July 2012 Guest Post

Hello all! Today I am privileged to post an article of  a dear young lady, Mirren Martin. She has been so kind as to agree to write a guest post for this blog! Her sister Taryn will have a guest post on here soon as well.

   Her family's ministry is Biblical Discipleship Ministries. Her father, Dr. Jobe Martin, wrote the book, The Evolution of a Creationist & has two DVD series called Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution & Creation Proclaims. (I think they both have 3 DVD's right now). Be sure and take a look at the Martin's websites! 
   Our family has bought many of the books and videos they sell including Mirren's booklet, Biblically Handling Technology and Social Media. Mirren did a wonderful job on the booklet and the truths she points out are very good. Everyone using social media and the like should think about the points she makes. =)

   So, without further adieu; some thoughts on contentment from Mirren:

A Few Thoughts on Contentment

    Contentment is something that can take a long time to figure out! We can say the words, “I want to be content,” or “I am content,” or “I should be content,” and have the correct mindset in this area, but getting the mindset to truly become a reality is so much harder. 

    Sometimes we are being dishonest with ourselves and don’t even realize that we have deceived ourselves into thinking we are content, but deep down inside we really are not. Perhaps we get into these dishonest “ruts” because we do not take the time to ask God: Search me O God and know my heart . . . (Psalm 139:23). And then sometimes we can ask Him this out of formality and not be sincerely tenderhearted to His answer. 

    So, our mindset and our “heartset” should be continually humbled before the Lord asking Him (since we have the propensity to be dishonest with ourselves) to search our hearts for us, and then to work in our lives to make us willing to admit how our flesh has gotten involved in directing our lives instead of daily living out and living in God’s will.

    It is clear in the Scriptures that the Lord is the One who satisfies—He wants to be the fulfillment of our longings which will bring us contentment. Psalm 107:9 says, For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. The first step in living a contented life is our relationship with the Lord Jesus. It really is impossible to be truly content unless we have this relationship. Many Christians are saved—they have truly believed and accepted the Gospel—but they do not discipline themselves to have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. (Ways to develop this relationship are to read His Word as if it came from a dear friend that you have been longing to hear from, or to pour out your heart (Psalm 62:8) to Him as if He was your best friend). 

    It is obvious that the world struggles with discontent as our culture shows the complete dependency that society has on entertainments (television, Internet, social media, movies, novels, food, sports, etc.). Sadly, the same addictions and cravings that the unbelievers focus on for contentment captivate and distract Christians also.

    True contentment is close to impossible to understand or achieve without a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. Until we take the time to get to know God’s heart, it is hard to fully sense His security, fulfillment, and love for us in its purity. Too often we think of contentment as a life with our desires getting fulfilled, but contentment is a choice—just like being an Olympian who has to make the choice to discipline himself if he ever wants to achieve the gold medal. Paul confirms this when he says in Philippians 4:11 that he had LEARNED to be content—it didn’t just come naturally, he had to discipline himself to achieve this.  There is much freedom once the power of contentment is realized, but it takes discipline to get there!

    If you are single, consider this . . . only the Lord Jesus will give you the safety of unconditional love. A godly man will strive toward practicing unconditional love toward his wife, but only God can give you absolute, unconditional love. He will never hurt you physically, spiritually, or emotionally. He will listen to all of your heart’s needs and desires and then be your refuge from life’s troubles: “Trust in Him at all times . . . pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us” Psalm 62:8. We have the security of knowing Who Jesus is because He has revealed Himself to us through His Word.

    In Jesus is complete security. I Timothy 6:6 says, But godliness with contentment is great gain. One blessing and “gain” that we can receive from finding our contentment and security in the Lord is that we can always feel safe knowing that He is in control of our lives if we let Him have the reins. If we believe that He is looking over our lives with the greatest love and care imaginable, then we need to secure the thought in our minds that as we are delighting in Him (Psalm 37:4) He will give us the desires of our hearts. This verse surely doesn’t mean that what we think are our desires are will be fulfilled, but rather what He knows are desires are, desires that we may not even know we have. Delighting in Him can release us from the fear and the feelings of discontent. 

   When feelings of discontent come up in our lives, we can (by God’s grace) get over these by filling our minds with gratitude and remembering all we have, which is a love from Jesus that will never be broken: Romans 8:38-39 says, For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I hope we will all think carefully about the truths presented here today! Contentment is crucial!

Thank you for your lovely post, Mirren! I hope to have you back in the future!