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Happiness
Stop for a moment and make a list of
the things in life that would make you happy if you could change them.
In John 4:35, Jesus said the fields are already “white unto harvest”. I
am convinced that at least part of what Jesus meant was that people in
the world are looking for true abiding happiness and joy, in their
lives. But they do not realize that it comes through God. Everyone can
make a list of things that would make them happy. Only a few are so
happy that they would choose to change nothing in their lives. The world
is searching for happiness.
Bro. Jack Wilhelm has preached a sermon
about happiness he calls “Life’s Most Elusive Lesson.” That most people
find happiness elusive is evident from the excesses in which we indulge
ourselves without ever being satisfied. Never in recorded history have
so many done so many destructive things to themselves either to escape
reality or in an effort to find a worthwhile reality. Alcoholism, drug
abuse, illicit sex, homosexuality, TV, movies, entertainment, divorce,
child abuse, lotteries, wealth schemes, overeating, war, and constant
pockets of poverty are all symptoms of a world that has found no joy in
their hearts and no answers in their lives, no means of building lasting
joyful relationships with others who occupy this world. And, the
continued excesses in these things are evidence that any joy they bring
is momentary and unsatisfactory.
The happiness of which we speak may
show on the outside because our “countenance” is happy and our lives are
given to service, but it is an internal characteristic not dampened by
the things that happen to us. This is readily seen. The apostles had
just been beaten, but they were rejoicing they were counted worthy to
suffer (Acts 5:40-41). Paul and Silas, having been whipped with many
stripes, and being in stocks in prison, sang praises to God (Acts
16:23-25). Stephen, dying from being stoned, was so peaceful and joyful
with his own condition, that his prayer in this ordeal was for the
forgiveness of others. Paul’s words to the church at Philippi while he
was in prison were “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again, I say
rejoice” (Phil. 4:4). Bro. Cleon Lyles, in his book, Make Way For
Happiness, spoke of the joy of those early saints this way: “The
first century saints were completely happy. Never have we read of a
happier people. They shouted and sang all over the hard, cruel Roman
Empire. They never dreamed of the conveniences we enjoy. Many of them
did not have a home in which to live. Most of them had less than people
have today who are said to be living in poverty. Yet they were so happy
that others sought the happiness they saw in them. Many people found it.
In their generation, in the Roman Empire, they converted millions to
Christ when the learned what Christianity was all about. In addition to
this, they took the message of Christ to every nation under heaven in
their generation. They revealed that happiness is something that comes
from the inside of a person and not from the outside.”
In every nation,
whether there is poverty or wealth, there is misery of heart and mind in
the population of that nation. Christians, if joy is to be carried to
the world, it will only be through us. Let us determine in this month to
fix our lives and bring peace into our hearts by embracing the biblical
principles of happiness we will be studying this month in the
E-bulletins. If you do not yet get these and would like them, simply
email me at mglenn1023@yahoo.
Some Thought Provoking Sayings
About Happiness
“Sometimes your joy is the source of
your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
“Happiness is a conscious choice, not
an automatic response.” Mildred Barthel.
“Success is getting and achieving what
you want. Happiness is wanting and being content with what you get.”
Bernard Meltzer
“I have learned to seek my happiness by
limiting my desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy them.” John
Stuart Mill.
“Cheerfulness in most cheerful people
is the rich and satisfying result of strenuous discipline.” Edwin
Percy Whipple
“A happy person is not a person in a
certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of
attitudes.” Hugh Downs
“We tend to forget that happiness
doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather
of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.” Fredrick Koeing
“You
can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because
thorns have roses.” Ziggy
Mike
Glenn
See More on Happiness from this series
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