Philippians 2:14 — “Do all things without murmurings and disputings”

“COMPLAINING”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

GOD’S PROMISES ARE CONDITIONAL

Complaining, or murmuring, is an expression of grief, pain, or discontentment.
It is blaming or charging circumstances, people, or even God for causing losses,
hurts, or dissatisfactions.

Ultimately, complaining is doubt—unbelief in God’s Word, love, and power.

God not only says He will control the number and strength of temptations and tests
Satan can bring into the believer’s life (I Cor. 10:13), but He also promises to bring
good out of everything that He allows if we continue to love Him and stay in His
calling by faith (Gen. 50:20; Rom. 5:3-5; 8:28,37).

So, if someone persists in complaining, he is attacking what God is trying to

accomplish in his life. No one can control what happens to him, but he is
accountable to God for how he reacts.

STOP COMPLAINING
From Exodus 5 through Numbers 21, the Israelites murmured and complained
against God 12 times. They complained about:
 1. Their increased work load (Ex. 5:19-21).

2. Pharaoh’s army chasing them at the Red Sea (Ex. 14:10-12).

3. The bitter water they could not drink (Ex. 15:23-24).

4. Not having bread and meat to eat (Ex. 16:2-3).

5. Not having water in the wilderness (Ex. 17:1-7).

6. Telling Aaron to make the golden calf when Moses did not return (Ex. 32:1-
6).

7. God’s leading (Num. 11:1).

8. A lack of meat and desire to go back to Egypt (Num. 11:4-9).

9. Refusing to go into the promised land (Num. 14:1-4).

10. The rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Num. 16:1-3).

11. Having no water (Num. 20:2-5).

12. Having no water or bread (Num. 21:5).

DON’T FOCUS ON THE NEGATIVES

 Obviously, most of these needs were legitimate, but they complained, which
was unbelief and rebellion against God.

But during this same time, they ignored and overlooked 46 miracles that God
performed in their presence.

It is so much easier for us to focus on the negative things in our lives rather
than on the positive, on ourselves and our circumstances rather than on God, and
on problems rather than on solutions.

So, what should the Israelites have done when these problems and needs came
into their lives?

First, they should have continued praising God for who He is—thanking Him
for what He had done for them in the past, trusting Him to meet their present
needs, and praising God in faith for what He was going to do.

Second, because of their faith in the Cross, they should have kept asking,
seeking, and knocking that God’s will would be done. God says we have not
because we ask not (James 4:2). Asking God for things is a recognition that we
cannot produce what is needed but God can, and asking is an expression of faith
that He will.

Third, if they had kept their faith in the Cross and the help of the Holy Spirit,
then things that were true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report would have
been in their minds and hearts and expressed by their mouths. Matthew 12:34 says,
 “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of
the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”

EXPERIENCE THE LIFE OF CHRISTIANITY

People cannot see physically without light because their eyes only pick up and
are able to see objects as they reflect light. The same is true spiritually. So, if
believers want to see things more clearly—as God sees them—then they need to
get closer to the living and written Word of God, which are the only sources of
truth and spiritual light (Jn. 3:19-20).

For example, when Isaiah saw the Lord, he saw himself, others, and his
circumstances in a totally different way. Previously, when he compared himself to
others, he had seen himself as religious and with good morality. But when he

experienced the presence of the Lord, he saw himself and others as sinners who
needed spiritual cleansing, and he saw his circumstances in the spiritual context of
God’s plans and purposes instead of just as problems and calamities. This changed
Isaiah’s whole life, and it can also change the lives of everyone who allows it to
happen in their lives.

Instead of just reacting to things in their lives in the natural, believers need to
let God heal their spiritual eyesight so they can see things the way that He sees
them, react accordingly, and allow Him to accomplish His will in their lives.
 Pilgrim Outreach Ministries

“ . . . go ye into all the world and preach the gospel . . .”

www.pomitaly.homestead.com

www.thewilltosucceed.homestead.com