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“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Philippians 4:12 (NIV) 

This passage of scripture is written by a prisoner and an apostle of Jesus Christ.  Paul had learned a secret that each and every Christian ought to grasp; the secret of being content in any and every situation of life.  Consider being in a cold dark prison cell for a moment.  The comforts of home are not provided nor are the home cooked meals, nor the nice cozy bed that you used to sleep in…it’s all gone.  You are locked in a cell of stone and metal where rats are constantly running over you and the floor is your only resting place.  This image of being in prison isn’t a glorious one.  It is stark, threatening and claustrophobic…how can Paul even proclaim to being content while locked away in a prison cell?

Contentment ultimately isn’t found in our surroundings or comforts.  Sure at times we sit back and sigh and take in the moments of relaxation or familial enjoyments but eventually our contentment will evaporate.  True lasting contentment isn’t found in things, people or places.  We may experience momentary contentment but eventually our hearts, minds and bodies require more.

So how do we find, as Paul once did in a prison cell, this “secret of being content in any and every situation“?  How does that happen?  Is there a secret phrase we have to utter and then “poof” we are content?  Is there some formula by which we consume in order to find contentment?  The answer to both of those questions is “no”.  There is nothing physical that we can do in order to achieve a lasting presence of contentment within us.  You see, all of our efforts, which are man made, come from our own human portions of strength and wisdom.  Our attempts to remain content are of our own making.  These are external by design.  For example, if we grow tired of our morning routine we might shake things up a little bit by taking a different route to work or formulate a different pattern of getting our children ready for school…these are externally our choices and strengths at play.  We make the notion and we follow through with it in our own strength, thereby finding a jolt of contentment within old boring routines of life.

But there is another, better way to find complete and lasting contentment that I believe the Apostle Paul is talking about in this portion of Philippians.  The secret to lasting contentment isn’t found in the external designs which are propelled by our own power and fortitude, the lasting contentment is found internally.  Let me clarify though because this internal contentment isn’t an original part of our human DNA (that is post-fall of man).  At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us.  He prompts us, strengths us, gives us this hunger to learn more about Him.  This indwelling of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to become Holy people of God.  Without this internal indwelling we cannot hold onto this grace that has been given to us through Jesus Christ.

Finding contentment is found in finding our source and hope of salvation.  Once found, we feast on Him, we savor His fellowship, we thrive on His unending love and mercy and it becomes our focal point instead of the current location of our earthly bodies.  This doesn’t mean that we neglect our earthly responsibilities or ignore our bodies but it does mean that our priorities and our perception of life becomes broader as the Holy Spirit stretches and renew us daily in our fellowship with Him.  I believe Paul found this to be true.  I believe that as His relationship with the Holy Spirit grew and he understood that it didn’t matter any longer if he had all of the comforts of life or none of them.  It didn’t matter any longer if he achieved a certain portion of status in life.  Those human achievements became an after thought as God’s Holy mission on his life took over and propelled to share and further Christ’s story.  Paul understood that no matter where people placed him or where he was imprisoned God would use Him to share this vital message to the world!

Are you in a place right now that feels like a prison?  Are you finding that your human contentment has run thin or has now completely evaporated?  We can run from one thing to another chasing these fickle moments of contentment through job titles and achievements, but eventually we will find that none of it makes us happy any longer.  We could keep running from place to place, from job to job, or we could allow the Holy Spirit to administer within us His Holy presence of contentment.  By doing so we shift our focal point from human achievements and prestige to God’s perspectives which are always fulfilling.  The journey to Holy contentment begins through discipline of the body soul and mind.  This isn’t some kind of new age mumbo-jumbo, but rather a better way, a holy way that will lead us to contentment no matter where we are placed or end up.

Are you in need of contentment?  Ask the Lord, begin there…feast on Him daily and slowly you will begin to find His perspectives and vision bringing a contentment like you’ve never experienced before.

I’m reminded of a chorus in closing:

Where He leads me, I will follow
Where He leads me, I will follow
Where He leads me, I will follow
I’ll go with Him, with Him all the way

Find real lasting contentment today!

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Before my day (a Poem)

In the waning hours before the sunrise

when soft light wisps through curtained window panes

and before the sounds of busy lives begin again

I renew my conversation with my God.

In blankets wrapped and pillow propped

before these feet place themselves into gravity

and as my eyes have yet to batten a lash in focus

I find again my deep connection with my God.

And in my counting of as many breaths

these lungs are filled with countless blessings

all my hopes and needs begin and end

with these early morning times of confessions.

So, dear Lord before I begin

and the world with all of its chaos ensues

allow me one more moment here with You

let me linger but for another and then…

come with me into the fray.

-Amen.

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A “Knock-off” or the Real Deal?

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A few years ago I purchased an electronic device that I thought was comparable to the electronic standard held by another brand.  It was cheaper and I admit that this was my original motivation in purchasing the device.  I thought I had made a good deal by going cheaper…but I was sorely wrong.  It looked quite similar to the more expensive quite famous counterpart…but upon studying the “specs” which were the inner workings or the hardware, I discovered that though it looked the part it was just a cheap “knock-off” that barely performed the way that I expected it to.  I was thoroughly disappointed and eventually I discarded my “knock-off” and spent a little more for the real deal.

1 John 3:18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Few sentences in all the world strike at our hearts like this sentence from 1 John.  Mimicking Jesus’ own “new” commandment (John 13:34-35), John reminds us all that we are called to this holy purpose here on earth.  Dare I say that this world is already full of hell and pain, hatred and heartache…how better to display the Light of Christ to a darkened world than to love.  But John doesn’t merely remind us to love with our words and with how we speak to people around us.  That would be far too easy and a shallow, cheapened “knock-off” of Christ-likeness.

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Phony Christians:

No one likes cheap stuff if they can afford the real deal.  If we had the resources to have the original in our hands, to own it and enjoy it, we would never settle for a cheap “knock-off” copy!  The world knows a thing or two about phoniness.  There are far too many people in our world today who have experienced deceit and cons of every kind.  They can spot the phony Christian a mile away.  The kind of “Christian” who only pretends to love but is just as absorbed in their own little world as a non-Christian person.  The pretend Christian won’t fool anyone for too long, because when it comes time for the rubber to meet the road, for faith to be put into action, the phonies will scatter and disappear at the moment of greatest need.  The world does not need any more phonies, let alone phony Christians who are just artificial, cheap “knock-offs” of the real deal.

Newly Minted Originals:

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This is not meant to discourage you dear fellow Christ-follower, this is just a warning to both you and me.  Without real tangible evidence of love bedded deep within our actions towards others, we run the risk of becoming just another cheap “Knock-off”.  Don’t let your faith become jaded.  Don’t allow skepticism and judgement to taint your walk with the Lord.  There is a very real spiritual war going on; we know the final outcome, yet Satan and his minions would like nothing more than to dissuade you as a Christ-follower and discourage you in your faith so that you only resemble what you once were.  Don’t be swayed but how others treat you.  Don’t become discouraged when you feel as if you’re the only Christian left standing.  We are newly minted originals if we allow Christ’s love to permeate our faith in action.  It does nothing to simply say the right things or speak these solid truths unless it is backed up by our actions as well.  Those who are still lost cannot simply to Christ by sweet words and kind thoughts…they need real hands to show them the way.  They need real feet to walk beside them.  They need a shoulder to cry on when life has stripped them of their pride and possessions.  They need you and me to go to them and not to wait in our halls or churches for them to come to us (which will never happen).

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let your love be seen from your heart to your hands!  Let your faith propel you into action.  Be bold, take risks, and discard the temptation to become just another cheap “knock-off” for Christ.

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An Idle Saturday Morning.

I am laying in bed listening to the sounds of the wailing wind through a half cracked bedroom window. The swirl of rotting leaves, a cacophony of sound merrily at a play in the frosty yard below. I have no where to go on this cold November morning. No plans to keep, or commitments to make…yet I am restless. I once heard that idle hands are the devil’s play ground, but on this morning encompassed by a gale of fury with winter knocking, I am all but content in remaining absolutely still.

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Reminder: Thanksgiving Creative Arts Competition

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Here’s just another reminder about a fun competition that I would like to begin here on my blog. This is our first annual (with more to come I hope) creative arts competition.

Criteria is listed below:

 

Hey fellow writers and avid readers! I would like to announce a writing competition that I would like to conduct right here on this blog site: http://www.scottstrissel.wordpress.com
I am looking for your entry submissions for the following categories:

Photographs:
Submissions to this category MUST be your own work and not cut and pasted from someone else! These photographs should represent elements of “Thanksgiving” not just the holiday but the emotion, family, Christ, Salvation, our spiritual journey. Please limit your photo entries to five photos.

Poetry
Submissions to this category MUST be your own work and not cut and pasted from someone else!
Again the topic is Thanksgiving and as mentioned above should include some of these thematic elements. Please utilize a total of 750 words, less is fine , but no more that 750 words.

Prose (Story form or article format):
Submissions to this category MUST be your own work and not cut and pasted from someone else!
Again the topic is Thanksgiving and as mentioned above should include some of these thematic elements. Please utilize a total of 800 words, less is fine but more will be rejected.

Winners:
Of each category will be announced on November 29th (the day after U.S. Thanksgiving, AKA Black Friday)
The winners will be post here on this blog site and will receive a bag of Starbucks Coffee (hey I wish I had cash prizes to give you but I’m a broke Pastor with four kids to feed).
I will accept international submissions and if chosen I will post your submission here, but I WILL NOT be able to mail you coffee (sorry).

DUE DATE OF SUBMISSIONS:
November 23rd, 2013 by NOON CST (US central standard time)

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY:
Please submit your entry to: scottstrissel@yahoo.com
Please, also label it on your e-mail “Thanksgiving Writing Competition”

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I’ll Fight!

 

In the years that I have lived, loved and groaned

I have never known the hunger pangs of children

I have never witnessed a child dying from the curable

because resources and money was lacking.

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I have never found pleasure in a single morsel of rice

because this was all I would eat in a week.

I have never been witness to the slaughter of my parents

because they believed in Jesus.

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I have never had to watch as my brothers and sisters

were sold into slavery on the human trafficking market,

loaded up in boxed trucks by the dozens like animals

heading to market…

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Yet I know it exists.

I know that many still today find grace in one ray of sunshine

in the midst of hell and fury of hate.

I know children go hungry as militant leaders steal

their wealth and resources and make child soldiers out of them.

I know Aids has killed and will kill entire generations in Africa

leaving orphans in its wake.

I know human slavery hasn’t been eradicated

but is extricating the innocent still to a shortened life of horror.

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I know.

But how can we end this?

How can we bring food to the hungry,

safety to the threatened

and cures to the dying?

My heart yearns to help.

My heart groans to give aid.

I want to fight this.

I want to stand in the gap for those who cannon for themselves.

I want to bring the light of Christ into darkened places.

To be a place of safe harbor to the lives clinging to death.

Lord how?

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How can we fight this?

How can we go?

How can we soldier on?

How do we shine when all we want to do cry and weep over

the evils of man?

This fight must begin and end with You!

Your strength.

Your peace.

Your discernment.

Your empowering arms of love.

Father, we cry out to You in a world

sin sick and broken.

Be our salve.

Be our shield.

Our fortress.

Our deliverance.

Our Victory.

I’ll fight!

I’ll fight on!

I’ll fight on into your victory!

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Lord I forgot about You! (A Poem and Prayer)

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Life is marred by many things

and busy schedules 

with phones that ring 

and Lord I confess I forget You. 

 

When worries increase

and time flies by

my space all leased

I am left wondering why…

why have I forgotten You?  

 

These fears flood in 

and hope leaks out

under-sieged by sin 

and I’m without 

why have I forgotten You?  

 

Until on my knees I must bend

In prayer and solitude again 

to reconnect with the Eternal friend

this is how is begins and ends.  

 

 

 

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“Choose God”

1 Samuel 8:6-9 (NIV)
But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.
And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.  As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.  Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”

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God’s heart must have ached in hearing the pleas of His people.  They demanded a king.  They looked around at the other nations and coveted what they had.  God had provided them food and protection in a barren land during the exodus, and He had provided them lands to call their own, but still they strayed from Him.  Still they wanted more.  Enemies were vanquished before His people, provisions were met and yet they took it all for granted.  

When they cried out for a king in the setting sun of Samuel’s leadership, God reminded him that it was aimed at the Almighty.  “It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.”  (1 Samuel 8:7)  Imagine for a moment giving up the One who was their fortress of protection.  Imagine saying to God, your wealth, though it outnumbers the stars in the sky, is not enough for me…we want something else.  God had poured out His love upon His people and they had rejected it again and again.  

If there was ever a governmental system in this world that could stand the test of time it was and still is God’s model.  No other form of government has ever before or ever will prove more pure and selfless than His.  No other form of democracy will ever remain without being tainted by man’s selfish ambitions for power, prestige and wealth.  Yet His people chose a lower form of government because other nation’s systems looked more appealing.  The lure of other gods and openly degenerate moralistic standards appealed to the people of God.  How awful Samuel, God’s prophet must have felt.  How hurt and heartsick with grief Samuel must have been.  

Have you ever felt the sting of rejection?  I have a time or two.  It is an emotion that without a doubt begs never to be repeated in the human heart.  Though this went much deeper than a single person being rejected, God was rejected by the entirety of His chosen people!  They turned their backs on Him.  They decided that He couldn’t support their needs any longer and so a king would better suit their pleasures.  

I imagine through pain, disdain and hurt God tells Samuel to give the people what they want.  But He also warns Samuel to tell them what the results will be of their betrayal and choice.   “Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.” (1 Samuel 8:9) The idea of a king was far more appealing to the people of God than actually considering the consequences of their choice.  The king would reign over them, not like a loving, understanding and all knowing God, but like a man driven by selfish intentions and sin this would be how they would be ruled over.  

God allowed them to choose.  We are a created with this free-will within us.  We are not compelled or forced to love and serve God.  Yet when we choose to reject Him and His hand upon our lives we soon find that in our folly the devastating consequences of life without Him!  I am not advocating for one form of government over another today, nor am I renouncing any leadership within our government (Scripture clearly says: “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” (1 Peter 2:13-17))  But what I am saying is this; above everything choose Him.  Don’t turn from the One who created us and has preserved our lives.  Choose God.  Serve Him, love Him and make Him Lord of your life above and before all else.  

-Just a thought for today.

 

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Dear Micromanagers, you can’t micromanage God!

Walking down the street this morning, I was cold. With scarf wrapped around my neck and coat zipped as high as it would go, I walked to my destination, which was just at the end of the block. I almost missed it. It was purple in color…kind of hard to miss, and yet in my rush to get on with my busy schedule, I nearly missed a message seemingly intended for me.

Cars roared by, billowing out smoke and steam into the frosty air. School buses, full of students bemoaning the early mornings with backpacks full of homework yet uneaten by the dog, passed me by on their way to buildings of education near by. It wasn’t far now, my destination, just mere feet…then I paused.

There before me, printed on a stark concrete slab were words that I needed to see. In purple were the words, “Don’t take life so seriously”. In my whirl-wind day, as weeks would soon be upon me that would pull me in every which way, I needed those words. They spoke to me. They didn’t say to me “just ignore the priorities of life”, or “stop being responsible”…but instead those words rang out in my heart and shook me awake to the notion that I am not nor can I ever take the place of God in my life. I do have responsibilities and to quote Robert Frost “promises to keep”, yet I cannot control the outcome of this life and that of others around me.

I can be diligent and faithful as a Christ-follower, but there will be times where, though I can’t see the future I must willingly step forward and trust my Christ that He truly knows the way. This is extremely frightening to me…not to maintain that control on my life, but I’m positive that I am not the only one.

We all take life too seriously in the ways we conduct ourselves and in how we try to control all of the possible outcomes in this life. We try to micromanage this faith and we ignorantly try to tell God how things ought to be and in so doing we fail horribly in our attempts to play God.

What have you been trying to control in your life that ought to be placed under God’s authority? We need to stop taking control and being so serious that we fail to allow God to lead! Stop and allow Him to lead even though it might uncomfortable to let go…we will be better for it in the long and Eternal road.

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Dear Micromanagers, you can’t micromanage God!

Walking down the street this morning, I was cold. With scarf wrapped around my neck and coat zipped as high as it would go, I walked to my destination, which was just at the end of the block. I almost missed it. It was purple in color…kind of hard to miss, and yet in my rush to get on with my busy schedule, I nearly missed a message seemingly intended for me.

Cars roared by, billowing out smoke and steam into the frosty air. School buses, full of students bemoaning the early mornings with backpacks full of homework yet uneaten by the dog, passed me by on their way to buildings of education near by. It wasn’t far now, my destination, just mere feet…then I paused.

There before me, printed on a stark concrete slab were words that I needed to see. In purple were the words, “Don’t take life so seriously”. In my whirl wind day, as weeks would soon be upon me that would pull me in every which way, I needed those words. They spoke to me. They didn’t say to me “just ignore the priorities of life”, or “stop being responsible”…but instead those words rang out in my heart ad shook me awake to the notion that I am not nor can I ever take the place of God in my life. I do have responsibilities and to quote Robert Frost “promises to keep”, yet I cannot control the outcome of this life and that of others around me.

I can be diligent and faithful as a Christ-follower, but there will be times where, those I can’t see the future I must willingly step forward and trust my Christ that He truly knows the way. This is extremely frightening to me…not to maintain that control on my life, but I’m positive that I am not the only one.

We all take life too seriously in the ways we conduct ourselves and in our we try to control all of the possible outcomes in this life. We try to micromanage this faith and we ignorantly try to tell God how things ought to be and in so doing we fail horribly in our attempts to play God.

What have you been trying to control in your life that ought to be placed under God’s authority? We need to stop taking control and being so serious that we fail to allow God to lead! Stop and allow Him to lead even though it might uncomfortable to let go…we will be better for it in the long and Eternal road.

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