Contentment

From the Salvation Army, you're listening to Wonderful Words of Life. Well, welcome back to Wonderful Words of Life, everybody. We're glad you're here. I'm Bernie Dake.

And I'm Cheryl Gillum. Well, this is our final episode of our series on finance with our mutual friend, Mike Harris. And today we wrap up this series by really highlighting the key to finding peace in your finances. Absolutely. Everything we've discussed really leads us to the idea of contentment. Being content with what we've been given removes the comparison trap. It keeps us from living beyond our means, and it keeps us in a state of thankfulness.

Yeah. I am very thankful for people in my life that have shown us a good way to live. And in particular, I have an uncle who was a finance guy for all those years, and he helped my parents manage their own finances. And they, of course, then poured into me.

And then I married a very wise woman who takes care of all of our finances in the house. And because of that, we're able to do some things that aren't beyond our means, but beyond our maybe our own needs. And that's a good thing. The Salvation Army practices something called self-denial.

So we have our regular tithe and our offerings that we would give maybe weekly or monthly, however you choose to do it. But self-denial is really maybe taking something that you might have had and giving it away. That offering. Right.

Right. And I'm really grateful that people in our lives have shown us how to do that. I'm thankful for them because I think their generosity creates a spirit of thankfulness amongst other people. And then in a sense, they're paying it forward. I don't know if that's how you feel, but for me, I just wanted to say I'm grateful. I'm grateful to God for putting those people in my life.

And I'm grateful for having opportunities to also be generous. Absolutely. And I don't know if, I mean, in my frame of thinking and the way I think about it also, God gives us opportunities to partner with Him. Amen.

Right. And so when we are intentional about that self-denial, putting that money aside, and then we can give above our tithes to someone in need, we're actually partnering with God to help out His children. And that is a great idea in regards to, or a great thought in my head that we get to partner with God. It's not just a notion.

It's actually in scripture. We get to partner with Him. And so He gives us that opportunity to do so when we deny ourselves, we put some money aside and we're able to give above and beyond our tithe as an offering. Amen.

That's a good word, Cheryl. Well, we really pray that this series has been a blessing to you and your finances. We will have some additional links and articles and resources on our site at salvationarmysoundcast.org.

So if you'd like to share some advice you've learned or some resources you've found helpful, we'd love to hear from you. Please send us an email at radio at uss.salvationarmy.org or call 1-800-229-9965. And be sure to follow us on social media to find out about our upcoming series starting next week. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you.

God bless you. It is a privilege to have you come back to Wonderful Words of Life with our friend Mike Harris and hear his thoughts and this message on the idea of financial things from a biblical perspective. And this week as our last portion of this series with Mike, he's going to talk about contentment.

Mike, give us some ideas on how we can be content. Again with my hat on as a Salvation Army officer, therefore looking first biblically, I think the best way to illustrate what we're talking about here by way of contentment is to go back, it's only my opinion, to the story of Zacchaeus. Now as children we learn the story of Zacchaeus through the little song. So most people know the story of the little tax collector that climbed into a tree. And of course what scripture tells us is he was hated. I mean people hated this guy because tax collectors were thieves. They had their own category of sinner.

It will often say in scripture there were sinners and tax collectors and prostitutes that were sort of categorized out. So Zacchaeus was despised by people, he was hated by people because he would basically charge taxes and that is a little bit extra and put it in his pocket and take it home, as was the way. And so what you have here is a man who's held by money. Money is his focus. Money is what dictates his life. You can see that because he didn't care about what people think. You can see that by the nature of what he did. Money had a hold on his life. You would say in this day and age that he was seeking contentment in things, seeking contentment in money. So along comes Jesus, crowds of people coming to see Jesus and suddenly he stops, he looks up into the tree and invites himself to Zacchaeus' home.

Nobody expected that. Least of all Zacchaeus, the despised man. The lovely thing about Jesus was he sought out sinners. And so he goes to the home of Zacchaeus. Now we don't know again what happened in that conversation. What we do know is what happened after the conversation. And if you remember Zacchaeus basically said, I'm going to give back everything I've stolen from anybody.

I'm also going to release pretty much all the rest of my money and just give it away. That is the key to this whole story. Because before the encounter with Jesus, here was a man who built his life and made the foundation for his life money, things. But somehow after his conversation with Jesus, he released it all.

It all was gone. But he still has to have a foundation. So it has to be that that foundation is Jesus Christ. And Jesus said it himself, salvation has come to this house. And I can tell you with no doubt whatsoever that the level of contentment for Zacchaeus was now complete because he was on the right foundation. And in many ways it was the releasing of that money, the releasing of that wealth, just letting it go that allowed him then to go back to the word we've been talking about all the way through this series to become a man of faith, allowing his foundation to be built on Jesus Christ. Great story.

And it's just a great outcome and a great illustration of what contentment is. Now I assume that if our listeners have come this far with us, that they might be kindred spirits. They may already have a right relationship with Jesus Christ.

But I can also assume that God has a plan for someone that might be listening to this episode that may not know Jesus Christ. And Mike, I'm going to encourage you to lead our listeners in a prayer of salvation and encourage you as listeners to maybe repeat after Mike as he prays this prayer. If you have an opportunity to turn your life over to the Lord, you will experience a freedom and a joy that is indescribable. And we pray that as we take a moment to just do that with you, that you would consider a right relationship with Jesus Christ. And I can pray this prayer, Bernie, because it is my experience. I've actually released so much of my life to Jesus Christ, not least when I went into this ministry with the Salvation Army, and he has not failed me.

In fact, quite the contrary. He's given me so much. So I'd be happy to lead in that prayer. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, I thank you for the promises, promises such as I will not leave you or forsake you.

Promises that I've seen in my life come to fruition, where Heavenly Father, I've given up things or even in some cases just given up every particular thing that I owned in this world, believing Heavenly Father that you would be there to sustain me and you have. But I fear there are so many in this world, particularly those who live in the West, who continue to put their faith in the things of this world, the accumulation of wealth, the accumulation of things, hoping, Lord, that somehow that gives them a foundation. Well, Lord, as we've seen so often, things can go away.

Rust and moth will destroy. However, Lord, for you and your faithfulness, that never goes away. And it's on that foundation, I pray, that people have the ability to stand. For some, it may be a step of faith to now release something, to identify what it is in their lives that they're dependent upon.

Give them, Heavenly Father, the faith and the belief that they can release that thing and stand firmly on the foundation that is you. And if there's anybody listening that simply does not know you, help them to see through our conversation, through the enthusiasm that Bernie and I share for you, Heavenly Father. May it be through that that people start to wonder what it is to be a Christian, what it is to follow you, what it is to give up our lives and follow you, believing Heavenly Father that you have our eternity in mind and the days ahead beyond this world are far greater than we could possibly imagine because there, Lord, lies the reward for the sacrifice that we give in this life. So bless our viewers, our listeners, I pray. Bless Bernie and me and all of us in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. We hope you've enjoyed this series and we pray that you will continue to seek out the Lord in all that you do.

God bless you. The Salvation Army's mission, Doing the Most Good, means helping people with material and spiritual needs. You become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army. Visit salvationarmyusa.org to offer your support, and we would love to hear from you. Email us at radioatuss.salvationarmy.org. Call 1-800-229-9965 or write us at P.O.

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