Telling the Truth

Host (Male): Today on Telling the Truth, Jill Briscoe invites you to Philippians chapter 3 for her message, Cultivate Contentment. But first, if you've been feeling overwhelmed lately, like your mind just won't slow down, you're not alone. A lot of people today are carrying anxiety, uncertainty, and questions they don't know where to take.

That's why Telling the Truth is sharing biblical teaching in digital spaces so people can encounter God's truth right in those moments, right where they are. As we approach the end of the financial year, your support is critical to keep this ministry going. Right now, your gift will be doubled through an $82,000 matching grant, helping reach more people searching for peace and direction.

As our thanks, we'll send you Stuart Briscoe's book, A Peace of My Mind, a resource designed to help you experience God's steady pace when life feels unsettled. Call 262-788-4648 to have your gift doubled by the match, or give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now, here's Jill with the start of her message, Cultivate Contentment.

Jill Briscoe: Paul is old, Paul is cold, he's miserable, and he's waiting for a trial that will probably take his life. He's facing martyrdom. He's sitting in a Roman jail and he writes a letter to a little group of people in Philippi. He was chained to the wall, he was chained to a guard, and he was free. He was free.

I don't know what you're chained to. Maybe you're chained to a very difficult situation with elderly parents, or maybe you're chained to a bad marriage. You think that freedom is taking a file and getting rid of those chains that fix you to that particular situation. Freedom is in here. Freedom's in here.

Paul, chained to a terrible, horrible, awful situation, says, "I'm free because I don't care whether I live or whether I die." Now, that's a free man. You can't touch a man like that. You can't beat him. So here's a prisoner, as he says, of the Lord. He says, "I'm in chains for Christ. I wouldn't be here unless Christ wanted me here. Nothing can happen to a child of God outside the will of God," he says.

So it's apparently the will of God that I'm here, and I might be released. If I am, he says to the Philippians in this letter, "I'm coming back. I'm coming to see you. And if I go through the front door and see God face-to-face, that's all right, too. If I live, it's okay. If I die, it's all right. For to live is Christ and to die is gain."

He writes about this in this letter because he's heard that there's problems in this church. Even in the best church example we have in the scriptures, there are problems. There are people against each other, there are people fighting, there's a church split. Two prominent women have got across each other. Won't be the last time that happens in a church.

People are taking sides, people are making parties, and his beloved church is in trouble, and he can't go. He can't go. So he sends Timothy, his son in the faith. Timothy has been going back and forth to Philippi and being a sort of minister-at-large for them. But now Timothy is with him. He has two men with him in jail, Epaphroditus and Timothy.

In an extraordinary gesture of spiritual generosity, he gives the two people closest to him away as he faces martyrdom. He says, "Timothy, you better go and help these people. These people matter more than having you with me." He says to Epaphroditus, whom these people in Philippi had sent to him, their beloved pastor, "Go home. They need you." Then he's left alone to face death.

But you see, what he's doing is modeling chapter 2, where he talks about how Jesus modeled that. How He came from glory; He didn't need to. He volunteered. God didn't say, "What do I have to pay you to go down and sort this mess out?" Jesus didn't say, "Well, I'll go if I can come back for Easter and Christmas." He came. He let it go.

The spiritual art of liberty is an art. Like fine arts, martial arts, or medicine art, it has to be practiced. There's theory and there's practice. Paul, all his life, had practiced these arts. Humility is a spiritual art, tranquility is a spiritual art, simplicity is a spiritual art, de-accumulation. So that at the end of his life, he was able to say, "I've got everything I need."

He's living very simply in his hellhole in jail, and he says, "I'm content. I'm content. I'm free. I have learned contentment." You have to learn spiritual art. We see all the arts of spiritual life and service, sacrificial service, demonstrated in Paul the Apostle. We see these hints as it comes through the letter to the Philippians.

Paul says, not once but many times in his letters and certainly once or maybe twice here in this letter, "If you want to know how to be Christ-like, look at me and do the same." You say, "That's humility?" He was able to say it. He says, "Do you want to know how to suffer and suffer well? Watch me. Just watch me." He was able to say it because it was true.

Christian ministry is a spiritual art. The ministry of mending people's relationships is an art. All of us have to be involved in that. He appeals in chapter 4 to a man called Clement and he says, "You know, I've got these two warring women. Clement, will you just go and sort them out?"

When my husband's teaching this, he says Euodia and Syntyche, whose names could be Odious and Soon-Touchy, have got across each other. Paul appeals to this poor man, a true yoke-fellow, it says in the King James. Stuart said he probably was going to get scrambled by getting in between these two women.

But he appeals to them, "Go and be a peacemaker." Peace is made; it doesn't happen. You have to make peace happen. So Paul is talking about all this work. In chapter 3, he says, of course, the whole secret of all of these arts is spiritual intimacy. This is the most important spiritual art of all: the intimacy that comes when you sit on the steps of your soul in the deep place where nobody goes outside the front door and talk.

You talk to Him, and He comes and talks to you. Paul says, "That's the key. I want to know Him like that. I want to run to the steps of my soul. I don't want to do my devotions anymore. I don't want to get through reading my little Bible reading and get on with my life for the rest of the day. I want to go to the steps of my soul and not be able to leave."

I want my soul to take off its wristwatch and skid to that halt because He touches me. I want to know Christ. You say, "Well, he knew Christ." Yes, but he said, "I want to know Him more. I want to go deeper. I want to push the sides of my soul so I know Him in a way I've never known Him before."

Is that what you want? In chapter 3, he says, "I want to know Him and I want to know the fellowship of His sufferings, I want to know the power of His resurrection. I want more. I just want more." Do you want more, or are you satisfied where you are? Well, if you're satisfied where you are and you don't want more, that's where you'll stay all your life.

But if you want more, then you'll find more. God says, "I'm not interested in people that say 'I don't care.' You've got to seek Me with all your heart." Paul says, "That's what I want." Even at the end of his life, he wants more. You'd think he would spiritually retire in a spiritual rocking chair. Not Paul.

I find the older I get, I want more. I want more. I don't want to coast. Paul comes into chapter 3, verse 12, saying, "I haven't already obtained all I want. It's not enough to be religious, to be in a Bible study and to do your thing and to sign up for this, that, and the other." He said, "I was a Pharisee, I had all these rules, I had all these things I had to do, but that's not knowing Christ. I want to know Him."

I haven't already got there, but I'm going to get there. I'm reaching, I'm stretching. He uses the picture of a footrace. "Brothers, I don't consider myself yet to have taken hold of what He's taken hold of me for. But one thing I do, forgetting what's behind, straining towards what's ahead. I'm pressing on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Jesus Christ." He uses this picture of a footrace.

Host (Male): You're hearing from Jill Briscoe today on Telling the Truth. She's coming right back with more. There's a growing hunger for truth in our world today and more people than ever are searching for real answers. That's why, as Telling the Truth prepares to close out another financial year, your support matters so much.

Your support helps take the trusted teaching of Stuart and Jill Briscoe and place it into digital spaces where people are already looking for hope. Right now, an $82,000 matching grant will double your gift, expanding that reach even further in the months ahead. When you give, we'll say thanks by sending you A Peace of My Mind, a powerful resource from Stuart that shows you how to experience God's perfect peace even in uncertain and challenging times.

Call today to request your copy when you have your gift doubled by the match at 262-788-4648. That's 262-788-4648, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. For many, our smartphones have become our social connection, but we want to help you make a spiritual connection with the Telling the Truth mobile app.

You can listen to daily programs, engage in Bible reading plans, journal, and share your thoughts and prayers on the community wall. Get the Telling the Truth app through your App Store or log on to tellingthetruth.org/mobileapp. Remember, you can also give to support Telling the Truth on our mobile app. Now let's return for more from Jill Briscoe.

Jill Briscoe: He's old, and he's cold, and he's chained to a guard, and he's looking for an opportunity in every difficulty because that's what you do when you're free. He's saying, "How can I use this horrible situation?" So he begins to lead the guards to Christ, and that establishes the church in Caesar's household.

I can see the devil saying, "Mistake. Shouldn't have done this to Paul. Should have left him free. I thought I could shut him up by putting him in the hole, in the inner cell, in a Roman jail. But look at this, he's leading the guards to Christ and they're leading someone else." I can see the devil going frantic.

Just like he thought he'd done the right thing when he got Joseph thrown in a pit and sold into slavery. Mistake. Ends up as assistant to Pharaoh, telling the whole of Egypt about God. That's freedom. Freedom to use the situation for the Lord.

He uses this picture. Our daughter ran cross country. She didn't intend to run cross country, but she was running in the park one day and the coach was there training his team for a very big race. One of his young women was sick. One of the team said, "That's Judy Briscoe running over there." They all turned and watched Judy.

She just ran for pleasure. She's an A-type, mindset. She ran and ran and ran in those years, and she could run. She's very tall, she has long legs, and the coach said, "Look at those legs!" He went and stopped her and said, "Why didn't you come out for cross country? I've never seen such speed."

She said, "Oh, I just run for release of stress. I've never run in a race. I don't want to do that. I just run for me." He persuaded her to run in this race on Saturday. It was a very bad park they were running in, bad in the sense that at the end of the six miles, you had to go up a hill to finish.

Well, she'd never trained, but she allowed herself to be talked into this. Here she is, number six on a team of six girls. The first four count. Because she'd never trained, when the gun went off, she took off like she could. Just everything into it and left everybody behind. Of course, she got about a mile and that was it.

She began to hurt really badly. The rest caught her up and some of her team said, "Judy, just slow down, keep the pace." She said, "I'm out. I'm sorry." She was going black and she was going to faint and all this, and she thought, "I'm quitting. Why am I doing this to myself? I should never have done this." She began to run off the track.

Suddenly the coach appeared at her side. He said, "Come on, Judy. Now, we need to pick off the next two runners." She sputtered, "Pick off? I'm done." He said, "No, no, no. I'll run with you." He began to run by her side, which kept her on the track. He began to pace her. He said, "Come on, just keep with me."

Imperceptibly, she said, he began to pick up the pace, pick up the pace. They picked off the first one, they picked off the next, and he ran her home, whereupon she fainted. I hate cross country. It's just agony at the end of that race, watching the kids.

When she's speaking with me or speaking on her own, she uses that as an illustration of Christ, her coach. You get in the race like Paul did and tough things happen and you're saying, "I'm quitting." Suddenly He appears at our side. Says, "No, you're not. Come on, I'll run with you. I'll run with you." He paces us home.

Paul uses this picture. He says, "Okay, so I'm going to go. I'm going to go." It was a risk. He was old, he was cold, he wanted to go home. He said, "No, not finished. I won't be finished till I go through the front door." He strained for that goal, for the prize. What's the prize? Of Jesus saying, "Well done." Of Jesus pacing us in, picking us up at the finish line, saying, "Come on, you'll get over it. You've got the whole of heaven and eternity. You can rest now."

Paul says, "I'm going to press on for the goal of seeing Him smile and hearing Him say, 'Well done, Jill. Well done. Good and faithful servant.'" Is that what He'll say when I get there, when you get there? Paul says, "You know something? People are watching the race. When they see you saying 'For me to live is Christ and to die is gain,' and when they see you, however old you are, whatever situation you're in, whatever you're chained to, saying, 'I'm going to see an opportunity in this difficulty and I'm going to use it for Jesus,' it encourages them."

They say, "I can do that. I can do that." So we come into chapter 4 and Paul begins by saying to Clement, "Sort these women out." Then he says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all, for the Lord is near. Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer, petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus."

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you've learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put into practice. Look at me! Do what I do. Think like I think. Live like I do. Live out loud," he says. "Just live out loud. Give your life away. Rush around the world saying, 'How can I invest in this person? How can I live sacrificially? How can I use my precious years?'"

When I came home from this latest trip last week, I had a phone call. It was from a beautiful young woman who spent 11 years battling a brain tumor in our church. She has run her race. Everybody knows about Luanne, but she'd just had a very bad MRI report. It was not an easy phone call.

I tried to encourage her and I said, "Luanne, you could say, 'Look at me, and whatever you've seen and heard and learned in me, you do,' because you have taught us how to suffer. We have watched how Christ has helped you step-by-step-by-step. Now, come on, it's the last lap. Come on, it's the last lap."

Paul says, "This is the last lap." He says in chapter 1, "Pray for me that I will die well. Just pray for me that I will die well." He walks into the unknown, although it looks pretty obvious what's going to happen. Martyrdom is ahead, and he's able to say, "I've lived for Christ, I've finished the course, I've kept the faith. And from now on, there is a crown laid up for me."

Host (Male): Jill Briscoe on today's Telling the Truth. She'll pick up right here on tomorrow's broadcast. What if your generosity today helped place biblical truth in front of someone at the exact moment they needed it most? That's what's happening every day through Telling the Truth.

Through social media, our Telling the Truth website, and other digital platforms, people are encountering God's Word, many for the very first time, right where they are. More people than ever are searching for the kind of peace that can only be found through life in Christ. That's why, as we approach the end of the financial year, it's so important that we finish strong.

Your support can help us reach even more people with biblical truth in the coming year. The great news is that a group of generous friends has offered an $82,000 matching grant, doubling your gift to expand the outreach even further in the months ahead. Now is a powerful time for you to step in and help keep God's Word going out to the people who need it most.

As our thanks, we'll send you Stuart Briscoe's book, A Peace of My Mind, to encourage you with the promise of God's peace. Just call 262-788-4648, or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org. Jill, how have you seen the live-out-loud, give-yourself-away approach to life change others?

Jill Briscoe: I know it's been a life-changer for me. If anyone lives out loud their faith, if anyone just is what they talk about. We use that word "authentic" probably too much at the moment. You know, there's words that come and go, and the kids usually bring them in, or the teenagers or the 20-somethings.

I've been hearing "authentic, authentic, authentic," and I don't quite know if they know what they're talking about. But I think living out loud your faith is being authentic. Living out loud your faith is practicing what you preach. If you don't practice what you preach, nobody's going to believe the preaching. That's for sure.

I don't, and I don't expect other people to. So I do believe that it earns you the right to speak about Jesus, about life change to others. I do believe that, because hopefully it can draw attention. You know that wonderful verse in the New Testament: "Live such good lives among the pagans that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

Now, how are the pagans going to glorify your Father in heaven? Well, they're not unless you explain why you're living such a good life among the pagans. In fact, they might think it's you that's good unless you explain yourself. Living a good life among the pagans, living out loud, giving yourself away, loving each other, being practically helpful, should give you a chance to have somebody say, "Why are you doing this? Thank you," or "Bless your heart."

That gives you an open door. Not that we should do it for that reason; we should do it whether we ever get thanked or not. But we should do it. Living out loud and giving ourselves away and loving others practically, of course, it talks of life change to others. Why wouldn't it?

Host (Male): Thanks, Jill. Before we go, here's something important to remember: your support this month can help Telling the Truth reach even more people in the coming year. Right now, your gift will be doubled through an $82,000 matching grant, helping extend biblical teaching to people around the world through digital platforms.

As our thanks, we'd love to send you Stuart Briscoe's book, A Peace of My Mind, to encourage you with the promise of God's peace. So please request your copy when you call 262-788-4648 or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org. Are you content? Do you have joy? Tomorrow on Telling the Truth, we'll hear the second part of Jill's message, Cultivate Contentment. We hope you'll be listening then.