Mission For More

Rise and Shine for Jesus! \O/

by Pam Iannello (my late mother)

Proverbs 15:27 says, "He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live." 

Man's greed for gain is a continual source of woe for the people of this world, amen?  However, we all know wealth does not bring contentment, it's not lasting and the desire for it leads to sin!  Greed leads men to want more than their share...  The trade-offs people accept often bring ruin upon themselves and their loved ones.  They even bring death upon themselves as they live hard and chase hard after their fleshly desires - and not all our desires are money related, amen?  The Bible says in Luke 9:25: "For what is man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?"  Those though, that refuse to be pulled into such ungodly living and an unbalanced perspective, are the ones who survive, the ones who thrive, and happily too! 

You haven't lost yourself yet, have you dear lady?  Is there a possibility you are   troubling your own home with your personal greed for gain?  To gain is to obtain an increase of anything, to advance in interest or happiness, to acquire, to reach, to arrive at.  What is it you want more of at this moment in time??  Reputation, favor, family, freedom - what is that thing that's driving you to the point of losing yourself altogether?  Or be cast away - of no value at all to your family anymore...  What are you sacrificing in the process to add to your own world?

Many couples are strained financially, putting enormous pressure on their marriage.  Many women have lost sight of their priorities in their desire to work outside of the home.  Thoughtlessly sacrificed is harmony and happiness in the quest for extra...  May I ask to what advantage is it for you to have more than you already do??  Will such gain make your children any happier to lose their Mom in the process?  Will it make the Lord happy to see you end up a castaway on your "mission for more" as you even turn your back on precious time with Him??  Gain is a trap ladies, it leads to bondage, not freedom!  A strong desire for gain is a burning lust which creates additional lusts that must be satisfied, and on and on it goes as we chase and chase and chase after more and more and more.  True contentment comes from godliness in the heart, not more in the hand... 

James 4:13-14, "Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." 

Sad to say, we Christians fall prey to our greed for gain and blindly accept the

trade-offs, the "gifts" that the devil would grant us if we would but chase after those lusts of ours we so desire to fulfill!  We conveniently convince ourselves that God would naturally want us to have more, that there's nothing wrong with acquiring things that make us happy.  We even convince ourselves that it is a result of our own godliness that has brought gain to us, that God has blessed us with abundance,  just as the false teachers did in 1 Timothy 6:5-6....

"Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of truth, supposing that gain is godliness:  from such withdraw thyself.  But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.  And having food and raiment, let us therewith be content." 

How many people, upon their death, have you seen or heard of leave this world carrying all the "stuff" they troubled their home to have during their lifetime?? Always the same old question comes up when someone dies, "How much did they leave?"  And the answer is always the same, "Everything!"  Ladies, you didn't enter this world with anything, and you won't leave this world with anything, so why do we live so hard for gain and trouble ourselves and our loved ones simply to have

more??  God would have us be content with the basics, without that one thing we want so badly... Perhaps we need to go over the definition of contentment for a moment:

Webster's 1828 dictionary says:  "rest or quietness of the mind in the PRESENT condition; satisfaction which holds the mind in peace, restraining complaint, not opposing or demanding more, and often implying a moderate degree of happiness." 

Ouch, ouch, ouch!!!  It hurts when I read that definition, how about you?  I can think of several things that we do not usually feel content about.  For instance, our homes...  Are you truly satisfied with your home's present condition?  Or do you tend to wish it was bigger, had fancier decorations, or was in a better neighborhood?  Our finances...  Are you experiencing peace of mind in this area?  Or do you wish you had more money so you didn't have to learn to go without, could put an end to the arguing you and your spouse have been doing for years over financial matters?  Our husbands...  Has your contentment afforded you the ability to restrain any complaints of your spouse?  Or are you secretly plagued with wishes that your husband was as thoughtful or spiritual as "so and so's"?  Your church...  Would you say you are honestly happy with it?  Or have you been opposing or demanding more from your local church?  Do you wish yours was bigger, perhaps?  Or maybe you wish yours wasn't so Bible based and conservative??  What about ourselves...  Are you content with yourself dear lady, or are you always filled with anxiety over one thing or another?  Are you joyfully experiencing any spiritual growth or are you backslidden and content with a hard heart?  It seems the things we should be content with we aren't, and the things we shouldn't be content with, we are!  

1 Tim. 6:6, "But godliness with contentment is great gain." 

Notice the order in this verse ladies...  Godliness WITH contentment, is GREAT gain, not gain WITHOUT godliness, amen?  Godliness must be in place first and then contentment must be added in...  Contrary to the world, this is the secret formula for great gain as far as God is concerned.  There is no other way for gain to be great!  Let's dive into that thought further for a moment...  Look with me at Phillipians 1:21 where the apostle Paul says:

"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." 

Ladies, when we are dead, what in this world, will hold power over us anymore?  What temptations will we have to resist?  What lusts will we desire to fill then?  What words will offend a dead man?  NONE.  Therefore, as a Christian, the pathway to gain is through death... You and I are to reckon ourselves dead and yet alive to Christ!  Then and only then, will we gladly join Paul and say these very words and mean them!  Then and only then will godliness show in our lives.  You see, the loss of earthly treasures secures spiritual ones.  Likewise, securing earthly treasures forsakes spiritual ones.  Self sacrifice is a paying investment, dear lady!  Life comes out of death!  Gain comes through loss...  The apostle Paul had a passion for living for Christ, to what degree do you share his passion?  Enough to die to yourself and your personal desires for more?  What sort of passion has been drawing you away from Christ?  What about your lifestyle do you need to change in order to have contentment dwelling in your heart?  Let me give you a little test to take in one sentence.  All you have to do is fill in the blanks below yourself... 

For to me to live is _____________and to die is _______________.   

Whatever you filled in those blanks with is what is keeping you from echoing the same convictions Paul had about dying to self and living for Christ.  Some say to live is wealth, or knowledge, or fame, or power, or any number of personal pleasures...  JESUS made Paul's life worth living - nothing else! 

Phillipians 3:7-8 says, "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:  for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ." 

Yes, Paul was willing to count everything else as a disadvantage except for knowing Christ.  Everything else paled in comparison to His Savior.  That is who he lived for, and why he lived.  Anything that brought personal gain to him, he considered a loss for the Lord.  Like us, Paul had many things that were valuable to him - his scholarly upbringing, his heritage, his reputation, even his abilities to speak boldly to others.   He could certainly profit from using all of these things for himself, for his personal gain, amen?  But he measured these things against what Christ had to offer -  and he refused them!  I wonder... Could you measure what you want so badly against what is available to you in Christ and choose to go without it? Ladies, Paul considered everything but dung compared to what he had in Christ!  His joy was not dependent upon the world's value system, or even his own, but God's.  Paul didn't lower his standards, he simply gave up the good for the better!  And in so doing, he gained much more than he lost.  

Maybe now is a good time for you and I to evaluate our lives and see what "things"
really matter to us most..... For what do you truly live?  What greediness of gain has been troubling you so?  Is it time you returned home from your "mission for more"? 

God Bless,
Pam

Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000  Pamela A. Iannello