Philippians 4:11-13 Message
Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.
"A man may know much of Christ and yet not learn Christ"
Thomas Watson
It won't matter that you heard the message if you never LEARNED anything.
A life of faith must be learned because:
1. Spiritual things are against nature.
For a human being to deny her/his will and take up the cross of Christ is an unnatural act.
Romans 8:7 (NKJV)
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
2. Spiritual things are above nature.
Knowing the depths of God takes searching. You can mine the scriptures for jewels of wisdom, but true wisdom can only be found when the Spirit of God teaches...
1 Corinthians 2:10 (NKJV)
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
What had Paul learned? The word used for content in the text is autarkēs. It means to live above both need and abundance. It doesn't mean that you are oblivious to your circumstances as if they weren't real; BUT when you are truly content, your BEING is not determined by your circumstances. This state of being didn't come to Paul in an instant, but over time. The secret of divine contentment is in the learning.
Written by Frederick A Hanna
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