Apply this. . . .

Piper’s devotional for today gives an example of summarizing a passage to apply it.He used Luke 18. I tried it with Philippians 4 and here is the result. . . . 

Stay Firm

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

Stay United

I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Stay in Peace

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Stay Mindful

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Stay Contented

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Stay Generous

Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Stay Loving
To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. (Philippians 4:1–23)

This could be divided into more sections and have even more applications. I picked those that first caught my attention. Besides this, God spoke to me again in a dream. I was feeling yucky last night and complained about it. In my dream, He clearly said, “Choose joy” and reminded me of my ‘hero’ at church who is always “just fine’ when he has many things wrong with his body. His joy is infectious and an example of always being filled with the Holy Spirit who is the author of joy.

PRAY: Jesus, again You give me much to think about and to do. Stand strong in faith, promote unity not division, pray about everything, think godly thoughts, be satisfied and joyful no matter what, and be loving and generous to all. In other words, be like You! Thank You for living in me. Otherwise all this would be totally out of reach.

My heart’s desires...

 

My sister, now with Jesus, was my best friend. One time she went with me to take art lessons. She was not good at it, but supported me entirely. Later her work as a store owner became tiresome at times so she decided to take art lessons. Her instructor was strict and made her erase mistakes until she got it right. Eventually she was teaching classes to children and after one still life class she decided to draw a set-up none of the class had selected. It was an arrangement of hockey equipment and her drawing impressed a young man and also one of her sons. He had connections and eventually secured a contract with the NHL for his mom to do hockey art featuring major league jerseys. She wound up with a website and doing work for home teams as well.

In the meantime, I painted wildlife and animal portraits. I had an agent who sold my work, but eventually the desire to paint dwindled and I started writing. Several thousand articles later, most of them published, eventually became less of a desire. One day I saw a quilt on a magazine cover that depicted golfing and decided to make it as a gift for my husband. When finished, I was amazed at the satisfaction of creating and giving away the result. Years later, I’m still quilting and although I’ve won ribbons, I seldom show my quilts, mostly making them for people who need them. The satisfaction of giving them away has been a continual delight.

All this to say that for my sister, who loved Jesus passionately, and for myself whose delight in the Lord grew to the same, we both found the truth of this verse:

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

This does not say He will give me whatever I want, but that He gives me the ‘I wants’ — that the desires that come into my heart are from Him. For that, sis and I both knew we were doing what God wanted us to do. That didn’t mean we understood it! I was amazed at the development of her skill in both oils and pen and ink and she could not understand why I quit painting and writing to work with fabric. But since we both delighted ourselves in Jesus, it was a mutual appreciation.

Both of us learned contentment with life from our mother too. She often said, “We must need this or we would not be getting it.” The “this” was weather, hardship, good times, whatever came along. It marked her trust in Almighty God who is sovereign and her faith resulted in not fighting life but taking it as it comes. The context of the above verse is today’s praise:

Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. (Psalm 37:1–6)

It goes on, mostly encouragement to not envy the prosperity of wicked people, but also has snatches of why this contentment is possible. We have a God who makes incredible promises of prosperity and blessing. He upholds us, grants abundance, generosity, and picks us up when we fall. He makes our children a blessing, gives us wisdom, puts His will in our hearts, and is our stronghold. In life is over here, we have eternal life with Him.

PRAY: Lord, my relationship with my sister is one of many examples of Your amazing goodness. It and so many other blessings fill me with wonder of You. How could I not delight in You and the  assurance I have from knowing that when this delight (that You also give me) is part of my life, then I know that what I want is from You also. You are a gracious God who puts good desires in my heart. Thank You.
 

Defeating the thief . . .

 

This week has been filled with unexpected problems and many interruptions. Most of them robbed me of inner joy. My stomach sometimes churned in my impatience to get past each one and on with a ‘normal’ schedule. I realized some of this was a test: would I be patient and content no matter what? My test scores were not too high.

Maturity is measured by how far a person gets from a baby’s ‘I want what I want when I want it.’ The next step is learning delayed gratitude or dropping the ‘when’ and being willing to wait. However, Christian maturity involves dropping the ‘what’ and being willing to let the sovereign God use all things, even problems and interruptions, for His purpose: to transform my attitudes and life.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son . . . . (Romans 8:28–29)

God taught me these verses and this principle early in my Christian life. However, how easily I forget. I forget His goal and forget this principle also:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2–4)

I forget that trials are tests and that the test is to produce steadfast patience. My impatience gets me an F on the test, and it gets repeated until I start getting a better grade. This week, the repetition stressed the importance in God’s mind that I should grow up and be more like this:

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that . . . you were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:10–13)

Today’s devotional lists some joy-thieves: willful sin, prayerlessness, fear, self-centeredness, focusing on circumstances, and lack of forgiveness are the main culprits with dissatisfaction and ingratitude being the most common. We live in a culture where health, wealth, and prosperity create expectations that take our eyes off God and place them solidly on ‘I want what I want’ even if we are willing to wait for it.

While the author focuses on preferences rather than necessities, I’m thinking about what I really want. Is it a life without phone calls, or without cries for advice or my help? Of course not. For these I should be thankful. But what about computer problems and the desire for a quick fix so I can do my thing instead of helping others understand why their PC is not working right? I should be thankful that God gave me experience to help, not be frustrated at the nerds who create complex software.

Paul’s words are both refreshing and a rebuke: “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” makes no demands on God, only tell me to grow up. Whether the day is ‘normal’ or ‘nutty’ should not matter to a mature person. I need to be satisfied and thankful, able to see that in the tests are blessings to help me be more like Him. Jesus was not a whiner, and His attitude was, “Not my will, but thine be done.”

Jesus, Your Word says this realization that I can “do all things” through You is a secret, a mystery that is part of Your will but must be revealed to us. We are sinners who want what we want. I confess this has described me this week and ask You to produce in me a joy and contentment that transcends circumstances. I know people You bless in this way regarding far more serious matters than interruptions — that don’t affect my whole life, just my schedule. Obviously, You had a purpose for coming to earth, but You did not make up a daily to-do list. Help me see unplanned things as Your will for my day rather than resent their appearing to upset my plans. May I learn contentment and be thankful, and learn to deal with such things in a way that gives You glory.

Read 1 Kings 18:1–19:8. What did God do for Elijah when he was overwhelmed with his circumstances?