Philip Dampier's Blog

Chapter 4, Verse 11 “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content.”

Boy! Don’t you wish you could say this? If you can, you are definitely God blessed. It is most likely that Paul did need something considering where he was and what provisions he had brought with him. Yet, he did not think about his needs because he was focused on his blessings. I have always been impressed with the idea that this was a learned behavior. Evidently Paul had not always been so content. We know from the information we have that his pre-Christian life was likely anything but content. He lived a life without inner peace and it caused him to rob others of their peace.

Finding forgiveness in Jesus brought him a peace that had no dependence upon circumstances. Having Jesus gave him a contentment that was beyond earth. Paul was so focused on his new relationship with God that all other things blurred into nothing. Paul found contentment in Christ by not wanting anything else.

Task for Today: If you have Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and you still have a need, then you must have only a partial claim to them. Today, determine to focus so strongly on the spiritual that the other world will blur into nothing. We are reminded to ‘set our mind on things above.’ When we are not content, then we aren’t focused on things above but on things of the world.