Do You Want To Be Happy?

What are you waiting for? Most people are waiting for something -- something "special" that will make their life great, so they can be happy.
Ask yourself: have others had this, and are they all happy? No, they're not, and it won't give you lasting happiness, either. Happiness is not determined by external circumstances, but by internal circumstances. Everyone chooses how happy they are by what they choose to think about. Your attitude is determined by your perspective, which is determined by what you think about -- your focus. You choose your focus, so ultimately, you are the one who chooses whether to be happy, or not.

Perspective is what the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) are about. Seeing a bigger picture than just this one small moment of time. (The Beatitudes are where Jesus explained how some are blessed, or happy -- even in difficult situations.) (The word we translate as "happy" in the New Testament is usually translated as "blessed.") You won't get happiness by chasing what the world has to offer. It has already been tried and found wanting. And, you will never be happy as long as you are self-centered.

A focus on self is guaranteed to prevent happiness. Right after Jesus performed the menial task of washing his disciple's feet -- akin to cleaning toilets today -- He told them: JOHN 13:15,17 ICB 15 I did this as an example for you. So you should do as I have done for you. 17 If you know these things, you will be happy if you do them. You will be happy if you help others. If you take your focus off yourself. That's what Jesus taught.

SAY THIS: I choose to focus on God and be thankful and happy.

Comments

I Now Believe God Loves Me

1 JOHN 4:16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. Although I have endeavored to walk with the Lord for awhile, only in recent times have I started to really believe God loves me. My problem was that I kept focusing on myself, instead of God. I saw myself in my immaturity with all my faults and failures. I was not looking at Jesus the perfect sacrifice, but focused on myself and my shortcomings. Even though I spread messages on the love of God, I never had confidence that God truly loved me just as I was. Instead I thought more in terms of God tolerating me, but not being too happy with me. I was trying my best to do what I thought God wanted, not really realizing that I could never earn God's love. Now I am realizing that God's love is not dependent on me, but is entirely dependent on God alone. He does not love me because I am lovable, but because by na

welcome to my blog

Oh the waterfall of cleansing Grace! Welcome to my Grace blog. I hope to both share and start a dialogue about Jesus Christ and how his life, relationships and teaching have a practical working value in our everyday lives. To go beyond our belief of Jesus... and into our belief in Jesus. I hope we can learn more about how the finished work of Christ on the cross empowers his work in us in our daily lives. I hope we can grow in His Grace and Wisdom! The name came from a Joseph Prince story in his book "Destined to Reign"...here's the story: Prince tells the story of a young boy who found a rock out in the woods. Though it looked rough at first, he rinsed it in the small waterfall of a nearby stream. Turns out, the rock was marbly, smooth, and full of color. Not wanting to lose the rock, and afraid someone would take it from him if he took it home, he buried it back in the dirt in a tucked away place before he went home for the night. There, he left it. The ne

Building Trust When Faith Wavers

Mark 9:21-24 21 And He asked his father, How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, From childhood. 22 It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!" 23 And Jesus said to him, `If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes." 24 Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, I do believe; help my unbelief." Since faith is the core of our Christian experience, the consequences of wavering faith are far-reaching. Vacillating trust can lead us to make wrong decisions. Sometimes, after praying for direction, we might receive an answer that leads us to think, I can’t do that. So, instead of asking God to strengthen our faith, we make excuses. We may choose to postpone our obedience—even indefinitely—in order

THE WATERFALL OF GRACE

Search This Blog