I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens.
Philippians 4:12
Jesus Tells Us; Most people feel happy when things are going right for them. And they feel sad or frustrated when things are not going so well. They believe their happiness depends on what is happening around them at the time. That’s why they try so hard to keep everything under their control. But it is possible to be content with your life no matter what is happening around you. Don’t let your happiness depend on what’s going on in your life. Connect your joy to My precious promises: I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will meet all your needs according to My glorious riches.
Jesus Concludes; Nothing in all creation will be able to separate you from My Love.
Philippians 4:12; Genesis 28:15; Philippians 4:19; Romans 8:38-39; Study Notes
Footnotes Philippians 4:12-13; Paul was content because he could see life from God’s point of view. He focused on what he was supposed to do, not what he felt he should have. Paul had his priorities straight, and he was grateful for everything God had given him. Paul had detached himself from the nonessential, so that he could concentrate on the eternal. Often the desire for something more or better indicates a longing to fill an empty place in a person’s life. To what are you drawn when you feel empty inside? How can you find true contentment? The answer lies in your perspective, your priorities, and your source of power.
Passage Genesis 28:15; I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.
Footnotes Genesis 28:10-15; God’s covenant promise to Abraham and Isaac was offered to Jacob as well. But it was not enough to be Abraham’s grandson, Jacob had to establish his own personal relationship with God. God has no grand-children, each person must have a personal relationship with him. It is not enough to hear wonderful stories about Christians in your family. You need to become part of the story yourself.
Passage Philippians 4:19; And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
Footnotes Philippians 4:19; We can trust that God will always meet our needs. Whatever we actually need on earth he will always supply, even if, like Paul, it is the courage to face death. We must remember, however, the difference between our wants and our needs. Most people want to feel good and avoid discomfort and pain. We may not get all that we want. But by trusting in Christ, our attitudes and appetites can change from wanting everything to accepting in his provision and power to live for him.
Passage Romans 8:38-39; 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Footnotes Romans 8:38-39; Powers are unseen forces of evil in the universe, forces such as Satan and his demons. As believers who have Jesus’ power available to us, we will experience great victory both now and for eternity. Hold these two verses deeply in your heart and mind. Claim them for yourself so you will never doubt God’s love and care for you, especially when you are facing great adversity.
Jesus Tells Us is from the Jesus Calling 365 devotions for kids.
Footnotes Source: Life Application Study Bible
THE WORLD…we see history
THE PRAYER THAT SAVED THE CONSTITUTION
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
After the British surrender, the American Colonies had a nation, but needed a constitution. The old Articles of Confederation were inadequate. In May 1787, delegates gathered in Philadelphia for a convention to draft a constitution that would establish an effective federal government. They appointed George Washington as chair, but that’s about all they agreed on. From the beginning, the delegates quarreled over deeply held disagreements as to the extent and form of the new government. That’s when Benjamin Franklin, eighty-one, rose to make a motion:
In this situation of this assembly, groping, as it were, in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us, who were engaged in the struggle, must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men! And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that “except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that built it.”
Ben Franklin was quoting here from Psalm 127. His entire remarkable speech, short as it was, was filled with Biblical quotations and allusions, but this Psalm was at the heart of what he wanted to say.
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Unless the Lord is in any enterprise, it has a limited future. Even building a house without His aid is perilous. Raising a family or a home without His strength is hazardous. Guarding a city without His blessings is futile. Working hard to gain wealth without putting Him first is vain. How much more the establishing of a new nation, one unlike any ever seen on the earth. Surely such an undertaking requires the help of almighty God. Franklin continued:
I firmly believe this, and I also believe, that without his concurring aid, we shall succeed in this this political building no better than the builders of Babel: we shall be divided by our little partial local interests, our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach. I therefore beg leave to move, that henceforth prayers, imploring the assistance of heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of the city be requested to officiate in that service.
Even this motion failed because, perhaps, the convention had no money to hire a chaplain. But a few days later, on July 4th 1787, General Washington led the delegates to a prayer service at Philadelphia’s Reformed Calvinist Lutheran Church, where Rev. William Rogers offered these words.
As this is a period, O Lord, big with events, impenetrable by any human scrutiny, we fervently recommend to Thy Fatherly notice that august Body, assembled in this city, who compose our Federal Convention, will it please Thee, O Thou Eternal I AM, to favor them from day to day with Thy immediate presence, be Thou their wisdom and their strength! Enable them to devise such measures as may prove happily instrumental for healing all divisions and promoting the good of the great whole, that the United States of America, may furnish the world with one example of a free and permanent government, which shall be the result of human and mutual deliberation, and which shall not, like all other governments, whether ancient or modern, spring out of mere chance, or be established by force. We close this, our solemn address, by saying, as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ hath taught us, Our Father, who art in Heaven…
The delegates joined in the Lord’s Prayer, then went back to work. soon they had a document that began: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union.” James Madison, writing about the event later, said, “It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it a finger of that Almighty Hand, which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical states of the revolution.
Source: 100 Bible Verses that made America https://www.robertjmorgan.com/100verses/ Page 113