God is Enough. (James)

Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. James 1:9, 10

The phrase “of low degree” means one in humble circumstances; one of lowly rank or employment; one in a condition of dependence or poverty. It stands here particularly opposed to one who is rich; and the apostle doubtless had his eye, in the use of this word, on those who had been poor. (Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible)

Position doesn't matter. What does matter is one's relationship with Christ and knowing that no matter the situation, God is enough. 

God is enough. 

Is that a true? Is God enough in my life? 

 This post is the continuation of my Study of Colossians. 

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And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power]. Colossians 2:10 (AMP)

"In Christ they find the satisfaction of every spiritual want" (Peake). There is no other place for Christ. He is first in time and in rank. All rule and authority comes after Christ whether angels, aeons, kings, what not. Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament

Satisfaction. Christ is all I need. But is He all I want? Am I satisfied with what Christ has to offer me? Think about that. Christ not only offered Himself as a sacrifice for my sins, He in His grace and mercy offers me His unconditional love, grace, and mercy. Is He enough? 

He should be. I should be content and overwhelmed with Christ Himself. Nothing more and nothing less. 

But that's just in the spiritual aspect, what about the physical? Christ is enough in that too. Or He should be. In light of eternity, what is important? I can't take things with me to Heaven. Anything I have here are earth, is from God. Those are blessings. 

And if SOMETHING, is more important than Christ, that THING has become an idol. Remember the 10 Commandments?

You shall have no other gods before or besides Me.

You shall not make yourself any graven image [to worship it] or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

You shall not bow down yourself to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me. Exodus 20:3-5 (AMP)

No other gods before or besides Me. "Other gods"—anything or anyone on whom I place more importance than God and His Word. If THINGS, take precedent and are more important that the satisfaction I can find in Christ–then those THINGS are idols. And that's a dangerous precedent to set. 

Satisfaction. Christ alone. In order to be completely satisfied with Christ, I must be permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God (Acts 9:31; MSG)

Proverbs 10:4, 5: Satisfaction in Laziness

He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a wise son; he who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame. Proverbs 10:4, 5

Slack: negligent, idle hand

Poor: to be destitute -- lack, needy

Diligent: to be alert, to decide

Rich: to accumulate; specifically to grow

Wise: act circumspectly, prudently

Shame:  to be ashamed, to be disappointed

Work ethic. It's lacking in our society today. We used to take pride in doing a job well. Now people want to get nothing for little or no work. And many of those that do work, don't put forth any effort. 

Idle hand. Trouble begins when one has nothing to do. And idle hands lead to laziness and that leads to trouble. 

Diligent isn't just an idea, rather is translates into action. It is a specific choice and that choice then leads to action that leads to riches. 

Do nothing and be rewarded. That seems to be the norm in our world today. However, as we look around, we can see that those that live that philosophy are angry, discontent, and in trouble. Why are those who except everything for nothing so discontented? Because there is nothing to take pride in; there is no satisfaction in laziness. 

What about those that can't work? That truly are disabled. Even those that are disabled or too old still find purpose and meaning by doing what they can. Those that make excuses for doing nothing live in states of depression and frustration. Those that try to do all they can for themselves and others, are encouraged and happy. 

Negligent. Diligent. Two opposites. Satisfaction in laziness. Gratification in industriousness. 

Shame. Riches. Two opposites. Two different results based upon actions and attitude. 

The only way to assure that one does not create a mindset of having a satisfaction in laziness is to have a heart permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God (Acts 9:31 MSG). For when we respect and fear God, we want out attitudes and actions to reflect His wisdom. We want to obey Him and put forth the effort in knowing that we are doing a job—and doing it diligently. 

Satisfaction

If you are looking for the posts about

God's Amazing Blessing

Announcement—I'm moving!

here's the link to the first Part: 

http://createapositiveday.blogspot.com/2015/05/announcement-part-1-im-moving.html

Then follow the arrows at the bottom of each post to the next Part.

There are 10 parts in all. 

 _______________________________________________

 This post is the continuation of my Study of Colossians. 

And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power]. Colossians 2:10 (AMP)

"In Christ they find the satisfaction of every spiritual want" (Peake). There is no other place for Christ. He is first in time and in rank. All rule and authority comes after Christ whether angels, aeons, kings, what not. Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament

Satisfaction. Christ is all I need. But is He all I want? Am I satisfied with what Christ has to offer me? Think about that. Christ not only offered Himself as a sacrifice for my sins, He in His grace and mercy offers me His unconditional love, grace, and mercy. Is He enough? 

He should be. I should be content and overwhelmed with Christ Himself. Nothing more and nothing less. 

But that's just in the spiritual aspect, what about the physical? Christ is enough in that too. Or He should be. In light of eternity, what is important? I can't take things with me to Heaven. Anything I have here are earth, is from God. Those are blessings. 

And if SOMETHING, is more important than Christ, that THING has become an idol. Remember the 10 Commandments?

You shall have no other gods before or besides Me.

You shall not make yourself any graven image [to worship it] or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

You shall not bow down yourself to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me. Exodus 20:3-5 (AMP)

No other gods before or besides Me. "Other gods"—anything or anyone on whom I place more importance than God and His Word. If THINGS, take precedent and are more important that the satisfaction I can find in Christ–then those THINGS are idols. And that's a dangerous precedent to set. 

Satisfaction. Christ alone. In order to be completely satisfied with Christ, I must be permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God (Acts 9:31; MSG)

No Regrets!

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 91. Here is what I learned.

With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation. Psalm 91:16 (AMP)

I will satisfy you with a long life. I will show you how I will save you. Psalm 91:16 (GW)

"With long life will I satisfy him." The man described in this Psalm fills out the measure of his days, and whether he dies young or old he is quite satisfied with life, and is content to leave it. He shall rise from life's banquet as a man who has had enough, and would not have more even if he could. "And shew him my salvation." The full sight of divine grace shall be his closing vision. He shall look from Amana and Lebanon. Not with destruction before him black as night, but with salvation bright as noonday smiling upon him he shall enter into his rest. Treasury of David

I read an article the other day about interviews of regrets people had as they knew they had a short time to live. The top 5 regrets are:

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard.

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself,

not the life others expected of me.

(Bronnie Ware, The Guardian February 1, 2012)

I find it interesting that no-one said that they’d would have loved God more, or served Him more. The regrets listed were all about “me, myself, and I”. Rather than a focus on what matters in light of eternity!

Don’t you realize that everyone who runs in a race runs to win, but only one runner gets the prize? Run like them, so that you can win. Everyone who enters an athletic contest goes into strict training. They do it to win a temporary crown, but we do it to win one that will be permanent. So I run—but not without a clear goal ahead of me. So I box—but not as if I were just shadow boxing. Rather, I toughen my body with punches and make it my slave so that I will not be disqualified after I have spread the Good News to others. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (GW).

A truly satisfied life is one that has an eternal purpose—and that is living a life loving and obeying God. 

To create a positive day, I need to make sure I live my life so that I have no regrets—according to God’s standards! 

Feast on the Worthy, Satisfying Seeds

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 1. Here is what I learned.

Wicked people are not like that. Instead, they are like husks that the wind blows away. Psalm 1:4 (GW)

But wicked people are not like that. They are like chaff that the wind blows away [dead, unstable]. Psalm 1:4 (EXB)

One important fact that I had to learn quickly regarding caring for my parakeet, Max, is regarding his seed. Max cracks open the seed with his beak, and eats the kernel inside, leaving behind the husks. Looking at his food dish, it looks full, however it is actually empty... just full of empty husks. If I didn’t learn this fact quickly, Max would have starved. 

The empty husks have no value, they are empty and worthless. So often, the things of the world look so good and appetizing, yet in reality they are empty and of no value... simply worthless husks. 

I have a choice to make, enjoy the company and empty husks the world offers, or enjoy the rich, full, satisfying blessings God provides. 

Starve on the worthless husks, or feast on the worthy seeds.  Which will I choose? It is an ongoing choice as the world’s husks look so tempting. 

To create a positive day, I need to choose to feast on the worthy, satisfying seeds and let the worthless husks blow away. 

God’s Good

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 4. Here is what I learned.

Crowds of disheartened people ask, “Who can show us what is good?” Let Your brilliant face shine upon us, O Eternal One, that we may know the undeniable answer. Psalm 4:6 (VOICE)

There are many who pray: “Give us more blessings, O Lord. Look on us with kindness!” Psalm 4:6 (GNT)

There are multitudes who say, Who will shew us good? Man wants good; he hates evil as evil, because he has pain, suffering, and death through it; and he wishes to find that supreme good which will content his heart, and save him from evil. But men mistake this good. They look for a good that is to gratify their passions; they have no notion of any happiness that does not come to them through the medium of their senses. Therefore they reject spiritual good, and they reject the supreme God, by whom alone all the powers of the soul of man can be gratified.  Adam Clarke 

As for worldlings, this is their unceasing cry. "Who will shew us any good?" Never satisfied, their gaping mouths are turned in every direction, their empty hearts are ready to drink in any fine delusion which impostors may invent; and when these fail, they soon yield to despair, and declare that there is no good thing in either heaven or earth. The true believer is a man of a very different mould. His face is not downward like the beasts, but upward like the angels. He drinks not from the muddy pools of Mammon, but from the fountain of life above. The light of God's countenance is enough for him. This is his riches, his honour, his health, his ambition, his ease. Give him this, and he will ask no more. This is joy unspeakable, and full of glory. Oh, for more of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that our fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ may be constant and abiding! The Treasury of David

What is good? What is a blessing? Perhaps I need to look first, at Who is giving the blessing. For if God is supplying the blessing... than it is truly good and worth rejoicing! Next, what is the outcome of the blessing? Does it bring glory and honor to God? Than yes, indeed it is GOOD! 

My prayer is that I not define “good” from my perspective, rather that I would see God’s good and His blessings each and every day. For God’s good is far more lasting and gratifying than any earthly good. 

To create a positive day, I need to make sure I’m looking and accepting God’s good, and that I’m not satisfied with the temporary good the world supplies. 

Pure Satisfying Joy

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 43. Here is what I learned.

Then let me go to the altar of God, to God my highest joy, and I will give thanks to you on the lyre, O God, my God. Psalm 43:4 (GW)

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God who is my joy and happiness. I will praise you with a ·harp [lyre], God, my God. Psalm 43:4 (EXB)

He is not his joy alone, but his exceeding joy; not the fountain of joy, the giver of joy, or the maintainer of joy, but that joy itself. The margin hath it, "The gladness of my joy," i.e., the soul, the essence, the very bowels of my joy. To draw near to God, who is such a joy to us, may well be the object of our hungering and thirsting. The Treasury of David

"Exceeding joy." This can be said of no other joy. All other beauties have their boundaries, all other glories have their glooms. This is that illimitable sea, God. E. Paxton Hood

Since God is the joy itself, why do I search for joy in other things and in people? Joy obtained from things and people is short-term joy. It doesn’t last. Only the joy that is God and that God provides is satisfying and eternal. 

Ever find yourself getting excited to a special activity or day? Perhaps is a weekend outing, or attending a concert or spending time with friends. We drag ourselves through the day/week in great expectation of that event. But then the event is canceled or doesn’t live up the expectations, then we are disappointed. The joy we had hoped for, didn’t materialize. 

But God is accessible 24/7, the joy that is Him and He provides is also available 24/7. I don’t have to wait until a particular day or time to celebrate His joy. And God’s joy is perfect and complete. It always meets expectations.  No disappoints. No let-downs. Just pure satisfying joy.

To create a positive day, I need to look to God for pure satisfying joy, and stop trying to make it or find it in things or people around me.  

God’s Pure Joy Perspective

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 4. Here is what I learned.

But you have ·made me very happy [given joy to my heart], happier than they are, even with all their grain and new wine. Psalm 4:7 (EXB)

You have filled me with joy, and happiness has risen in my heart, great delight and unrivaled joy, even more than when bread abounds and wine flows freely. Psalm 4:7 (VOICE)

You have filled my heart with more happiness than they have when there is much grain and wine. Psalm 4:7 (NLV)

Thou hast given more joy to my heart. By another comparison he better expresses and illustrates the strength of his affection, showing that, having obtained the good which he had longed for, he does not in the least degree envy the wealth and enjoyments of others, but is altogether contented with his own lot. The sum is, that he had more satisfaction in seeing the reconciled countenance of God beaming upon him, than if he had possessed garners full of corn, and cellars full of wine. 

David declares, that he rejoices more in the favor of God alone, than earthly men rejoice when they enjoy all earthly good things, with the desire of which they are generally inflamed. He had represented them as so bent upon, and addicted to, the pursuit of worldly prosperity, as to have no great care about God; and now he adds, that their joy in the abundance and increase of their wine and corn is not so great as is his joy in a sense of the divine goodness alone. 

This verse contains very profitable instruction. We see how earthly men, after they have despised the grace of God, and plunged themselves over head and ears in transitory pleasures, are so far from being satisfied with them, that the very abundance of them inflames their desires the more; and thus, in the midst of their fullness, a secret uneasiness renders their minds uncomfortable. Never, therefore, shall we obtain undisturbed peace and solid joy until the favor of God shine upon us. And although the faithful also desire and seek after their worldly comforts, yet they do not pursue them with immoderate and irregular ardor; but can patiently bear to be deprived of them, provided they know themselves to be the objects of the divine care. Calvin's Commentary

I’m I not only satisfied with God’s joy, do I wait with anticipation to receive it? Looking for joy in things, or a certain situation or set of circumstances is not only looking in the wrong direction, but will not provide the satisfying and pure joy that only God can give. 

I need to accept God’s pure joy and allow His joy to radiate through me. For as I immerse myself in God’s joy, I’ll see my situation and circumstances in a new perspective. Once I have God’s pure joy perspective, I can create a positive, and joyous day!

Gushing out of me, Causing me to SCREAM!

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 90. Here is what I learned.

·Fill [Satisfy] us with your ·love [loyalty] every morning. Then we will sing and rejoice all our ·lives [days]. Psalm 90:14 (EXB)

Surprise us with love at daybreak; then we’ll skip and dance all the day long. Psalm 90:14 (MSG)

Satisfy: Fill to satisfaction (literally or figuratively) -- have enough, fill (full, self, with), be (to the) full (of), have plenty of, be satiate, satisfy (with), saturate.

Morning: figurative of bright joy after night of distress.

Your lovingkindness: favor, good deed, kindly, mercy in redemption from enemies and troubles.

Sing: o shout (usually for joy) -- aloud for joy, cry out, be joyful (greatly, make to) rejoice, (cause to) shout (for joy), (cause to) sing (aloud, for joy, out), triumph. 

Rejoice (be glad): cheer up, be make glad, have, make joyful, be make merry, cause to, make to rejoice, to brighten up.

All: enough, every one, as many as, whole.

Days: age, always, continually, daily, birth, each, today, season

I like that word “satisfy”. To be saturated So soaked, that I’m “dripping” with God’s lovingkindness. God has given me—in such abundance—lovingkindness, mercy, graciousness that I can’t contain it—it oozes out from me, and not just in a little trickle, it gushes out! 

The past few weeks, my pain has been “gushing” out of me. Between slipping on the ice and twisting my back to the surgery for the spinal stimulator trial, the pain level has been severe. No matter what I do I’m saturated in pain. 

Even afflictions are welcome when we see them to be his, though the way that he would choose, and the way that this prayer entreats, be only mercy, "Satisfy us early with thy mercy." - John Donne.

Yet, greater than my pain, is God’s lovingkindness and goodness. Knowing that God is fully aware, and has allowed the pain to fulfill His purpose allows me to shout...no make that SCREAM with triumphant joy. Understanding that God is loving and gracious, I know that He only allows what is necessary  to fulfil His will and draw me into a closer and deeper relationship with Him. 

So soaked in God’s lovingkindness that I’m “dripping”! When God’s mercy and grace are gushing out of me, causing me to SCREAM with Triumphant Joy, now that creates a positive day!