Bruce Snavely

One of the key elements of successful living is the art of being content.  It's funny,  but contentment is similar to humility in some ways.  The moment you think you have learned humility you realize how proud you are of yourself!  The moment you think you are content with life, some shiny object attracts your desires.  It's really a never ending process in some ways. However, Paul the apostle taught us how we can truly be content with what we possess, and I want to share his explanation today.  If you have read Philippians 4:10-14 you immediately see several things that contentment involves.  First, it's not about having everything you want, and, therefore, needing nothing!  That is an impossibility.  We always want more even when we have all we want at any given time.  Someone asked Joe Louis, the great boxer how much money it took to make him happy, and he replied, "Just a little more, just a little more."  In our passage Paul...

Very few things come easy in this life.  The things that do come easy are usually not worth much or worth dying for.  Value in our world is normally tied to objects that either have intrinsic worth or become valuable through an extended period of time.  That is the way of the world we live in.  Why? The primary reason is the entrance of sin into our once perfect living environment.  When Adam sinned, his innocence was forfeited along with his unstained conscience and perfect garden world.  The roses that once bloomed constantly would now only be seasonal and would be joined by thorns and thistles.  What was a garden that only required light maintenance, if that, would now demand the sweat of the man's brow and the laborious toil of his hands.  The woman would bear children only through long, intense, and arduous laboring.  Nothing would come easy or without significant cost. Life, therefore, demands persistence.  Edison, the great inve...

Have you stopped to consider your life-span lately?  I'm not trying to be morose or bring on a dark mood, but it really is important to ask ourselves these kinds of questions once in a while to make sure that we stay focused on what is truly important.  Now many will say, "Nobody knows when their time is up, so why worry about it?"   I couldn't agree more!  It is not something to worry about, but it is actually something to plan for! I just got back from a fairly long domestic trip where we invested a lot of time (nearly a month) in our foundation, but intermingled were short jaunts to visit grandchildren and spend valuable time with those we love.  I can tell you that I spent considerable time preparing for nearly every day of that month.  No details were intentionally overlooked or minimized.  From on the road travel schedules to public presentations, we had to consider and plan a ton of minutia.  Sometimes it can get a little overwhelmin...

The Christian life is based on relationship .  It is rooted in your relationship with God through Jesus His Son.  Actually, when a person trusts Jesus Christ to save him or her from the penalty of sin, that person is born into the family of God and becomes an adopted son or daughter with all the privileges belonging to Jesus Himself.  You now have a heavenly Father who stands ready and wanting to meet your physical and spiritual needs.  Just like anyone of us who are parents, we love to have our children come to us when they need something they can't get for themselves.  It provides us with a wonderful opportunity to show our unique love for them!  This is also a spiritual reality and one which most of us as believers either don't fully comprehend or take advantage of in our walk with God. One of the primary relational privileges that we practice as believers is prayer.  Prayer is simply the communication of the believer with God  It can involv...