The title of the message today is Contentment Without Complacency. And I want to ask you this question. Where in your life have you settled or stopped reaching forward? Where in your life have you settled or stopped reaching forward? If we look at Philippians, I believe we're going to start in chapter 4, I believe. And verse 11, the Apostle Paul says, Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound.
Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. If we understand this about the Apostle Paul, he is the writer of the majority of the New Testament. He wrote the book of Romans. He wrote 1st and 2nd Corinthians.
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and we don't know who is the writer of Hebrews, but a lot of theologians believe that Paul wrote the epistle to the Hebrews as well. So that's the majority of the New Testament the Apostle Paul wrote. And we find through Philippians and even in Timothy that he mentions this word content. And I like in verse 11, he says, I have learned to be content.
And so that tells me that he wasn't born content. You and I are not born content. We have to learn to be content. And to learn means that we're going to acquire knowledge. We're going to inquire information. And anytime you are being trained, you're going to be going against the grain. Let me say it again. Anytime you're being trained, you're going to have to go against the grain. It is a reorganization of your mental capacities when you are learning something.
Especially as you get older, it becomes even a little more difficult to learn because you're going to have to change. And Paul says, I have learned to be content. And so through my experience, I've understood that there are really three ways that we learn. Number one, we're going to learn through observation. We can look at someone or look at a situation and look at someone's mistakes, read something, and see how that they made decisions, and we can learn through observation.
I believe our children are learning through observation as they're looking at us, right? They're pondering and they're seeing how we respond to certain things. They're learning through observation. You can also learn through instruction, like we're doing today, teaching and explanation. You can learn through material. You can learn through being coached and explained and taught some things. That is another way to learn. And then you have the factor in that you can learn through experience.
You can be involved in some things and you can learn through being involved in some things. I've got experience with this or that. And so I'm learning. And Paul tells us, I wasn't born content. I had to learn to be content, which means that you can't get contentment in a comfortable situation. You're going to have to be stretched. You're going to have to be put out of your comfort zone. You're going to have to be pulled and maybe even tugged to learn something.
If I'm going to learn how to fly an airplane, that's going to be completely out of my comfort zone. And Paul says that I'm going to, I had to learn to be content. So I know you and I want to learn only through the teaching of the word. I wish that was the case, but we also are going to learn through experience. We're going to learn through the things that we go through.
I mean I had to learn to appreciate health and I don't think you really can appreciate health unless you've been sick see when you're sick do you really begin to appreciate health I remember in 2013 I got really really sick I was losing a pound a day for. For about a month to know what was going on. I tell you what, I thank God for health every single day.
I say this all the time when I wake up, it feels good to feel good because I had to learn and appreciate the importance of health while I was sick. When I was unemployed, I had to, I learned how to appreciate how important it is to have a job. Whether it be I hate the job or not, thank God I got some money coming in and I had to learn to be satisfied and content with the job I had. I had learned that when I didn't have a job.
I learned that when I was barely getting by. I had to learn how to be content when I didn't have a job. I learned how to appreciate health when I was sick. You learn things through uncomfortable situations. And Paul is saying, I learned to be content. Wasn't born that way. I had to learn to be content. I had to go through some things. He says, I suffered need, but in that process, I learned contentment. Yes, there are times I had more than enough, but there are also times I didn't have enough.
How many know when I'm talking about you've been times where you just did not have enough. You learned some things about yourself that you didn't know. You learned some things about God that you didn't know. You learned some things about others that you didn't know. When you are going through a tough time, you don't have the wisdom you need. You don't have the energy you need. You don't have the finances you need. You don't have the support you need.
You begin to learn a whole lot of stuff about the Lord and about yourself, and at that place, you begin to fall into what I call, and the Bible calls, contentment. I learned some things. When we first started the church, we started in 2011, and we had nothing. We had no equipment, no musicians. We had nothing, no money. We had nothing, and we were just hoping that people would come back the next week.
I just hoped that somebody would show up the next week, And we were in a middle school, in a band room, and we were setting up and tearing down and we're taking all the stuff that we had, which was not much, into our cars and taking it home. And in that process, I was learning something. I was learning like, you know what? I can be thankful in the midst of how hard it was to get the church going. I can be thankful in the midst of how unstable it feels like things are going on right now.
I can trust God right in the middle of this. Whether people come back next week, whether they don't come back, I trust God. Whether the offering's high, whether the offering's low, I trust God. Whether I felt like I preached well, whether I felt like I didn't preach well, I trust God. And I'm thankful for where I am. And see, it's in that process of not having enough, you can do one of two things. You can quit or you can learn to be content.
But I think in the process of learning to be content, which is what I believe is the word thankful and also word trusting in God. I believe in the process of learning to be content. I believe somewhere along the lines, we've gotten complacent. And so we've learned to be, okay, this is the condition that I'm in, and this is where I am. And then we think this is where we'll always be. I will always be broke, busted, and disgusted because this is where I've been. And so I'm content there.
And so now I've gotten complacent there. I'm going to always be dealing with this pain in my body. You know, the doctor said this is an old injury. You're going to always deal with it. I'm just content. I'm content with it. And what you're saying is I'm complacent with it. But the word contentment is saying I am trusting God with it. See, when you're truly content, then you are at the place where you know that you're thankful for where you are. But there is another level I can get to.
I'm trusting God with his promise. I'm trusting God with what he said to me. I'm trusting God with my future. I'm not going to always be right here. I'm not going to always feel what I feel. I'm not going to always have this pain. I'm not going to always be single. I'm not going to always be broke, busting, and disgusted. Things are going to change because I'm trusting God to take me from point A to point B to C, D. That's the biblical basis of being content.
That his promises are so important and so vital that I'm thankful for where I am, but I know where I'm going. When we started the church in 2011, I was thankful for where we are. But I knew we weren't going to always be there. God's going to put his super on our natural. Hallelujah. God's going to take us to places we've never been.
God's going to excel us and he's going to grow us and we're going to be growing in the presence of the Lord and in strength and in numbers and God's going to do this thing. I didn't just stay complacent. Well, you know, this is how it's always going to be. And the trick of the enemy is to get you to believe that where you are is where you will always be. The greatest fear the enemy uses as a weapon is that the promises of God will not come to pass.
That's his greatest weapon he uses. Oh, I know you're believing for this, but it ain't going to come to pass. And that's the greatest weapon he uses against us. It's not going to come to pass. Or did God really say? Like he told Eve in the Garden of Eden, did God really say? Well, yeah, God said that. Well, did he really? That's the greatest tactic of the enemy. Asking the question, did he really say? Getting you all discombobulated. Now you don't know what God said. And now you stay complacent.
And you're no longer looking and reaching forward to the things that God has for you. God has something more for you. Let me say it again. God has something more for you. He's got the best for you. There's something ahead that he's got planned for you. Before the foundation of the world, he's got you there. But he had to teach you how to be content. Your children aren't going to always act crazy. They're going to grow up one day, and they're going to act right.
And if they're already grown, they're going to find out who Jesus is and have an encounter with him and change their life forever. And it's not going to always be like this. You're not going to always be living paycheck to paycheck. You're not going to always be in debt. You're not going to always be in pain. You're not going to always be single. You're not going to always have a rocky marriage.
You're not going to always barely have food to eat. God's taken you somewhere, but you can't stay in complacency. And I think we've taken the word contentment and said the word complacent. Or we've meant, oh, content, well, that just means just, you know, it is what it is. And this is what's going to always happen. And this is just how it is. And I'm just content. And God's saying, yes, I wanted you to learn how to trust me. And I wanted you to learn some things about me you didn't know,
but I don't want you to stay here. I always want you to press forward. And that's why he said in Philippians chapter 3, I believe it's verse 14, Philippians verse 12. Thank you. Verse 12. You guys were better than me. Thank you. Philippians chapter 3, verse 12. Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on. Somebody say, press on. Look, he's saying, I don't already have all this information or understanding. I'm not already mature and perfect. I got to press on.
Watch this. That I may lay hold of. Say lay hold of. I may lay hold. I've got to seize it. Of that which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me. And look at verse 13. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended. I don't understand everything, but there's one thing I do understand. Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward. Not staying complacent, reaching forward. Not staying idle, reaching forward to those things which are in the future.
They're ahead. Look at verse 14. Then he says, I press. Somebody shout, I press. I press. Shout a little louder. I press. I press. Toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. What is Paul telling us? In one verse, he tells us, I had to learn to be content. In this verse, he's saying, now I press. I learned to be content. Now I've got to press. I've got to put maximum sustained effort into laying hold of the mark of the call which Christ Jesus has called me unto.
I've got to press on. I've got to press. Another word for press is the word pursuit. I've got to pursue. I can't sit back complacently and say, well, God's going to do it. Just waiting on God. Just waiting on, what are you doing? I'm waiting on God. I'm waiting on God. God is waiting on you to press. God is waiting on you to pursue. God is waiting on you to possess.
God is waiting on you to seize it. If you see it in his word, you got to go after it with faith and grab a hold of it like a bulldog does a bone and never let it go. And so you got to press. I got to pursue. What does it mean to pursue? That means I got to go after it with the intent to capture it. That's the reason why I'm pursuing it. I'm trying to capture something. I'm trying to grab a hold of something. In Psalms 34, I believe the verse says, seek peace and pursue it.
Seek peace means I'm looking for it. Where is it? Where is it? Where is it? If I'm seeking Kim, Kim's over there. Where's Kim? Oh, there she is. Pursuing Kim means I'm going after her now. I found her now I'm going to pursue her I'm going after her with the intent to talk to her, pursue is what Paul's telling us to do yes be content be thankful right where you are be appreciative right where you are trust God right where you are but don't get complacent.
Pursue and press and I believe I'm talking to some people here in this building online those that listen to the podcast and the replay, we've gotten to the point, myself included, that, well, we've gotten comfortable. You know, it's just, you know, if this is kind of how life is, then this is how life is, and we've lost our fight. We've lost our doggone-edness, if that's a word.
We lost our ability to really get after things and stop quitting and stop giving up on our dreams and stop giving up on what God has for us and we've just quit and we've turned into quitters unintentionally, by the way, because I think we've said, well, I need to be content. And you do need to be content, but you also need to press. Go forward and go after everything that God has called you to possess. When he told the Israelites in the Old Testament, he said, possess the land.
He said, I'm going to give it to you, but what you're going to have to do, you're going to have to go and possess it. You know, I'm believing for healing my body. Well, just one day I'm going to feel better. No, I got to possess it. I got to go after it with everything because the devil wants me to be dead. But I got to possess the promise of God and seek and pursue until it manifests in my life. Come on, somebody say amen.
Paul said, I press. Somebody say, I press. That means he's not doing, you know, going half speed or taking his time. Paul is saying I'm I got full maximum Sustained effort in going towards what it is. I want to see whether it's a Redirection in my children. I'm gonna press in prayer and a lot of things that we need to press in Especially when it's dealing with other people you want to press into prayer You're not gonna change nobody.
Let me just say no. You can't change nobody especially family members They're not gonna listen to you I can't change Stacy As much as I want to, She ain't going to let me change her And she's not going to change me I'm not going to let it happen Right? So what do you do? You press in the prayer Whatever it is, you press in The fight Is not with flesh and blood.
It's in the Spiritual realm, so I just I press in the prayer Something's going on, let's press in the prayer I'm not going to give up until I see what the Lord wants to happen in this situation. Notice I said what the Lord wants to happen, not what I want to happen. Amen. Because what I want to happen and what the Lord want to happen might be two different things. And so we got to press. We got to get our energy back. We got to get our sustenance back and our effort back and say,
man, I'm pressing toward that thing. I still believe God for that. I'm still holding on to that. I'm content with where I am, but I'm pressing for another level. Somebody say amen. Let's look at John chapter 10, verse 10 in the Amplified Classic. It's one of my favorite scriptures, and it is, I may talk about it later, but the scripture we started the church on.
The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. Jesus says, I came that they may have and enjoy life and have it in abundance to the full till it overflows. Now, Jesus said that. Devon didn't say that. Jesus said that. So if I am not enjoying life and if I'm not experiencing abundance to the full till it overflows, the thief is stealing from me. He's taking from me. See, the scripture says that he's a thief. See, a thief can't steal my Lamborghini.
You know why? Because I don't have a Lamborghini. But Jesus is saying here, the thief is going to steal. Well, what is he stealing? Something you already have. Life and life more abundantly. Till the fool, till it overflows. And now the thief says, let me steal it. Let me steal it. Let me steal it. Let me steal it. Oh, complacent, complacent. Oh, here's a Bible word for you. Content. Oh, okay. I'll just be content. No, I'm thankful where I am, but I'm still going to press in to have life and
have it more abundantly. Say amen to that. Let's look at 2 Corinthians. I believe it's 9.8. 2 Corinthians 9.8. Watch this. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you always, having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. Notice, keep it on the screen. Notice all of the absolute words in this passage. He's able to make all. Somebody shout all. That word grace is divine favor, abound toward you, abound means in excess.
That you, somebody shall always having all, say all, you're always having all sufficiency in all things, say all, that you may have an abundance for every, say every. I mean, there is no questions here whatsoever what the plan of God is for you. It's for you to overflow in his divine favor and you always having all sufficiency in all things and have an abundance, not just for one or two works, but for every single work.
If I get up here and say, listen, we are going to raise, we want to raise some money and get a new carpet in this building. You said, I got money towards that because I always have all sufficiency in all things and I abound to every, that's a good work.
I'm going to bow into every good work not well shoot I ain't got no money this time just be content, I'm just broke no I'm going to press in to this word I always have an abundance for every good work and that's a good work getting new carpet in the church and I've got abundance toward that and I'm going to give something towards that amen press in press in press in for it you got to press in it ain't going to just happen, If it just happened, everybody would be having it.
Somebody got to set them to press in for it and say, that's for me. That's for me. I'll take it. I'm going to always have an abundance for work and every good work. I'm going to bound. I'm going to press in for that because that's a promise from God. I like what he says in the New Living Translation. 2 Corinthians 9, 8, New Living. And God will generously provide all you need. Well, I don't have all I need. Well, God's saying, I'm going to generously provide.
So what does that mean? I got to press in for that Then you will always Have everything you need Now having everything You need is contentment. This is when you get into overflow and plenty left over. Hallelujah. Everything you need, man, thank God I got everything I need, but I want to press in to having plenty left over. Why? So I can be the richest guy in the cul-de-sac? No. So I can share with others. Amen. So I can share with others.
I don't know why I'm telling you this story, but I will. Recently, my next-door neighbor came to me. He said, we were all talking. The neighbors were all talking. I said, what y'all talking about, man? He said, we were talking about you the richest man in the cul-de-sac. I said, what in the world? What y'all talking about that for? He said, we just look and your family is happy and you guys got, people coming and going and you look good and you got a nice house and the yard
looks good. You're the richest man in the cul-de-sac. And my first-daughter said, what are y'all talking about me? I said, what's wrong with y'all? And then the Lord got a hold of me, and he said, say, thank you. I said, thank you. I said, y'all say it again. Y'all just keep talking about it. Just saying, he the richest man. Just keep talking about it. Amen, I receive it every time you say it. I'm the richest man in the cul-de-sac. Now, he has two Range Rovers.
And he's calling me the richest man in the cul-de-sac I said okay I said yes sir that's me, that's me okay hey so I want to have plenty left over so I can share with others amen we got to press into it if you're just content in the world's view of contentment you'll just be complacent, Well, I got my needs met us four and no more. And that is the most selfish statement you can make because the scripture talks about having more to help somebody else.
Well, why should we have extra, pastor, to be a blessing to someone else? Why should we have more to help the poor? Why should we have more so that I can do good and be good and show good and to show Jesus to a lost and dying world? that's why there should be excess to have more you know the poor can't help the poor. We're commanded to help the poor, but the poor can't help the poor. Somebody got to have a little more to be able to give back into hell.
Say amen to that. So we need to press into that. Hey, generously, he's going to give to us generously, and we got plenty left over to share with someone else. Yes, be content where you are, thankful and trusting God where you are, but don't be complacent there. Tap into there's more. There's more. There's more. Let's take a look at the next verse. Which one did I give y'all? Deuteronomy 28.6. Now this one, I want you to read this. The Israelites are shepherds. They handle cattle.
They dibble and dabble into agriculture. So some of this blessing has to do with their occupation. And it says here, watch this. And I want to press into this. If you listen obediently to the voice of God, your God, and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today, God, your God, will place you on high. High above all the nations of the world. Watch this.
And all these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the voice of God, your God. God's blessing in the city. Somebody say amen. God's blessing in the country. So I'm blessed in Charlotte, and I'm blessed in the United States. Amen. God's blessing on your children. Now, this gets into the occupation of the Israelites, the crops of your land. So whatever your work environment is, his blessing is on your work environment.
The younger your livestock, the calves and your herds, because they were in that occupation, the lambs of your flocks. God's blessing on your basket and bread bowl. Look at the next one. God's blessing in your coming in And God's blessing in your going out Hallelujah So I come into a place I'm blessed And I leave the place blessed. Watch this. Listen to me. When I sit down and write my bills and I pay the bills, I'm blessed.
And when I look at the account shrink down after paying all the bills, I'm still blessed. Come on, somebody say amen to that. That's coming in and going out. God will defeat your enemies who attack you. Thank you, Lord. They'll come at you on one road and run away on seven roads. Hallelujah. God will order a blessing on your barns and workplaces. Glory to God. Somebody say, I'm blessed. He'll bless you in the land that God, your God, is giving you.
God will form you as a people holy to him, just as he promised you if you keep the commandments of God, your God, and live the way he has shown you.
All the people. Pookie, Ray, Ray, them, everybody All of them Will see you living under the name of God And hold you in respectful awe, God will lavish you with good things Now religion will tell you He don't want you to have nothing good God will lavish you with good things Children for your womb All my children, even though they get on my nerves They are good things, Good things, praise God I have to say that sometime, by the way,
when I'm in the middle of this one, I say to him, to myself, not to them. I say to myself, you are a blessing of the Lord. I said that to myself. When Zavin, I remember when he used to wake up, he used to get up in the middle of the night and he never went back to sleep. He would just get up. And I would always say, he's a blessing of the Lord. We're not going back to sleep. We're going to be up from one to five, but he's a blessing of the Lord. and I told Stacy, let's just start saying he's
a blessing on him. So we did and our whole attitude changed. Amen. He will lavish you with good things, children from your womb, offspring from your animals and crops from your land, the land that God promised your ancestors he would give you. God will throw open the doors of his sky vaults, hallelujah, and pour out rain on your land, rain is provision, on schedule. He ain't late. It's going to be on time. And bless the work that you take in your hand. Even the work you do is blessed.
I love this one. You will lend to many nations, but you yourself won't have to take out alone. Woo! Glory to God. Hallelujah. You're so blessed, you're going to be the lender and not the borrower. Now, we got to press into this. Instead of you going to let me find somebody I can borrow money from, if that's where you are now, that's okay. But let's press into being the lender. So a number of years ago, this was over a decade or so ago, 15 years ago, I was pressing into this verse.
I'm a lender and not the borrower. And I was saying that all the time. I'm a lender, not the borrower. I'm a lender, not the borrower. Then all of a sudden people started asking me to borrow money And I said Lord have mercy. Can I borrow this? Can I borrow and I didn't put it together and I'm like well I'm loaning money here and I'm loaning money there and never loan more than you're willing to give Just sound advice.
So I'm loaning money here. I'm loaning money there. You can take that verse down guys and so I was like I am a. The lender, not the borrower, and I've been saying it, now people are asking to borrow money from me. And I didn't put it together until in a prayer time, I'm like, oh, I've been saying I'm the lender and not the borrower. That's why people are asking to borrow money from me, because I've been saying not to them, but just declaring it, I'm in the lender, not the borrower.
So if you're going to be the lender, not the borrower, just prepare yourself for somebody to ask to borrow some money, OK, just prepare yourself for that. Hallelujah. OK, let's put it back on the screen. Let's take a look here. You will you yourself won't even have to take out. I've been thinking about that. Paying cash. I might say pay cash. Come on, think about that. You bought it with cash. Amen. I pay cash for that. And don't be ashamed of that. Amen.
Yeah. How did you get that? Well, we bought it with cash. Glory to God. And not be ashamed of why. Because it's the blessing of the Lord. Amen. The blessing of the Lord's on my life. And he got it to me in ways. There's recently we, well, I'm not going to tell that story. Glory to God. So you yourself won't have to take out a loan. God will make you the head. If you feel like the tail, God's going to make you the head. Then you will always be the top dog.
Never the underdog. As you obediently listen to and diligently keep the commands of God your God. Now notice, oh, that I am commanding you today, don't swerve an inch to the right from the left of the words that I command you today by going off, following and worshiping other gods. That's important that you stay focused on who your father is. And so this is an area where we have to press into. It's a promise from God. Nothing just happens automatically. Promises don't just happen automatically.
Faith activates the promise of God. And so I'm pressing into this, you know, I'm the head and not the tail. I feel like the tail, but I'm the head and not the tail. Glory to God. And if you feel like the tail, begin to say, I'm the head and not the tail. Hallelujah. I've been saying this recently when I go into places. I'm just saying I'm so blessed. I don't even have to introduce myself when I when I come in here. What are you talking about? I'm blessed, man. And they know that's the blessed
man right there. They may hate me for it, but that's the blessed man right there. I don't even have to introduce myself. Oh, you're the blessed divine. Glory to God. Hallelujah. What am I saying? I want to be a beacon of light to what the Lord wants done. Because in that time, I was feeling like the tail. But I was like, no, he said I'm the head. So if I'm the head, I can go into a place and don't even have to introduce myself. Are you listening to me?
It's the blessing of the Lord. And we got to push for the blessing. We got to press. We got to pursue it like we want to capture it because we've been too complacent. Well, I'm fine. I'm satisfied right where I am. I'm okay making these payments. I'm okay being tired all the time. I'm okay being depressed. I'm okay never sharing the gospel with anybody. I'm just, this is just where I am, you know? My back is always going to hurt, okay? It's just going to always hurt, okay?
I'm always going to deal with this pain in my heart. I'm just okay. I'm content. it's the Lord's will for my life. No. His will is for you to be free. And we got to press into that. Say amen. Did I give you all another verse? Let's see here. Isaiah 11. Here's one that I've been declaring over me. Isaiah 11 too. And the spirit of Yahweh will rest upon him. I'm pressing into this. That the spirit of Yahweh will rest upon me. That the spirit of extraordinary wisdom is on me.
The spirit of perfect understanding is on me. The spirit of wise strategy is on me. The spirit of mighty power is on me. The spirit of revelation is on me. And the spirit of the fear of the Lord is on me. I'm praying this over myself. I'm pressing into this. I don't always know what to do, but the spirit of extraordinary wisdom is on me. I don't always know what strategy to take, But the spirit of wise strategy is on me.
I don't always have revelation of what's happening, but the spirit of revelation is on me. I'm pressing into it because I don't want to be complacent. I don't want to just float around in life and just at the, you know, wherever I end up is kind of where I end up. No, I want to determine by God's grace and his promises in his word where I end up. I want to get to heaven and the Lord say, Lord, I'll tell you what, you activated in faith.
Well done, good and faithful. You know what faithful means? Full of faith. Well done, good and faithful servant. I don't want him to say, you wicked and lazy servant. And he does say that to people, you wicked and lazy servant. No, I want him to say, well done, good, and faithful. So we're going to shake off complacency. We're going to shake off just being okay with where we are and get to the point that we are pursuing and pressing and laying hold of what he's already laid hold of for us.
It doesn't just happen. It doesn't just happen. Faith is what activates God's grace. Anytime we see Jesus in the miraculous, in the gospels, perform a miracle, someone released their faith that activated his grace. Someone released their faith. Two fish and five loaves, they had to give him something to work with, which activated the grace of God, which he multiplied. Amen. Amen. This is how you experience true life.