What’s the Secret? <\/p>\n
Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:11-13
\nI was in a store recently when the checkout lady asked me, “Have you got your lottery ticket yet? The jackpot is $33 million!” So I said, “I don’t need $33 million” and she looked at me kind of funny. I explained, “It wouldn’t make me any happier.” The girl beside her said, “It’d make me happier,” to which I added, “or more miserable.”
\nOur dialogue reminded me of how many people live in a perpetual state of hunger for more. “If I could just get more . . . ” I wonder how many people are going to have to drive over the money-doesn’t-make-you-happy cliff before they figure out this truth.
\nContentment is where the real satisfaction comes from.
\nContent in what I have. Psalm 62:10 says, “If riches increase, set not your heart on them.” Happiness is not in the having, it’s in the acceptance of what God has given you.<\/p>\n
Content in whom I’m with. “I wish my wife was a little more . . .” “If my husband would just change . . .” Sure, you can focus on your spouse’s shortcomings and stay miserable if you want, or you can choose to concentrate on the good. Read Philippians 4:8 to discover the joy.
\nContent in whose you are. Listen to this promise in Hebrews 13:5: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, -I will never leave you nor forsake you.'”
\nYou may say, “I can do a couple of those, James, but I don’t think I can ever be content in all those areas, all the time.” <\/p>\n
Do you want to know how you can be content? Before he closes his letter to the Philippians, the apostle Paul lets us in on a huge secret. “I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need, [here’s the secret] I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:12-13). Through Christ! That’s the Christian life-it’s Jesus living His life through me. <\/p>\n
\u00a9 2007 Walk in the Word. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What’s the Secret? Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"twitterCardType":"","cardImageID":0,"cardImage":"","cardTitle":"","cardDesc":"","cardImageAlt":"","cardPlayer":"","cardPlayerWidth":0,"cardPlayerHeight":0,"cardPlayerStream":"","cardPlayerCodec":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2599\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purposedriven.ca\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}