DRAWING NEAR
February 17
How to Lose Your Joy
"I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am"
(Phil. 4:11).
Discontent and ingratitude will steal your joy.
True joy is God's gift to every believer, yet many Christians seem to
lack it. How can that be? Did God fail them? No. As with peace,
assurance, and other benefits of salvation, joy can be forfeited for
many reasons: willful sin, prayerlessness, fear, self-centeredness,
focusing on circumstances, and lack of forgiveness are the main
culprits.
Two of the most common joy-thieves are dissatisfaction and
ingratitude. Both are by-products of the health, wealth, and
prosperity mentality of our day. It has produced a generation of
Christians who are more dissatisfied than ever because their demands
and expectations are higher than ever. They've lost their perspective
on God's sovereignty and have therefore lost the ability to give
thanks in all things.
In marked contrast, when Jesus taught about contentment and anxiety
(Matt. 6:25-34), He spoke of food and clothing--the basic necessities
of life. But preferences, not necessities, are the issue with us.
We're into style, personal appearance, job satisfaction, earning
power, bigger homes, and newer cars. In the name of greater faith we
even demand that God supply more miracles, more wealth, and more
power.
Amid all that, Paul's words sound a refreshing note of assurance and
rebuke: "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am"
(Phil. 4:11). He made no demands on God but simply trusted in His
gracious provision. Whether he received little or much made no
difference to him. In either case he was satisfied and thankful.
Don't be victimized by the spirit of our age. See God's blessings for
what they are and continually praise Him for His goodness. In doing
so you will guard your heart from dissatisfaction and ingratitude.
More important, you will bring joy to the One who is worthy of all
praise.
Suggestions for Prayer:
Pray that the Holy Spirit will produce in you a joy and contentment
that transcends your circumstances. Make it a daily practice to thank
God for specific blessings and trials, knowing that He uses both to
perfect His will in you.
For Further Study:
Read 1 Kings 18:1-19:8.
How did Elijah deal with the false prophets of Baal? How did he deal
with Jezebel's threat? What caused Elijah's shift from a spiritual
high to a spiritual low?
Drawing Near, Copyright 1993 John F. MacArthur, Jr.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
http://www.gty.org
~~~
Matthew 6:25-34 (NKJV)
25 Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you
will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will
put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor
gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not
of more value than they?
27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28 So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the
field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;
29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these.
30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and
tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O
you of little faith?
31 Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What
shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly
Father knows that you need all these things.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all
these things shall be added to you.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
1 Kings 18:1-19:8
1 And it came to pass after many days that the word of the LORD came
to Elijah, in the third year, saying, "Go, present yourself to Ahab,
and I will send rain on the earth."
2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab; and there was a severe
famine in Samaria.
3 And Ahab had called Obadiah, who was in charge of his house. (Now
Obadiah feared the LORD greatly.
4 For so it was, while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the LORD,
that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to
a cave, and had fed them with bread and water.)
5 And Ahab had said to Obadiah, "Go into the land to all the springs
of water and to all the brooks; perhaps we may find grass to keep the
horses and mules alive, so that we will not have to kill any
livestock.
6 So they divided the land between them to explore it; Ahab went one
way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
7 Now as Obadiah was on his way, suddenly Elijah met him; and he
recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, "Is that you, my lord
Elijah?"
8 And he answered him, "It is I. Go, tell your master, 'Elijah is
here.'"
9 So he said, "How have I sinned, that you are delivering your
servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me?
10 "As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where
my master has not sent someone to hunt for you; and when they said,
'He is not here,' he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that
they could not find you.
11 "And now you say, 'Go, tell your master, "Elijah is here"'!
12 "And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that
the Spirit of the LORD will carry you to a place I do not know; so
when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But
I your servant have feared the LORD from my youth.
13 "Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed
the prophets of the LORD, how I hid one hundred men of the Lord's
prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water?
14 "And now you say, 'Go, tell your master, "Elijah is here." ' He
will kill me!"
15 Then Elijah said, "As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I
stand, I will surely present myself to him today."
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet
Elijah.
17 Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him,
"Is that you, O troubler of Israel?"
18 And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your
father's house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of
the LORD and have followed the Baals.
19 "Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel,
the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred
prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."
20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the
prophets together on Mount Carmel.
21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, "How long will you
falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if
Baal, follow him." But the people answered him not a word.
22 Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of the
LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
23 "Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one
bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but
put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it
on the wood, but put no fire under it.
24 "Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the
name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire, He is God." So all
the people answered and said, "It is well spoken."
25 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for
yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the
name of your god, but put no fire under it."
26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it,
and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying,
"O Baal, hear us!" But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they
leaped about the altar which they had made.
27 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Cry
aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he
is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened."
28 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom,
with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.
29 And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the
offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one
answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the
people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that
was broken down.
31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the
tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come,
saying, "Israel shall be your name."
32 Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD;
and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs
of seed.
33 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it
on the wood, and said, "Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it
on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood."
34 Then he said, "Do it a second time," and they did it a second
time; and he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third
time.
35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the
trench with water.
36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening
sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "LORD God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God
in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these
things at Your word.
37 "Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are
the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You
again."
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice,
and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water
that was in the trench.
39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and
they said, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!"
40 And Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let
one of them escape!" So they seized them; and Elijah brought them
down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.
41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the
sound of abundance of rain."
42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top
of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between
his knees,
43 and said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he
went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And seven times he
said, "Go again."
44 Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, "There is a
cloud, as small as a man's hand, rising out of the sea!" So he said,
"Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot, and go down before the
rain stops you.'"
45 Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with
clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and
went to Jezreel.
46 Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his
loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
19:1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had
executed all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So let the gods
do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of
one of them by tomorrow about this time."
3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to
Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came
and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and
said, "It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than
my fathers!"
5 Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel
touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat."
6 Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals,
and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again.
7 And the angel of the LORD came back the second time, and touched
him, and said, "Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for
you."
8 So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of
that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain
of God.
~~~
These devotions are posted with permission from John MacArthur's
first (1993) devotional work, _Drawing Near_, and they are also sent
out daily for free to several folks via e-mail.
In addition, John's second (1997) devotional, _Strength for Today_,
is also available free via e-mail only. _Strength for Today_ follows
the same format as what you have seen here from _Drawing Near_, but
with different monthly themes.
If you would like to receive daily devotions via e-mail from either
of these series, just let me know (via e-mail), and I will gladly add
you to the list(s) of your choice.
You can hear John MacArthur daily via the Internet by visiting:
http://www2.oneplace.com/Ministries/Grace_to_You/
and
http://www.gty.org.uk/
You may email John MacArthur in care of Grace to You at:
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NOTE for those of you reading via newsgroups: If you wish to reach
me, please contact me via e-mail for quickest results.
In Christ,
Peter
Peter G. Chase :: Columbus, Ohio, USA
pchase1@wideopenwest.com
http://www.gty.org/Gospel/
http://www.nwbible.org/
To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and to discover that the prisoner was you. -Alistair Begg
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