Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 10:21:50 -0600
Author: dayforward@ag.org (DayForward Online)
Subject: 03/26/01 "Part 1 of 5: Learning To Be Content"
Body: ----------------------------------------------------------------
DayForward OnLine (03/26/01)
LEARNING TO BE CONTENT
MONDAY -- Part 1 of 5
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Highlights from the radio program
FROM THIS DAY FORWARD
with Dr. Richard D. Dobbins
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Contentment is not a gift to be received but rather a lesson to be
learned. Paul makes this clear in Philippians 4:11 where he says, "In whatsoever
state I am in I have learned to be content." Notice, he did not say, "In
whatsoever state I am in, God gives me contentment."
Contentment is a spiritual discipline to be learned. It is a product
of resolving the struggles between what we want to have and what we know
God wants for us.
DISTINGUISH BETWEEN TEMPORAL AND ETERNAL
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus clearly tells us that our lives
do not consist of the abundance of things we possess (see Matthew 6:25-34).
He is telling us that temporal things are transient and temporary. Paul
reminds Timothy, for example, that we brought nothing into the world and
we will take nothing out of the world (see 1 Timothy 6:6-8).
Whatever we have accumulated between our birth and our death stays
here. We leave our riches here; but we take our relationships with us.
Our relationships are eternal.
The accumulation of material things can consume valuable time and
energy and leave one with no eternal residual of life on earth. However,
when you invest in your relationships-with God, with your spouse (if married),
your children, your parents, and finally, with the family of God-these
relationships become eternal treasures that follow us into eternity.
The difficulty comes in focusing on the eternal more than on the
temporal. As humans we are sensual beings, and the enemy knows how to make
this world exciting and appealing to the senses.
The enemy can make it convenient for us to acquire the things that
excite the senses. This is why John warns us that we must beware of the
lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eye, and the pride of life (see 1 John 2:15-17). These are the
things that will distract us from our relationship with God, keep us from
investing in our family relationships, and inevitably make fools of us.
Distinguishing between the temporal and the eternal is the first
lesson one who desires contentment must learn.
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Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 10:25:34 -0600
Author: dayforward@ag.org (DayForward Online)
Subject: 03/27/01 "Part 2 of 5: Learning To Be Content"
Body: ----------------------------------------------------------------
DayForward OnLine (03/27/01)
LEARNING TO BE CONTENT
TUESDAY -- Part 2 of 5
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Highlights from the radio program
FROM THIS DAY FORWARD
with Dr. Richard D. Dobbins
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DISCIPLINE YOUR AMBITIONS
Satan knows how to appeal to our ambitions. He knows how to fire
our drives, and he feeds our desires to compete while he plays on insecurities.
We begin to think that if we had more of something we like or were in a
different position, then we would be more secure. We
would have more respect if we got what we wanted, we tell ourselves.
Whether or not ambition is godly will depend on motivation.
Certainly it is godly to want to be your best for the Lord and His
kingdom. However, if competition is driving your ambition, it is likely
to be prideful. If you go back to the Bible's account of the prideful ambition
that motivated Lucifer to try to displace God (see Isaiah14:12-14), you
will understand how that kind of prideful ambition is not good.
Paul talks about being caught in the competitive trap of measuring
ourselves by what others have and do, and tells us that this is unwise
(see 2 Corinthians 10:12).
Be aware of what is driving your ambition. Prideful ambition can
cost you your contentment.
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Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 10:28:20 -0600
Author: dayforward@ag.org (DayForward Online)
Subject: 03/28/01 "Part 3 of 5: Learning To Be Content"
Body: ----------------------------------------------------------------
DayForward OnLine (03/28/01)
LEARNING TO BE CONTENT
WEDNESDAY -- Part 3 of 5
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Highlights from the radio program
FROM THIS DAY FORWARD
with Dr. Richard D. Dobbins
----------------------------------------------------------------
DEFER YOUR APPETITES
For some people, enough is never enough. When John D. Rockefeller,
Sr., one of the wealthiest men of his day, was asked how much money it
would take to satisfy a rich
man, he said, "Just a little bit more."
Today, people want more and want it now. For example, young people
want to begin life with a standard of living that took their parents sometimes
as much as 30 years of working and saving to acquire.
The Bible says we should be content with the necessities of life.
Of course, some people may argue what that level of necessity is. For some
people, necessity means two
cars with a three-car garage and an acre lot, and so on. Others
may see it in various other materialistic ways.
These days keeping up with a high standard of living is extremely
difficult, yet very few people seem to be willing to lower standards of
living in order to raise the level of
contentment.
Therefore, delayed gratification is a discipline that is rapidly
disappearing from our society. In its wake, a wave of discontentment is
washing over America.
If you do not learn the discipline of delayed gratification, then
you can kiss contentment good-bye.
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Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 10:29:37 -0600
Author: dayforward@ag.org (DayForward Online)
Subject: 03/29/01 "Part 4 of 5: Learning To Be Content"
Body: ----------------------------------------------------------------
DayForward OnLine (03/29/01)
LEARNING TO BE CONTENT
THURSDAY -- Part 4 of 5
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Highlights from the radio program
FROM THIS DAY FORWARD
with Dr. Richard D. Dobbins
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DEVELOP A GRATEFUL ATITUDE
When you find a contented person, you are going to find someone who
is grateful and thankful. Today, so many people feel cheated. Many people
are ungrateful for what
they have and envy what others have.
Some see life as being unfair, and discontentment is the price to
pay for this attitude. They do not see things the way a content person
does.
When you find a contented person, you are going to find someone who
thinks of life in terms of what they have and who they are.
Contentment is one of the benefits that come to a person who is thankful.
When you are discontented, you are ungrateful for what you have and you
are not content
being who you are. You are a very unhappy person, and are constantly
looking for someone who can make youcontent.
If you want to avoid the kind of agitation in your spirit that creates
discontent, then develop a thankful attitude for life.
The thankful person appreciates the things that come to him or her
in life. The grateful person sees whatever comes to him or her as not because
it is deserved, but rather because of the goodness of God.
Truly thankful people appreciate all that they receive. Paul says,
"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
concerning you." (1 Thessalonians
5:18).
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Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 10:30:42 -0600
Author: dayforward@ag.org (DayForward Online)
Subject: 03/30/01 "Part 5 of 5: Learning To Be Content"
Body: ----------------------------------------------------------------
DayForward OnLine (03/30/01)
LEARNING TO BE CONTENT
FRIDAY -- Part 5 of 5
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Highlights from the radio program
FROM THIS DAY FORWARD
with Dr. Richard D. Dobbins
----------------------------------------------------------------
DISCERN THE LIMITS OF YOUR POWER
This statement has helped many people put frustration aside and become
more content: Much of our frustration in life comes from attempting to
control what we cannot control and neglecting to control what we can.
What this means is that you are not going to be content if you feel
powerless or helpless. And you are going to feel powerless, helpless, and
out of control if you are not content to recognize the limits of your power.
Much of our frustration in life comes from believing that we have
the power to control things we actually cannot control. Many times, life's
circumstances overwhelm and defy our efforts to control them.
Here are five steps you and I need to take if we are going to learn
how to be content:
1. We must learn to distinguish the temporal
from the eternal.
2. We must discipline our ambitions.
3. We must learn to defer our appetites.
4. We must develop a grateful and thankful
attitude toward life.
5. We must discern the limits of our power.
If frustration, agitation, and irritation have stolen your contentment,
the God of peace wants to come to you today through His Son, Jesus Christ.
If He could calm the storms on the Sea of Galilee, then He can bring
peace to your troubled heart. Commit to Him the parts of your life that
are beyond your control.
Cast your care upon the Lord because He cares for you. Confess your
sins to Him and seek His forgiveness. Bring Him into the troubled waters
of your life and He in turn will bring you into a place of true contentment.
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