Building the House of God - the Snares of Unthankfulness and Discontentment — Phil Beach Jr.

The Holy Spirit Reveals Christ and Brings Freedom

Lord, we are amazed in your presence, Lord. We thank you, Lord, that you are Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals us, the Lord who is our health. Thank you, Lord, that you are healing living waters in our presence this morning, Lord.

Lord, we honor you. We recognize the presence of your Holy Spirit here today. We recognize that the chief ministry of the Holy Spirit is to reveal to our hearts the things which belong to Christ, his glory, his majesty, his position of being Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

His authority from sea to sea. Lord, we pray that today as we look into your holy word that you would speak to us, Lord. We pray, O God, that the spirit of the living God would speak the word into the depths of our spirit and that it would go beyond just the hearing of our ears into the hearing with the ears of our heart and that it would change us.

We pray it would minister life. We pray that it would break the shackles of darkness, the shackles of life controlling behavior patterns that hinder us from entering fully into your heart, into your will.

Father, we pray that we shall know the truth this morning and continue in the truth so that the truth may set us free. We pray, O God, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, amen and amen and amen. We have mentioned in times past, and I feel it necessary just to briefly mention it this morning, that there is much emphasis today in the church on deliverance.

Many times you'll meet believers and they're looking for a deliverance ministry or a deliverance minister, hoping that if they find a deliverance ministry or a deliverance minister, that they can be set free from things that have bound them or shackles of sin or life controlling habits.

And I believe the spirit of the Lord would warn us not to be turned aside with all of the interests that people have today in deliverance. Not that there isn't a valid deliverance that can come. But whenever anything gets out of balance and there is an emphasis on something that takes us away from the truth of God's word, then there's an error.

Continuing in Christ’s Word for True Freedom

There's yellow lights that are flashing. Brothers and sisters, I want to point you to the book of John, chapter eight, verse number thirty one. Before we get into the word today, I want to read this and I'm asking the Holy Spirit to please make this a living word in our heart today, a living word in our heart today.

I've talked to many, many Christians. I talk to them regularly and I find that there is a deep, deep hunger to be free from many different things. A lot of marriages are in turmoil, Christian marriages, and they're looking for freedom, they're looking for deliverance.

They're looking for a counselor who will finally once and for all be able to set them free or a book once and for all that will be able to set them free or a ministry, the hand of a man. Oh, please lay your hand on me and I know I'll be free.

Brothers and sisters, listen to the word of God this morning. The word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword. The word of God gives us the heart of God on this whole issue.

I believe it was David Wilkerson several months ago preached a very powerful message on how he was discouraged, very deeply discouraged over the emphasis in the church today on counseling, even biblical counseling, not that biblical counseling isn't good.

It's wonderful. We need to be counseled in the word of God. But what he recognized, and I respect his opinion because he's been entrusted with a lot of people and he interacts with hundreds and hundreds of couples on a regular basis and his staff counsels hundreds and hundreds of marriage couples.

But the staff came together and they all shared the same grief in their heart, all shared the same grief. And here's what the grief was, even though they would clearly simply open up the word of God when a couple sat before him and began to explain to them from the word of God what their problem was and and what they needed to do.

They sensed almost almost unanimously that there was not a desire within the couple, even though they were there seeking counsel, there was not a desire within the couple to truly bow before the authority of God's word and together stick to it until the promise of God's word brings them victory.

They want a quick fix. A quick fix, and I'm afraid that much of the desire within the church today in relation to wanting a deliverance ministry or even the interest in books and tapes, there is a place for these things.

But I'm afraid that there is something that is not right in the midst of it, and that's what the Lord wants to deal with in our lives. And here's where it is. John, chapter eight, verse number thirty one, then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him.

Now you can take the word Jews there and you can put your name, put your name there. If you continue in my word, a lot of people want the greasy oil filled hand of a preacher to touch their head as a as a basis for deliverance.

But we're going to look and see what God says continue. There's the first word, every single word that God speaks in the new covenant in the New Testament simply reveals to us what he has promised to do through the power of grace and through the power of the Holy Spirit.

If we would but ask and keep asking, knock and keep knocking, seek and keep seeking. And so the very the very first word that Jesus speaks to these believers is if you continue in my word. We're living in a day when.

Sticking at something for a long time is very difficult. There's the grass is greener on the other side syndrome that's plaguing the church today. It's plaguing the family. Families are no longer content.

With just one another looking at each other in the eyes and saying, hi, how are you? There's always got to be something generating our interests, generating our our our our our desires. But here, God's word says, if you continue, remember this word, continue.

It's the key to deliverance. You might be struggling with something in your life right now. You might be struggling with a problem. You might be struggling with a lifelong habit. You might be struggling with anger.

You might be struggling with lust. You might be struggling with the desire to be seen of men. You might be. I don't know what you're struggling with, but beloved your answer. Most likely, if you're struggling now and you've been struggling for some time, your answer most likely will not be realized by simply being prayed for, although prayer is wonderful.

I say amen to prayer. Your answer will not most likely come by someone laying their hands on you, although praise God, if you feel led to ask someone to pray for you and lay their hands on you, that's fine.

But don't look to those means. To obtain what you're seeking God for, it won't work, it won't work. If you continue in what? If you continue in my word, there you go. Consistent, continual abiding, the word there continue means to abide.

To tarry. Another meaning could be to stay under. A variation to stay under if you stay under and abide in and continue with the word of God, my word, the word of God. This is the word of God. This is the word of Jesus.

If you continue in my word now, watch this. Then are you my disciples? Now, we've learned and we spent quite a bit of time on this in the past. Being a disciple is a pupil. Being a disciple is a student.

Being a disciple is one who takes the posture of needing to be taught. A student sits at the feet of his teacher. With the heart attitude of I need to be instructed, I need to be taught. Now, you put all these together, you put all these together.

Continue in the word, then are you my disciple? And now watch what it says. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. So where does freedom come from? Freedom comes from truth and truth is available to who?

Those who, by grace through the power of the Holy Spirit, it's not by power, it's not by might, but by my spirit, saith the Lord. Those who, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you say, brother, I don't know if I know the power of the Holy Spirit, then begin to inquire of the Lord, you need the power of the spirit of God.

Let me tell you, you cannot continue in God's word without the power of the Holy Spirit. God's word will become boring to you. God's word will become legalistic to you. God's word will become a textbook to you.

It'll only become theology. It'll just become mental information. But if you have the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit has you and you are under the power and the influence of the Holy Spirit of God, not some weird mystical experience that so many believers are claiming to possess today and they talk maybe with other languages and they might see visions and dreams.

There is a place for that. But brothers and sisters, that's not evidence that you've got the Holy Spirit or the Holy Spirit's got you. What is evidence when you have the Holy Spirit is that the eyes of your heart are being flooded with an ongoing revelation of the supremacy and beauty of the person of Jesus Christ.

That's the evidence the Holy Spirit is working in your life. Don't you believe just because you hear voices telling you what to do that the Holy Spirit's in your life? Don't you think that just because you feel impressions?

Oh, I tell you, I'm sick and tired of hearing people talk about impressions and feelings. And if you follow them around for a week, their gossips, their slanderers, they don't know how to love their husband.

They don't know how to love their wife. They're verbal abusers, they're manipulators, and they claim to be under the Holy Spirit's power hogwash, they're not. Are you going to make your experience or the word of God?

The rule of thumb for your life, if we continue in the word of God, then we'll become disciples. Brothers and sisters, you either may be individually struggling with something, you might be struggling something with your marriage.

I don't know what it is. But until until God's spirit gets a hold of you. And you recognize the word of God and continuing in the word of God is the source from which you will find the truth that will set you free.

And you become a pupil, a student. You've got to come to the place in your life when you bow down to the authority of God's word. You have got to come to the place in your life where you say, God, I have been proud, I have been arrogant, I have wanted to do it my way.

I professed your name. I've even done works in your name, but my life or my marriage or my relationships are falling apart because I have not bowed to the authority of your word. Any couple, any couple who's having problems in their marriage, I don't care what they are.

If they would humble themselves and bow down. Mutually in agreement that God's word will become the final authority in their life and they will stay in that posture and wait on God and pray and seek God's word and let God's word speak into their heart and reveal their pride and reveal their selfishness and reveal their desire to want to have their own way and reveal all of the reasons why they're acting the way they are and stay in the heat.

Because it gets hot when you let God's word get in your heart, it gets hot. Excuses go out the window. Brothers and sisters, can I ask you a question this morning? Are you prepared to become a disciple, a pupil of God's word?

Well, if you answer yes to that, I'm delighted. But I have another question. Then are you prepared to lose your life? Because in becoming a pupil of the word of God, you lose your life. You lose those things in your life that are contrary to the word of God.

You can't be a pupil of the word of God and speak unkindly to someone. You can't do it now. You can do it if you're not a disciple. But if you truly abide in God's word and you truly experience the person of the Holy Spirit, God will uncover everything in your life, not to condemn you, but to restore you and to refashion you after the image and likeness of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

God's asking us this morning through his word. Have we bought into the quick fix Christianity? That's why so many lives are falling apart. So many lives are falling apart. And as we've stated over and over and over again, the purpose of gathering on Sundays here is to impart a love for the word of God that gets into our hearts so that it's taken with us Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday so that we find ourselves in the word of God together as families or alone in our prayer closet.

We find the word of God speaking to us, changing us, encouraging us, dealing with the areas of struggle in our life. That's what we need. The word of God, then shall you know the truth. And so. As we move on, don't forget, these are qualities that God wants to work in our heart by his grace, there must be a continuation in his word.

Transparency, vulnerability, accountability to God's word. Are you accountable to God's word? Are you transparent before God's word? Do you read God's word? Husbands love your wife. And do you say, oh, God, I am accountable to that word and I'm not doing it the way I should.

Or do you blow it off? Dearly beloved, this is a life transforming truth. This is a life transforming word. Nothing's going to work, but staying in the word and letting the word get in you. Becoming a pupil and then you'll discover the truth, Jesus Christ, and he will set you free.

So I've tried that and it didn't work. Keep trying, then. Keep trying. Elijah prayed and he saw no rain. And he prayed again and he saw no rain and he prayed again and again and again and again and again, and then he finally saw a cloud.

That looked like a man's hand, and he heard then the abundance of rain, we live in a quick fix day. But when you come to the things of God, you're not going to have a quick fix. OK, let's move on. I pray that that word will find good ground.

I pray it will, because it'll change you. It'll change you. As you know, we've been spending months on the topic, a series. The building of the house of God, and we just finished. Within that series, three messages on the many wounds of love, and we learned that if we are under the power of God's love, we're going to get hurt, we're going to get wounded.

Love, Wounds, and the Building of God’s House

Parents, you're going to get wounded if you love your children. Husbands and wives, you're going to get wounded if you really love one another. Now, I know when you're in a honeymoon mode, you can't imagine your honeydew hurting you.

You just can't. Oh, no, not her. She's the sweetest thing this side of Earth or heaven, whatever. Oh, well, that's good. I'm glad I'm glad I won't take that from you. But beware, beware. And you see a little baby, newborn baby.

And oh, here she's the sweetest thing. It's so easy to love that baby. Oh, I just love to change his or her dirty diapers. What a joy. It's not hard to love babies, is it? But let the baby turn into a teenager and all of a sudden your love is being tested and to keep loving that child and to keep pouring your life into that child unconditionally, you're going to get hurt.

You're going to be betrayed. You're going to be taken advantage of. You're going to be accused of everything under the sun of being unkind, unjust, uncaring. And you just plain hate me because you won't let me do what I want.

And we learned in this three part series that the temptation that the wicked one brings to us when we're enjoying and experiencing the life that's poured out because we're under the power of love. Remember, love gives, gives, gives and doesn't expect anything in return.

Human love gives only when it's getting something out of it. You know, you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. But if you make me bleed, I'll get mad. And I'll stop scratching your back. We also learned that really, before we experience the depths of God's love, we say we love one another, but we really don't.

I don't mean to sound cynical. This is what the word of God will do. We don't really love one another. We love ourself until God gets real deep. See, and the reason why we know we love ourself is because my love for Mike, until God really gets a hold of me, is really connected to what Mike's doing for me.

I love you, brother. I love the way Mike makes me feel. I love you, Mike, because you're just really relating to me. But you let Mike stumble and fall. Maybe he hears an evil report about me and he believes it and he starts telling people and I find out about it.

What? He said, what? I can't believe it, and I realized I really didn't love Mike because true love. True love. Might talk with Mike, might confront him, true love is not going to be affected. Let me tell you something.

Jesus loved Judas to the end. And he was a betrayer. He loved him to the end. The Bible says he knew from the beginning. Now, can you imagine taking a betrayer into your bosom and loving him all your life, knowing that at the very end he was going to betray you or she was going to betray you?

You wouldn't love him. You think of a way to get rid of him. And so would I. That's depravity, that's human depravity. I love my wife. Do I love my wife? Do I? Well, she makes me happy. I love her. But what about when she makes me upset?

What about when she doesn't do what I think she should do? What about when she doesn't meet the needs that I think I have? What happens? Anger, resentment, bitterness rises up in this whole heart. So what am I learning about myself apart from the grace of God, apart from the inworking of divine love in my life?

I don't really love her. If I do, I love her real little because perfected love, grown up love, which is what we're commanded to have, lays its life down. For one another, even when the beard is being pulled out.

When did Jesus say far enough, that's it. Angels, come on down, zap them. Enough is enough. I endure it enough. This is ridiculous. Father, wipe them out. No, what did he do? He got his beard plucked out and he kept loving.

He got the thorn of the crown of thorns on on his head, bleeding, and he kept going. He got beat, kicked, bruised, slapped. He kept going. What about his mother? How many here really love your mom? I love my mother.

My mom's right here. I love my mother. Can you imagine how Jesus felt all his life? Rumors floated around about his mother, that she was a fornicator. You say, well, how can that be? Well, how did she get the baby?

Was it Joseph's? No. Whose baby was it? Conceived of the Holy Spirit. Oh, right, Mary. Oh, my poor Mary. Rumors. Remember, the Jews said to Jesus, we're not born of fornication. Remember, he said that.

What were they talking about? That was a jab right into his heart. We weren't born of fornication like you, Jesus. We know who our father was. Who's yours? What's wrong? Mama just couldn't wait, huh? Imagine if your mother had the reputation of being a fornicator and you had to hear the ridicule that your mom experienced.

Enough is enough. Now, this is the nature of true love, and we're called to walk in this true love. Now we've learned that the building of the house of God consists not of buildings. That's not the house of God.

Buildings do not make up the church. Amen. The church is made up of living stones. Those who've been born again, those who've been partakers of the. Chief Cornerstone. You just imagine a huge, huge rock right here, just imagine a huge stone here.

This is Christ. The church is a little piece, a little piece, a little piece called life, the life of Jesus into this person, this person, this person. So the very life of Christ himself is imparted in the new birth.

That's what the church is. The church consists of those who share the life of the head. Remember Adam and Eve? Where did Eve come from? Out of Adam. Where did the church come from? Out of Christ. Exactly.

Out of Christ. Christ is the head and he birthed us. A very part of his own life now lives in the church. So that when you put the whole church together, what do you see? You see Christ, his character, his nature, his love, his his his perfections being revealed through earthen vessels of clay.

That's the church. That's the house that God's building. And we've been looking at all of the features that characterize the house of God. Those who become a part of God's house will be filled with love.

But wounds will be there. And they'll resist the temptation to give up when you're taking advantage of the devil's there to whisper to you, just give up, close your heart, forget it, it's not worth it.

But Jesus says, oh, look at me. Look at me. Sharon, my suffering. And I'll give you the grace and I'll give you the power now, another part in the building up of the house of God, listen closely just for a few minutes, beloved part of the process of God building in the church.

The Snare of Unthankfulness and Discontentment

The image and likeness of Christ, its head. Is the difficult purging process of freeing us, listen closely. From the snare of unthankful, unthankfulness and discontentment, unthankfulness and discontentment.

Those who are being fashioned. Into the image of the bride. Who will be on tiptoes looking for the bride groom to come, who are on tiptoes, stretched out spiritually, longing for his appearing, longing for his coming, longing for for the fullness of his love, the fullness of his person to be revealed.

All of those will have had a history with God that will have wrought within them a deliverance. From unthankfulness. And this contentment, Philippians, chapter four. The snare of unthankfulness and discontentment many, many months ago, we touched on this, but this, I believe, is a message that we need to hear over and over and over and over again.

Every listen carefully, every single foothold that the devil gets in our life, every foothold the devil now has in our life, if we're conscious of one. Can be traced. To unthankfulness and discontentment somewhere in your life.

Not dealing with it, not letting the word of God purge you from it, not letting the word of God and the spirit of God heal you when discontentment and unthankfulness are allowed to fester in our life, men.

Begin to think maybe their wife wasn't. The best choice, maybe this house is not you become unthankful. And discontent. And when unthankfulness and discontent come into your life. You begin. To get under the power of something other than God's word and other than God's spirit.

And if you stay under the power. Of that, which is energized by discontentment and unthankfulness, it will lead you down a road that will destroy you. It'll destroy your loved ones and it'll destroy anyone who gets around you long enough and starts following in your footsteps here.

Learning Contentment from Paul

The words of a man. Who was taught by the Holy Spirit, Philippians, chapter four, beginning in verse 10, but I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at the last your care of me have flourished again, wherein you were also careful, but you lacked opportunity.

Not that I speak in respect of want or need. Listen carefully, for I have learned a stop right there, I'm sorry, I can't go on here. Listen, what did he just say? I have learned what was Paul, huh? He was a student.

Guess what? You're not going to learn. Unless you become a pupil, you won't even hear this message that God has for you today, you won't even hear it go. In one ear out the other, you will not hear it unless you beg God.

To be a pupil. Because Paul's about to tell us something he learned, it's one of the most difficult lessons for a human being to learn. You're not going to you're not going to get this unless you are taught by God himself.

You're not going to get it. Listen, for I have learned in what so ever state I am to be what? Oh, my. Oh, my. Oh, my. Oh, my. What so ever state I am content is the Holy Spirit working in your life, a sure sign the Holy Spirit is not working in our life, always discontent, always dissatisfied.

And with that comes always unthankful. And with that comes murmuring, complaining, grumbling. Why? Why haven't I learned this? Because you need to become a pupil. Is this sweet as honey or what? I love God's word.

I can't hardly even go on. Oh, God. I want to learn this contentment. Not only do you need to learn it, but guess what your children will learn. Not what you teach them with your mouth, and we parents know this.

Your children are not going to learn what you teach them with your mouth, they're going to learn what you model with your life. That is true, isn't it, mom? That's true. And you can tell you can teach your children Hebrews 13 for be content with such things as you have.

First, Timothy six. Having food and raiment there with be content. You could teach him Philippians, be content, and they'll get up in front of church with their cute dress on and their beautiful little tie, and they'll say, I have learned that in so whatever state I am there with, I will be content.

Everyone. And it is cute. It is cute. I think it's beautiful that our children learn scriptures. Amen. I think it's wonderful. But don't think that just learning that scripture, they're going to grow up learning contentment.

They're not. They must come under the same harness that God is asking us to come under, and that is to become a pupil. You know, when you become a pupil, you lose the rights in making your own decisions based on what you think is best.

Oh, boy, does that does that get us right between the eyes? Our culture? I know best. Bless God. I know best for me. I know how to determine what's best for me, don't I? God help you. God help us. If someone else wants to speak into our life.

Oh, my God. Who do they think they are meddling in my business? Erase their name out of our book of friends. Take the name off the Christmas card list. That's right. Humbug. How dare they offer it? Poor aren't they?

Oh, how we have gotten so arrogant and proud, haven't we? See, pupils, listen, they're willing to be taught. If you're not a pupil, you're going to stumble. Oh, you'll be all excited about gifts and worship and all kinds of fun things.

But you'll stumble. When you hear the Lord speak to you and say, so everything you have come to my feet, let me teach you the way I want you to live. Oh, no, no, no, no. I've got it all down. I'm just bringing you into my life.

I have learned I know how to be. A based another translation, what's that? We justify being discontent when there is need in our life. Don't we? Oh, are we hearing? Do you have any Q-tips? Come on, let's get the wax.

Listen now. See what God's word will do. I'm telling you, brothers and sisters, God's word will penetrate and it will devastate you and you'll go, oh. I have learned I know how to be in need. And at the same time, be content hearing, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.

When I'm in need, that justifies being discontent because I have a need and God knows I have a need and God promises to meet my needs. And now I'm going to start looking for the need to be met. Just be careful, brothers and sisters.

Let God's word speak to you. Let God's word speak to you. God does promise to provide our need. But this is a whole nother message. But have you asked him in his wisdom what his provision is? Because nine times out of 10, his provision is something different than what we think.

Mike, who said this? My God shall what who was writing this? Paul. OK, the same Paul wrote in Corinthians. I, at the present time, both hunger. I'm thirsty. I'm naked and I have no certain dwelling place.

Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Something's not right here. My God shall supply all your need. God will not allow. The righteous to be forsaken, nor his seed out begging for bread. That's the word of God.

And Paul writes the Corinthians, I've been beaten, I've been shipwrecked. Never once. Was Paul, do you know how you know that? Not based on his circumstances, because he was hungry, so he lacked food.

He didn't have a dwelling place, so he lacked shelter. He lacked clothing, he never lacked because he plugged in. To the ultimate truth of God's word, though I am with you always, even to the end of the age, I have no lack.

God is with me. Therefore, I learn how to be a based, how to be in lack, never accusing God, never saying, God, you didn't meet my need. God knows what's going on. I know how to be a based and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things, I am what?

Instructed, oh, sounds to me like that's something a teacher does to a pupil, right? You will let the Lord instruct you if you do. Guess what you're going to learn? The snare of discontentment and the provision of Christ to free you from being discontent.

Remember, with discontentment comes unthankfulness. Now, I'd like to I'd like to bring you to first Thessalonians. Watch this. We know the verse. Remember, this is the building of the house of God, the building of the house of God, God's house, the church will be built into a people who demonstrate contentment and thankfulness to one another and to a lost and dying world.

Giving Thanks in Every Circumstance

First Thessalonians, chapter five, verse 18, in everything. Oh. Give thanks in everything, give thanks in lack, give thanks in abundance, give thanks in sickness. Give thanks, not necessarily because you're sick, but in the midst of it, can you give thanks, Job said, though he slay me yet, I will trust him and I will praise him in everything.

Give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. First Timothy, chapter six. How are you doing? How are we doing today? With God's word speaking into our heart, how are we doing?

Young people, please listen, please listen. You're young, you're just starting out, if you are driven by discontentment and unthankfulness, you will not you will not fulfill the will of God for your life.

You will not you'll be turned aside. Verse six. Chapter six, first Timothy, but godliness with contentment is great gain, contentment, the word contentment means to be satisfied with to be satisfied with abundance, lack, satisfied with for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain that we can carry nothing out and having food and raiment.

Let us be there with content. They that will that word there is in the present tense, what it literally says, but they that are always or they that are always desiring to what? To be rich, guess what the root listen carefully, guess what the root cause of always desiring more is discontentment with what you have unthankfulness for what you have, but you know, as we had mentioned months ago, what is the enemy of contentment comparison?

If I compare myself with my brother and I feel that I come up short, guess what's going to happen to my contentment, it's going to be destroyed in a moment and what will be what will be sown in my heart, discontentment, unthankful, I wish I had a pair of shoes like that all of a sudden, my shoes.

I don't know how you could wish that it's only an illustration, all of a sudden, my shoes, I'm not content with my and I'm unthankful and I want don't you think for a second, this scripture only means that unless you wish that you struck the big game, you're not guilty, that's not what it means, only it's not what it means, only the whole idea, beloved, is learning to be content.

They that will be rich. This is where greed and covetousness comes in. Guess what the definition for covetous is. What was that? Wanting more. Oh, there's nothing wrong with wanting more. Well, well, then what does covetous mean?

Let's let's redefine covetous. See, see what happens when we. This is why we have to come to God's word and believe it. Wanting more. Well, it's OK to want more if you don't have enough. Paul said, I have learned to be content with not enough.

Because my heavenly father knows. Let me let me say this. Listen carefully. Do you know why God is speaking this to us in his word? Because he is so grieved. At how all of our life's energies are being spent.

On things. And we're too tired. To seek him. We're too tired. To hunger after him. Jesus said, labor not for the meat which perishes. Don't labor. Don't spend all your energy, all your time. For the things of this life.

And let me say this to you, beloved, by the spirit of God. You will not seek the things which are above. If you do not learn contentment. And thankfulness. You will spend all your life. You can be a devoted churchgoer.

You can go to all the church programs you want. But you will not plug into the depths of God's heart. As long as you are discontent and unthankful. You will find yourself spending your energy on things.

And you'll reason. Not enough. Need more. It's not nice enough. You'll get caught up in the flow, the current of America. And you'll get caught in the whirlwind. And you'll go round and round and round.