CCW Podcast

The Psalmist writes,"The commands of The Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes." The fact that you believe in God is wonderful. But here's something equally wonderful, God believes in you! Instead of looking at your present situation and thinking,"I guess my life's as good as it's ever going to get," start asking, "Lord, what do you have in mind for me?"

If You let it, life can beat you down and make you feel low, lost, lacking, and limited in ability and potential. And if you act on these feelings and thoughts, instead of what God says about you in His word, you'll never move forward and fulfill what God put you on this earth to do. You say "but God has not told me what He wants me to do!" Maybe that's because you have never asked Him. We have not because we ask not (James 4:2). God gives direction to those who have seeking hearts, prepared hearts, faith-filled hearts, and obedient hearts. Here's a profile of the kind of person God gives direction and purpose to. "His delight is in the law of The Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night, and whatever he does prospers"(Psalm 1:2-3).

Contentment is a highly prized, but elusive virtue. Though it comes only from being rightly related to God and trusting His loving, purposeful, sovereign, providence. People nevertheless seek it where it is not found - in money, possessions, power, prestige, relationships, jobs, education, promotions, or freedom from difficulties. But by that definition, contentment is unattainable, for it is impossible in this fallen world to be completely free from problems.


In sharp contrast to the world's understanding of contentment is the simple definition of spiritual contentment penned by the Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs: "Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition". The Bible has much to say about contentment.

A doctor who conducted a long-term study of worry discovered the following:
40 percent of the people worried about things that never happened,
30 percent worried about things in the past over which they had no control,
12 percent worried about their health even though they had no illness,
10 percent worried about family or friends though without substantial reason,
and 8 percent of those studied actually had a legitimate cause to worry or be concerned.
So more than 90 percent of the worrying was for no reason.


But Paul said, "Even when you have legitimate concerns, don't worry!" Fortunately, Paul didn't leave the Philippians or us wondering how to go through life without worrying. He wrote out the prescription in the book of Philippians.

Here is a proven prescription for unhappiness: let little things bother you, lose your focus, worry, be a perfectionist, always be right, be suspicious, compare yourself unfavorably to others, take everything personally, don't commit to anyone or anything, refuse to take the bad along with the good. If that prescription
doesn't appeal to you, and I hope it doesn't, you can look with me this Sunday at how we can have the Joy of The Peace of God in our lives regardless of what we are going through. This Sunday we will look at three things we must do
to ensure our joy and peace in the midst of our trials. We will be looking at Philippians 4:1-7.

People who make an impact in the world invariably have a single-minded commitment to reaching their goals. Whether those goals are to conquer the world, succeed in business, or win a championship, they are willing to make whatever sacrifices are necessary to achieve them. On the other hand, those who are consumed with their own needs and comfort rarely accomplish much.

The same is true in the Christian life. There are no hidden secrets, gimmicks, or shortcuts to a life that makes an impact on the world for the truth of Jesus Christ. Such lives are the direct result of a maximum effort to reach the spiritual goals of Christlikeness in life and ministry. Many noble servants of God have suffered much to reach those goals. Many even paid with their lives. All had one thing in common -- their own comfort was less important to them than being like the Lord Jesus Christ in this world. They left their mark on the church through their undying devotion to Him and their untiring efforts for His gospel.

Paul's favorite athletic metaphor is that of a race. He declared to the Ephesians elders,"But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24). Reminding the Corinthians of the dedicated athletes who competed in the games the apostle wrote "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win." Paul expressed his fear that he might be running, or had run, in vain in Galatians 2:2, but we know Paul didn't run in vain. At the end of his life he wrote "I have finished my course, I have kept the faith..." (II Timothy 4:7). This Sunday, it is that metaphor of the Christian Life as a race, expressed in the familiar fourteenth verse of Philippians 3 that we will be focusing on. The title of the message is The Joy of Winning the Prize. God wants us to finish our course that He has given to us with joy.

A lot of people today, who claim they are Christians, have a sense of God, but they sense there is something wrong between them and God. Sometimes they feel things are right; other times as though things are wrong. But underlying whatever feelings they have, men and women are never sure whether or not things are right between them and God. They lack complete confidence that they please God enough to be acceptable to Him. They have a hope that God will accept them, but they do not know with absolute certainty. It is these feelings that have stirred the religions of the world. This Sunday we will look at how we can have the Joy of Christian Living. Paul shows us, in Philippians chapter three, that it is not what we do but what Jesus did for us that matters.

When the Bible says that we should be like Christ, someone always says, "Impossible!" True, He is the sinless Son of God and we can be intimidated by His high standard of perfection. After all, we're only human, but we can have Christ's attitude about service. The Scripture gives us examples of ordinary people, just like us, who lived a servant lifestyle and worked out their salvation with fear and trembling. Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus remind us that the life that Christ demonstrated to us is a life that can be lived with the resources God has given us. This Sunday we will be looking at the lives and testimonies of these great servants.

Mark Twain, famed author and humorist, wrote that few things are harder to put up with "than the annoyance of a good example." Perhaps the thing most annoying about a good example is our inability to accomplish the same achievements. Admiration for a great person can inspire us, but it can't enable us. Unless the person can somehow enter into our lives and share his skills, we cannot attain to his heights of accomplishment. It takes more than an example on the outside; it takes power on the inside.

Paul in the second chapter of Philippians presents Jesus Christ as our great example in the exercise of the submissive mind. We read it, and we agree with it, but how do we go about practicing it? Paul sets before us the divine pattern for the submissive mind and the divine power to accomplish what God has commanded. Philippians 2:13 says, "It is God which worketh in you". It is not by imitation, but by incarnation; "Christ lives in me"(Galatians 2:20). The Christian life may seem like a series of ups and downs, but it is more accurately a process of ins and outs. God works in, and we work out. We cultivate the submissive mind by responding to the divine provisions God makes available to us. This Sunday we will be looking at these provisions which allow us to be all that God wants us to be.