June 29
Encouragement for Today
“Godliness with Contentment …Great Gain” – Part 2
Amy Kidd, Graduate of She Speaks Conference
Key Verse:
1 Timothy 6:6, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” (NIV)
Devotion:
Be Faithful with the Little:
Yesterday we talked about how unhealthy comparisons and “happiness dependence” can distract us from living a life of joy and contentment; happiness being dependent upon what is “happening” at the moment verses joy beyond any circumstance. Now I want to talk about another area that brings with it contentment and fulfillment, a sense of purpose.
Are you looking for a purpose? Well, you were certainly made for one! He has one for you in his divine plan for mankind. Yes, there is a plan and a blueprint. He has revealed bits and pieces of it to us throughout His Word, but by faith, we must trust Him with what is yet unseen and undone.
There are very few big things God will ask you to do in this life, but there are so many more small things with great impact that He has purposed for us as well. It’s the everyday tasks and acts of obedience in which God delights. He desires for you to be faithful with the little before He can give you much.
Mother Teresa didn’t become famous because she did “big” things for God. She became well-known because she was obedient each day to the specific call upon her life. She was faithful with the small acts of kindness that, once they were added up, became a monument of service to God. Her daily life was an example to so many.
Are you being faithful with the little, what some would consider “small acts of kindness”? Are you being obedient with the day-to-day activities of life? I hope so, because it is in the day-to-day life where God prepares our foundation for our purpose and ministry. It is the everyday life where miracles occur.
Christ was faithful to the Father and fulfilled His mission on earth. He models our ultimate example. Although the climatic purpose in His life was His death on the cross, it was the day-to-day obedience to the Father that brought Him to death on the cross and ultimately His resurrection. Breaking the bread, washing people’s feet, kicking stones out of the way to help pick up a woman off the road, creating some red wine for a gathering and building tables as a carpenter were not mundane activities at all. They were the extravagant pieces of a finite puzzle God was putting together. And so, it is with you.
The next time you begin to wonder how God could be glorified in a seemingly insignificant, boring day-to-day task, remember that God is building a foundation. He is putting together a wonderful puzzle where each piece of your life fits into the next, to create something more grand than your physical eyes are able see.
It is your obedience that is greater to God than any big sacrifice. Keep sowing, even in drought, for the rain will come and in due season you will reap a harvest – if you do no give up. Satan wants you to compromise and give up. He doesn’t want you to keep sowing because he knows that a harvest of blessing awaits your faithfulness.
You will learn the joyful art of contentment through tending the daily activities God has given you. Allow God to redefine for you the meaning of success and stay faithful with the little because much more is coming!
My Prayer for Today:
Father, help me to be content with the lot You have assigned me and to be faithful to the promptings of your Spirit today. I know You have a wonderful plan in place and a purpose for my life. Help me to remember to give thanks in all things and to be faithful with the little, knowing in due season I will reap a harvest of blessings if I do not give up! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Application Steps:
Look at your calendar for this week. Make a list of the seemingly small activities where you could imitate Christ’s kindness to others.
Reflection Points:
What brings me the most contentment?
Am I teaching my children to be obedient to Christ?
How can I remind myself to watch for small opportunities to represent Jesus each day?
Power Verses:
Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God who have been called according to his purpose.” (NIV)
Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (NIV)
Luke 16:10, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”(NIV)
Colossians 2:2-3, “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (NIV)
Additional Resources:
Living Life on Purpose, by Lysa TerKeurst
http://proverbs31.gospelcom.net/newresources_livingLife.htm
Radically Obedient, Radically Blessed, by Lysa TerKeurst
http://proverbs31.gospelcom.net/newresources_radicallyObedient.htm
Message of the Month
Originally published Wednesday, 29 June 2005.
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