like an infectious disease that spreads through contact. Just watch mob behaviour to see how discontent spreads like a bush fire.

How imperative that God’s children learn, as Paul did, to deal discontent a death blow, once and for all. All spiritual growth is a learning process. Even Jesus had to learn, from His human experience, how to submit as a Son to His Father.

Hebrews 5:8 NLT
[8] “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.”

How do we learn contentment in our topsy-turvey circumstances? We learn, as we do in everything else, by doing! Paul learned contentment by trusting Jesus in every situation. Was he hungry, deprived of food? He was okay with that because Jesus was in charge. Did he have a time of plenty? He was grateful to the Lord for His goodness. Was he cold and without shelter? He trusted the Lord in his hardship.

Contentment in all our ups and downs is the evidence of genuine faith in Jesus AND of God’s peace ruling in our hearts. We cannot have peace and be discontented at the same time.

“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Paul’s strength in hard times came from a steady reliance on Jesus’ presence and faithfulness.

… Another verse of Scripture often quoted out of context. What was Paul saying? I suppose it’s true that, in the all circumstances of life, through Jesus in us, we can accomplish many things or even go through our many difficulties but…in this context, Paul testified to the power of Christ in him that enabled to accept any and every hardship with the same unassailable trust in the Lord that kept him on even keel.

Now, that’s real power! Hiw often we are, in our old selfish nature, so concerned about our comfort and convenience that we easily baulk at any disturbance of these provisions.

Paul testified that it is possible, through God’s grace, to be so in union with Jesus that we can rise above all discomfort and be contented. He enables us so to trust in Him that we refuse to be moved by any adversity or hardship, or to allow our faith in Him to be diluted by plenty. Much or little can make no difference to us if we are anchored in Jesus.

Contentment, in the end, is the surest safeguard against mistrust, doubt, and unbelief. His peace garrisons our hearts against the fiery darts the enemy would hurl against us to throw us off balance and gain entry into the deepest recesses of our confidence in God’s love.

Contentment is the thermometer that measures our trust in the Lord, and God’s peace the thermostat that keeps our hearts steady and unmoved in times of hardship.

Philippians 4:20 NLT
[20] “Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen.”

Another little opportunity to glorify Jesus. Paul must always redirect his readers’ attention to the one who is everything in every situation. It’s about Him! Cold, hungry, homeless…warm, well fed, sheltered…didn’t matter to Paul. What mattered was that Jesus was there, fully supporting him, caring and providing for him, leading him, protecting him, and working out His purposes through him.

… And with that, Paul was satisfied.

A PARTNER WITH GOD HIMSELF

Bible Study, ,

Philippians 4:8-9 NLT
[8] “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. [9] Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

Paul adds one final ingredient to the security of knowing and being protected by God’s peace… what we put into our minds determines our responses or reactions to the issues we face. What’s in our hearts determines who is in charge.

Our minds are like computers, or rather, computers are like our minds. What we put in will come out. If we put in fear, anxiety, and unbelief, these attitudes are sure to come out when we are tested. If we charge our minds with thoughts that rest in God’s Word, we are guaranteed a heavenly peace that guides, monitors, and protects us through our every thought and action and….God Himself supervises our lives!

Paul gives us this good counsel…

Colossians 3:15 NLT
[15] “And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.”

There it is again! Peace and gratitude, faithful bedfellows if we want to navigate this life without succumbing to crises.

God’s peace is part of our spiritual armour in our battle against the flesh. The war zone is our old human nature and the combatants are dark spiritual forces that try to influence what we say and do by reacting out of our sinful nature when we are challenged.

We are never called to fight the devil. Jesus fought him and won at the cross. We are called to apply God’s truth to ourselves in our hearts and minds so that believing the truth will protect us from Satan’s deception.

To change the metaphor, God’s peace is like the referee in a ball game. When we allow circumstance to tell us what to believe instead of God’s Word, our peace is disturbed. The “ref” blows the whistle, stops the game and tells us how to correct the error.

What is the truth we are to believe? Paul said that truth stands on two feet, giving us balance that makes it difficult for Satanic forces to topple us.

One foot is peace with God.

Romans 5:1 NLT
[1] “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”

Peace with God takes care of our past. By faith, our debt of sin has been paid. We have been absolved of guilt. We are free to approach God with a clear conscience. There is nothing left to accuse us. We are at peace with God.

This is a strong foundation to stand on but, without the support of the other “foot”, we are still vulnerable to being upended.

The other foot, then is the peace of God.

This peace takes care of our present. As we learned in our previous post, we enjoy the peace of God when we play open cards with Him. We offload our anxieties on God; He replaces worry, anxiety, and fear with peace.

Now we have balance, two feet firmly planted on God’s Word. However, it’s what we continue to believe in our day-to-day living that maintains His peace.

How do we know we are believing the truth?

We are told that we must not believe our feelings. This isn’t true. Feelings are the monitor of our beliefs. When we believe what is not true about God and ourselves… for example, when we are afraid in our circumstances rather than trusting God’s promises, the fear we feel tells us that we are believing a lie.

By contrast, when we trust in God despite our circumstances, God’s peace confirms the truth we believe about His presence in the situation. So, God’s peace will keep us on track while disturbed emotions warn us that we are believing a lie.

The final ingredient that will guarantee God’s peace that never fluctuates with changing circumstances is God’s Word in our hearts. When we fail to arm ourselves with God’s truth, our minds are vulnerable to the devil’s influence. If we take the trouble to fill our minds with God’s Word, Satan’s lies will not find a place to settle in our minds and unsettle us. Since we cannot think two opposite thoughts at the same time, thinking God’s thoughts will immunise our minds against Satan’s lies.

Now, Paul tells us, to close the circle, when our hearts and minds… our hearts being who we really are… are full of God’s Word, we are full of God!

Philippians 4:9 NLT
[9] “Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

With us? What does that mean? I though Jesus said He would never leave us? True, but there is more to God being with us than just His passive presence.

This “with” is the same “with” as God’s “with Joseph”, and “with David”, for example.

Genesis 39:2 NLT
[2] “The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master.”

1 Samuel 18:14 NLT
[14] “David continued to succeed in everything he did, for the Lord was with him.”

Why was the Lord “with” these two men? Wasn’t it because they were “with” Him? When we choose to follow the Lord by living in the light of His Word, God Himself is present to support and bless us. This does not mean that everything will always go right for us. We will have hardships as Jesus said but…God will be there to see us through, securing and stabilising us with His peace.

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the bad things that are happening around us. We can lose heart with the hopelessness of our circumstances but, if God’s Word is our foundation, we stand on the solid bedrock of truth, and God Himself, by His Spirit in us, is with and acting for us for our good and His glory.

A PARTNER WITH GOD’S PEACE

Bible Study, ,

Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
[6] “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. [7] Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Peace…what the world lacks most. Peace…what Jesus said the world cannot give. His Peace…what Jesus bequeathed to His disciples on the eve of His death.

One attitude Jesus always exuded was peace, even in the darkest hour of His life. The religious leaders, the Jews, the Roman soldiers, Herod, and Pilate could not destroy His peace. How could anyone in the circumstances Jesus faced remain calm and unfazed when His life was at stake and threatened in the most extreme way? His confidence lay in His union with the Father.

Isaiah painted a word picture of the supernatural peace which held Jesus steady in the face of extreme suffering…

Isaiah 53:7-8 NLT
[7] “He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. [8] Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people.”

… a peace so remarkable that the criminal dying beside Jesus realised that Jesus was no ordinary man.

Luke 23:42-43 NLT
[42]” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” [43] And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

This is the peace Jesus promised to His disciples but…how can we experience this peace that steadies and supports us throughout our lives?

Paul said it’s simple. Make an exchange! Worry and anxiety are expressions of doubt and unbelief and they neutralise peace. So, Paul says, give God your all the issues that trouble you and He will give you His peace.

Psalms 55:22 NLT
[22] “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

When Paul says, “Pray about everything,” he doesn’t mean waffle about how bad things are. He means, in down-to-earth language, “Spill your guts to God.” Now that might sound rough but it works.

God isn’t fazed by anything we tell Him. He doesn’t hear pious, insincere prayers but He does listen to an honest confession of what’s going on inside.

David understood this principle. He was aware of God’s absolute knowledge of his innermost being. He knew he could hide nothing from Him so, he invited God to open his soul to himself and show him what was inside.

Psalms 139:23-24 NLT
[23] “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. [24] Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

This is the kind of prayer that invites God’s scrutiny and allows us to dump all our issues on Him. It’s the honesty that enables us to trade anxiety in whatever form it takes for the peace that Jesus promised.

Jesus’ peace, which is an integral part of who He is, becomes ours only through the absolute trust in Him that abandons on Him our reasoning, our logic, our tumultuous emotions when stuff happens. This is the faith that refuses to entertain anything other than the love and goodness of God in every situation.

John 14:27 NIV
[27] “PEACE I leave with you; MY PEACE I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

John 16:33 NIV
[33] “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have PEACE. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jesus’ peace keeps us rock-solid steady no matter what happens because He is its source and He can never fail us.

Now, there is a key to this kind of immovable, indestructible, what someone called, “furious serenity”…

“Peace is a furious serenity that refuses to submit to chaos.”

I love that, don’t you?

Paul inserted two little words into his prescription for God’s peace…”with thanksgiving.” Gratitude neutralises all doubt, unbelief, anxiety, and fear. It is impossible to be thankful and anxious at the same time. Every time we thank God for his love and goodness in all circumstances, we drive anxiety out of our souls.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT
[18] “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

Now, let’s look at Paul’s way of experiencing the “furious serenity” Jesus promised to give us.

Show God you have an honest heart. Then cultivate a thankful heart. Give God your stuff with a willing heart. He will respond by giving you a peaceful heart.

The peace Jesus gives us is so strong and real that it will post an impenetrable guard around our hearts and minds, protecting who we are and what we think against all enemy intrusion.

PARTNER WITH JOY

Bible Study, ,

Philippians 4:4-5 NLT
[4] “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! [5] Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon….”

Paul adds some final touches to his picture of partnership in this letter. He has highlighted the place of love…unity, faith, and perseverance in the family of believers, and the importance of overcoming selfishness for the sake of the body.

Now he focuses on joy and peace, the two other “fruits of the Spirit” that Jesus gave to His disciples before His death, and the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in them.

How do we maintain our joy in the midst of our suffering? Paul said and repeated, “Rejoice in the Lord.” The problem is that we rejoice in so many other things rather than in the Lord. Other “things” change…and so our happiness fluctuates. Notice I said “happiness” because circumstances influence our state of happiness but cannot touch our joy.

Joy is different.

I believe, from Scripture, that joy is related to our confidence in Jesus and the promise of our future. Look at this verse…

Hebrews 12:2 NLT
[2] “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”

An unshakeable confidence in God produces joy despite our suffering because our future is secure.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT
[16]”That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. [17] For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! [18] So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

With a promise like that, who would not be joyful!

The secret is…rejoice in the Lord. He is the unchanging constant in a changing world. Remember the old chorus?

” Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same;
All may change, but Jesus never,
Glory to His name…”

Why can we be so sure of Jesus? Paul said, “He is near,” not “coming soon,” as the NLT translates. Jesus is at hand, available, always near. He hasn’t left us. We can call on His name and He will be quick to respond. He promised His presence with us always, so near, in fact, that His Spirit is in us.

So, Paul directs his readers to the source of true joy, “the Lord”, and to the way to remain joyful, “always”. We can partner with joy as a constant companion if we keep our gaze on Jesus even in our storms because He is nearer than our breath.

PARTNERS IN GIVING AND RECEIVING

Bible Study, ,

Philippians 4:10, 14-17 NLT
[10] “How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me….
[14] Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty. [15] As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. [16] Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. [17] I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness.”

Paul is drawing his letter to a close, tying up loose ends before he sends it to his beloved fellow believers in Philippi. He has one or two things on his mind before he signs off.

This church family was the only one that helped him financially. It was time to mention their kindness and to put it in its correct perspective, a good opportunity to teach these people the real meaning of generosity.

One thing Paul had never done in all his ministry across Asia Minor and Europe…he had never exercised his right to financial support from the churches. It was a principle he taught…

Galatians 6:6 NLT
[6] “Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.”

… but never demanded or expected. In fact, since Paul was a tent maker by trade, he spent many days and nights making and selling tents to support himself so that he would not be a drain on the churches. Like Nehemiah, he didn’t demand his right to be paid for his work in the service of the Lord.

Acts of the Apostles 18:1, 3 NLT
[1] “Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth…
[3] Paul lived and worked with them, (Priscilla and Aquila), for they were tentmakers just as he was.”

1 Thessalonians 2:9 NLT
[9] “Don’t you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you? Night and day we toiled to earn a living so that we would not be a burden to any of you as we preached God’s Good News to you.”

Acts of the Apostles 20:34 NLT
[34] “You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me.”

Why did Paul forgo his right to financial support? Was it because the believers were experiencing severe hardships? Even government policy descriminated against them by denying them access to the markets if they refused to offer sacrifice to Caesar.

Paul chose to suffer hardship himself rather than put fellow believers under pressure to support him. So, he recognised the sacrifice they made by collecting and sending money to him more than once.

However, was their gift a sacrifice just for him?

Philippians 4:18-19 NLT
[18] “At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing TO GOD. [19] And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”

No, far from it! Paul recognised, in their sacrificial giving, that God, not he, was both the source and the goal of their sacrifice. As in all of life, their union with the Father through faith in Jesus was the centre of their existence. No matter what they did, it was through Him, for Him, and to Him.

Romans 11:36 NLT
[36] “For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.”

Sacrifice of any kind, then, is not about giving up or giving away. Sacrifice is always about making an exchange, less for more, the material for the spiritual. Paul stated this principle clearly. Their sacrifice was not for him but to the Lord, and the Lord would reward them with His own abundant supply.

Unfortunately, as often happens with Scripture, many people claim part two of Paul’s teaching and ignore part one. No, God doesn’t willy-nilly supply all our needs just because we ask Him. He has promised to meet our needs as we offer Him the sacrifice of generosity, meeting the needs of others.

What a difference! God is not just a benevolent billionaire “Santa Claus” who dishes out money when we need it. He works according to His divine economic system, using currency to create a current.

Jesus set this plan in motion in the context of the New Covenant.

Matthew 6:7-8, 33 NLT
[7]“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. [8] Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!…
[33] Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

The trouble is that we tend to treat God like a vending machine rather than a loving Father. If God is truly our Father, then all our interactions with Him must be as children with a perfect Father.

As the Father of a global family, God wants us to care about one another. He gives us opportunity to show our love to Him by caring in practical ways for His children. By giving to others in their need, we create a current of our currency that keeps God’s resources circulating.

2 Corinthians 8:13-14 NLT
[13] “Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality. [14] Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal.”

God’s economic policy does something even bigger than taking care of financial needs. It binds people together in love and unity and…God gets the glory.

2 Corinthians 9:7-8, 13-14 NLT
[7]” You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” [8] And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others…
[13] As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. [14] And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you.”

This whole process is a God-idea! And it works! Paul himself expressed gratitude for this “gift”, not the gift of Jesus, which is not the context, but the gift of giving that produces such an amazing outcome. God does everything in and for Christ’s body that will result in… more love… greater unity…and worship that belongs to Him alone.

One last comment. Notice how Paul is also a grateful recipient. Some of God’s children love to give but they don’t like to receive. When we refuse to receive with the same happy attitude as we give, we rob the giver of the blessing of giving.

So, let’s enter into the flow of giving and receiving, beimg a part of the current that flows in God’s kingdom, and contributing to the strength of the love and unity in the body that glorify the Lord.