1 Timothy 6:6-8   But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.  But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 

Are you content?  Paul says that when you are godly and content with what you have, it is great gain.  He isn't talking about your bank account, but about your spiritual life.  How can we be content with what we have?

What if we choose to focus on something besides our stuff?  What would our lives be like if instead of working so hard for one more dollar, or one more thing, we worked for one more of what God wants in our lives?

One more dollar - to give away to someone in need.  One more moment in prayer.  One more hour in the Word.  One more person hearing about Jesus from our lips.  One more time of sweet fellowship with our brothers and sisters.

One more day living for Jesus.
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That will bring contentment into your life.  And that is great gain.

 James 4:2b-3   You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 

F.B. Meyer said, “The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer;
it is un-offered prayer.”

God chooses to work when we pray. And even if he doesn’t give us what we expect, it is not to disappoint us. It is to bless us. It is to give us something much better!

When God says "no" to your prayers, it is because His gifts are the best gifts we could receive.  We must learn to pray and to ask according to His will.  We need to learn to trust Him with our lives!

As James also said in James 1:17, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

2 Samuel 6:13-15   And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal.  And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod.   So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn.

David's wife Michal, the daughter of Saul "despised him in her heart" when she saw David dancing.  But in verse 21 we read:  And David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will celebrate before the Lord.

David said that he was dancing for God, and not for her.

When we worship, let's worship with only God in mind.  Don't worry about how you look or sound.  Just praise the One who is worthy of your praise.  The One who gave His life for you.  Worship Him with your whole being.

And then make the commitment that David made.  "I will celebrate before the Lord."

Hebrews 4:12   For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Do you see God’s Word like that?  A sword that pierces your very soul, that tears up your assumptions, that changes your understanding, and that sees what you are like and rips you apart so that God can put you back together in His image?

God's Word exposes who we are.  Our sin is exposed, and we are vulnerable.  But God can be trusted to care for us, and to forgive our sin.  Let the God of the Bible open your heart to Himself.  Let Him take you apart and re-make you into the person He designed you to be.

Let the Word be powerful in your life.  How do you do that?  Step 1. Open the Book!

2 Timothy 1:7    for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Fear and discouragement are not from God.  Look to Him for the power to overcome everything in your life that holds you back from living for Jesus!

Romans 6:4
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 

This verse is not talking about water baptism.  It is about being baptized, or immersed, into Jesus.  Just as a cucumber stops being a cucumber after being immersed in dill and brine for a long time, so believers are transformed when they are immersed in Christ over time.

And just as you can no longer use a pickle as a cucumber in your salad, we are transformed, forever inseparable from the One who lives in us and through us.  Our lives are in Christ, and Christ is in us, never to be parted, forever changed into His image.

​As Galatians 2:20 tells us, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me!

James 4:10   Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Here is a test of humility.  Do you put others ahead of yourself?  Or do you make sure you receive honor instead?  Do you give credit to others?  Do you look for ways to encourage and build up those around you?

Are you thinking right now, "Wow, am I ever humble!"

Oops.  Even the most humble among us can slip.

If we live to promote ourselves, we have all the honor we will ever receive.  But if we humble ourselves, God will exalt us in surprising ways.

​So be humble.  And trust God for everything!

Psalm 57:1   Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.

David had the integrity that allowed him to show mercy to Saul even when he had two easy opportunities to kill him.  David said that it wasn't his place to lift a hand against "the Lord's anointed".

What gave David this integrity of heart?  He found refuge in God.  He trusted in God to care for Him in every situation.  

​Where is your refuge?  Are you trusting in God for everything in your life?

Psalm 31:1   In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! 

Is He your refuge?  Jesus invites you to a life of peace and joy.

He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  (Matthew 11:28)

Psalm 34:1-7   I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.  My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad.  Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!
I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.  Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.  This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.  The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.

​We don't need to live in fear any more.  Just look to Jesus!