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"But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment" (1 Timothy 6:6)
The inspiration for these devotional thoughts came to me a short while ago, beloved, as I sat in the living room with my wife and watched as she cuddled her "baby" - our 4 year old, 4 pound bundle of joy named Cocoa. Those two have bonded like nothing I have ever seen! As I watched her so gently scratching Cocoa's head as she lay in her arms, the picture on that tiny face was one of sheer contentment - Chihuahua contentment.
The Apostle Paul was instructing and encouraging Timothy about the misplaced emphasis on gaining great wealth that seemed to abound even in the church and how it adversely affected even one's relationships. As he did so, he made the amazing statement that you see printed above concerning the vital role of "contentment" in our lives as Christians and what that contentment has to do with genuine godliness.
First of all, "godliness" in the original language of the New Testament means "piety" or "reverence" in the sense of a personal likeness to God. The false teachers who abounded in the church of Paul's day taught that godliness was related to one's religiosity or external form of religious practice. The apostle taught instead that true godliness is one's inward genuine likeness to and relationship with God.
But what does the concept of "contentment" have to do with such godliness? Those same false teachers in the 1st century church carried out their religiosity in the hope of personal financial gain and its accompanying prestige within the religious community. Actually the word "contentment" in the original language means "self-sufficiency" and points to the person who is unmovable and who responds successfully to his circumstances in life. To be content, then, is to know a sense of sufficiency and its satisfaction with life, not needing to always seek more than what you have.
The key, however, is that genuine contentment comes from God. No greater description of the nature of spiritual contentment has ever been penned than that written by this same Paul to the believers in the city of Philippi.
"Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:11-13)
When a person is right with God, beloved, and demonstrates genuine godliness by accepting from His gracious hand all that comes his way in life, seeking always God's perfect will and seizing every opportunity to serve His cause, then that person knows the meaning of true contentment! How truly content are you today?
Come to think of it, I think I'll go and share in some of that "Chihuahua contentment" going on in the living room...
Ron
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Dad's Wedding Band
"But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence" (1 Peter 3:15)
Valentine's Day was very special for us this year, beloved, because I had the opportunity finally to give to my wife a new engagement ring, the one I wish that I could have given to her when first I proposed to her more than forty-six years ago. In getting the ring sized our jeweler-friend soldered three rings together: her wedding band, her new ring, and my mother's wedding band that my wife has worn since my sisters gave it to her following my mother's home-going. Seeing my mother's band reminded me that I now have my father's wedding band as well and what a treasure that is for me!
As I thought about the wedding bands of two such precious people, now both together with the Lord, I thought about the word "commitment." Having performed many wedding ceremonies over the years, I made it my custom to always hold up one of the wedding bands and show to those present how it is a complete circle. There is no stopping point! And that is the way that our love for and commitment to Jesus Christ is to be - unbroken, unending, unrelenting.
The Apostle Peter urged his readers to "sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts" and went on to challenge them to be "apologists" - those who defend their faith in Christ by demonstrating and explaining the eternal assurance that we each as Christians have surging within our hearts because of the presence of the blessed Holy Spirit of God. That is the essence, then, of our commitment to Jesus Christ, our covenant with Him. It is as if when we received Him by faith as Savior and Lord that He put a ring of gold on our finger to let us know that ours would be an eternal covenant, a lasting relationship - unbroken, unending, unrelenting. And to that end our living for Him every day must be just as unrelenting and unbroken.
It is certainly appropriate, given the symbolism of wedding bands upon which we are focused here, that Scripture refers to Jesus as the Bridegroom and to us as believers His Bride, the church. If you are wearing a ring at this moment, beloved, look closely at it. Note how it has no end. It just goes on and on and on. That is the way that you and I are to be living for Jesus Christ today! Are we?
You'll have to excuse me. I think I will go take another look at my dad's wedding band. Not only was he a great father, but he was also one whose relationship with Jesus Christ was unbroken, unending, and unrelenting for all to see.
Ron
Valentine's Day was very special for us this year, beloved, because I had the opportunity finally to give to my wife a new engagement ring, the one I wish that I could have given to her when first I proposed to her more than forty-six years ago. In getting the ring sized our jeweler-friend soldered three rings together: her wedding band, her new ring, and my mother's wedding band that my wife has worn since my sisters gave it to her following my mother's home-going. Seeing my mother's band reminded me that I now have my father's wedding band as well and what a treasure that is for me!
As I thought about the wedding bands of two such precious people, now both together with the Lord, I thought about the word "commitment." Having performed many wedding ceremonies over the years, I made it my custom to always hold up one of the wedding bands and show to those present how it is a complete circle. There is no stopping point! And that is the way that our love for and commitment to Jesus Christ is to be - unbroken, unending, unrelenting.
The Apostle Peter urged his readers to "sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts" and went on to challenge them to be "apologists" - those who defend their faith in Christ by demonstrating and explaining the eternal assurance that we each as Christians have surging within our hearts because of the presence of the blessed Holy Spirit of God. That is the essence, then, of our commitment to Jesus Christ, our covenant with Him. It is as if when we received Him by faith as Savior and Lord that He put a ring of gold on our finger to let us know that ours would be an eternal covenant, a lasting relationship - unbroken, unending, unrelenting. And to that end our living for Him every day must be just as unrelenting and unbroken.
It is certainly appropriate, given the symbolism of wedding bands upon which we are focused here, that Scripture refers to Jesus as the Bridegroom and to us as believers His Bride, the church. If you are wearing a ring at this moment, beloved, look closely at it. Note how it has no end. It just goes on and on and on. That is the way that you and I are to be living for Jesus Christ today! Are we?
You'll have to excuse me. I think I will go take another look at my dad's wedding band. Not only was he a great father, but he was also one whose relationship with Jesus Christ was unbroken, unending, and unrelenting for all to see.
Ron
Friday, February 10, 2012
The Final Lamb
"He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5)
When John the Baptist first saw Jesus approaching and said to his followers standing nearby, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29), he sure said a mouthful, beloved! Not only was and is Jesus Christ "the Lamb of God" but He is further the final lamb God will ever require to be sacrificed for the sins of mankind. When Jesus went to the cross outside Jerusalem and laid down His life for our sins, He completely and forever fulfilled the sacrificial requirements of the Law of Moses. And no statement in Scripture, none about which I am aware anyway, declares this truth more clearly than these words of the prophet Isaiah.
Pierced through for our transgressions - Without going into a detailed exegesis of this term, what the Scriptures reveal is that Jesus suffered physically for our acts of sinfulness. The nails and the sword were instruments of death because of our failure to live up to the glory of God.
Crushed for our iniquities - Again without a detailed explanation of these words, what the Scriptures also reveal is that Jesus suffered mentally and emotionally for our sinful nature. Not only did He die, then, for the things we have done but He died as well for what we are. And no image of His mental and emotional anguish is anywhere more graphically displayed than in the passage dealing with the hours spent in Gethsemane prior to going to the cross.
The chastisement for our well-being - Having seen what our sins have done to Him, we discover from the words of Isaiah next what He has in love done for us. Here the word "chastisement" refers more to that parental discipline that every good parent uses to shape and mold his child's life, revealing to us beautifully the Fatherhood of God in welcoming us into His family and in dealing with us as His children. And the word "well-being" refers to our overall sense of personal contentment and peace that comes from being placed in right standing with God through what Jesus accomplished on the cross.
By His scourging we are healed - A close look at the overall context of the surrounding verses in Isaiah 53, beloved, reveals to us clearly that the kind of "healing" promised is not that of physical healing from our diseases but rather of the healing of the soul from the disease of sin. The Scriptures do promise physical healing and miraculous healing occurs every day. But that is not the primary focus in this verse of Scripture.
So this, then, is what the final Lamb has done for you and me! How could we ever look into the truths revealed here by Isaiah the prophet and still want to live our lives selfishly for ourselves? How could we not fall at His feet in conviction and repentance and declare to Him anew our allegiance to Him and to His cause? What does God's final Lamb mean to you, beloved?
Ron
When John the Baptist first saw Jesus approaching and said to his followers standing nearby, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29), he sure said a mouthful, beloved! Not only was and is Jesus Christ "the Lamb of God" but He is further the final lamb God will ever require to be sacrificed for the sins of mankind. When Jesus went to the cross outside Jerusalem and laid down His life for our sins, He completely and forever fulfilled the sacrificial requirements of the Law of Moses. And no statement in Scripture, none about which I am aware anyway, declares this truth more clearly than these words of the prophet Isaiah.
Pierced through for our transgressions - Without going into a detailed exegesis of this term, what the Scriptures reveal is that Jesus suffered physically for our acts of sinfulness. The nails and the sword were instruments of death because of our failure to live up to the glory of God.
Crushed for our iniquities - Again without a detailed explanation of these words, what the Scriptures also reveal is that Jesus suffered mentally and emotionally for our sinful nature. Not only did He die, then, for the things we have done but He died as well for what we are. And no image of His mental and emotional anguish is anywhere more graphically displayed than in the passage dealing with the hours spent in Gethsemane prior to going to the cross.
The chastisement for our well-being - Having seen what our sins have done to Him, we discover from the words of Isaiah next what He has in love done for us. Here the word "chastisement" refers more to that parental discipline that every good parent uses to shape and mold his child's life, revealing to us beautifully the Fatherhood of God in welcoming us into His family and in dealing with us as His children. And the word "well-being" refers to our overall sense of personal contentment and peace that comes from being placed in right standing with God through what Jesus accomplished on the cross.
By His scourging we are healed - A close look at the overall context of the surrounding verses in Isaiah 53, beloved, reveals to us clearly that the kind of "healing" promised is not that of physical healing from our diseases but rather of the healing of the soul from the disease of sin. The Scriptures do promise physical healing and miraculous healing occurs every day. But that is not the primary focus in this verse of Scripture.
So this, then, is what the final Lamb has done for you and me! How could we ever look into the truths revealed here by Isaiah the prophet and still want to live our lives selfishly for ourselves? How could we not fall at His feet in conviction and repentance and declare to Him anew our allegiance to Him and to His cause? What does God's final Lamb mean to you, beloved?
Ron
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