Theme For Open Heavens Devotional 11 August 2019 – BE CONTENTED.
MEMORISE:
Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife. Proverbs 17:1
READ: 1 Timothy 6:6-11
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
MESSAGE
One virtue that is gradually being eroded from the lives of 21st century Christians is contentment, and because contentment and godliness are actually inseparable twins (1 Timothy 6:6), it is therefore not surprising that there is also a dearth of godliness amongst us. The cure to this deficiency in the Body of Christ is the consistent teaching of God’s word on commitment. I therefore encourage all teachers of God’s word to arm themselves with the sword of the Spirit in this regard and combat this issue in the Church. We can learn a lot on commitment from our Lord Jesus Christ. Even though He created the whole universe, He was content to be born into a family that could only afford a manger as His birth place (Luke 2:7)! He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, yet His earthly parents could only afford to sacrifice two pigeons at the time of His dedication in the temple (Luke 2:22-24, Leviticus 12:8). The Holy Spirit also teaches us commitment in Ecclesiastes 5:10-12, which says:
“ He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.”
The Holy Spirit is saying here that no matter how rich a person is, there will always be the urge to run after more wealth in an endless vicious circle, unless he or she has commitment from God. He also says that as we labor to accumulate more money, we might actually be laboring for people we do not know, who will consume what we have labored for and might not even say “thank you” after eating our sweat. When you consider the rich people in your country, I believe you can point to several hundreds of families who legitimately and illegitimately benefit from their labors and sleepless nights spent in accumulating wealth. What good have those stolen billions done for the bodies of those who loot the treasury of their countries, not to mention their souls? A poor laborer who has contentment will always have an appetite to eat the modest food available and sleep well at night. Conversely, rich people without contentment do not sleep well, because they are always thinking of how to accumulate more riches and how not to lose what they already have to have to those out to cheat them. For this reason, many of them are always suspicious of people around them, seeing everyone as cheats. Beloved, seek the Lord today if you want to enjoy life in abundance, and be content with the blessings He bestows on you.
KEY POINT:
The satisfaction that contentment give is more valuable than all the riches in the whole world.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Samuel 10-11
Ezekiel 32:16-28
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 5: LET OTHERS SEE JESUS IN YOU.
1.While passing thro’ this world of sin,
and others your life shall view,
Be clean and pure without, within;
Let others see Jesus in you.
Refrain:
Let others see Jesus in you,
Let others see Jesus in you.
Keep telling the story, be faithful and true;
Let others see Jesus in you.
2. Your life’s a book before their eyes,
They’re reading it thro’ and thro’
Say, does it point them to the skis,
Do others see Jesus in you?
Refrain
3. Then live for Christ both day and night,
Be faithful, be brave and true,
and lead the lost to life and Christ.
Let others see Jesus in you.
Refrain
Credit – Pastor E. Adeboye