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7 Things to Do When Facing Times of Discontentment
OK, I hadn’t planned on any more posts on this topic, but you know how it is…God seems to always test me on what I’m teaching and claim to believe. Shouldn’t come as a surprise. That’s what happened right after I spoke on this topic at a church and after I completed this series. If you missed it you can read that series here: part 1, part 2, part 3 and Part 4. The day after I spoke on this topic, I can’t even remember why, but I experienced discontentment. My thoughts were…”what’s up with this?” and I felt as though God said, “Where is YOUR contentment?” It was a moment to prove what I…
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Contentment..No Matter What Part 4: Transformational Steps
This is the last of this series on contentment, and can I say that even this weekend, after teaching on this at a women’s event Friday night, I’ve been challenged to stand on what I believe about contentment. You can read part 1, part 2, and part 3 if you missed those. Then come back and let’s get practical! We must remember, we do not have the whole picture..but God does! Paul understood this. He said in Philippians 4:11-13, “I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. I know both how to make do with little, and I know how to make do…
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Contentment…No Matter What Part 2: Circumstances
Last week we looked at how comparison keeps us from being contented. If you missed it you can read that post here. Today we will look at a second big issue that causes us discontentment: our circumstances. If only…what if…iif I had…if I lived…if I was….THEN I would be content with my life. Have you ever said, “it must be nice…..”? In her book, Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free, author Nancy Leigh DeMoss Wolgemuth says we believe this: “If my situation was different, I would be different.” We always seem to be searching for that elusive state of bliss in life. In the scripture we looked at last week in…
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Contentment…No Matter What Part 1: Comparison
How content are you right now? Be honest. Is it even possible to be content no matter what? Can we accept what Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:6, “Contentment with godliness is great gain?” Can we really experience contentment in the midst of a relationship crisis, job loss, life threatening health situation, brokenness, betrayal, etc…you fill in the blank with your discontent issue. I believe like me, you may struggle with this, at least occasionally. Perhaps our world would be much more pleasant if we weren’t always striving for something “else”. Let’s define contentment as happiness in one’s life situation and discontentment as craving for what we don’t have. We…
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Forgiving the Devil in Pew Number Seven…What I’m Reading
Forgiveness…what does that word conjure up for you? Forgiving a child or spouse for hurting you? Forgiving a driver who cut you off? Forgiving a predator or abuser? Forgiving a church member or minister for betrayal? When I think of the things for which I’ve forgiven others, I must say they seem small and petty compared to the reasons why Rebecca Nichols Alonzo and her brother had to forgive their mother’s murderer as well as the man who wreaked havoc in their lives for years. I just finished reading, in tears, The Devil in Pew Number Seven by best selling author Rebecca Alonzo. I have never seen a more beautiful picture of biblical…
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Faith Under Pressure
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. One of my daughters recently wrote a long FaceBook post making this point very clear. Here is what Alycia Neighbours posted (and I share with her permission): So I’m going to preach y’all a sermon… Faith Under Pressure James 1:2-4 The Message (MSG) “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not…
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Are You Asking the Right Questions?
For many years I had the joy of training women’s leaders to lead others to know and grow in Christ. One thing I always emphasized was that we cannot lead others where we ourselves are not heading. For the first 10 years of my spiritual life after coming to Jesus for salvation, I stayed a baby Christian. No one taught me what the next steps in my spiritual journey were. I thought I had to just figure out life this side of heaven and then join Jesus once I died. I had no idea I was to seek His purpose for my life and become more and more like Jesus…
