Philippians 4:
4 Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.
5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.
11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
We sometimes in this modern day Christianity hear people proclaiming "name it and claim it"; as though God were some Santa Claus passing out elaborate and expensive worldly gifts. When we do that we forget that the true treasure is not this mess of worldly things which we hope to cling to. Our treasure which can cause us to Rejoice always in the Lord is our relationship with Him. Paul admonishes us here to stop worrying about all this stuff; but, rather with a thankful heart talk to God about our needs, our desires. As we do that, strange thing is we become more content with what we do have and like Paul we discover that we become content in whatever state we are in. Are you thankful this morning that you have a job? Or if you don’t have a job right now, are you thankful that somehow you have been provided a place to stay and food to survive? If you are uncertain about where your next meal is coming from, are you thankful that you have a friend that sticketh closer than a brother who has walked that very road before you? In Matthew 8 a scribe came to Jesus and announced that he wanted to follow Christ. Note His reply, 19 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Christ did not tell him you will have fancy houses and fancy cars; instead, He was saying, "To follow me there may be moments of sacrifice and suffering on this earth. I don’t even have a place here to sleep; but, you will have me. Are you willing to do with little earthly treasures if I so choose, so as to have fellowship with me?"