Do you know how to act when your poor or rich? Philippians 3-4

Philippians 4:11-13 (NASBStr)

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

We tend to live our lives in extremes.  We have an all or nothing mentality.   In this passage we see Paul take the two extremes of living in regard to material things and gives us a sense of balance and understanding.   The Christian life is not characterized by the amount of material things we have.   It should be characterized by how we respond to material things.   Wether we are abased or amassed we ought to have the same state of mind:  To know that whichever state we find ourselves in, it is Christ who gives us strength.   Wether we are hungry or have more than we need, the state of our mind and being should be the same, it is Christ who is our all and in all.  He gives us the states we are in.  I have personally been bankrupt and blessed with more money than I could imagine.   In one of those deepest times of my life, without material things, I came across this proverb and it has been my life verse in regard to material things:

Proverbs 30:7-9 (NASBStr)

Two things I asked of You,

Do not refuse me before I die:

 Keep deception and lies far from me,

Give me neither poverty nor riches;

Feed me with the food that is my portion,

 That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?”

Or that I not be in want and steal,

And profane the name of my God.

Let us have the mind of this writer and Paul.   Let's make sure that material things don't move us from know that the one thing that is true and necessary is that it is Christ in us that gives us strength and hope.