Dear friends,
This will be my last message until I return – hopefully! One can never be presumptuous and overconfident. I hope to leave Sunday afternoon for Zimbabwe and plan on returning July 28th. Patty will stay behind as has had some knee problems, so I will return prior to her surgery.
This Sunday I will finish sharing with you from Phil. 4:10-14. If you were in church this past Sunday, you heard the first part of my message that focused on “contentment.” Paul says he learned how to be content. Thus, contentment is not automatic, but it is possible because all things are possible with God.
Jesus said that with food and clothing we should be content. Why aren’t we? Is it because we don’t understand Biblical contentment or could it be that we are seeking satisfaction in all the wrong places?
The key verse this Sunday is, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” He strengthens or He doesn’t? He is “near”, or He isn’t! He knows the circumstances in your life, or He doesn’t? One thing that will hinder what God can do in your life is “limiting Him.” Read Psalm 78 and it says in the middle of the Psalm that God’s people pained the Holy One of Israel. One translation says, “they limited God.” The writer to the Hebrews states emphatically that many of God’s people never entered the promised land because of unbelief. God promised to give them “rest” on every side, but they ever experienced it. Are you experiencing God’s rest? Do you have a peace that surpasses all understanding? If not, could it be that your God is too small?
Get into the Word of God and let the Word get into you – listen to it, read it, study it, memorize, meditate on it and live it out by the power of the Holy Spirit. You just might learn how to be content!
One of these days I will give my last message at Valley – He knows when and I don’t. But I can’t think of a better one to leave with you! Read and meditate on Phil. 4:10-14 in preparation for Sunday.
In His solid grip and for His eternal glory,
Glen