Contentment

"But godliness with contentment is great gain."  

~1 Timothy 6:6

There is a contentment out there that only comes from God.  This expression of contentment comes when we live in the reality that Jesus is enough, when we live in peaceful union with Him.  Godliness and contentment go hand in hand, because being like God means being with God.  And being with God is always enough!

Contentment is knowing that there is always something to be thankful for.  There are so many precious promises that God has made known to us.  We may not know the future, we may only see in part (1 Cor. 13:12), but we do know that the word of Yahweh stands forever (Isaiah 40:8).  

"He will cover you with His feathers; you will take refuge under His wings. His faithfulness will be a protective shield."          ~Psalm 91:4

It's worth being knit to God.  It's worth constantly feeling His peace, His presence.  He's the Comforter, and He makes everything easier.  He makes it easy for us to draw near and experience Him.  He makes it easy to feel safe and secure.  

We were made to crave this sense of togetherness, where the Holy Spirit has hemmed us in on every side (Psalms 139:5).  We were created to feel swaddled!  This is what our Heavenly Father wants us to want.  He wants us to experience true security.     

Contentment is eternal life, and eternal life is to know Yahshua (John 17:3), to enjoy His protection. He'll give you just as much joy as you want, and He'll give you peace along with it.    

You are on the ancient path (Jer. 6:16); you have arrived in the promised land (Hebrews 4:9); you were known since before the world began (2 Tim 1:9).  Isn't that wonderful?  Enjoy it today.  

The Joy of Yahweh

"His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’"    ~Matthew 25:23

We all know that this verse relates to our graduation to Heaven.  But like many verses in the Bible, this one can be taken both literally and symbolically, naturally and spiritually, personally and corporately.  God often inserts two meanings into what He says (Psalm 62:11).

See, we can enter into the joy of our Master know!  We may only experience a small measure of the joys of Heaven, but we can still experience Heaven on earth today.  And that's a prerequisite to our calling here and now.

"This day is holy to our Elohim. Do not grieve, for the joy of Yahweh is your strength."    

~Nehemiah 8:10

Living in Joy makes everything easier.  Hope gives us joy, and joy gives us strength from God!  I believe that the power of the Spirit actually gives tangible, physical strength and health.  There was a period of time last year where I was not eating a nutrient dense diet.  And every morning, when I went for a walk and sang to God, my legs became uncontrollably itchy.  They would tingle all over. I'd experienced that before--as a cyclist taking high-dose vitamin B tablets.  God was restoring my vitamins and minerals, and I felt it!  All this was possible because I made the effort of believing to enter His Joy.

Forgiveness, repentance, boldness--it's all made easier by joy.  If we have joy, our attempts to do things for God become a lot easier and a lot more fruitful.  Joy is restful because it increases our confidence in our Heavenly Father.

If we are in a state of really believing, then joy will be evident.  Remember that Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, because the Spirit convicts us of belief (John 16:8).  If we believe, then any thought about Jesus, any thought about His sacrifice, any thought about His plans for us will bring us joy! The reality of living in God has to become greater than anything else, so His Joy can our be our joy and His contentment our contentment.


What was the joy that Jesus had? Joy should not be confused with happiness. In fact, it is an insult to Jesus Christ to use the word happiness in connection with Him. The joy of Jesus was His absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice to His Father— the joy of doing that which the Father sent Him to do— “…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross…” (Hebrews 12:2). “I delight to do Your will, O my God…” (Psalm 40:8). Jesus prayed that our joy might continue fulfilling itself until it becomes the same joy as His. Have I allowed Jesus Christ to introduce His joy to me?

~Oswald Chambers

In Yahweh's Presence is Fullness of Joy

"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."                       Psalm 16:11

From the moment we've first believed, we've became aware of the presence of the Lord.  We're always in His presence.  We're always belonging in Him.  So why don't we always feel joyful?

It's because of our unbelief.  See, Jesus needs to be real to us right now, in 2 minutes, in 2 hours, and in 2 days.  He needs to be continually sanctified in our hearts (1 Peter 3:15)--continually adored.

Our work and our choice is to believe in Jesus (John 6:29).

Constant joy is real--it's not too good to be true!  We as believers accept the gospel, so we should also accept every piece of 'good news' that flows from it.

We can't give ourselves God's joy, but we can yield to it.  We can yield to the cleansing truth of the word.  We can yield to the hope of glory.  We can yield to the love of the Holy Spirit, and be joyful no matter what.

Peace Produces Good Fruit

"Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace."                        Psalm 37:37

When we have peace, we have a foundation.  When we are at peace, we realize that our foundation is in Christ! And when we are rooted and grounded in Him, blessings and fruitfulness flow:

Peace produces prosperity (3 John 1:2)

Peace produces health (Jeremiah 33:6)

Peace produces joy (Romans 15:13)

Peace produces good fruit.  Why?  Because the fruit of the Spirit is love (Galatians 5:22).  And if we have love, then we won't have fear or anxiety (1 John 4:18).  If we don't have fear or anxiety, then we will be open to receive from God His peace.

Peace is a force and a flow, and it carries us onwards into the future.  Peace establishes us in the spiritual world as a force of God that cannot be shaken.  He Himself is our peace (Ephesians 2:14), and He himself makes our path perfect (2 Samuel 22:33)!

And we have peace by relaxing in the Lord.  We have peace by focusing on God.  We have peace by reading and resting in His promises.  When the word becomes flesh, that's when we have peace (John 1:14). And that happened over 2,000 years ago!  So we just need to realize this, and then apply it to our own lives.  When we experience the Spirit of Jesus for ourselves, then we will find a peace that lasts.

Snapshot: Everything Beautiful in It's Time

For a few months now, I've been struggling through some things.  Emotional problems, hope deferred, etc.  And throughout it all, God was so good to have the Spirit replaying to me again and again: "I am making everything beautiful in it's time."  This verse must have been with me for two months now.

With God, the future is always bright.  Thanks to Jesus  we always have hope.  He knows where to take us.  He knows were we're going.  And He is faithful to take us to paradise.  He can be depended on to see our lives carried through til completion (Philippians 1:6).

Then, on the 5th, the  Lord guided me to Ecclesiastes 3, as seen below.  That really touched me.  Hey, there's a promise clearly fulfilled!

...a time to weep and a time to laugh,

    a time to mourn and a time to dance,

  a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

    a time to search and a time to give up,

    a time to keep and a time to throw away,

  a time to tear and a time to mend,

    a time to be silent and a time to speak,

   a time to love and a time to hate,

    a time for war and a time for peace.

What do workers gain from their toil?  I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.  He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.  I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.  That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.


He is making everything beautiful in it's time.  He has started a new season in our lives. Since God's fulfillment in leading me to this verse, things have started to change in Vanessa's and my life.  We've felt a burden come off.  We've been taken into the freedom of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:17).  God has calmed us and led us into bliss and rest.  He's also taken us higher and increased  the quality of our private time with Him.  Like I said , we're going to the mountaintop!

So if you're struggling right now, be strong and take heart.  Hold on to the promises.  Go back to a time when the only thing you had was a firm foundation in God.   Remember that God's Word is faithful.

"God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?"  Numbers 23:19

In the meantime, stay strong.  Remember that Joseph spent 14 years struggling through hardships before the dream God had given him was fulfilled.  The Word of God, the promises of God, tested him in the meantime (Psalms 105:19).  But  God is so faithful.  He will not tempt nor test you beyond what you can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13).  So put your hope in Him!  There's been a time for weeping, but no longer.  Now is the time to trade your mourning in for gladness.  Now is the time to see fulfilled promise.  Now is the time that the Lord is releasing gifts and fulfilling past hopes.  He is making everything beautiful in it's time.

Confirmed:  Recently Johnny Enlow sent out a word for 2015--"Four Winds: Worship, Wisdom, Wealth, and Wonder".  Below is a short excerpt, in italics:


"God is telling His great story through us, and as we connect to His Kingdom narrative (i.e. seek first the Kingdom of God), it allows Him to rescue and restore our personal story. If your personal story is a mess and seemingly impossible to make beautiful, give yourself to Him as never before and you will find yourself receiving His winds of wonder that will leave you overwhelmed by His goodness.

Everything and everyone who remains in His hands becomes beautiful – in its time. He has promised all who receive Him a great eternal storybook-ending of eternal life in Heaven, but He is also looking to showcase His goodness to us here in the land of the living. As David said, "I would have fainted if I didn't believe I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living" (see Psalm 27:13)."

New Year, New You: Become a Servant

What is the second thing God directed me to for the New year?  Let's consider how important it is to be a servant.  Are you willing?  Jesus was.

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  Mark 10:45

Even our master became a servant.   Even He became a friend of the unpopular and lowly.  Do you want to be like Him?  Jesus, build our Love.  To be a servant and do so joyfully, we need to have His Love.  We need to have it lit up within us.  We need to have it light us up.

Once we focus on Him, we have fulfilled the first five commandments.  We have loved Him with everything!  So let's allow Him to take us further.  Let's love our neighbor as ourselves.  Let's become servants.

When Jesus saw people in need and oppressed, He was moved with compassion.  We need to be the same way.  Our desires need to be spent on God, and then on giving Him to others.  Jesus said, "feed my sheep".  Do you love Him?  Then bear fruit and obey Him.  Let's all feed His sheep (John 21:17).

God wants to save His people from any evils, and He wants to bless them forever (Psalms 28:9).  Will you join Him in the work that He's given Himself since before time?  He will accomplish His purposes regardless.  Don't you want to partner with Him? It takes loving and being loved to truly serve.  But these love exchanges testify to our true identities--as the sons and daughters of God.  Let's serve accordingly.

God wants to give you His passions.  Jesus is the most passionate One in the universe.  He has more than enough passion for you, and He has more than enough passion to give you.  Allow it to compel you.  Allow it to give you humility.  Allow His love to give you unconditional thankfulness.  Allow serving others for His purposes to become pure joy.  

Snapshot: Victory

Recently I've heard a lot about victory.  This is what Jesus has earned for us...this is our inheritance in Him.  Victory is knowing that Jesus is Lord and King, and knowing that you have justification with Him.  Victory is being close enough to Him to know that all is well, drawn near enough to know that His Love remains.  Victory is total satisfaction, and it leaves us wanting nothing more than to remain with Him.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want"  Psalm 23:1

All we can do to have victory is to melt before Jesus.  All we can do is offer ourselves up and let Him carry us there.  God is taking us to victory.  Draw near to Him, draw closer, and He will take you there.  Blessed Victory.  Don't be satisfied with the past, the present, or your future.  Only desire closeness to Him.  You can have it right now.  You can be moved to tears of joy right now.  You can have a revelation of His Love right now.  So understand that He's saved you with an otherworldly Love, and put your hope in Him.

"Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore."  Psalm 131:3

We are spiritual Israel.  Glory to God!  Let's be taken to that place where we can be with Him.  He will take us there, and make us more like Him.  He is faithful to draw us near, and He is faithful to give us a hope that will not fade.  Come near to Him and believe in the Victory.  Believe that Jesus is still on the throne.  Look to Him, and hope that His deliverance is here.

Snapshot: Poured Out

A few days ago I saw a vision where there were glasses with wine in them.  One was wide, like a standard glass for water or juice, whereas the other was an actual wine glass.  The regular one stayed filled continually, while the wine glass was being poured out again and again.  This wine glass would pour out, then refill, then pour out, then refill, again and again and again.  Keep in mind, both glasses were filled with wine.

I was given understanding that the wider glass represented my communing time alone with God.  And the wine glass was meant to be poured out and spent on behalf of others.  The source of all this wine was the shorter, wider glass--time alone in God's presence, in prayer and in praise.  Through this communion, supernatural refill of the wine glass was made possible.  How important it is to become filled up with God!  This is the key to our sustenance, and it is the only thing that makes service for others effective and possible.

"But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you."  Phillippians 2:17

Paul was poured out again and again in service to others.  But he didn't get tired or burnt out.  He didn't lose his faith.  No, He communed with God, was filled with the Spirit, and put to use the gift that keeps on giving.  He was glad and rejoicing, even when tested with the burdens of others.

God has more than enough.  If He's called you to people, He will give you the strength and Love to sustain them.  If He has not, that means He is waiting for you to accept Him prior to receiving a specific call.  He will give you every good gift that is needed to advance His Kingdom.  It is a joy to be filled with His Spirit, filled with new wine, and it is a joy to have that gift then being given to many others.

He has called us to righteousness.  He has taken our hand.  He will keep us (Isaiah 42:6 and following).  IF we run to Him, He will fill us with the Spirit.  If we commune with Him, He is faithful to meet us where we're at.  And when He does this, He will give us an overflow for sharing with others.