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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
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