April 30, 2015                                         WE  HAVE  COME  TO  KNOW

1 John 4:16: “And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

Have you come to know the love that God has for you?  Knowing the love that God has for us is the greatest knowledge that one could ever have. The knowledge of God’s love for us revolutionizes every aspect of our lives-it changes everything. It is not enough to know with our mind only that God loves us; but for the love of God to have its full impact on us, we must know in our spirit-in our heart- that God loves us. God loved us before we loved Him as we see in 1 John 4:10: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”  As we see in 1 John and Romans 5:5; God has poured out His love within our hearts through the Holy Spirit. One evidence of God’s love is that we love God and we love others. 1 John 4:11: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”  In fact, according to I John 4:8: “The one who does not love, does not know God, for God is love”- a sobering verse indeed.  Another evidence that we know the love of God is that we do not live in fear.  1 John 4:18: ” “There is no fear in love; but perfect love cast out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”  If and when we find that we have fear, let it be a reminder that we need to bring our attention and our focus back to the love of God. We can trust and we can rest in the love that our heavenly Father has for us even though we may not fully understand why things happen the way they do.

In our culture, the word “love” has multiple meanings. To understand the love that comes from God, we can get a clear picture of what love looks like in 1 Corinthians 13. In this chapter, we get to see in practical ways love being expressed. Just to mention a few snap shots of love from chapter 13, we see that; love motivates us to give; love is patient; without love we are nothing; love is kind; love is not jealous; love is not arrogant; love does not seek its own; love does not act unbecomingly; love does not take into account a wrong suffered; love rejoices with the truth; love bears all things; believes all things; hopes all things; endures all things; and, love never fails. We must ask ourselves if our life, our relationship to those closest to us, reflect this type of love. The good news is that having this type of love is not something we have to do in our own strength; but as we discover the great love that God has for us has been poured out in our heart, we will find ourselves expressing His love-and it will look like the love we see in chapter 13. The love of God changes us at our core, making us new, enabling us to love. It is possible for us to grieve the Spirit of God in us and thereby not live in the love God has for us. May we continually be being renewed in the love of God and may we be living expressions of His love in our day-to-day lives.

Philippians 2:3-4: “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interest, but also for the interest of others.”

1 John 4:19: “We love, because He first loved us.”

 

Blessings,

Buddy

April 27, 2015                                            IN  TIME  OF  NEED

Hebrews 4:16: “Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.”

Because we live in a fallen word-a world that does not know Christ-we will face times of need. Just yesterday an urgent email was forwarded to me requesting prayer for missionaries in or near Iraq. The city in which they are working was taken two nights ago by ISIS and children were being be-headed systematically. ISIS was just ten minutes from where the missionaries were staying. I have not heard any other news about the fate of the missionaries.  Also, just a couple days ago there were five nurses killed in a horrible car accident. I could go on to talk about a friend who recently died from cancer; and another friend who has just been diagnosed with cancer. All of us have similar stories of hurt and pain that we could share. However, Christians are unique in that we have a place to go to find help in time of need-the throne of grace. Jesus left heaven to come to earth to redeem those who would receive Him. Jesus was man and He experienced the trials of life just as we do, but without sin. In Hebrews 5:15 we read: “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” The book of Hebrews goes into great detail declaring  that Jesus is the Son of God and that God is very pleased with His Son and it reveals to us all that Jesus accomplished on our behalf. (I dare say that we do not yet clearly understand just what all Jesus did accomplish for us.) God sending His only Son, and the Son being obedient to even to death, was all done because of the great love that God-and the Son-has for His people. In verse 14-15 we read: “Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all of their lives.” As believers, we are blessed above all people to have Jesus as our high priest; a priest who sympathizes and understands first- hand what it means to live in flesh and bone. Not only does He sympathize and understand, but He comes to our aid-He invites us to His throne-to find mercy and grace to help in time of need. Again, the book of Hebrews goes to great length to convey just how much is available to us as the children of God but the truth presented needs to be revealed in our spirit. Regardless of the trials and hurts we face, we are invited to come to the throne of grace and receive help that comes from Jesus, our faithful high Priest. We are not mere humans trying to survive in life; we are children of God who have the opportunity of being overcomers in life and we are kept by the power of God. May we have a heart to discover all that Jesus, our high Priest, has done on our behalf.

Hebrews 3:1: “THEREFORE, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.”

Hebrews 7:25: “Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

Blessings,

Buddy

April 23, 2015                                         PAY  CLOSE  ATTENTION

Hebrews 2:1: “For this reason we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.”

Before Jesus came, God spoke to the fathers through the prophets in many ways according to Hebrews 1:2. Now, God has spoken to us in His Son whom He appointed heir of all things. The fact that God, the creator of the universe, sent His Son to talk to His people is, as they say-mind boggling.  This being the case, surely man would pay close attention and would cling to every word that Jesus spoke. God, being our creator, knows exactly what we need and only He knows what brings fulfillment in life. God has written the ultimate owner’s manual on how to live life. God desires that we experience full, overflowing life and Jesus is the one who holds the keys to life-a life of purpose and fulfillment.  Yet, because of the fallen nature of man, man cannot and does not in his fallen state receive the council and wisdom of God. Only as one puts his faith and trust in God; only when he is reconciled to God; can he know God and only then can he experience life as it was intended to be lived. We must not make the mistake of thinking that living the life that God has for His people is automatic. Somehow, it is possible for the believer to become dull of hearing and thus drift away from what God has spoken. The writer of Hebrews warns us about the possibility of believers drifting from all that Jesus accomplished on the cross on our behalf. There is a type of fear that is healthy and having a healthy fear of drifting from God is certainly a good kind of fear. In Hebrews 2:3 we read: “how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”  Again in Hebrews 3:13-14 we find another warning: “But encourage one another, day after day, as long as it is still called “Today”, lest anyone of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end;”  Satan’s  plans and schemes have the goal of deceiving man just as he did in the garden of Eden with his first encounter with man. God has done a wonderful work; He has called us to be His own; He has revealed Himself to us; He has made us new; He has given His Spirit to live in us; and He has made us His own. We live in a world of turmoil and we have to deal with the effects of the sin that come as a result of man rejecting God. However, we can live in peace and we can live in the light as God’s people. God extends us a wonderful invitation-He invites us to enter into His rest. Again, entering His rest is not automatic- it is possible not to enter His rest. In Hebrews 4:1-2 we read: “THERFORE, let us fear lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.” Knowing God, walking with God, and enjoying God, is an active process. Our faith is to be active. Hourly, daily we are to be “fully engaged” with what God is doing-conscious of His presence. No matter what we are doing, we find rest when we living according to His design. So, let each of us pay close attention and let us not neglect our great salvation.

1 Peter 1:3-5: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

1 Peter 1:13: “Therefore gird your mind for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Blessings,

Buddy

April 19, 2015                         EMBRACING  THE  TRIAL –KEEP  ON  REJOICING 

 1 Peter 4:12:  “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.”

I don’t know about you, but I do not like trials and conflicts-never have. In fact, most of us do our best to live a life free of conflict and trials. I think Peter is referring to the “fiery ordeals” that come because of their commitment to follow Christ. In our day and time, in America, we do not yet see a lot of suffering as the result of being Christian-if things continue on their present course, we will see an increase in suffering that takes place for following Christ. In this article I want to talk about trials, conflicts, and suffering in a broad sense. Some trials we face are of our own making; self- inflicted, a result of bad decisions, and has nothing to do with our being a Christian.   Some trials come from things beyond our control. Regardless of the origin of our trials and no matter the severity of the trials; how we face or respond to the trials and “fiery ordeals” is crucial. Every human being will have to deal with trials-some more than others it seems, so we should not be surprised when they come. We should not live life thinking that we will not have trials; we should not be surprised when they come our way.  Trials are not random events that just happen and there is a purpose behind the trials. Trials have a way of exposing our heart and they reveal our level of trust that we have in our Father-trials do indeed test us. While we do not like the trial, what we learn in the trial and how we do on the test is the good fruit that comes from the trial. Verse 13 goes on to say: “but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing so that at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.” The idea of rejoicing in suffering may sound contradictory to us, but if we understand that our suffering in some way brings glory to God, then we can rejoice. Also, if we suffer because of our faith, we will have every reason to “rejoice with exultation” when Jesus appears.  It may be minor by comparison, but we will encounter some suffering-some resistance-if we are being a witnesses in a dark world because we will come across those who reject anything and anyone connected to God. It is our place not to fear suffering, but to embrace all that our Father allows in our life-including suffering and trials. We can be assured that the trials have a purpose and we can be assured that our Father will not forsake us.

James 1:12: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.”

James 1:2-3: “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”

Psalms 34:17-18: “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Blessings,

Buddy

April 16, 2015                                                 WHY  SO  DOWNCAST?

Psalms 42:5: “Why my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”

We all know what means to be “downcast” in our soul. Feelings of despair, no hope, helplessness, emptiness, and failure go along with being downcast. Many times despair and being downcast come because of disappointment over things not turning out as we had hoped for. There are many forces at work that would cause us to be in despair and it seems that despair knocks on our door all too often. We live in a culture that seems to set the stage for despair. None of us are exempt from the effects of broken relationships, addictions, materialism, loss of moral character and integrity, crime, corruption in high places, financial pressures and conflict throughout the world. Often, feelings of despair just seem to come out of nowhere-unexplainable-with no apparent reason. David knew that putting his hope in God and praising Him was the cure for being downcast-and so it is for us. It is interesting to see that David talked to himself-this is in itself a powerful truth that would benefit us as well. David was instructing his soul to “shape-up” and put its focus back on God! David took dominion over his soul. We easily lose sight of the fact that we have the power to rein in our soul when it is being influenced by the wrong perspective.  We face those times when Mr. Downcast knocks at our door; but the key is not to open the door. If he slips in the back door, then quickly usher him out. Even though David was a man after God’s own heart, he committed some sins that had a tremendous negative impact on him and his family. David repented and God forgave him. I’m sure that David had much regret for what he had done. Also, there were other times in David’s life when he had to deal with despair that came as a result of his enemies’ desire to destroy him. Whether the despair was a result of sin, or from his enemies, David knew that he did not have to live being downcast, and by putting his hope and trust in God and by praising God, despair was defeated. Our Father made provision for us so that we do not have to live being downcast. There is no power that can over-rule the peace of God in our lives. God is the true source of purpose and direction in life and He fulfills the desires of our heart. Another door for despair to enter is that of having no vision. In God’s kingdom, there is no lack of vision if we are in tune with His purposes for our lives.  May we not allow a feeling of despair take root in our life and thereby rob us of the overflowing life that God has for us. Yes-we do face problems, challenges, difficulties, and trials on a regular basis, but we do not have to succumb to despair and our soul does not have to be downcast because we can put our hope and trust in God and we can praise Him. Try it-when you feel despair, verbally praise Him and put your trust in Him. He is there and He is ready to restore your soul.

2 Corinthians 10:5:  “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”

Colossians 3:15: “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.”

Romans 12:2: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Blessings,

Buddy                             

April 13, 2015                                           NOT  BY  SIGHT

2 Corinthians 5: 7:  “for we walk by faith, not by sight”

Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Living or walking by what we see, by what we understand, and by logic is the natural way. In fact, many would consider it foolish to live any other way. “After all, we have a mind and we are to use it to live by”-they would argue. Certainly, God gave us a wonderful mind by which we learn; but He also gives His followers the gift of faith. In a sense, the mind touches the tangible while faith touches the spiritual. We learn an amazing truth in                    2 Corinthians 4:18: “while we look not at the natural things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” This verse is the “fork in the road”, or the dividing point in that it presents two distinct platforms from which we live- either by what is temporal or by what is eternal. The tangible things- houses, cars, land, money, jobs, even people as we know them-are all temporal and will one day be no more! The things we don’t see with the eye-God, angelic beings, heavens, faith, hope, love, etc.-will never pass away! It is a giant leap for one to live his or her life based on the eternal rather than the temporal-but that is what faith is all about. So, is the tangible somehow evil? Is it wrong to own a house? Certainly not. In fact, we are to be good stewards of the tangibles that God puts in our hand and our stewardship also includes being good stewards of our mind. The point of danger is that if we are not alert spiritually, we will become focused on the temporal and our life will be guided by the temporal-those things destined to pass away.

How do we get faith and where does it come from? The faith we are talking about is not something we just muster up in our own strength. We know that God is the giver of all good things and faith is one of the things that God gives. Faith is at work when one responds to the promptings of God. Our faith can grow or increase. I believe that our faith and our knowledge of God are linked-the more we know God, the greater our faith. Knowing God starts in our heart by having a desire to know Him (God even gives the desire to know Him). As we respond to God, as we study the scriptures, as the Holy Spirit reveals truth to us, as we pray, and as we worship Him, we come to know Him on a deeper level. As our knowledge of Him increases-as we discover  just how great He is and how much He loves us-faith arises. We come to know that God encompasses all of life-there is nothing outside of His realm. This is why even the most menial task in life can be done in faith-because God is in whatever we do. When our eyes are opened to the greatness of God, our faith is at work in all we do because we know that as it says in Acts 17:28: “for in Him we live and move exist…”  There is no detail of our lives that escape His notice. God brings purpose and life to all we do when we do what we do as unto Him-when we acknowledge Him.  When we think about it; all of life is to be lived by faith in the Son of God who gave Himself that we might know Him.

Romans 14:23b: “whatever is not from faith is sin.”

Hebrews 11:6: “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

 

1 Thessalonians 5:8: “But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.”

 

Blessings,

Buddy

April 9, 2015                                          OVERCOMING  EVIL

Romans 12: 21:  “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

One evidence of being free is that of overcoming evil with good. There is a broad spectrum of evil—ranging from perhaps a wrong thought one end and something as evil as murder on the other end. Evil can be defined as that which is opposite of good. One comment I read describing evil was: “Elements that are commonly associated with evil involve unbalanced behavior involving expediency, selfishness, ignorance, or neglect.” For simplicity, let us think of evil as being that which is opposite of good. I believe that all of us face evil of some sort often. The evil we face may come from within, in the form of thoughts that are not good-that are not right; and these thoughts can lead to wrong action. We also will come face to face with evil that is from without. The evil we face may come in the form attitudes and words from others, or it may be in the form of serious crime or actions against us. When we encounter evil from without, we may have the tendency to respond with evil.  It is possible for us to have an unholy anger toward those who desire to harm us in some way, and if we do, then we are also giving way to evil.  

How we respond to the evil we encounter is crucial as our response to evil reveals what is in our heart. Jesus has the amazing power and ability to say in just a few words what we may try to say in a book. What Jesus says about dealing with evil is so “simple”, yet so profound.  Jesus’ life on earth demonstrated overcoming evil with good. Even while He was on the cross, Jesus overcame evil when He asked God to forgive the very ones that crucified Him. God, our Father, is good and He has given us a new nature whereby we may also be about good works. There are only two kingdoms-one of darkness and one of light-and we have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. Because we are light in a dark world, we should expect to encounter evil, and when we do, we have the power to overcome the evil with good. I have witnessed many times how a “good” or proper word changed the direction of what was going to be a conversation giving ground to evil. I have also witnessed how an act of kindness toward someone who had said or done something wrong, totally changed the response and the attitude of the one who was wrong. If you drive a vehicle, you have most likely experienced “road rage” in some form. It irritates me for someone to cut in front of me when I am driving-however, if I can just remember to say “God bless them”, the angry response I felt rising up dissipates.

There is a battle going on in the world-a battle of good and evil. There are those who do not know God that may do what appears to be a good work or a good deed. However, as believers, we have a super-natural power and ability to do just as Jesus said, and overcome evil with good. We do not have to fear evil or be alarmed when encounter evil. If the evil we encounter brings out a wrong response in us, then we are not living in freedom. Most of the time, the evil we face is not that of murder or crime, but comes in the form of words from those who have wrong motives or wrong responses toward us.  When we face strife, jealously, anger and discord, let us be quick to overcome evil and anything contrary to the kingdom of light.

Ephesians 6:16: “in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one.”

 

Matthew 5:44-45: “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

 

Blessings,

Buddy

April 6, 2015                                    WORDS  AND  MEDITATION

Psalms 19:14: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my rock, and my Redeemer.”

What a great prayer! This is a wonderful prayer in that it gets to the root, or foundation of our life. The words that proceed from our mouth and the meditations of our hear reflect who we are. There is nothing higher or greater than having a desire to live our life in a way that is pleasing to the Father. We can say words that we really don’t mean, but generally speaking, our words come from our heart. We know that words are powerful-they have the power to build up or tear down. Proverbs 18:21 points out the power of words: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”  Because of the power of words, we must be on guard in regards to what we speak and like the psalmist; we should desire that our words be pleasing to God. The meditations of our heart refers to the things that we think about, or meditate on, much of the time-almost habitually. Our heart has a basic mode of thought, or perspective that is dominant. This basic heart condition or perspective is the crux of our lives. If our heart is right- if the “meditations of our heart” are pleasing to the Lord- then our life will be right.

Because the heart is what “drives” us, we need to understand how to have, or how to develop a heart that produces a life that is pleasing to our Father. At salvation, God gives us a new heart, a new spirit, and a new mind. However, we must choose to walk in the Spirit-follow the leading of the Spirit-if we are to live out of our new heart. It is possible to choose not to walk after the Spirit, and in such a case, we live according to our own dictates. The new heart we get at salvation can and should be nurtured so that we grow in the Lord. We nurture the heart by reading God’s word, by obeying what He says, by giving expression to what God is saying to us, by relating to other believers in the body of Christ (the Church), by prayer and by worship. As in the verse above, we can meditate on God and His word, and all of His attributes, and on how the word of God affects our life. It is possible to meditate on how to please ourselves, to become jealous or envious, become bitter, or whatever; but to do so produces bad fruit and it is not pleasing to the Father.

We must remember that God made us, and He has made provision for us to experience life to the fullest. The unregenerate human nature is at odds with the new nature that God gives to His followers. However, even in a culture that is at odds with God, we can, out of the meditations of our new heart, speak words that build up and words that are pleasing to our Father. Let us not be overcome by the world, but let us be overcomers who live life as God designed.

Ezekiel 36:26: “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

 

Proverbs 23:7: “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

 

Blessings,

Buddy

April 2. 2015                                         YOUR  FATHER  KNOWS

Luke 12:30-32: “For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows you need these things. But seek for His Kingdom, and these things shall be added to you. Do not be afraid little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.”

What Jesus is teaching in Luke 12 cuts to the very core of what we believe and it brings to surface the “trust” issue.  Jesus is talking about the basic necessities of life-food and clothing- and in verse 22 He says to His followers: “For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on.” As Jesus said, the world is full of those who are eagerly seeking for all of these things-the basics, not trusting God. There’s no doubt that stress is an issue that many live with and often the stress is a result of having a focus on acquiring whatever it is we want. We do live in a culture that says that “more and bigger is better.” “Was Jesus really serious?”, some might ask.  “And do not seek what you shall eat, and what you shall drink, and do not keep worrying.” (verse 29) It’s clear that Jesus is calling his followers- that’s  us- to a higher plane of living-a life of trusting our Father for all that we need. Can we really live life not being “anxious” for life? Jesus says we can. This all sounds really good, but how do we do it and what does it look like? It would be absurd, but some may misinterpret what Jesus is saying and quit their job and sit on the back porch waiting on God to provide. It’s clear in scripture that man is called to work so that he may provide for his family and may be in a position to give to those who are in need. A good work ethic and being industrious is certainly in keeping with the ways of God. As mentioned above, the issue at the core of what Jesus is saying is that of trusting God for all that we need. It is very possible to put our trust in our ability to perform at our job and our strong work ethic and it’s possible to put our trust in others for our provision. (Trusting someone in and of itself is not a bad thing.) Our bedrock of trust should be in God himself. God often provides the necessities through a job, but He may provide through some other means-but He does provide. A basic view in life should be that of knowing that all good things come from God and that God, our Father, loves us and will take care of us. Human nature is that we tend to want more and bigger whatever, and this is often the source of undue stress and anxiety. We tend to put high value on acquiring and accumulating, thinking that things will make us happy. It has been said that “less is more”-so true. In contrast to our culture, God calls us to a life of contentment. Being content with what we have is a key to a life free of unhealthy stress and anxiety . It may sound contradictory, but contentment and a desire to improve or advance are not mutually exclusive.  The key to contentment is knowing that God is our Father and that He is the one who provides what we need.  Knowing in our innermost being  that God is our Father sets us free from the culture that tells us that getting more “material” things or more money, will make us happy. There is no greater freedom than knowing that our Father knows what we need and that He will gladly give us what we need. You hear the compassion that Jesus has for His followers when He says: “Do not be afraid little flock”- what comforting words. If it is our desire to know Him and if we seek His kingdom first, God has promised to give us all that we need! There is something about knowing God as Father that produces contentment. Whether we live in a one bedroom apartment or in a mansion, we can experience the contentment that comes from God.

Philippians 4:19: “And my God shall supply al your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Hebrews 13:5: “Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,’ so that we confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me.’

Blessings,

Buddy