Hindrances to Maturity in Christ

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

4/14/22 

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

The pull of the world has always been a huge threat to God's chosen people. We are called to be in the world but not of the world. Therefore, as an introduction let us consider what history tells us concerning human nature. The Roman Empire lasted about 500 years, from 27 BC until 476 AD. A man named Edward Gibbon wrote a six-volume work titled, "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." According to Gibbon, some of the factors that caused that decline and fall were the following. All of the same factors are causing the decline and fall of the United States today.

1- A decline in values and morals
Even during the stable and relatively peaceful period, there were more than 30,000 prostitutes in Rome. Emperors wasted money on luxurious parties, where guests ate and drank wine and spirits until they became sick. This same decline has had a huge impact on the modern-day church. This factor, of course, is always the major cause of the decline and fall of any civilization. We will spend quite a bit of time on this factor later in this message.

2- Public health and diseases
There were many environmental and public health problems, due to water poisoning, the spread of a lot of diseases because of continuous interaction of people with the coliseum, where contact with dead bodies and blood was frequent, and the consumption of alcohol. In the United States we have experienced AIDS, HIV, and three-plus years of the Covid pandemic. Christians have not been immune to these diseases. The Lord allows diseases at times to come upon His chosen people, but always with a higher purpose in mind. God permitted Satan to inflict disease upon Job so that He could reveal His majesty and power to His faithful servant (Job 42). Also, as stated in Ezekiel 14, the Lord at times even sends diseases to some of His chosen people for His purposes. But we should always remember that these natural bodies were never meant to last forever.

3- Inflation
Inflation of the Roman economy started around 185 AD. When the conquests of the Roman Empire halted, the flow of gold from the new territories to Rome began to decline. The Romans spent a lot of gold to pay for their luxurious goods, so there was less gold to use in the coins. The coins became less valuable. In order to sustain this loss of value, merchants raised the prices of the goods they were selling. Many people stopped using coins and began bartering for the things they needed. Keeping an army that defended the borders of the Roman Empire from the constant attacks of the barbarians was a permanent expense for the government. Funds earmarked for maintaining the militia left very few resources for other vital activities, such as providing public housing, maintaining quality roads, and improving aqueducts. The army began recruiting foreign soldiers from other countries. Such an army was very unreliable and very expensive. For these reasons, the emperors were forced to raise taxes frequently, which led to more economic inflation.

Tax and spend is the well-known byword of many of those in political power in America. The only question is when, not if, the economic bubble will break. Inflation in modern America has generated many problems, particularly for the poor. We have also seen the rise of crypto-currency.

4 - Urban decay
Wealthy Romans lived in houses with marble walls and floors made of multi-colored tiles, but most of the common people lived in small, smelly houses, like apartments of six or more floors that covered a whole block. At first there were more than 44,000 apartments within the city of Rome. Apartments on the first floor were not occupied by the poor, since the rent was more expensive. The higher apartments had cheaper rent, but they were dirty, unventilated, crammed with people, dangerous and too hot. However, if the people did not have the money to pay these rents, they had to live in the streets, infested with crime and diseases. All these events caused the cities to begin to decline. Urban decay is certainly present in the United States today. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The number of homeless people in the U.S. is more than half a million.

5- A divided empire
By the third century, the city of Rome was no longer the center of the Roman Empire, which had spread from the British Isles to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to Egypt. The immense territory presented many problems, so the empire was divided into two, leaving the western capital in Rome and the eastern capital in Constantinople. Each of the capitals had its own emperor. The cultural, economic and political center of the Empire began to be Constantinople. The army commanders aspired to become emperors. During their last years, the emperors were afraid of being overthrown by their army commanders so they assassinated them.

Today Democrats are divided against Democrats. Republicans are divided against Republicans. Churches are divided against other churches. Division even exists within individual churches. Ethnic groups are divided against different ethnic groups of people. Even families are divided within themselves. A house divided against itself cannot stand.

6- Political corruption
Choosing a new emperor was always difficult and the Roman Empire never determined clearly how a new ruler should be chosen. The election was always a debate between the emperor, the Senate, the Praetorian Guard (the Emperor's private army), and the common army. Eventually, the Praetorian Guard began to have all the power to choose the new emperor, who later rewarded them. Then the practice of selling the throne to the highest bidder became an institution. The Roman Empire had 37 emperors who were killed over 25 years.

The political environment in the United States seems to have become increasingly more corrupt over the years. An honest politician with integrity is a rarity.

Historians agree that culture did not make the Roman Empire fall, but rather the weaknesses that the system itself had within it, including decaying cities (both in material and moral terms), increased taxes, inflation, overpopulation, inadequate leadership, and a defense that was not able to withstand the sieges of invaders.

Now let us read a few verses in Genesis, Chapter 6.

Genesis 6:5, "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

Genesis 6:11, "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence." 

We are experiencing violence in the world today on a scale which perhaps has rarely been seen before. The world suffers greatly because of the violence among different civilizations. The United States has about 1000 Bible schools and 200 seminaries. With Christian colleges and universities added in, the number of schools for studying the Bible expands even more. Added to this are a few thousand Christian bookstores. However, all of that Christian education has no answer for the violence. No man has an answer. There seems to be no way out. We have no answer for crime. The prison population is at an all-time high. The prison population in the United States in 1972 was 200,000. Today, the United States has over 2.1 million total prisoners ... the largest prison population in the world, and the highest per-capita incarceration rate. More to the point, Isaiah, Chapter 11, verse 11, says that God's chosen people are still in captivity.

Arnold Toynbee, a famous English historian and writer, once said: (quote) Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder. Civilizations in decline are consistently characterized by a tendency towards standardization and uniformity. The human race's prospects of survival were considerably better when we were defenseless against tigers than they are today when we have become defenseless against ourselves. Of the twenty-two civilizations that have appeared in history, nineteen of them collapsed when they reached the moral state the United States is in now." (end quote) Toynbee also said that all civilizations which have collapsed have gone through the same steps or phases: first, slavery; then faith in the Divine; courage; emancipation or independence, prosperity, selfishness, apathy, dependence on the welfare state, and back to slavery. We might ask the question ... slaves to what? For the United States, slavery to alcohol, food, sex, TV, entertainment of every possible venue, humanism, materialism, traditions of men, and much more.

Given that the world is rapidly going from darkness to gross darkness, what then must we do? There are many hindrances to maturity in Christ. These hindrances are very much inter-related and have both an individual and a corporate application for every born-from-above believer in Christ. However, the root cause of all hindrances is an apostasy of God's chosen people and the increased focus on king Self, in all of its multi-faceted forms. One of the hardest things for us Christians is to see ourselves as we really are. There is a great tendency to say, "I am OK; we are OK; everything is alright." Paul, in 2 Corinthians 13:5, said, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves." Paul did not intend to create any doubt within us as to whether or not we have been born again. That verse is like saying, "actions speak louder that words." If we have been born again, the actions of our life should manifest a definite change. What is important is how God sees us.

Romans 2:19 says to the Messianic Jews that they, "art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness." Paul goes on to say to the members of the church at Rome that it is possible to be spiritually blind and not know it.

In the early days of the marriage of my wife and myself, shortly after we both were apprehended by the Lord, part of my wife's testimony was the following, and I quote her. "I believed that the answer to most of our married problems would be the Lord doing a great work within Bob. Therefore, spiritually, I pointed a finger at Bob and said, 'Lord, change him.' Instead, the Lord curved my finger around to point at me and said, I'm going to do a great work within you." (end quote)

Isaiah 58:6-11.

6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.

9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:

11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

1 John 2:15-17, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." 

The lust of the flesh includes everything that appeals to our carnal and physical appetite. It means wanting to gratify our body's desires at the cost of Godly morality and what is good for our soul. It can be adultery, drugs, alcohol or food — whatever meets a physical need in a manner that competes with the preeminence of Jesus in our life. God has placed within each human natural and healthy desires. Although natural body desires are not inherently evil, an excess enslaves man. The desire for food may become gluttony. According to reliable reports, 78 million adults and 12 million children in the United States are obese—figures that many regard as an epidemic. The desire for drink may easily turn to alcoholic beverages. According to the CDC, excessive alcohol use is responsible for more than 95,000 deaths in the United States each year. These deaths shorten the lives of those who die by an average of almost 29 years. It is a leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and cost the nation $249 billion in 2010. The desire for sex may result in fornication. As many as 42 million men, women, and children are working as prostitutes worldwide - whether by choice or through forced slavery - with one to two million of them in the United States.

The prostitution trade in the United States is estimated to generate $14 billion a year. That does not count the millions of unreported adulteries and fornications among consenting adults or teenagers. The media has contributed greatly to these sins by making it seem to be the norm. Illicit sex has been the downfall of too many Christian ministers. Although the divorce rate in the United States has been gradually declining, more than three-quarters of a million divorces took place in the U.S. in 2017. Good things become bad when they have been twisted and perverted by Satan so that we focus more or become obsessed with them; this is when our lives begin to unravel!

1 Corinthians 6:12-13, "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body." 

The Israelites succumbed to this type of sin when "the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play" (Exodus 32:6). The devil tried to tempt Jesus by the lust of the flesh when he urged Him to turn stones into bread (Matthew 4:3).

The lust of the eyes is the sinful desire to possess what we see or to have those things which have visual appeal. These include coveting money, possessions, a better house or car, or a desire for a neighbor's wife. Eve (Genesis 3:6) succumbed to this type of sin when she coveted what was prohibited. The devil tried to tempt Jesus by the lust of the eyes when he "showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, 'All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me'" (Matthew 4:8-9).

The pride of life includes contemplation of personal achievement to produce a self-sufficient attitude. Some example of the pride of life are seeking after honors, titles, and pedigrees, boasting of ancestry, family connections, great offices, popularity, academic degrees and success, power obtained by unlawful means, ambitious thoughts, arrogant assumptions, vain applause, unmerited and overvalued praise and observance from other men, desire for places of dignity, vainglory, and splendor in the world, pride in the enjoyment of one's position in life or in the display of one's wealth, being boastful about what one has or has achieved, self-righteousness or feeling more righteous than others, and feeling more important than others because of beauty, fame, etc. It is also the sin of seeing others as inferior because of your achievements, personality, or status. I have met some professing Christians who have said, I am prophet so-and-so, I am pastor so-and-so, I am Reverend Doctor so-and-so. Others have boasted about how many folks they have brought to the Lord. All these desires are not from God but from the prince of this world. The Israelites succumbed to this type of sin when they "acted proudly, hardened their necks, and did not heed God's commandments" (Nehemiah 9:16). The devil tried to tempt Jesus by the pride of life when he "took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple," and urged Him to tempt God by throwing Himself down (Matthew 4:5-7).

When most of our energy is invested in something that will ultimately perish, we are in a vulnerable position and we are walking on a slippery slope. We must set our mind and thoughts on things above and make God our primary focus. He is all we will ever need, and He offers us a more abundant and satisfying life than any fleshly passion we can imagine!

Luke 17:26-30,

26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

Note the ten occurrences of "they" in Verses 27 and 28. In other words, the focus is on man and what man does ... humanism. So it is today.

We have stated several times that we are living in the last church age before the return of Jesus to earth. This last church age is typified by the Church of Laodicea, spoken of in Revelation 3:14-22. The Laodiceans were characterized by deception, which was caused by a false sense of prosperity in both the natural and spiritual realm. That resulted in an apathy and being lukewarm. What causes deception? unbelief. Jesus, in Matthew 24, described the conditions in the world and in the Church in the last days just prior to His return. Four times in that chapter Jesus spoke of the great deception that would cover the earth prior to His return and the end of the ages. Unbelief opens the door to deception. Unbelief is a change in focus toward self, rather than on the Lord and His word. Unbelief is undoubtedly the biggest hindrance to our maturity in Christ. Galatians 6:3, "For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself."

The word of the Lord to the Christians at Laodicea and to us is, 

Revelation 3:17-19, "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."

Those verses clearly state our biggest problem as well as the solution. Human nature has never changed. Jesus said, in Matthew 19:24, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Gold tried in the fire speaks of the nature of the Lord God, which is glory and holiness. Clothed with white raiment speaks of righteousness.

Psalm 24:3-4, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully."

"Clean hands" speaks of our right relationship to other men as unto the Lord, particularly our relationship to our fellow Christians. Therefore, "clean hands" speaks of righteousness. A "pure heart" speaks of our personal relationship to God. Because God is holy, a "pure heart" speaks of holiness. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

We stated earlier that the greatest hindrance to maturity in Christ is our unbelief. Now, what is the opposite of unbelief? Is it not faith? Lord, we believe. Help thou our unbelief. Lord, give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to understand who You are so that we might walk in your ways and always do your will. No human being, Christian or non-Christian, ever believes they are being deceived. If we thought we were being deceived, we would do something about it. Even leaders in charismatic churches can be deceived. I am personally aware of several different charismatic churches when ALL of the elders were deceived.

The devil is very devious. He may know more Scripture than you or I know. He works in very subtle ways. Deception is his major weapon. He does not give us great big lies immediately. He tries to lure us into his kingdom of darkness one baby step at a time because he wants to rule and be worshipped as God. He still has power in his kingdom of darkness. The devil tries his best to keep Christians from entering the kingdom of God. Even after someone is born again, the devil tries to get that person to reject the Lord. Unfortunately, scripture indicates that the devil will be successful a few times. The first example of that was when Cain killed his brother Abel.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." 

Jude 1:5, "I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not."

Do you remember the first day that you were born again? I remember very distinctly my first day of new beginnings. For most of us, it probably was a day of excitement, smiles, and feelings of great joy and happiness. For me it was like I had just entered a world that I never knew existed. In one of the three different secular jobs I had, one cohort was clearly not at all a Christian. He was married with two children. Then he was attracted to a secretary in the business company, had an affair with her, and ended up divorcing his wife and later marrying the secretary. Before that all happened, on one occasion I shared with that secretary my testimony of when the Lord apprehended me, with no apparent results. Several years later, that secretary called me on the telephone and said she had been born again. A number of years after that she called me again and invited my wife and me to their house for a special dinner occasion. She said that her husband had likewise been born again. When we went to their house and I saw my former business cohort, I think that never in my life have I ever seen any man who was just overflowing with joy. His countenance was beaming with a light that I have rarely ever seen before or since. Sadly, over time, that initial burst of excitement for us Christians may seem to fade like a fire that is slowly dying out by degrees. Unfortunately, any message from any minister which speaks of generalities on any scriptural topic tends to be far too quickly forgotten by too many listeners.

Most folks have heard the idiom that "familiarity breeds contempt." That occurs many times in the natural world. Let us consider a somewhat similar idiom in the Christian world ... "familiarity breeds boredom." Some synonyms for "boredom" are "apathy," "lethargy," and "indifference." Sounds like the church at Laodicea. Sadly, that also sounds like some of our modern-day churches.

A few characteristics of boredom are: feeling weary and restless through lack of interest in our current activity or because we are unoccupied; and feeling impatient or dissatisfied, because we are not interested in something or because we have nothing to do.

For us Christians, those two characteristics have been exasperated by the Covid Pandemic, which is now in its fourth year. That pandemic has upset our former tradition of going to "church" regularly on Sunday mornings. Further, the "isolation" which has resulted from Covid has led to more boredom and unrest. We humans don't like changes in our routine life.

Boredom is like telling God that we are not looking at Him as we once did because we do not believe Him to be ultimately worthy of our attention and affection. Our boredom says, "God is not enough for us so we are looking for something more." We must always be on the lookout for religious boredom and, sadly, all too often we don't even know that we have fallen into that trap.

Jesus said, in John 8:31-32, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

John 14:15-17, "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."

1 Peter 1:10-12, "Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into."

Even the angels, for whom the gospel is somewhat of a mystery not purposed for themselves, long to look into the deep, fascinating well of its revelation. Because the good news proclaims the unsearchable riches of Christ, who opens the window of the eternal mystery of the Godhead, the gospel of the kingdom of God should be endlessly absorbing. When we are bored, it can only be because we have stopped looking at Jesus. He can't be boring. If we find Him boring, it's because we are boring. The deficiency is ours, not His. Boredom and his twin brother, laziness or slothfulness, are fundamentally failures of belief ... a heart without worship and joy.

Proverbs 19:15 speaks of how "slothfulness" can lead to unpleasant circumstances. Attitudes and choices that lead to or arise from boredom are harmful to a Christian's faith. Christians must strive to live with passion - not apathy - and overcome boredom with positive thoughts and deeds. The devil tempts us to boredom. When it comes to boredom, we act like the problem is out there. If I am bored with my spouse or the Bible or the pastor or the church service, then my spouse and the Bible and the doctrine must be boring. Boredom is a sin; it is a terrible form of despair. The problem is us. What is the answer? Repent. Repent of that boredom. Repent and know that Jesus delights in you, that He died on the cross for you so that He could forgive you and bring you to Himself. He is never bored or tired of forgiving your sins. Amazing!

The Lord Jesus has given your spouse to you to be your delight. The Lord has given you His Word to be your joy. The Lord has given you the understanding of His word and your fellow Christians to be your joy and delight. We delight and find joy in the Lord and His gifts, and the Lord uses this joy to beat back the devil. Psalm 37:4, "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

Hebrews 12:1-3, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds."

I once heard A. W. Tozer, a highly respected 20th century pastor and writer of 33 years, give a good analogy related to boredom among Christians and a possible solution. I want to share with you the essence of his analogy. Most of us have looked up at night and seen a myriad of stars in the heavens. We have done that so many times that it becomes commonplace to us. But suppose that stars came out only once in 50 years. If we knew that, we would probably make great plans to prepare for that special occasion. We might even consider that as more important than a baseball game that night. We might invite several friends over like it was almost as important as the Super Bowl that is played once a year or as the fireworks display on July the fourth. We would probably have a special meal with special drinks and get our cameras and telescopes handy.

Paul, seven different times, said, "Brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant." The apostle John said, in 1 John 2:21, "I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth." Paul said the same thing several times, particularly in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. There is nothing "wrong" with repetition. The Bible is full of repetition from cover to cover. In five different verses in the Bible the same word or phrase is repeated three times. The problem is our walking out the truth.

In light of boredom, apathy, lethargy, laziness and slothfulness, let's look at what the Bible says about what should occupy our time, minds and hearts:

1 Thessalonians 5:18, "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say, Rejoice."

Ephesians 5:14, "Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."

Ephesians 5:20, "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;"

Colossians 3:23, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;" 

Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." 

Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

The prescription for the bored and the lazy is to rejoice in the Lord. Laziness is not rest; this is why there is no joy in it. But when Jesus sets us free, He really sets us free - free to work, free to love, free to rest - with happiness and delight, awe and wonder, fulfillment and satisfaction. If we fully obey the scripture and completely walk in the Spirit, then no time would be left to feel "bored." Instead, we would be glorifying and praising God every moment, whether we were working or at rest. Paul said, in Philippians 4:11, "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."

Hosea 10:12, "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till He come and rain righteousness upon you." 

Leonard Ravenhill, a highly respected 20th century evangelist once said, (quote) "I read through Hebrews 11. These staggering men and women through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtain the promises, stopped the lions; women received their dead raised to life again. All the devilish things (they endured) and not one ever had a Bible! Well, in God's Name, (what) are you and I going to do when we stand before Him? Finney didn't have a bigger Bible; Wesley didn't have a bigger Bible, but somehow they got nearer to the heart of God. They got a revelation from God, they got convictions of the Spirit and they laid their lives on the line. (end quote).

Lord, work within us so that we likewise will lay our lives on the line for You. Amen.