Category Archives: Philippians

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What I Want – What I Need

Learn to Differentiate Between True Needs and Fleshly Wants

SYNOPSIS: Contentment ought to be a no-brainer for the believer! Why? Because you understand that an infinitely wise, supernaturally resourceful, incredibly generous, intimately involved, all-knowing, all-powerful God will never leave you or forsake you and will see to it that you have what you need. Contentment is a character trait that reveals great confidence in God. It is a spiritual discipline that demonstrates great obedience to God. It is an act of worship that greatly glorifies God. And it is a step of faith that releases the provision and results in the peace of God. So practice contentment!

Project 52—Memorize:
Philippians 4:19

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

I love this verse and quote it in my prayers for others, and myself, all the time. What a guarantee: God will meet all my needs! Not some of them, but all of them out of the unlimited treasury of heaven that has been made possible for me by the glorious death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Such a deal!

Ah, but wait a minute. Look at the preceding verses. As much as we love to quote this fantastic verse guaranteeing God’s provision, notice how Paul qualifies it with some other thoughts. In verses 11-12, Paul says,

“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”

That doesn’t sound like a guy who is getting everything he wants—an unlimited supply of stuff to make his life comfortable, successful and pain-free. No, this is a guy who has learned one of the most important disciplines for happiness, one of the essential attitudes for Christian living: Contentment. When you learn the secret of contentment, you will understand how to differentiate between true needs and fleshly wants.

The word translated “content” appears five times in the New Testament—and they all suggest a perfect condition of life in which no aid or support is needed. In extra-biblical Greek, one ancient writer used it to describe a country that supplied itself and had no need for imports. Biblically, contentment means to be satisfied with what God has supplied and confident that he will supply what is needed in the future.  That is why Paul can say in I Timothy 6:6, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.”

The Bible not only identifies contentment as a virtue to attain but also as a command to obey.  We’re commanded to be content in every area of life:

  • Hebrews 13:5 warns us to resist obsession with material things, “Be content with whatever you have, for God has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’”
  • You are to be content with your food and clothing—I Timothy 6:8 says, “And having food and clothing, let us be content.”
  • You are to be content with your job and wages—John the Baptist said in Luke 3:14, “be content with your pay.”
  • You’re to be content with your marriage—Proverbs 5:18 says, “be satisfied with the wife you married when you were young.”

Contentment ought to be a no-brainer for the believer! Why? Because you understand that an infinitely wise, supernaturally resourceful, incredibly generous, intimately involved, all-knowing, all-powerful God will never leave you or forsake you and will see to it that you have what you need.

Contentment is a character trait that reveals great confidence in God. It is a spiritual discipline that demonstrates great obedience to God. It is an act of worship that greatly glorifies God. And it is a step of faith that releases the provision and results in the peace of God.

So practice contentment!

“Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.” ~Jeremiah Burroughs 

Reflect and Apply: Arthur Pink states, “Instead of complaining at his lot, a contented man is thankful that his condition and circumstances are no worse than they are. Instead of greedily desiring something more than the supply of his present need, he rejoices that God still cares for him. Such a one is ‘content’ with such as he has.” (Hebrews 13:5) Offer a session of praise and thanksgiving this morning—and every morning—and see if contentment doesn’t grow in your life.

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Be Gentle

Let Your Gentleness Be Evident

SYNOPSIS: Two of the greatest heroes of the Bible—the greatest hero in the Old Testament, and the greatest hero in the New Testament—were noted for their gentleness. These two great men, Moses and Jesus, are the only two the Bible describes as being gentle. Yet they were anything but weak and wimpy, which is how our culture defines gentleness. They were incredibly powerful men. They changed their worlds. Jesus was no weakling; Moses was not a wimpy guy. They were strong, charismatic, winsome individuals, but their lives were guided by love, kindness, compassion, understanding, and patience—in a word, gentleness. Make sure yours is, too!

Project 52—Memorize:
Philippians 4:5

“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.”

When was the last time you prayed, “God, make me a more gentle person”?

Just what I thought!

Back in the 1830’s, George Bethune, a Dutch Reformed pastor and hymn writer, said,“Perhaps no grace is less prayed for, or less cultivated than gentleness.  Indeed it is considered rather as belonging to natural disposition or external manners, than as a Christian Virtue; and seldom do we reflect that not to be gentle is a sin.”

Did you catch that? “Seldom do we reflect that not to be gentle is a sin.”

If that’s true, and I believe it is, then we ought to pay greater attention and give greater effort to making God’s call for gentleness the prominent character feature of our lives? Now that may not be so easy to do, since we live in a culture that venerates power and promotes aggressiveness and elevates domination as much higher virtues than gentleness—by far.  Chances are, none of your heroes, and certainly none of mine, would be noted for their gentle natures.

But let me remind you that two of the greatest heroes of the Bible—the greatest hero in the Old Testament, and the greatest hero in the New Testament—were noted for their gentleness. These two great men, Moses and Jesus, are the only two men the Bible describes as being gentle. But these two were anything but weak and wimpy, which is how our culture defines gentleness. They were incredibly powerful men. They changed their worlds. Jesus was no weakling; Moses was not a wimpy guy. They were strong, charismatic, winsome individuals, but their lives were guided by love, kindness, compassion, understanding and patience—in a word, gentleness.

Biblical gentleness has nothing to do with being weak or inferior. A. W. Tozer says,

“The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather, he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God’s estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God has declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is, in the sight of God, more important than angels…He knows well that the world will never see him as God sees him and he has stopped caring.”

The secular Greeks used the word for gentleness to describe people or things that had a soothing quality about them. It was used of words that calmed a person who was agitated, bitter, angry or resentful. It also referred to an ointment that soothed the pain of a wound. It even meant to tranquilize. And it referred to a powerful leader, such as a king, who had the power and authority to harm or punish, but could be gentle and forgiving of human errors. Gentleness was power under control: It is being strong enough to be gentle.

It is gentleness, in all of these senses, that Paul says is to be evident in us for all to see. So let me suggest that your gentleness ought to be evident to the following people in your life:

  • Number one, with the people who serve you. Take time to be tender with those who meet your needs.
  • Number two, with the people who disappoint you. Be compassionate and gracious, refuse to be judgmental and harsh.
  • Number three, with the people who disagree with you. Be tender without surrender.
  • Number four, with the people who correct you. Be teachable and submissive, not stubborn and inflexible.
  • Number five, with the people who hurt you. Refuse to react. Respond with acts of love.
  • Number six, with people who don’t share your beliefs. Refuse to be critical.
  • Number seven, with the people that live under your roof and in your own home. Be the embodiment of Biblical gentleness with your own flesh and blood.

The God to whom you belong is by nature gentle. He has given you his Holy Spirit to produce the fruit or character of gentleness within you. Now the only question that remains is, will you clothe yourself with his gentleness?

“Mildness in dealing with others…it is to display a sensitive regard for others and is careful never to be unfeeling for the rights of others.”  ~Billy Graham

Reflect and Apply: Here are a few ideas for putting on gentleness: One, reflect on the gentleness of God toward you. Two, ask God to produce gentleness in your life. And three, pray for a specific person on whom you can bestow gentleness.

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God, Help Me To Get A Grip When I Start To Gripe

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

The underlying spirit in all complaints is that we don’t trust the sovereign plan of God that has allowed us to be in the undesirable state about which we are complaining. Likewise, our complaint indicates that we don’t trust that his power will see us through it and accomplish his purposes by it. That is why all complaints, even if they are directed at another person or a situation, is really a complaint, a sin, against the Sovereign Lord. And what makes it worse, complaining spreads like a wildfire, leaving the ashes of doubt and distrust in its aftermath. We must reject our spiritual temper-tantrums for tempered trust in the One who does all things well.

A Simple Prayer To Not Be A Whiner:

God, keep me from grumbling, complaining and whining—about people, circumstances, and even you. Give me more grace to trust that you are working all things—irritating people, unfair circumstances, unmet expectations—for your glory and my good. Give me the good sense to get a grip when I start to gripe, the discipline to turn my protest into praise, and the driving conviction that positive faith not only pleases you, it makes me bright light in a culture that is so quickly offended.
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God, May Your Joy Safeguard My Faith

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

The Apostle Paul taught that the experience of authentic joy in the Lord is so important to the believer that he will keep teaching it over and over until we get it. And in fact, he says, Christian joy safeguards our faith. Now just what is it that our faith needs to be safeguarded from? Simply this: Trying to achieve salvation—the fountainhead of our joy—through human effort. When we know our salvation was paid in full by the work of Another, how could we not be the most joyful beings on the face of the planet!

A Simple Prayer for Greater Rejoicing:

God, there is no greater thing than knowing you, and the joy of salvation that comes free of charge to me through your Son, Jesus Christ. You’re my all, you’re the best, you’re my joy, my righteousness, and I love you Lord! So I pray on this day, give me an ever-increasing capacity to rejoice in you.
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God, Give Me A Baptism of Clear Seeing

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

A higher perspective is the key to sustaining the joy of the Lord through the ups and downs you will experience in life. The Apostle Paul wrote his letter of joy—Philippians—during a four-year stint in a Roman jail awaiting trial. Imprisonment wasn’t prison for Paul; it was a platform for proclaiming Christ to an unexpected crowd: the Praetorian guards who watch over him 24/7, the Roman court that hear his case, and even those in the household of Nero Caesar, some of whom came to know Christ. Paul leveraged his limitations. And so can you if you learn to see advantage in your disadvantages. If you do, your detour through unpleasant territory will become a doorway to joy.

A Simple Prayer for Clear Seeing:

God, you are good—all the time. Even in the dark times, you are there, working out your sovereign plan. Give me greater grace to trust you in those difficult moments, and grant me a baptism of clear seeing that I might envision through faith the unparalleled beauty, wisdom and power of what you are working out in me, for me and through me.
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God, Give Me A Greater Capacity To Love

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

When troubles comes your way, do you pray, “God change this!” or “God use this!”? The latter prayer is a higher way to pray. It is a prayer for discipleship, not deliverance. And it is a great way to partner with the God who will use all things for his glory and for your good, namely, to conform you to the image of Christ. And the greatest attribute of discipleship you could ever attain—which by the way, is to look like Jesus—is to love like Jesus.

A Simple Prayer for Greater Love:

God, may your love abound in me more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. Enable me to discern what is best, so that I may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. Between now and then, fill me with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, so that my life will redound to your glory and praise.
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God, Give Me Peace!

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

The key to personal peace in the midst of anxiety producing circumstances is to think rightly. That means to deeply, rationally and habitually think about the things of God. That is not referring simply to positive thinking, mere optimism, self-hypnosis or silly mind-games. It is to set what the Bible declares about God as the gate-keeper of your mind. Do that and you will unleash God’s peace to protect your heart and guard your mind.

A Simple Prayer for Personal Peace:

God, in a world that does nothing but promote chaos, anxiety and human striving, I lift the concerns of my life, my needs and desires, to you. I present them before your throne in trust, with confidence, and with thanksgiving in advance of what you are going to do. Now I accept your peace that surpasses human understanding. Cause it to protect my heart and guard my mind in Christ Jesus.