Daily Devotions
February 10th, 2022 by Pastor SolleyPhil 4:11-13 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
KJV
Missing from the lives of many people today is contentment, being satisfied and being content in the Lord. The apostle now near the end of his life states that he has learned to be content. How? Two things, he learned how to be abased and he learned how to abound. Most of us think we have learned how to be abased. That word means to be humbled. We think we have been humbled by trials as there are many in this life. We may indeed have been driven to our knees many times by the trials of life, have cried out to our Lord because not one other person can help us. We learn to be abased, at least in our own minds. But have we really? Notice the Bible says that Paul also learned how to abound. That word means to be lifted up, to excel, to increase and when applied to being abased it means to rebound. This is where many times we prove we have not learned to be abased. Even as Paul was lifted up he never left off being completely dependent upon Christ. He never left off thanking the Lord, praising the Lord, praying to and serving the Lord. How many times when we have been found abounding in the Lord do we forget to do the things Paul learned to do? Too many are the times when people are found abounding that they need to be humbled once again, need to be abased once more so they will not forget the Lord. Even when we are abased there is much to praise and thank the Lord for in our lives. We will never be content in this world until we learn two things, how to be abased and how to abound.