Contentment?

(Jude 1:18) “They said to you, "In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions."

The Apostles, the forerunners of the faith have warned us of what we must be on the lookout for. This battle that we are part of is fierce and deadly and it will use whatever means it can in order to get us (God’s children) to walk in unbelief. Love will always warn us of all pressing dangers.

Judgment must begin at home, if the apostles have warned us that “in the last time,” and we are now in the year 2011, two thousand years after Jude actually penned this statement, we must conclude that the probability of scoffers being evident today is almost a banker. I must look into the mirror and ask myself am I a scoffer? Do I constantly run after my own ungodly passions? It is easy to be truthful in finding an answer to this enquiry, all I need examine is how much of my life do I lay down for others, is it all about me, or am I surrounded with an attitude of helping others in need. I will agree that we all could do more, but that is not the point. Do I serve the Lord Jesus for self gain or do I have His attitude, He laid down His life for His sheep, for if I have His Spirit then I must also bear His fruit. Can an apple tree bear thorns and thistles? In like manner a true repentant sinner will look to be more like the Lord Jesus. I also understand that we may make many mistakes along the way, of which I am chief, but there must come a time when God in His mercy begins to impart wisdom unto us in the areas we fail miserably. Wherever you may find yourself, remember you can always turn to the Lord Jesus, call out to Him and He will administer the perfect dosage of grace required. Our Father is ever wise, ever knowing and full of mercy. Repent and be free!

We can learn much from the Apostles; Paul through experience learnt to be content wherever He found Himself. (2Corinthians 12:10) “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Can we echo these words? Because our strength in Christ is found when we are confronted by calamities and the like, it is then that I am strong; it is then that I have no intellectual answer explaining my situation away, but I am dependant on the strength of the Spirit in me, to get me through the trail. Paul was not only willing to accept his position in Christ but he was content in it, are we? We should be, because when we show disgruntlement with or circumstance then we have not understood this principle. May God help us to find freedom in Him so that we will be effective members of His body, the church!

Signing off

Tyrone