Content: with what we have, who we are, and where we’re going.

Content: with what we have, who we are, and where we’re going.

Many times the only consistency in our lives has been our inconsistency.

What does the Bible say about contentment?

Contentment-the state of being mentally or emotionally satisfied with things as they are. Last week we described content as being pleased with one's self or one's current scenario.

Today it is rare that we find anyone who is truly content with his or her condition in life. The Bible has a great deal to say about contentment—being satisfied with what we have, who we are, and where we’re going.

1.      Jesus is telling us to be content with what we have.

1.      He has given us a direct command not to worry about the things of this world.

Matthew 6:24-34 NLT [24] "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. [25] "That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life-whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing? [26] Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to Him than they are? [27] Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? [28] "And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, [29] yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. [30] And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? [31] "So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' [32] These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. [33] Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. [34] "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today."

2.      From Jesus’ words, we can deduce that lack of contentment is sin and it puts us in the same category as those who do not know God.

1.      The apostle Paul was a man who suffered and went without the comforts of life more than most people could ever imagine.

2 Corinthians 11:23-28 NLT [23] "Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. [24] Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. [25] Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. [26] I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. [27] I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. [28] Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches."

2.      Yet he knew the secret of contentment:

Philippians 4:12-13 [12] I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. [13] For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength."

3.      Content with what I have?

1.     The writer to the Hebrews adds, Hebrews 13:5-6 “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

4.      Be without covetousness, be without want.

1.      Let our conduct be without wanting what everyone else has.

1.      Content.

2.      Let our conduct be without desiring everything that caters to the world, the flesh, and the Devil.

1.     I'm content.

1.      Yet people continue to seek after more of the things of this world, never contented with their lot in life.

2.      The bumper sticker that reads “He with the most toys wins!” epitomizes the world’s cravings for more and more.

1.      And the church is just as guilty.

5.      The latest global statistic shows that if one has a roof over his head and a meal on his table he is richer than 93 percent of the world’s population.

6.      If a person wears a pair of shoes he is richer than 75 percent of the people in the world.

1.      In the United States alone, credit card debt averages more than $16,000 per household, and we are still discontented.

2.      Solomon, the wisest and richest man who ever lived, said,

Ecclesiastes 5:10-11 NLT [10] "Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! [11] The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth-except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!"

Ecclesiastes 5:15 NLT "[15] We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can't take our riches with us."

7.      I've never seen a U-haul truck following the funeral procession.

1.      You brought nothing into this world and you will carry nothing out.

1.      You can take your friends to heaven though, you can take your family to heaven and you can take the lost to heaven.

1.      Your life, your entire existence can have a powerful impact on the lives of others.

2.      Be content with who we are.

1.      The key to overcoming our discontentment and lack of faith is to find out who God really is and how He has been faithful to supply the needs of His people in the past.

2.      This will grow one’s confidence and trust for the future.

1 Peter 5:6-7 NLT [6] "So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor. [7] Cast all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you."

1.      When you care about someone you do not let them down.

2.      When you care about someone you do not leave them to carry the weight of world by themselves.

3.      When you care for someone you never forsake them.

4.      When you care for someone you don't want to see their destruction.

5.      You want to see their success, you want to experience their life playing out.

6.      When you care for someone you're not interested in seeing them live a life of suffering.

1.      Your not interested in seeing their potential destroyed but tapped into and witnessing what God has mightily planned for them that love Him.

1.      God cares for us.

2.      God cares for you.

1.      That sentence alone sets me on fire!

2.      Ignited, propelled, and purposed into a place I'll never truly understand.

1 Timothy 6:6-10 NLT [6] Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. [7] After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can't take anything with us when we leave it. [8] So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. [9] But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. [10] For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows."

3.      Many live their lives running everywhere they can, doing everything they can, running over everyone they can to gain more, more, and more, thinking, even believing they will be truly happy when they attain it.

1.      I believe that we have to be satisfied with what we have, who we are, and where we’re going.

1.      Individually and collectively.

2.      Continually using this statement as a catalyst for deeper growth in God, growth in character, growth in our God mission and purpose.

4.      As believers our trust and confidence should be in God alone, satisfied with our condition regardless of circumstances.

5.      Christ-followers should focus their effort on pursuing holiness in conduct, attitude, and thought.

6.      They should choose to be content in whatever circumstances God has given them, just like Paul himself had done while in prison.

1.      It is impossible to be content when our hearts are set on gaining more.

2.      We will not remain godly for long if we are not content with what God has given us.

3.      A desire for godliness is quickly eroded by a greedy, covetous spirit.

7.      The Bible never says that it is a sin to be rich.

1.      The difference is in the heart.

2.      Both greed and contentment are states of the heart.

3.     When we choose to be content with the riches of Christ rather than just pursuing material riches, our lives will be more in line with God’s desire for us, because "Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." Matthew 6:21

1.      I refuse to be everything else and anything that everyone else wants me to be, I must be what He has set out for me to be!

3.      Content in where I am going.

1.      You have to face the fact that circumstances won’t change until you change. 

2.      Family members won’t change until you change.

3.      Your job won’t change until you change.

4.      And your future will never change until you make the decision to change.

1.      If the world the flesh and the devil can get you discontented thinking and dreaming on everything else it will be detrimental to your relationships, your career, your God mission and calling!

1.      Well I'm here but I really want to be here.

2.      I'm doing this but my passion is this.

2.      Diverting us toward things of this earth rather than things of eternal value!

5.      I'm content on where I'm going because I know God is guiding the trip and He knows they way.

1.      Oakland Raiders game trip Del'von and I.

1.      Some say well your obsessed with God, obsessed with the bible and obsessed with God's plan.

1.      That's cool define me as you must.

2.      But obsessed is just a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated.

1.      “You become what you think about all day long.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

1.      You can be content and still be driven!

2.      You can be content and still lead well.

3.      You can be content and still have an amazing marriage.

4.      You can be content and still have a growing thriving relationship with God.

1.      Content or concerned?

1.      To worry means we do not trust God.

2.      Content or conceited?

1.      Conceited means we only trust in our flesh.

5.      I am content and in full trust of wherever God says to go I'll go.

1.      God, I'll be what you want me to be, do what you want me to do, go where you want me to go, and leave what you what me to leave.

6.      Since the beginning of time Satan has been using discontentment against God's children.

1.      He told Eve, "How can you be happy when you are not allowed to eat the fruit from this one tree?"

1.      He shifted her entire focus from all that God had done, and all that God had given, and all that God had blessed to the one thing He had withheld.

1.      Recognizing and living out biblical contentment is being satisfied with what we have, who we are, and where we're going.

Leave No Man Behind

1. I so appreciate our military, government officials, police officers, fireman, EMT’s, and our health professionals.

a. I don’t always agree with their decisions or their value systems but I appreciate them and I can tell you with conviction that I sincerely pray for them.

b. I challenge you as well as a body of believers to pray for these leaders knowing that God is exceedingly able to encourage, help, and guide them.

                                            i.     It’s very difficult to hate someone you sincerely pray for.

                                          ii.     Pray for the lost, pray for the abandoned, pray for the broken, confused, and bitter while leaving no man behind.

2. I enjoy a good war movie especially based on fact.

a. Some of my favorite movies are the ones that depict the resolution that no matter the circumstances, every soldier will be accounted for.

b. During the Kosovo War that commitment was demonstrated when a 40-aircraft task force, including helicopters loaded with Marines and backed by an armada of three warships containing 2,000 more Marines, flew deep into enemy territory to bring home one man.

c.  Mobilized to rescue one pilot, Captain Scott O’Grady, who was shot down by Serbians in 1995.

                                            i.     What is a human life worth?

                                          ii.     What is the soul of a man worth?

1. It’s worth everything; it’s worth the highest price known to man, life.

2. It is worth the life, death, burial, and resurrection of a man named Jesus Christ.

3. He paid the ultimate price and we have been doing our very best to mirror His efforts ever since.

a. He is the very first “freedom fighter.” 

3. Many armies devalue human life, and devalue their own soldiers, by caring more for the group than for individuals.

a. They will leave their soldiers in captivity or allow their bodies to remain on the field.

b. But American military, promise this: no man left behind.

c.  Whether you are alive or dead, your military team will do all it can to ensure that you, or your remains, are accounted for.

d. Your brothers-in-arms will fight for you, fight with you, even your superiors will battle on your behalf.

                                            i.     Risking their very life for yours.

e. I can only imagine the comfort and security this brings as soldiers march toward the battlefield. 

                                            i.     After all, what could be more intimidating than the thought of being forever abandoned and forgotten?

f.   I believe this with all my heart that Jesus Christ would have come and sacrificed His life if only for you, or only for me.

1. Refusing to leave no man behind.

4. If you’ve ever seen the movie, read the book or heard the news reports of Marcus Luttrell the Lone Survivor, then you understand this power.

a. His team ambushed, then killed one man left behind and U.S. military might was deployed to rescue him.

b. The story culminates as an American soldier bursts into this man’s hiding place, assuring him that he is now safe, and that he will not be left behind.

c.  The soldier, the audience, then breathes a sigh of relief, knowing that he is accounted for. 

                                            i.     As the credits rolled, I found myself thinking about the church;the place where I hope no man, woman, or child, would be left behind.

5. We as Christians are to be good news before we share good news.

a. The impression that people have of us will have a profound effect on how they view God.

b. This church will attract people who struggle with every kind of sin known to mankind.

                                            i.     They will bring that sin, addiction, depression, division, and heartbreak into the church with them.

                                          ii.     They will be vulnerable, they’ll sometimes sin in unashamed ways, and they may even wander off for a time.

                                       iii.     The temptation will be to allow people to fall by the wayside, permiting wanderers to wander indefinitely.

                                        iv.     While we just go on sharing the gospel despite the attrition, erosion, and slow destruction of their lives.

1. It is far easier to go about your convenient life than to risk your time, your attention or your comfort for one of “them.”

2. Months later, you find yourself asking, “Whatever happened to…?”

3. “They” are gone, and you barely noticed.

a. Oh well, we better move on.

c.  I think of Jesus as He prayed to the Father to say about the people that had been entrusted to Him, “I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost.”

d. He knew His mission, and He carried it out to the very end.

                                            i.     By all rights, they should have wandered and should have been lost.

                                          ii.     But He cared for them; He protected them to the end, and even into death.

6. As Christians, we are charged with caring for one another and I as the shepherd of this church must lead in that charge, then every church member after me, following our example, Christ.

a. It brings joy, comfort and security when we affirm, and when we insist, that we will not leave even one person behind.

b. We will guard them, we will guide them, we will pursue them, we will pray for them, and we will love them to the very end.

c.  We should carry this within our heart and spirit, that no man, woman, boy, or girl will be left behind.  

7. Shared by every firefighter, soldier and law enforcement person in America “no one left behind” is a universal creed.

a. Whenever they go out on a mission to fight fire, to fight crime or to fight an enemy of our nation, they are determined that when it comes to their own there will be "No One Left Behind."

b. After David’s son Solomon died, there was a civil war, in the Kingdom of Israel, the kingdom was divided into the southern kingdom, known as Judah, and the northern kingdom, known as Israel.

                                            i.     The northern kingdom of Israel, which we are reading about today, was under siege by the Syrian army.

                                          ii.     The city was surrounded, all supplies had been cut off and as you will see, the food situation was desperate.

                                       iii.     The nation was starving to death.

                                        iv.     With no way out, no ways of escape, and vastly outnumbered by one of the most powerful armies in the world.

1. Flight was impossible, fight was out of the question, and fright appeared to be the only option.

II Kings 7:3-4 “3 Now there were four men with leprosy sitting at the entrance of the city gates. "Why should we sit here waiting to die?" they asked each other. 4 "We will starve if we stay here, but with the famine in the city, we will starve if we go back there. So we might as well go out and surrender to the Aramean army. If they let us live, so much the better. But if they kill us, we would have died anyway."

8. Outside of the city walls sat four lepers.

a. Lepers, ostracized from society, with an infection caused by bacteria, this disease was contagious and devastating.

b. As they surveyed their situation they realized they had three options and every one of them were bad.

1. Stay and do nothing, which meant they would die.

2. Stand and go into the city, in which case they would also die.

3. Surrender to the Syrians, in which they would either live like captives or still die.

c.  Deciding that surrender was the lesser of three evils, they get up and make their way to the Syrian camp to see what their fate would be and they made an amazing discovery.

2 Kings 7:5 “So at twilight they set out for the camp of the Arameans. But when they came to the edge of the camp, no one was there! 6 For the Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the clatter of speeding chariots and the galloping of horses and the sounds of a great army approaching. "The king of Israel has hired the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us!" they cried to one another. 7 So they panicked and ran into the night, abandoning their tents, horses, donkeys, and everything else, as they fled for their lives. 8 When the lepers arrived at the edge of the camp, they went into one tent after another, eating and drinking wine; and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and hid it. 9 Finally, they said to each other, "This is not right. This is a day of good news, and we aren't sharing it with anyone! If we wait until morning, some calamity will certainly fall upon us. Come on, let's go back and tell the people at the palace." 

d. When these lepers came to the outskirts of the military camp God had already been working supernaturally for them.

                                            i.     Hey you guys our lives have been spared!

                                          ii.     Hey guys we have to tell the others who are in suffering, we have to tell others who are in pain, we have to tell others who are struggling and dying all around us.

                                       iii.     Hey guys we have just been blessed beyond our wildest imagination.

1. We must not become so preoccupied with our faith that we neglect sharing Christ’s message with others.

2 Timothy 2:3-4 “Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 Soldiers don't get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.”

2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. 8 And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to His appearing.”

9. Having a leave no man behind mindset and mission is about understanding and connecting to seeing yourself as a soldier in a battle.

a. Soldiers realize, recognize, and comprehend:

1. He is a follower.

a. Implies Relationship.

                                                                                                  i.     No one can be a soldier for the Lord until they first get into the army.

b. Implies Rank.

                                                                                                  i.     There is always someone higher than you.

                                                                                                ii.     Every child of God is ranked under Jesus and is responsible for following Him and His will for their lives.

c.  Implies Rule.

                                                                                                  i.     To refuse to follow orders is treason!

James 4:17 “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.”

2. He is faithful.

a. His patience-Endures hardship.

                                                                                                  i.     The good soldier realizes that there will be troubles along the way and is not detoured by them.

                                                                                                ii.     Patience-characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings.

b. His priorities.

                                                                                                  i.     Notice that the good soldier has no higher goal in life than pleasing His Superior.

1. The good soldier knows anything that interferes with his performance in the military must be done away with.

2. Who comes first in your life?

3. Whatever or whoever it is, that is your god!

c.  His practice.

                                                                                                  i.     Guards the truths of the faith.

                                                                                                ii.     Determined to do a good job, refusing to do anything to bring disgrace and dishonor upon his Superior.

3. He is familiar.

a. With the sound of the Commanders’ voice.

                                                                                                  i.     The way to get more familiar with His voice is to spend more time listening to it.

                                                                                                ii.     You do this by getting in the Word, worship, and prayer.

b. With the skill of using his weapons.

                                                                                                  i.     The good soldier knows that he is engaged in warfare and that the only way to succeed in the fight is to be proficient in the use of weaponry.

c.  With the strategy of the enemy.  

                                                                                                  i.     The good soldier knows that the enemy is ever active and never rests.

                                                                                                ii.     The good soldier studies the methods of his enemy and learn his weaknesses and then exploits to the fullest extent of his ability.

                                                                                             iii.     Jesus is greater than any enemy we will ever face.

d. With the shadows of his friends.

                                                                                                  i.     The good soldier not only cares about his own welfare, but he also looks out for the welfare of his fellow soldiers.

                                                                                                ii.     He learns about them by being around them.

4. He is a fighter.

a. He is determined.

                                                                                                  i.     The good soldier does not retreat in the face of the enemy; he does not run from a fight.

                                                                                                ii.     Instead, he stands his ground and fights the battle until the battle is over!

                                                                                             iii.     Many Christian soldiers have dropped out of the battle!

                                                                                              iv.     Went MIA!

b. He is driven.

                                                                                                  i.     The battle does not run according to his time frame.

                                                                                                ii.     He knows that another is in charge of the duration of the battle, but the good soldier is driven to finish.

1. Are you?

2. What would it take to make you quit this morning?

                                                                                             iii.     Many Christians are about one disaster, one disappointment, and one service away from quitting on their faith and their Savior.

c.  He is dedicated.

                                                                                                  i.     Dedicates himself to keeping his oath.

                                                                                                ii.     He keeps it by living it, sharing it and defending it all the time.

                                                                                             iii.     The faith is precious to the good soldier and he does everything in his power to keep it pure and undefiled.

5. He is a finisher.

a. He Has Resolve.

                                                                                                  i.     In it for the long haul.

                                                                                                ii.     God give us Christians with the attitude of finishers.

b. He Has A Reason.

                                                                                                  i.     Why does the good soldier endure hardship, stay in the fight, follow the Leader selflessly?

                                                                                                ii.     The good soldier knows God loves him, recognizes the price that Jesus paid, dying to make a way of salvation for him.

c.  He Has His Reward.

                                                                                                  i.     Finishes his course because he knows that at the end of the war, every deed will be rewarded by the Commander in chief.

                                                                                                ii.     They will hear Him say, "Well done thou good and faithful servant...", Matt. 25:21, 23.

                                                                                             iii.     What will be waiting you when you meet Jesus?

Would you classify yourself as a good soldier of the Lord?

If you are like me, you probably recognize areas where you could be a better soldier.

Is today a day of enlistment for you?