Our focus passage this week has been Philippians 4:10\u201319.<\/p>\n
We saw that Paul believed that contentment came by Christ\u2019s power working in him. He had learned that the secret to contentment was the power of Christ, who gave him strength to endure any and every situation.<\/p>\n
We saw that while Paul had many needs, described as troubles he was enduring, he was deeply appreciative of the Philippian church bringing gifts to meet those needs. And in doing so, he was blessed to know that people loved him and cared for him.<\/p>\n
He stressed that whether his needs had been met or not, he was living in a spirit of contentment.<\/p>\n
He then ended his thoughts by saying, \u201cAnd my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).<\/p>\n
This is one of the most well known verses in the Bible and perhaps one of the most misused verses in the Bible. Now let\u2019s see what we can learn from this in its context.<\/p>\n
Paul had many needs that had not been met and probably would not have been met had it not been for the gifts of this church. So, who met Paul\u2019s needs, the church or God? The answer is obvious, but can be easily overlooked. God supplied his needs by guiding the heart of the Philippians to supply his needs. In fact, they gave out of their own poverty to meet Paul\u2019s needs even though they themselves had many needs.<\/p>\n
But to Paul, it\u2019s all God providing according to his riches in glory through the power of Christ Jesus.
\nAnd just as God had used them to meet his needs, he was confident that God would use whatever means necessary to meet their needs.<\/p>\n
Therein lies the heart of contentment. Contentment comes when we want what God wants for us rather than what we want for us.<\/p>\n
The secret to enjoying this kind of contentment is to be so satisfied with God that we are able to accept whatever He has or has not provided.<\/p>\n
God is all we need, and therefore all we ought to desire. To be even more specific, all we need is Jesus. God does not offer us His Son as a better way of getting what we want. No, God gives us Jesus and says, \u201cHere, even if you don\u2019t realize it, He is all you really need.\u201d<\/p>\n
When we come to Jesus, we receive the forgiveness of our sins through His death and resurrection.
\nWe receive the promise of eternal life with God. We receive the promise that He will never leave us or forsake us, that He will help us through all the trials of life. What else do we need?<\/p>\n
And as for everything else\u2014all the things that we spend so much time coveting\u2014God says, \u201cTrust me; I will provide everything you truly need.\u201d<\/p>\n
I have much more I could say, but I will conclude my discussion on contentment with a poem quoted by Charles Swindoll.<\/p>\n
It was Spring, but it was Summer I wanted:
\nThe warm days and the great outdoors.<\/p>\n
It was Summer, but it was Fall I wanted:
\nThe colorful leaves and the cool, dry air.<\/p>\n
It was Fall, but it was Winter I wanted:
\nThe beautiful snow and the joy of the holiday season.<\/p>\n
It was Winter, but it was Spring I wanted:
\nThe warmth and the blossoming of nature.<\/p>\n
I was a child, and it was adulthood I wanted:
\nThe freedom and the respect.<\/p>\n
I was 20, but it was 30 I wanted:
\nTo be mature and sophisticated.<\/p>\n
I was middle-aged, but it was 20 I wanted:
\nThe youth and the free spirit.<\/p>\n
I was retired, but it was middle-aged I wanted:
\nThe presence of mind without limitations.<\/p>\n
My life was over,
\nand I never got what I wanted.<\/p>\n
May this not be how we end our life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Our focus passage this week has been Philippians 4:10\u201319. We saw that Paul believed that contentment came by Christ\u2019s power working in him. He had learned that the secret to contentment was the power of Christ, who gave him strength to endure any and every situation. We saw that while Paul had many needs, described […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3529"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3529"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3530,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3529\/revisions\/3530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}