EMOJI: Happiness Is Our Choice

Emoji: Happiness Is Our Choice

Last week we laid a foundation Concerning “Where to Find Happiness…” without God…our pursuits are Substitutes…when God is the source of our happiness then “all of the good things” of life become Supplements.”

Prov 16:20 20 Whoever listens to what is taught will succeed, and whoever trusts the Lord will be happy. NCV

Ps 144:1415 Happy are the people who are in such a state;(this state constitutes 14 things that will bring people true happiness that all originate from the Lord) Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!NKJV

Introduction:  Growing up in the church you can get two ideas:  God is mad!  God wants you holy and not happy!  The problem with that is they are both wrong perceptions about God…

He isn’t mad…He does desire for us to be holy…but he also desires us to be happy…NOW NEXT WEEK WE WILL ADJUST OUR DEFINITION OF HAPPINESS…

Next week we’ll talk about:  “How To Be Happy.”

So, what we learn is, not meaning too, but none the less it is learned…come to church to be holy but go into the World to be Happy.

I recently read a study that said:  “There are more Americans who spoke marijuana than spoke traditional cigarettes”  The study went on to say…they are looking for happiness.

Charles Schultz said:  “Happiness is a cute puppy…” notice he didn’t say cat.

One commedian said:  “A man doesn’t know true happiness until he gets married…then it’s too late.”

Charles H. Spurgeon said:  “God made human beings as He made His other creatures, to be happy.  They are in their right element when they are happy.”

Tim Keller says, “While other worldviews lead us to sit in the midst of life’s joys, foreseeing the coming sorrow, Christianity empowers its people to sit in the middle of this world’s sorrow, tasting the coming joy.”

One of our most famous Christmas Carols is “Joy To The World.”

The words are by English hymn writer Isaac Watts, based on the second half of Psalm 98 in the Bible. Watts wrote the words of “Joy to the World” as a hymn glorifying Christ’s triumphant return at the end of the age, rather than a song celebrating his first coming.[2] The nations are called to celebrate because God’s faithfulness to the house of Israel has brought salvation to the world.

Transition:  I read a study the other day that said, “Children laugh on average four hundred times daily, adults only fifteen.”

What would you say to the fact that our desire for happiness, joy and peace come from God and not from sin…

Satan hates God, he hates us, and he hates happiness as much as he hates holiness…

I think the challenge isn’t in longing for and desiring happiness…it is where we choose to pursue happiness…”we chronically seek happiness in sin, but the core problem isn’t seeking happiness but choosing sin instead of God.”

  1. Perspective is Determined by Our Focus
    1. Hellen Keller wrote: “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”
  1. One of the things that was scandalous to the Roman mind and the Roman culture was the Christians absurd Joy…
  2. If we read documents from the time period, the Romans were astounded by the Joy of these Christians and more so as they are persecuted.
  3. Consider Hebrews Heb 10:34-35

34 For you had compassion for those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

ESV

  1. The Romans would persecute them by confiscating their property and these Jesus followers would rejoice…
  2. During a time of famine…Jesus followers would Fast and give their food away to those who were against them…

Transition:  In the early church their JOY wasn’t superficial nor was their happiness…it was deep and an abiding JOY.  These early followers of Jesus were Marked by JOY.

  1. JOY’s Source
    1. God gives us Supernatural Resources to Transform Our Hearts and Minds with Happiness
      1. 2 Peter 1:3-4

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature,ESV

  1. The price for your happiness has been paid.
  • The basis for your happiness is secure.
  1. The resources for your happiness and provided daily.
  2. The assurance of your eternal happiness is absolute, providing an objective reason for your happiness today.
  1. To better know, follow, worship, and love Christ produces happiness in Christ.
  2. This tells me that Happiness is an Inside Job
    1. In other words…until you and I choose happiness we won’t be happy…
    2. Too often we look at people as if they choose happiness for us…
  • When we choose happiness other and circumstances will add incredible value to your life…
  1. But if we put our happiness in people and circumstances…we make it out-there or an outside job…it will never show up fully on the Inside.
  1. We have to Think and Act in Ways that Make us Happy.
    1. Psychologist Henry Cloud writes: “Just like your body needs certain nutrients to make it healthy, your heart, mind and soul need certain practices to make them happy.”

  1. Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

  • This change in thinking is our responsibility…
  1. Our thought life is a choice…
  2. Martin Luther is credited with saying, “You can’t stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair.”
  3. We can make choices that Lead to Happiness
    1. We can’t make ourselves happy in God any more than a seed can make itself grow.  But we’re not just seeds…we are greenhouse farmers who can make sure the seed is planted, watered, and fertilized….
    2. As a Greenhouse we must gratefully receive God’s grace and happiness.
  • When a physical action is repeated over time, long-term muscle memory is formed…The best class I ever took in high-school was typing…on an old fashion type-writer…
  1. So in our thinking and making Happiness a Choice…we have to create muscle memory…
  2. Paul said, Phil 4:8-9

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me…(NLT)

  1. This doesn’t happen automatically. But once we develop the habit of experiencing its rewards…we instinctively turn our minds to what makes us happy in Christ.
  1. Deliberate, Biblical Thinking Will Make us Happier
  2. Find innocent things that enrich your life and make your happy…
  3. Add Value to Others
    1. We have to Value Everyone…not just he people we like or agree with us…but Value Everyone…
    2. A study of more than 4,700 people who were followed for more than twenty years proved the infectious nature of happiness.
  • According to the Washington Post: “Happiness is contagious, spreading among friends, neighbors, siblings and spouses like the flu.  Happiness is like a ripple effect that moves through clusters of people who may not even know each other…people who are happy or become happy boost the chances that someone they know will be happy.”
  1. Job 29:24 24 I smiled on them when they had lost confidence; my cheerful face encouraged them. GNT

Prov 15:30 30 A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones. NIV

Prov 15:30 30 Smiling faces make you happy, and good news makes you feel better. GNT

Transition:  Adding Value to others is always the best way to approach and live life…if you yourself desire to be happy.

  • “The Lord is at Hand or Near…” vs. 6 of Phil.4
    1. Ps 46:4 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. NIV
  1. The peace of God is always flowing and there is never a drought…it is like a river.
  2. There is a river of Peace and Joy that continually flows from God and Prayer teaches us and positions us to be in that River…
  1. Closing

In 2016 I was traveling to Chicago to Celebrate Trey’s birthday with him…Now I usually never sleep on a plane…but I fell asleep for a bit…not sure how long…

In my dream I was in a stream…possibly a river…over my knees up to my waist.  Also in the River I saw Jesus…he was further out than me…he was holding a white basin that you would wash feet with but he was using to dip into the stream and splash me…all along inviting me to come deeper. 

The water was crystal clear and refreshing…not shocking as it would normally be.  I could make out what he was wearing…white linen pants that didn’t stick to him in the water but flowed with the water…I saw he was also wearing a linen robe.

The splashing was repayment…it was more than water.  It was blessing…it was favor…it was restoration. 

It was very vivid that in each splash of the basin came a different blessing…

I came to tell you this morning…there is a river flowing in this place…and Jesus has come to Splash you with Joy and Happiness

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