Please
read John 15:9-11.
Dear
brother and sister in Christ, my plan for today was to write on Mercy. But I
read this article - https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/26/us/wacky-holidays-who-creates-them-trnd/index.html
- and remembered other articles about what people do to be happy. The CNN
article got me thinking – especially when I encountered words such as “celebrated”
and “events that are fun and whimsical”.
As we know, the
U.S. Declaration of Independence has a famous phrase -"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness". These three are
known as ‘unalienable rights, which are given to all humans by their Creator’.
So today we will briefly look at happiness and the pursuit of happiness.
So what is
happiness? I will say - a sensation in which one has feelings ranging from
contentment and satisfaction to ecstasy and bliss, as a result of intense
pleasure. Now happiness may be an
internal feeling but it is caused by external events. Man
is as happy as he has made his mind to be. He searches everywhere for happiness
not realizing happiness is man-made and mind-brewed. The CNN article talks about the
woman who created 1900 holidays for fun. It is interesting that she has over 5
holidays for each calendar day. Some might say – good job – but when will this
seeking of fun or happiness end or when will man experience complete happiness?
So people want to
be happy all the time – they look for new and creative ways to be happy. But
the truth is happiness is not promised to us in the Bible. God is not concerned
about your happiness and Jesus did not die on the cross so that you could be
happy – God is not in the happiness business.
Jesus’
answer is – JOY -Jesus showed us He loves us (John 15:13); He teaches/ commands
us how to love (John 13:34-35); and He gives us his joy and then He says our
joy will be complete(John 15:11).
Dear
brother and sister in Christ, God wants you to experience joy, and for you to
be joyful. Joy is caused internally and emerges from the inside out. Joy comes
when Jesus gives you His Spirit and you abide in Him. When bad things happen, happiness is gone, but joy remains. Joy is
knowing that that whatever happens outside of you, God is with you and will
neither leave you nor forsake you.
Happiness comes from being served or being rewarded/applauded for
serving- Joy makes you give, give and serve. (I will never forget what one
pastor taught me when I was a teen – JOY
is putting Jesus first, Others next and Yourself last.) If you are blessed with external events or items that
bring you (temporary) happiness that is okay, but let’s focus on the God in our
hearts who brings joy to us and others.
Dear Jesus, whatever the world
throws at me and whatever the world cheats/deprives me of, make me grateful of
you and your work with a heart full of joy. Amen.
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