Real Life Radio

Jack Hibbs: Jesus says drink of the water I give you and you’ll never be thirsty again. And then, my soul longs and thirsts after thee, oh God. Are you with me? It's an awesome contradiction. How can we be as Christians completely full and at the same time starving for more of God? That's why you're here.

David J: Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I’m David J, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God’s word, the Bible.

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David J: On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series now called Disciplines of Life in a message titled Discipline of Discontentment. If we're always feeling unhappy or dissatisfied, that's something that the Christ-follower really has got to learn to control.

You see, discontentment comes when our focus is not on the right things. When we focus on what we don't have instead of what God has already given us or compare ourselves to others or expect life to go our way, our complaints overshadow the good things in our lives.

So today Pastor Jack teaches us that contentment is something we learn. We don't naturally become content. We practice it by reading God's word and applying it to our very own lives and through choosing gratitude over complaining. Now with his message called Discipline of Discontentment, here's pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.

Jack Hibbs: Mankind's eyes are never satisfied. Apart from God, we're never satisfied. That's why when you read Ecclesiastes, this is Solomon who started with God, was blessed by God, and then in his wealth began to forget God and he went off on all kinds of experimentations of life. He had all the women he could ever have. He had all the wealth. He had all the power.

And what does scripture tell us? You look at Proverbs in some areas and it's all vanity. It's ridiculous. The man that had it all, boy, people say if I just could have it all. If you could have it all you'd be discontented because only God can satisfy your soul.

You can be sitting on a yacht in paradise, weighing your proper body weight, having the best looks, you know, all of this stuff, and be absolutely having a storm in your soul and not be satisfied. Now, discontentment, it can be bad. Why can it be bad? Why is that?

Well, again, listen. Now, this part's kind of negative and then it's going to go positive and then it's going to go negative and then we're going to end positive. So just don't leave now, you'll be all bummed out all week. James 4, listen. This is amazing. James chapter 4 verse 1. James says, "What causes fights and quarrels?" Do you have any kids?

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Do they not come from your desires that battle within you? Is that not true? You ever seen kids in the playground? And you see a kid get in a fight or something because they don't want to share their toy. Where'd that come from? From inside that kid.

You want something but you don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight and you do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Oh God, if I just win the lotto. If you just win the lotto what? Any person who prays that prayer, I can already tell you what's going to happen to their life. No. Matthew 27:3 says, then Judas— boy, listen to this. Talk about discontentment. Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that he had been condemned, was remorseful.

Isn't it interesting your Bible doesn't say he repented? He was sorry he got caught. And brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." Notice that's a true statement, is it not? He sinned against Jesus. It is true, but he's not repentful, he's sorry he got caught.

And they said, "What's that to us? Loser. We don't care about you, you big dope. We just used you. And you were a sucker enough to turn Jesus in. You see to it." Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and he went and he hung himself. Hanged himself.

By the way, even today in Israel, who they don't read the New Testament, when you drive in the bus, you drive to the Kidron Valley on your left, the Temple Mount on your right, then you come to the tomb of Absalom, and then the city of David, the excavations are right there. Then you turn right and you go to the Valley of Hinnom, Gehenna, the valley of burning.

That's where they would burn the trash. It's the valley of hell. It's a picture of hell to the Hebrew mind. That's where it comes from. And then you come around to the Field of Akeldama. It's a very steep cliff. It's beautiful, by the way. Nobody goes there. There's nothing built there. It's really pretty.

But the Hebrews there in Israel say that's a cursed place. They don't even know if you say, "Why's it cursed?" "Oh, it's just cursed." They don't know the New Testament story. They won't read it. They'll tell you it's cursed. Now, I don't believe it's cursed. I don't believe in that stuff. But they do.

And when you drive right there and you look over, there's steep cliffs and rocks. It's about a 120-foot fall. It's there where Judas hung himself from a tree and the gospels tell us that the tree busted after he hung himself and he fell down and all of his guts came out.

He hung himself, falling and hanging himself, and he burst open on the rocks and that spot is right there today. Still today, 2000 years later. It's amazing. How'd that happen? Discontentment. Why do people kill themselves often? Discontentment. "Oh man, if I don't get that iPad, I'm going to lose it."

You have set yourself up, my friend, for destruction. We may laugh at that and think it's almost kind of cute, but listen, that is what's wrong with America today. "If I don't get this, well, I tell you what, I'm just leaving. If I don't have— if I can't— if you don't get me this, I'm going to quit or I'm going to whatever."

Wow. You can just see a 40-year-old guy in his diapers throwing his rattle down in his crib. That's exactly what's going on. Discontentment, yes, it can be bad. There's a great emptiness and frustration that comes when we pursue things. Here's the funny thing, you can spend your whole life pursuing things. God will maybe be protecting you from getting them.

And then there's the dangerous situation where people pursue things and get them. And then a month later wake up to the fact that they're empty inside. Can't admit it to anybody because then you'd look like a fool. This is real stuff.

In Micah chapter 6 verse 13 to 15, the Bible says because of your sins, you will eat but you'll not be satisfied. You will sow but not reap. You will tread the olives but not anoint yourself with oil and you will make sweet wine but not drink any of it. Isn't that the ultimate frustration if you think about it?

You know, people today, now listen, I don't often bring this topic up but it's exactly what's going on in our culture today and seemingly physically it makes no sense. But Christians today say things like, "I can't tithe, these are hard times. I can't give God anything because I've got to keep my DirecTV going and my cellphones going." Listen.

You are on the brink of absolute discontentment. Number one, if you're a christian, giving to God, and that's why it's so amazing, giving to God is part of our christian discipline. Not only that, listen, God doesn't need your money. "Well, then see, there you go, pastor." You and I literally need to give it away. "What?" Yeah. Listen.

If the offering goes by on Sunday or Wednesday and you go, "Oh man, here it comes, oh man," you know what? Keep your money. The Bible says God loves a cheerful giver. Now, don't ever do this in this church, but when in your spirit when it comes by you should be going, "Yahoo! Yeah, yeah, yeah! Whoo! Praise the Lord! Thank you, Jesus! Yes! Boom! Yeah! Whoa!"

That's how your heart should be. Why? Because God owns everything. Everything you and I have, he owns everything. And when we give unto the Lord, it keeps our heart right. I know how this is. I had nothing growing up and then I got a great job and I went from making hardly any money to huge— I called it stupid money.

No kid at 19 years of age, 18, 19, should be making that kind of money. But I was. And I worked for it, don't get me wrong. But the more I got, the stingier I became. I was like Ebenezer Scrooge. I would run the broth through and suck on a sock and it was horrible. And I watched the zeros build on my accounts. "It's mine, mine!"

And three weeks from getting married, boom, carpet pulled out from underneath me. I lost that job, couldn't believe it. And let me tell you something, my faith was tested in an instant. And little did I know, God was preparing for ministry and priority about what is valuable and what God owns.

You start looking at stuff like that and the Bible says you love the money and the money will sprout wings and fly away. And God will have that happen in your life because he loves you, not because he hates you. Proverbs 13:11 says wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished. So be careful. Don't be tricked.

And watch out what your pursuits are. Here's the fix, by the way. Ask the Lord— I really believe this, here's the fix. You say, what do I do if I find myself in this condition right now tonight? Here's the fix. Ask the Lord now for a grateful heart and mind. Grateful people are the happiest people to be around. They're great to be with.

Hosea chapter 10, how does this happen? Hosea chapter 10 verse 12 says sow for yourself righteousness, that is, okay, that's it, I'm going to take this message tonight and I'm going to do righteous stuff. Righteousness, it sounds so lofty. This is what it means: do the right thing.

I'm going to do the right thing, reap in mercy, break up the fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord till he comes and rains righteousness on you. What a great thing. Number two, the discipline of discontentment is this: recognizing that physical discontentment can be good. Physical discontentment can be good. What do you mean by that?

There's a great picture of this in 1 Samuel 22. This is great. Amazing to me. David's amazing guy. God tells him when he's a kid, "You're going to be the king." And for 10 years he is running for his life in the En Gedi wilderness down in Southern Israel. For those of us, many of us who have been there, down toward Masada in the Valley of the Goats by the Dead Sea.

And David's hiding out. Think about it, he's living in a cave, running for his life, knowing that God has told him many years earlier, "You're going to be king of Israel." Well, wouldn't you have said, "What's the deal then? Shouldn't things be going a little easier for me?" And so he's there and listen to this.

1 Samuel 22:1. Before I read it, if any of you are struggling with discontentment tonight, by the way, it traffics in the area of grumbling, griping, moaning, complaining, whimpering, whining, mug dragging in the dust, you know, the Eeyore thing. "All, all is over. My life's come to an end." If that's you tonight, listen, here's the fix. There's great hope. Doesn't have to be bad.

David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father's household heard it, they went down there to him. Here it is. And everyone who was in distress, are you in distress? Everyone who was in debt, are you in debt?

And everyone who was discontented gathered to him, so he became captain over them. How would you like to lead these guys? And there were about 400 men with him. 400 whining, whimpering, griping Eeyores. "Life's over." And David inspired them.

And you know what's awesome about that? You keep reading Samuel, you start running into a title of some men. And these and those and these guys and they went and did this and they were David's mighty men of valor. You know what they grew up to be? Giant killers.

They did, they killed giants. "I can't believe it, my life's over." And then snapshot, move ahead one year later, they're out slaying giants, cutting heads off of Goliath's brothers and everybody. No, it's not over. You're a Christian, God's on the throne. "I'm in debt, it's so bad." And God's got a plan. It's not altogether bad.

Discontentment given to God leads to great victory. You can take the situation you're in right now and absolutely have it turned around in your life. He'll do it. By the way, that word discontentment, discontented in the Hebrew in 1 Samuel 22, is to be filled with bitterness, to be filled with anger, to have a heavy burden. Wow.

1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 6 says now godliness, that is knowing the Lord personally, with contentment, that's being satisfied, you decide that. I'm going to be satisfied with what I have, be satisfied with what I make. Contentment is great gain. So godliness with contentment is great wealth.

For we brought nothing into the world and it is certain that we will carry nothing out. Isn't that a great verse? That's a great verse to have on your tombstone or something. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be be content. That's it. That's what God's promised: food and clothes. He doesn't want you hungry and he doesn't want you naked.

I'm grateful for that. "But where's the Porsche?" No, no Porsche. If you have a Porsche, thank God for the Porsche. But let me tell you something, he doesn't promise those are cherries on top of the big cake. He said you won't go hungry. The Bible says, "The righteous shall never be seen begging bread."

It insults God when his kids are going without. You say, well, what's the deal? Listen, the reason why Christians today might go without is because either they're not fellowshipping in a church or they're fellowshipping in the wrong church. And I believe this, I ought to write a book on this thing right here. I've seen this happen a million times.

I have spoken in churches that are extremely wealthy churches and there'll be poor people in that church. In Manhattan. How does that happen? Because God sees to it that his body is all kinds of colors, all kinds of status, all kinds of levels, all kinds of people. He loves it. He loves the quilt of montage. He loves it.

Now watch this. I think people who are struggling who love Jesus and doing the best they can, God places in a body to test that body's heart. To see what those who are blessed will do. That's the Lord working among his body. And as a church in totality, I think there's four reasons why God has blessed this body.

One, we love the nation of Israel. God says Genesis 12, "You bless them, I'll bless you." That's not why we bless them, but God says, "I'll bless you." We'd bless Israel even if he didn't bless us. Number two is to take care of those that are in need among you, the household of faith.

The other third thing is getting the word of God out to the world and the fourth thing is missionary ventures. And if you give me a couple minutes, I'll think of 10 more other things. It's awesome. But discontentment can be a good thing because you can come to this point or this place where you say, "You know what? I'm not happy where I'm at spiritually."

I'm going to tell it like it is. I don't want you ever satisfied in this context or me. I mean this. Jesus says, "Eat of the bread I give you and you will never be hungry." But then the Bible turns right around and says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness."

Jesus says, "Drink of the water I give you and you’ll never be thirsty again." And then, my soul longs and thirsts after thee, oh God. Are you with me? It's an awesome contradiction. How can we be as Christians completely full and at the same time starving for more of God? That's why you're here.

I'm absolutely content and yet I have not yet finished the work that God has called me to do. I know there's something else, I don't know what it is, but I know there's more that I'm supposed to do. It's an amazing thing. So discontentment can be a great thing. Some of the young people I talk to and I just love it, "Pastor Jack, I want more. I want more."

And it's so cute because and I'm very flattered by this, but they don't know that I know that they do not know. When they say, "Pastor Jack, can we just hang out together? Can we just be together because I want more?" That's very cute but what they're really saying is they're like Peter. They're saying stuff they don't know what they're saying.

What they're saying is, "I just want more of God. Get out of my way, pastor," that's what they're saying. "Just get out of my way. I want more of God and if you or anyone else can help me get more of him then point me in the right direction." That's what they're asking. And I love that, don't you love that?

And in your own life, "Oh God, more!" When we say we love you, I always have to say, "Lord, I love you," and then as soon as it comes out of my mouth, I feel like apologizing because my love for him is so pathetic. So then I have to say, "Lord, this is embarrassing, God. Will you, Lord, give me love, more love, for you?"

Now I know that doesn't work in life, but it works with God because he knows. It's like telling your wife, "Can you tell me you love me more, honey? Can you just tell me?" Well, if that floats your boat, you're a weirdo because if she's going, "Okay, alright then. Hey, you told me to tell you that I love you, so I'm calling you to tell you I love you."

Who cares? That's like kissing your sister. Who cares? What is that? I mean that's weird. But if it comes from the heart, if it comes right out of the heart. So we say, "Oh God," and I think he's blessed by that. "Oh God, give me more love that I can love you because I'm so dissatisfied and I'm so discontented with my lack of commitment to you, holy awesome God."

That's how we feel. And so we keep it going like this. Hebrews 13:14 says, "For here we have no continuing city." Did you know that? "But we seek the one to come." Did you know Abraham went looking all around for a city whose builder and maker is God?

I love that. There's no city in this world that's going to make us content. "Oh man, I'm moving to Bel Air." Big deal. We're waiting to move to a place where they use gold for asphalt.

David J: Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio with his message called Discipline of Discontentment. Thanks for being with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called The Disciplines of Life.

It's a series highlighting the disciplines of a Christ-follower and the high cost of sharing our faith with others. And we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. Do you think that your kid has a solid understanding of where America came from and why we’re so blessed?

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Hey, thank you again so much for listening. And if you’d like to hear or see more of what we do here, you can always go to jackhibbs.com for all the latest on what’s going on with this ministry. And please, if you’re ever in the Southern California area, come see us at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, we’d love to see you there in person.

It has been so good to be with you today and I pray you find yourself in the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. See you on the next episode. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com, that’s jackhibbs.com.

Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His word. We’ll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.