Examine yourself - Contentment 008

Examine yourself - Contentment 008

But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak.

Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?"

In all this Job did not sin with his lips.   (Job 2:10 ESV)

"Evil" - from the Hebrew word meaning: literally by breaking to pieces.

Job understood and submitted to the sovereignty of God.  Happy he was not – but content?  I think so.

However, contentment is not just an, "Oh well, what can I do, God is bigger than me."

Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.  (Job 13:15 ESV)

Ah, how wonderfully human is Job.  He has committed his hope to God and is content but he will "yet" go to God and plead his case.  He is bold before the Lord but not rebellious.

And so . . . . .

This will be my salvation, that the godless shall not come before him.

Keep listening to my words, and let my declaration be in your ears. Behold, I have prepared my case; I know that I shall be in the right. Who is there who will contend with me? For then I would be silent and die.

Only grant me two things, then I will not hide myself from your face: withdraw your hand far from me, and let not dread of you terrify me. Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and you reply to me.

How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin. Why do you hide your face and count me as your enemy?   (Job 13:16-24 ESV)

I'd paraphrase this as Job crying out, "Wait - wait - no more - let's talk about this.  What have I done to deserve this?"

And so we do the same don't we?  When we are in a place where our fleshly contentment is threatened we cry out to God, "What have I done to deserve this"  why are You picking on me?"

Teachable moment:
Remember, if God gave us what we deserved, we'd all be in hell right now.  We do not really want what we deserve!  That would not be a good thing!

Job is not happy - but happiness is not the same as contentment.  I believe that Job was content but confounded and confused - which is not unnatural.  But Job's hope was still in the God who had allowed these calamities to befall him.

I don't believe that God wants us to like or enjoy trials and adversity.  I would be worried about anyone who liked them.  But I know that God desires us to understand the purpose (and there is a purpose) for them.  For the believer they are neither arbitrary nor are they punishment.

Note:  "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat.” (Luke 22:31 ESV)

Uhhhhhhh - there is a real parallel here to Job's circumstances.

Note:  “but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."   (Luke 22:32 ESV)

Uhhhhhhhh - we are not alone or helpless.

Note:  Peter said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death."   (Luke 22:33 ESV)

Uhhhhhhh - We think too much of ourselves.

Note:  Jesus said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me."   (Luke 22:34 ESV)

Uhhhhhh - See what I mean?

Job was blind-sided.  Peter had clear specific warning, assurance and purpose.  But there is little difference in God's purpose in these two circumstances.  His purposes were: to glorify Himself; to refine both Job and Peter; and to present us with a greater understanding of God's working in and through His people than either Peter or Job had.

If you have been strengthened and encouraged by either or both of these examples, would you be willing to be one who experiences such trials to encourage others?  If God so desires to use you and your adversities to encourage and instruct His, could you be content with that?  Would that excite you?  If God simply wants you to go through adversity so that you will be more conformed to the likeness of His Son - could you be content with that?

I think most of us would react like Peter - but also like Peter, we would be way off base.

Examine yourself - Contentment 007

Examine yourself - Contentment 007

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
(2 Corinthians 12:10 ESV)

LEARNED

Paul did not learn contentment from just the scriptures or the Holy Spirit.  He learned contentment in the crucible of life.  (NOTE: People experience – endure hardships yet not learn contentment –- would you say it was the combination of experiences, scriptures and the Holy Spirit?)

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.  (2 Corinthians 11:24-28 ESV)

So, any questions?

We do not learn contentment from being in a situation that breeds contentment.  The contentment Paul learned was a contentment in adversity - in life threatening circumstances, in knowing that the above difficulties (what an understatement) would probably continue to present themselves.

Paul accepted Christ's teaching that in this world we would have tribulation and be hated.  He accepted persecution and other dangers.

There are two aspects to the crucible in which he learned contentment.  The first was the crucible of persecution and the second was the crucible of life.  Life here is full of uncertainty and danger.  Life here, as a follower of Christ, is full of certain danger.  Paul accepted that - it is what it is.

He didn't try to control of conquer his circumstances.  He didn't try to manipulate or manage the conditions or people he lived among.  It is what it is.
He accepted that.

But he accepted that within a specific context.  That context was the sovereignty and faithfulness of God in Christ.  Paul did not WANT to be beaten or stoned or naked or hungry.  He did not seek these things in some warped quest for higher spirituality.  They were simply what they were.

But Paul also accepted that his sovereign and faithful God was in total control and that anything that happened was in God's control and for God's glory.

There's an old chorus I remember singing:
In my life Lord be glorified, be glorified.
In my life Lord, be glorified today.

I'm a lot more tremulous when I sing that today.  When I used to sing it, my mind was seeing success and influence and prosperity and health.  That's what I thought was glorifying to God and it can be - but not in every life.

I made this statement at a Bible study last night.  "The love of God is meaningless without the wrath of God."

We are all too willing to accept nice things as God's will but not so nice or un-nice things?  We always ascribe them to Satan or men.  But God is sovereign - right?  See Job the first two chapters.

Contentment for Paul was defined by his heart, not his circumstances:

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith--   (Philippians 3:7-9 ESV)

The "whatever" in verse 7 certainly refers to the accomplishments Paul lists before it but it is not limited to it.  He says, "For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish."

"Count" = in the above passage carries more than a simple "consideration."  There is an element of command in this counting.  Paul pronounced all these things rubbish.  It was a pronouncement of commitment.  He decided that in his life everything was rubbish in comparison to the grace of God in Christ.

When he says he did this for, Christ's "sake," he is saying that because of Christ he does so.  It also carried the idea that Paul does this "through" Christ.

Paul determined that apart from Christ there was no contentment and that in Christ there was no reason for discontent.

Ahh - here's the rub!  Do we really say with Paul, "I no longer live!"

Think on the following:

I have been crucified with Christ. (Not "in" but "with")

 It is no longer I who live, (Not "me")

but Christ who lives in me. (Just Him)

And the life I now live in the flesh  (Here and now - hated and persecuted, hungry and naked, beaten and stoned etc...)

 I live by faith (This is a biggie!!  Faith = trust, submission, surrender, dependence, etc.......)

in the Son of God,
who loved me and
gave himself for me.
(Galatians 2:20 ESV)


Think about that - more later --

This is not some legalistic imposition I'm striving for here - I am trying to help us see that contentment is utterly redefined in Christ.  Simply put, we must be content with our redemption and not seek it anywhere else - because, if we are indeed "in Him," it can't be found anywhere else.  ms

Examine yourself - Contentment 006

Examine yourself - Contentment 006

Godly counsel.

Oh boy - do we ever avoid that one -   OK, we'll share the good stuff about ourselves and the not so good stuff about others - but we keep the tough stuff about ourselves really close to our vests.

Not good!

Let me say right off that one must be very prayerful and discerning about who we seek counsel from.  This is two sided.

On the first side, we want counsel from someone in the faith.  Yeah, we may be seeing a secular counselor and that's not wrong - but we need someone who's reading from the same play-book we are.  Many of my clients are seeing a psychologist or psychiatrist and I work very closely with them.  But, compared to these other counselors, in Biblical issues, I'm the lead dog.

You need a Biblical counselor, mentor, discipler, or whatever, regardless of whether you are having "problems."  This person needs to be knowledgeable, mature, trustworthy and faithful.

On the second side of the issue is submission or humbling.  Now, you do not ever submit to any human without question, but a counselor, mentor, etc. is there to give you insight and direction (that's stuff to do).  You are going to have to be submissive enough to give it a try.

You are also going to have to be humbled (I don't like the word humiliated).  You've got to be straight with your counselor, mentor, etc.  If you aren't, then very, very little of what they can give you will be of any use.

It is humbling to expose the icky parts of our lives - but it's also icky having to put on that silly little robe-thingy at the doctor - but we do it.

If you went to the doctor and he asked what the problem was, you wouldn't tell him about the slow leak in your right front tire.  You wouldn't tell him to guess.  And, it wouldn't be wise to only tell part of it.  Yes, it's embarrassing - but that lasts for a moment - then comes the diagnosis and treatment - ahhhhhhhh.

We were not made to be solitary - and especially when it comes to our following the Lord - there are no healthy Lone-Rangers.

Ok - so it's not comfortable.  Well, how well have you been doing all on your own?

Think about this.  With all the "one anothers" we find in scripture may we not consider it a sin or at least a grievous error to not allow others to have ministry in our lives?  Are we to keep our needs away from those whom God has prepared to help us in them?  Seem very sad to me.

"Oh, but it would be humiliating," you say.  Yes, that may be true - but it is only so when we refuse to be humble enough to ask for help when we first recognize a need.  If one can not swim, it is always best to start yelling for help when one falls in the water - yelling for help while submerged doesn't do much good.

If it is pride that keeps you from seeking godly counsel - you are acting very very foolishly.  Pride walks proudly into the ditch!  Pride rasies one's nose so high their feet stumble.  Pride - kills.  Pride tells God we only need His provision sometimes.  Pride - kills.

One of my favorite old songs in "I Am a Rock" by Simon and Garfunkle.  Oh how I loved to sing that sad lamenting song.  But I learned soon enough that I wasn't a rock and to try to be one was just hubris.

The Kingdom of God is a "we," not a "me."  If you don't know that or don't like that then maybe your just not a kingdom person.  A desire or compulsion to hide our needs and our sins certainly speaks to a serious flaw in our faith and understanding.

Examine yourself -

Examine yourself - Contentment 005

Examine yourself -  Contentment 005

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. (Philippians 4:11 ESV)

LEARNED

The Word and the Spirit - our two key blessings for learning - our two essential and necessary blessings.

But - we don't have to be passive.  Actually we shouldn't be.

Remember that old song, I Fall Asleep Counting My Blessings?  Well it's better to count them before you fall asleep.

Now for most of us, keeping a journal or diary is just not something we consider.  But it is a valuable investment of time and effort.  Just as God has recorded His will and work in the Bible, we can record His will and work in our lives in a diary or a journal.

I think this works best if we keep it simple - and I've tried just about every method possible from a voice recorder to a "cloud" journal.  After a lot of stops and starts, I ended up back at paper and pen.  

Here's what I use.  I have a Moleskine Monthly Notebook - the pocket size.  I have two pages for the current month and two blank lined pages after the two monthly pages.  I keep my calendar and then on the two blank-lined pages I keep track of what God is doing in my life.  

I don't go into great detail - I write just enough to inform myself later.

Why?

If we don't keep some kind of record, we will forget and miss opportunities for prayer, repentance - opportunities for growth.

Ever been in a meeting and spoken ill?  Well you can "jot" that down in the notebook without making a big deal of it.  

Ever had someone ask for prayer and then much later you remember?  Jot it down in the notebook.  Heard a great insight in a sermon?  Jot it down.  Ever been blindsided by your sin?  Jot is down.  Even gotten an unexpected blessing?  Jot it down.

It is said that those who fail to learn from the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them.  Well, if there is no history kept, we're just going to keep making the same mistakes and sinning the same sins.

OK - so someone out there is going to ask where I keep my business notes if my personal notes are in the notebook.  Simple, I use 3x5 cards for meeting notes.  They fit in the notebook cover I got from, Levengers for my Moleskine - no problem.  The cards get filed in a small 3x5 index file box and there ya go.

The main point is that in order to effectively examine ourselves we really do need to keep some kind of record.  Ever gone to worship feeling like it was the last place you wanted to go and then left worship walking inches off the ground?  That needs to be recorded and examined.  Ever had a sermon or lesson "hit you the wrong way”? (yeah - as if we get hit a right way) -- Anyway, this is something worth noting and examining later --- "Why?"

Look, you're going to find sin when you do this - and that's good.  It should be no great shock anyway - godly dismay yes - shock no.  This isn't about beating yourself up.  It's about getting to know, understand and appreciate you and your walk in the Way.

Another great use for recording this is that it really does "preserve" the evidence that you are His and growing in Him.  With my counseling clients, I always keep a sheet in their file that lists all the wonderful and powerful things they share - ya know why?  Because they don't - so they forget the very evidence the experience.  It's really wonderful to testify to someone about the Lord working in and through them from evidence they themselves gave me weeks or months before.

Think about this - sin is sin is sin - right?  Growth is growth is growth - right?  But you are utterly unique - totally unique by God's design.  So your sin and your growth are totally unique - there are no cookie-cutters on the Way.  We get made of the same stuff but every mold is broken after one use.

If you are the object of God's grace and mercy, you certainly can pay a little attention to yourself - right?

Write it down - examine it - rejoice and/or repent - but, examine yourself.

Examine yourself - Contentment 004

Examine yourself -  Contentment 004

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. (Philippians 4:11 ESV)

LEARNED

Just a little backing up.  If you want to begin to study the Word, I have a few simple suggestions.  First, get a good translation of the Word and get one that has cross-references.  The Thompson-Chain Reference is a good option and it comes in several translations.  Second, get a good Bible Atlas.  I like the ESV Bible Atlas.  An Atlas will really help you understand the context of the scriptures you are reading.  Finally - and this is a biggy for me - get a copy of William Ames' book, The Marrow of Theology.  This is a very simple and clear outline of theology - not full of arguments, etc.  

These resources will be a big help as you begin your studies.  Stay away from "issue specific" books - especially those which tell you "how to," or get all wrapped up in areas of speculation, i.e. Revelation, millennial issues, demons, even money.  You don't want to get so hung up on one tree that you miss the forest!

OK - LEARNED

Let's talk Holy Spirit.  We can get into all kinds of long and tedious discussions about the Holy Spirit and the fruits and gifts but - let's not!

The Holy Spirit is both Comforter and Reminder.  He is given in sufficient and necessary measure to every believer.  There is no necessity for any more-than-ordinary signs of Him being given.  He is given - and that is that.

So???????

How He works is not a concern of mine.  That He works in us is.  He is sent to comfort us and to remind us.  Yes, I know He is the "seal" of our salvation, but He is also active in us.  

OK, He is active in us and if we pay attention with intention, we will see His working.  No thunder or lightening but some very curious moments of comfort and remembering.  I know - I seem to be getting a little weird.   But a couple of things I've experienced make me lean towards being weird.

Every once in a while I will have someone relate something they heard me say in a lesson and I am clueless about having said it.  It's not in my notes and it is unfamiliar to my recollection.  Thankfully, it is something true and sound but it is not something "I" thought up.  Now you can get as skeptical as you want, but I KNOW I didn't come up with it and so I "blame" ;-) the Spirit for a timely word for me to speak that - well - I didn't know I spoke.  I'm not trying to get all mystical or even miraculous here - it just has happened and I cannot lay claim to it.

I've also been reading the Word – something I’ve read time and time again and "Bam," I realize something I never saw before.  Of course I run to some good resources to check myself.  But I believe it's just (just????) the Spirit doing what He does in the hearts and minds of believers.

On the flip side, I have found myself convicted out of the blue and embarrassed (ok, more chagrined) that I had never seen that issue as an issue - if I saw it at all.  It's wonderfully humbling and assuring when that happens - It's not fun but it does get the job done.

My point, I guess, is this.  You don't need all the bells and whistles that are commonly attributed to the Spirit for Him to be working in your life.  He works in many, many ways, but we've somehow gotten diverted by all the yeeehaaaw things that are seen to be His.  I believe that He is more often the "still small voice," as opposed to the attention grabbing event.  

He can and has provided much for believers in the way of knowledge and insight when there was little to work with in the first place.  But folks, I believe that the more of the Word we get in our minds and hearts, the more He has to work with.  I believe the more we exercise our faith in the simple and mundane things like prayer, study and worship, the more regularly He works in us.

Hey, I'm more than willing to be absolutely wrong here.  But what I know to be true has served to undergird and confirm what I have experienced which is what I build my belief and trust on.  

It's not sitting around waiting for Him to do or say or impart something.  It's slowly, deliberately, regularly and earnestly engaging in the "disciplines," of our faith that makes us more sensitive and available to His working.  Now, that's my carefully determined view - it does not have to be yours.

But we all need to desire His working in our lives.  He is the only means of our growth - it is by His power working on and in us that we must rely upon for any kind of progress along the Way.  You can quote the Bible from cover to cover but without Him and His work - that's all you can do.

I don't believe you have to pray for Him to "come," or "be present."  I just think you have to be faithfully obedient and available and PAYING ATTENTION to see how He is in you and works in you.  You are "filled" by Him - everywhere you go and in everything you do He is present - think on that one.  Every poke of conscience and every inspiration to serve comes from Him.  Most of all, the power to keep going is all of Him and none of us.

I had a coach whose rule was - "You don't come to practice, you don’t get in the game."  He knew that unless we practiced individually and as a team, victory was dubious at best.  Practicing our faith, engaging in the "exercises" of our faith makes us fit and hail to be put into the game.  Trust me, God calling someone out of the bleachers to play is the exception, never the rule.

Examine yourself - Contentment 003

Examine yourself -  Contentment 003

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. (Philippians 4:11 ESV)

LEARNED

So, as a Pharisee, Paul had a very huge head start on us when it came to knowing God.  But you must keep in mind that a lot of what he believed as a Jewish religious leader before his conversion was - well - wrong.

And when he (Paul) had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 

(Acts 9:26 ESV)

Paul, a Pharisee of Pharisees, hence very well versed not only in the Word of God but the traditions, added by men PLUS the Holy Spirit equals one mighty servant of the Gospel.

We, on the other hand, come to Christ without a whole lot for the Holy Spirit to work with.  And - commonly - we start our walks by reading either books about the Word and the Faith or just the "good parts" of the scriptures.  The first can severely pervert our growth and the second retards it.  There have been many, many godly men and women but God only made one Paul.

But - that is no reason for us to shirk our responsibility to study the Word so that we might know Him and serve Him well.  Paul himself makes it plain:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.  (2 Timothy 3:14-17 ESV)

OK - maybe few of us have the advantage of a godly home like Timothy, but that is still no excuse to not make the Word our primary (if not only) source of reading.

Over the years I've come to think of the Word as straw.  Huh????  Yeah - I came to Christ with a brain and some education - that's mud.  Now God wants to build me into a structure for His glory - that would be bricks.  Well, we all know that making bricks without straw is very difficult and frustrating (See Exodus).  So I add the Word (straw) to my current knowledge and understanding (mud) and the Holy Spirit makes good solid bricks. 

OK - all analogies break down if carried too far - so don't take mine further.  But I do not come to Christ stupid - He has provided for me to gain the knowledge and understanding I come with.  But He also knows that that knowledge and understanding is in no way sufficient - not even a little - to be of use to Him.  Actually, it would very probably be, on its own, very counter productive.

When Jesus says :

"It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"   (Matthew 4:4 ESV)

He wasn't just being cute - He actually knew that to be absolutely true.  That's not some snide shot at the Devil - that is a mighty shield to deflect the arrows of the Devil.  Note by the way, that even though the Devil "quotes" Words of God, he does so illegitimately.  It is the whole Word - the “every Word” that brings life - not just the good parts.

"But I don't have time."  "But I don't know Greek and Hebrew."  "But I'm not a pastor."  "Na nana na nana na -------."  What part of "live" in Matt. 4:4 did you miss?  Where Rome offered "bread and circuses" God offers "bread and Word."  The first was a means of political manipulation and control.  The second is the means of life.

When men began to work to translate the scriptures into their own languages, their vision was that everyone would be able to read the Word of God.  Well, by their blood they accomplished their task.  For a while men died to get the translated Word spread throughout the world.  And here we are today - the Bible is the best-selling-least-read book in history.  Ouch.

Examine yourself - Contentment 002

Examine yourself - Contentment 002

"But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. 

(Psalms 81:11 ESV)

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."   (Hebrews 13:5 ESV)

I use these two passages as our starting point because the Hebrew passage has an imperative and a promise - something to submit to and something to cling to.

We must fight "love of money."  To be more precise, we must fight covetousness.

In James we read:

You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. (James 4:2 ESV)

This word "covet" is really neat.  The root of the idea is "heat," which we would say, "to have the hots for."  I know that's kind of crude but it so clearly expresses the idea that I felt compelled to use it.

God says:

"'And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.'   (Deuteronomy 5:21 ESV)

Both "covet," and "desire," as used here mean to "lust for."  Now please remember that "lust" isn't ONLY about sex.  To "lust" simply means to "set one's heart on."  That can be OK or very NOT OK.  I can "lust," set my heart on my wife but I am not to "lust," (set my heart) on your wife.  

Also - please keep in mind that my heart should be "set" on God and His glory/honor over and above anything else.

But covetousness, for believers has a broader and deeper sense.  God should be the primary and fundamental focus of the "set" of my heart.  Any and every other "lust" must be subservient to that "lust."   

This is clear:

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  (Matthew 6:33 ESV)

I find it interesting that Jesus does not say to seek God first and THEN seek the other stuff.  

Note:

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.   (Matthew 6:31-32 ESV)

OK - remember Psa. 81:11?  Two issues:  Not listening and not submitting.

Did you realize that "submission" does not just relate to commands?  Oh no - submission applies to all that God has spoken - especially His promises.  

OK - I think I see a problem.  We hear all this "stuff" about claiming God's promises - right?  Well, think about "submitting" to them - that is simply accepting them as the truth that you need to live your life.

God says He will provide food, drink and clothes.  Period.  It may be oatmeal, water and a poncho - but He promises it.  Is that OK with you?

I know a couple who have nice stuff.  They are in the same place a whole lot of us are.  They live from pay-check to pay-check.  Now they know that a good part of their circumstances are due to their covetousness and foolishness - their sin.  They have repented and are working on being better stewards.  But they are in tough times and they get anxious - the anxiety fuels every frustration and Satan makes food use of it.

They have expressed a willingness to part with all the "stuff," but they realize that part of that is a seeking to get God to "rescue" them.  They're trying to cut a deal with God.  Satan really uses this to accuse then and depress them.  It is a terribly viscous cycle. 

Now here's the problem.  They are relating to God as is He was a cruel parent who demands that His love and provision be earned.  They are also fighting the public embarrassment that will attend their financial collapse.  All this certainly comes from their flesh - but they has help in developing this mind-set through the sinfulness of others.

So they struggle.  They put on a brave face.  They state that God is good and will provide what's best.  But there is a seed in their hearts that weakness their trust and confidence hence their contentment wavers.

Sound familiar?  Though this is not "normal" (normal being the state God created us in) it is "common" (for fallen creatures - even redeemed fallen creatures).

They "hear" God but they struggle to "listen."  The Words resound in their ears but by the time the Words get to their heart they are bent and twisted.  They submit with a quiet conditional "but."  

These are mature and knowledgeable believers in whom this particular fleshiness is still strong and active.  They have the great lie engraved in their minds, "I will love you if......"  Or "You are good and will get good if you meet my criteria."

This is not what God says not what He promises.  BUT ...........

How about you?  Do you struggle with the same of similar fleshiness?  Are you. Like this couple, still caught in the pagan-ness of our culture that says you have to appease God before He will help you?

Is there a solution to this?  Sure - listen to and submit to God.  They know they will never break this fleshiness in their own strength - trust me, I know they've tried.  So they just quit trying.  But they haven't stopped resisting, even opposing.

They have determined to engage the duties and practices of the faith regardless of the assaults of the flesh.  They pray regularly, they study the Word, they attend worship and they even give what they can.  They "just do it."

Why?  Because God says that this is how we grow in our walk with Him.  They have determined that in dependence upon the Holy Spirit they will, "seek first the Kingdom."  That is their first priority so they "practice" their faith.

Yes, they are suspicious of their motives - duhhhhh.  That old "do this so God will do that," is there but it is growing weaker.  Slowly - but weaker.  

Are they still anxious about poverty - you bet they are.  They've never been "poor" so it's a new place in which they will have to learn to trust God - much like if they moved to a foreign country.

But - they have begun by doing what they know they can do and what pleases God and strengthens their spirits.  They obey (not perfectly but intentionally).

See, they have learned that if they say - we won't be anxious, we won't covet, we won;t be shamed - they will default to their old thinking and behaviors.  So they draw near to God instead of focusing on drawing away from their flesh.  They are not walking backwards - but fixing their hearts on Christ they walk towards Him.

More next time . . . . .