August 19, 2014 Issue #101

Contentment is your secret bank account

This account is called contentment. You don't hear much about contentment today.

The world works to make you feel discontented, always dissatisfied with your life and situation. Contentment, on the other hand, helps you see clearly. You cut through the hype and fog to know the truth about how things really are.

Contentment is about being satisfied with what you have instead of always wanting more. Contentment is about recognizing that you're exactly where you're supposed to be at this point in your life.

Contentment is not apathy. It's not laziness. It's gratitude and appreciation because it's based in God, not in the fad-a-minute things of this world.

So let's explore the spiritual quest of moving ever closer to our Savior and our Father. Here are this month's thoughts on growing in contentment.

Enough is enough

At the dinner table
or in a big store,
we've all been trained to say
"I've got to have more."

But has more made you happy?
Has it filled you inside?
Has more ever made you
feel more satisfied?

There's a hole in your soul
that can't be filled by stuff.
If it could, long ago
you'd have had quite enough.

God is the only thing
that satisfies.
The rest disappoints you,
the rest is all lies.

With God in your heart,
you'll forget about fluff.
You'll find peace and contentment,
'cause Enough is enough.

~ Jack Zavada, 2014 ~

August Quotation from Jack Hyles

How true! Often reality is not all that great, but Jesus can make you happy in it because his love and concern are genuine. Try getting that from the world!

As we pursue a confident attitude of contentment in our lives, we learn that escape is not the answer; facing our trouble is. I have not been able to do that in my own strength. I need Jesus, and he has always been there for me.

Jesus is the living water that keeps our contentment gauge on "full." While others spin into addiction in their escape mechanisms, we grow stronger inside, nurtured by God himself.

The single's instruction book on contentment

It turned out to be a practical guidebook on how to see through life's nonsense so you can concentrate on what really matters.

When we're young, we think we know what will make us happy, but that's a guess at best. We don't know for sure until we get it, then too often we ask, "Is that it? Is that all there is?"

At age 63, I can look back and say I was surprised at what satisfied me and what didn't. Single & Sure is like a peek into your own future.

At $9.97, that's a pretty good deal. What's more, it comes with a money back guarantee. You won't get that on anything you buy in a book store.

It's an ebook in PDF format that runs 238 pages. You can learn about the Table of Contents plus the bonus items at Single & Sure.

Quotations on contentment

God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.
Augustine

Always look at what you have left. Never look at what you have lost.
Robert H. Schuller

Real contentment must come from within. You and I can not change or control the world around us, but we can change and control the world within us.
Warren Wiersbe

I have held many things in my hands, and have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.
Martin Luther

The more wants we have, the further we are from God, and the nearer we approach him, the better can we dispense with everything that is not Himself.
Madame Guyon

To meet Jesus is to look yourself in the pocketbook, which is the most unmistakable way of looking yourself in the heart.
J. Robert Ross

Nothing makes God more supreme and more central in worship than when a people are utterly persuaded that nothing - not money or prestige or leisure or family or job or health or sports or toys or friends - nothing is going to bring satisfaction to their sinful, guilty, aching hearts besides God.
John Piper

THE source of hope for everyone

Williams, who suffered from depression, hanged himself. Many singles suffer from depression too. I know that hundreds of readers of Inspire-O-Gram battle this stubborn problem almost daily.

I've said it before, but this sad event makes it even more important: The only true source of hope is God. God brings meaning to life when nothing else does. God pulls us outside ourselves to care about others. God reaches down to help his people in times of crisis, and God promises his followers eternal life with him.

If you're suffering from depression, please tell your medical doctor about it. There is effective treatment. You don't have to go through life in this kind of pain.

Thank you for reading this issue of Inspire-O-Gram. As always, you can zing me a comment via our handy-dandy contact form.

It will appear in my email inbox seconds after you send it, and I promise to answer you personally.

Autumn is on the way with cool weather and the beautiful changing of the leaves. God has good things planned for you, so watch for them every day. Appreciate the gifts he gives you, and let your gratitude build up in your contentment account!

Until September,

Jack Zavada