Got Happiness? You can learn how!

Got Happiness?  You Can Learn how!          Captain Kelly Durant   8-5-12 Re 8-14-22           

Phil 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

2. Weddings are happy occasions, right? At my daughter’s wedding the cake got too hot in the delivery car on the way over and it sort of tilted to the side. My daughter, who is for the most part a perfectionist, was upset that her once-for-a-lifetime cake was looking sad and leaning to the side. I laughed and said, “Look, it looks like the leaning tower of Pizza!” She laughed but just a little. We sort of shifted it back into place, and actually few people really even noticed! 

Her happy and almost perfect wedding could have been ruined, right? Well, her happiness could have been if the focus would have stayed only on the negative! Everything else was perfect so why fret? Later we laughed about the awkwardness!

3. For happiness, you and I must add more laughter and fun creativity in our lives to save the day, because critical disheartening situations will always happen! 

You and I can find happiness when we accept the fact that it doesn’t really matter that everything in this life will never ever exactly be the way you or I want it to be! Just let yourself be amused by the imperfections, mistakes, and the humor that God is allowing! Perfection or expectations can take away from happiness since it allows no space for humor. Laughter is a form of happiness, do you not agree? 

In all life’s activities you and I will at times have a lot of good things going on and we are happy, yet at other times we may not have much good going on at all! In life there are exhilarating moments, yet many frustrating moments as well, not to mention a whole gamut of emotions. These multiple emotions confuse the psyche making us believe we are not really happy most of the time. But let’s see the big picture.

4. We can generally be happy because we have God’s love and we are enjoying Him forever, but those without God and his funny sense of humor can never ever be happy because He is the source of the energetic, life-giving spirit of happiness! Our Father God loves, saves, and provides for us and He is taking care of us for what? He does it for our happiness! God is empathetic, He enjoys our happiness!

Abraham Lincoln said that “People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be”. Freewill allows us to choose to be happy, believe in God or not, and people take the choice to be happy or not! Does this sound too simplistic to be true? Let’s take a look at the people of faith.

5. Paul the Apostle suffered a lot in his life but even in prison he wrote that, ‘in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content (happy).’ He was probably at that moment while writing, feeling cold, eating horrible food, and sleeping on a smelly prison floor! Roman prisons were a lot worse than ours today!

His contentment or happiness seems so contradictory yet Paul produced some of his greatest letters, the Epistles, while living in terrible conditions locked up in jail! And he was happy but how did he mange that? He says it very clear in verse 11; He says, “for I have learned”...he learned contentment, or happiness!

Ask yourself, “How can I learn to be content and happy?” (repeat)

6. To be happy you and I must accept that happiness comes from God by our practice of the acceptance of it. But what is happiness anyway?  Happiness is so elusive because we know it is something different to each person. 

Happiness for the people with the mindset of the world comes with more money, more fame, and the ability to indulge in all the pleasures one desires, right? The reality is most of them with these things live very depressed full of guilt for their abusiveness and they go down the road of consuming  a lot of drugs and alcohol to alleviate their pain because they are never reaching a satisfaction or happiness with what they have gotten already! It is like they are the donkey chasing the carrot on the stick the rider holds out in front of them!

Happiness, as defined by the dictionary, is a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. 

In Acts 13:52 Happiness is shown in the Bible by, “The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost.”  So, asking God for the Holy Ghost to be with you will make you happy! They were so happy they thought they were drunk!  But for fun let’s do the standardized self-test of happiness so you can rate yourself. 1-5

7.   1 = strongly disagree 2 = disagree 3  = neither agree nor disagree 4 = agree 5 = strongly agree     

__ 1. In most ways my life is close to my ideal. 

__ 2. The conditions of my life are excellent. 

__ 3. I am satisfied with my life. 

__ 4. So far I have gotten the important things I want in life. 

__ 5. If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.

If you determined you are not so happy, don’t worry. God can use your dissatisfaction to motivate you to want you to do a lot more for Him! Sin will also make you sad, anxious, and unhappy, is there any of that in your life? Repent then.

8. I do hope you will take a whole different attitude about your situation to just be resolved to be happy in life despite whatever conditions you are in! Each person must take the decision to stop the obsessive preoccupied-ness of their own selfish concerns. Happiness is focused on others!

We live in a sad fallen world full of suffering and sin. I personally will never be fully happy, and I think no true altruistic Christian ever will be totally happy in this life either, as long as we observe all of creation living under oppressions caused by cruel people provoking exploitations, injustices, and abuse. Satan must be eliminated!

So, in my opinion, in order to be happy with ourselves, we will need to do all things positive to alleviate the terrible situations of those in pain by actively sharing God’s love through Jesus, bringing peace, and salvation! It sounds contradictory but many people have told me that while doing disaster relief that those days had been some of the happiest days of their lives! And for me too! I am most happy when I am in the position of helping someone who has a need and gets to experience happiness in the darkness. It works! God’s good produces happiness!  

9. Do you consider yourself to be happy despite your situation as Paul the apostle? I am sure many of you would say yes because you think it is the Christian thing to say, but the reality is most people are actually not very happy in life most of the time! People are self-focused, sad, and frustrated while 1/3 of the world did not even eat today! Hundreds of millions lived depressed. With the people in the world so sad, how is it possible to improve in our attitude and positive outlook? We can do something and that is to count on strength from Jesus Christ.

We must claim the promise verse of Phil. 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Did you ever notice that this verse is within the context of being able to do all things implying to remain happy despite all the bad conditions? 

Let’s discover some more principles about what the Bible has to say about happiness.

10. Psalm 144:15 Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.         We are happy just because we have our God as our God! The closer we get to God, the more happier we are!

Psalm 146:5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:                   We are happy because God helps us & gives hope!

Proverbs 3:13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.                We are happy because we gain wisdom in God.

Proverbs 14:21 He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.           So we are happy if we serve the poor!

Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.               So to obey God’s commands make us happy!

11. And Jesus confirms the same thing about obeying His commands in John 13:17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

It has been said that one of the keys to happiness is a bad memory (and I know most of us really would like to forget a lot of bad things about some people) but I would like to add that we must keep a good memory as well of all the good that God has done for you and me in the past!

Prov. 13:13 A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. 15 All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.

12. We can have a feast with God every day! We can feel good most of the time and have happiness despite the evil in the world but you and I must choose it! It will come as a consequence of you and me learning to apply the following from what we have studied in scripture today:

By just being happy no matter what the conditions are!

By getting closer to God and getting more of the Holy Ghost!

By trusting in God to help you and me with all the things of life!

By gaining more wisdom and observing God’s humor!

By helping others with a need which is sewing good to reap it back!

By obeying God’s commands and those that Jesus taught!

 

13. Will you pray to change your attitude? So many times we compare ourselves with each other; who has life the best and we get mad about those who appear to be happier than us. What a mistake! Decide to be happy or you will be unhappy!

To live unhappy just do all the opposite of what the Bible teaches: be a person who is always discontent with everyone and everything, always jealous or critical of others, not trusting in God, always worrying, never learning to be conformed and be thankful to God for life’s lessons. And never helping anyone since you are so important and the universe revolves around you.

Many unhappy people usually talk loud and show their selves aggressively on the outside but on the inside they are actually weak, stressed, and sad. Do you want strength? Nehemiah 8:10b for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

14. Happiness is strength!  Nehemiah 8:10b  (a.Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye sorry;) b. for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

Don’t envy anyone thinking they are happier than you as this was prohibited by one of the 10 commandments! (Covet-ness) Get busy making your life closer to God taking the advice of the scriptures so you will reap happiness! Having God’s love is more than enough for each one of us to be happy!   But if you are not so happy, pray for the change you need!

You will feel better, and everyone else around you will to! They will see your serious face change into a happy one, and start hearing your questionable comments become praises to God! Don’t accept your self as you are!  Don’t be dry and serious. Learn to be happy! And you can become even happier than what you are right now! Ask God to help you be able “to do all things”, especially to be happy!

I Did Not Sign Up For This (Life)! The Dilemma of Our Lot In Life

 

I Did Not Sign Up For This (Life)! The Dilemma of Our Lot In Life             Kelly Durant

Ecclesiastes 2:17 Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

2. How many of you have ever ordered a cheeseburger at a fast food place but instead they gave you a hamburger by mistake? And the lines behind you are very long, so what do you do? 

There are usually 3 ways that I have seen people react to this situation. One, they may butt into line and start yelling at the clerk, “Hey, are you stupid? I ordered a cheeseburger, not a hamburger!” And everyone stares at the staff and you fascinated by the drama show waiting to see how everyone’s going to react.

Two, many people like myself will just eat it anyway giving thanks to God that at least I can eat something, even though it was not my preference. And three, other people I have seen will just throw it away preferring to be hungry in protest rather than to accept what they got! How have you reacted in the past to this situation? 

3. This example we can apply to how people react to what they get in in life, they can either angrily blame God and others, accept their lot in life and make the best of it, or get bitter, hateful, and resentful. There are mega-multitudes of people that do not worship God, nor go to church to learn about God’s love and the deeper things of life but still common sense is out there for everyone to learn from. Sadly, few ask God about His will for their lives! Even a Christian may think that God is unfair to them compared to others, but prayer will reveal purpose.

From the movie ‘Forest Gump’, there is a quote that says, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates and you never know what you are going to get’. That is a pretty true analogy of life, don’t you think? You did not get to choose the country you were born in, the parents and family you have, the amount of wealth you grow up with, your race and the color of your hair, eyes or skin, the good or bad characteristics of your character, body, or mind, nor did you get to choose the year in which you were born in. We are all victims of circumstance!

Summing up these factors for our temporary existence on this planet, it might make one deduct that all of our life is unfair and intimidating! Like it or not we have to reason with ourselves and with God to understand our place and purpose in this world and accept this fact; that we are not as in control of things as we would like to be! All is vanity and vexation of spirit! Some people choose to blame everyone else for their lot in life and hate it all. When life is not as they want it then they think it’s their parents fault, it’s their ex mates fault, or worse, they think everything is messed up so it must be God’s fault! But it’s all in how you choose to play your cards that makes all the difference in the world!

4. Even as children we analyze our situation in life and we notice that we are not as pretty or as handsome as some others, that we are not as rich as some others, that we are more or less healthy than others, and that we are often labeled within some minority category. We are born into a world hijacked by Satan who has generationally damaged our cultures and harmed our ability to connect with God so being distorted in our human conclusions, we complain and hate the fact that we are having to tolerate living within the stratus of some demon-controlled system. Every system of man around the world is a double standard unfair social order ran by liars, bullies, and cheaters! Life is unfair for almost everyone and many innocent ones die young! Some innocent ones don’t even get to be born!

How old were you when the reality of your qualities hit you? 10 years old? Some people even become aware at 7 years old, others at 13 years old, and yet there are some people that never seem to quite fully become aware of where they stand with anything in life analyzing and understanding what their purpose in life is all about and how to make the best of it. There are many intelligent people out there, even with Phds that never gain any understanding or wisdom concerning the deep meaningful things of God, life, or purpose. They may only take notice after certain painful things happen to them and they seek God authentically. 

Some people are like a cork in the ocean bobbing around as if with no starting place and with no destiny, distracted and entertained, self-absorbed and confused. Observe how many trains, buses and cars are full of the faithless that live frustrated and futile lives! And to make it worse these kinds of unspiritual ignorant-of-God people believe and follow any current trend, and they will suddenly flip flop in beliefs and accept any crazy idea promoted by the premeditating destructive social engineers as if no common sense existed at all! Too many people have intelligence and no wisdom and it is because they have never developed any connection with God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit! And they with their wandering hate and foolishness are leading our world to destruction!

James 1: 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

5. Ecclesiastes 2:17 Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind. Why in the book of Ecclesiastes does it mention the work we do under the sun 27 times and do it within the context of being in vain? What is the problem that Solomon has here that he says that he hates life, that all we do is for nothing and is vanity, as if we are trying to catch the wind, which is impossible?

It is not to reveal that in this life, even if you become a king with great wealth as Solomon did, you will never gain satisfaction, heaven, or anything as you want it! Even after you or I work hard to get something it will eventually become meaningless and seem futile because that is God’s design: this world is never enough to satisfy! You can gain the whole world and lose your soul in the process of the pursuit of happiness. All you and I work for is just going to be left behind!

But after a person realizes that despite their box of chocolates they have some freedom to make good choices to accomplish something of value to them, God, and others, this life may offer some temporary relief. But still all we gain will never totally fulfill our hungry souls and hearts that have a God-shaped hole only He can fill. Only by uniting with Jesus in heaven will we find a complete rest and happiness. We must take into account that God blesses us with unique talents and the Holy Spirit to make it through this weary world where nothing is ever going to be as we want it. 

6. So what are you and I going to do in the meantime while on this prison called earth? Would it be of any use to curse God for allowing you and other people to be born into this world where life is unbearable and you grow to hate everything because you can never really own or control anything exactly to your liking? I can tell you I would have preferred that all my kids be great Bible teachers, but they chose different paths of their interests. No one ever gets to have their family, their finances, their church, or their life in perfect condition. Perfect does not exist in a broken world! So are you going to complain or pray and make the best of it? 

I have concluded that a majority of the people of the world hate their life and they will never be made happy with anything! Look how many embittered argumentative discontent worldly faithless indifferent people there are out there! Christians with Jesus, however, do have a peace and love that is supernatural beyond the normal default of the human condition of dis-satisfaction with life.

Notice how many violent criminals, rapists, murderers, and murderous radicals come into existence all because they are mad at the world! Isn’t it in part because they want to make somebody else pay because they cannot have the wealth and power their greedy little soul desires? If they can’t own it all, then they want to destroy it! There are real demons of envy and hate controlling people!

7, And how alarming it is today to learn about how many embittered followers there are of false religions and oppressive governments that foment relieving your harbored hateful frustrations on others over the unfairness of life. What a disastrous solution that they impose their illogical traumatizing set of rules on others in the name of god or for the good of society (values of Satan from hell!). 

How sad that so few people submit to Jesus who gives anyone who chooses Him a good life and a purpose. Due to Satan’s attacks on Christians not everyone gets to have a good life as a Christian because in the world we have tribulation, and it comes from Satanic persecutors. But believers do overcome the world! 

John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. The best possible life anyone could hope for is that life which is dedicated to Jesus because you know there will be a reward in the next life for you work under the sun.   

8. What we all must remember is that we have been cursed ever since Adam and Eve brought sin and rebellion into the world because they disobeyed God. It is sad but true, we all have inherited this broken world and for some people it is more broken than for others. But despite that God will judge everyone according to what they had and what they did with it. 

Luke 12:48 “(But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few). For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more”. Those of us who are blessed (and we are!) should bless others!

We can never be happy in a world where cruel people commit horrific acts of evil against others, where sickness and death sadden and shake us, where worries and fears weight us down until insanity comes, where starvation and government or religious oppression suppresses us from obtaining our basic daily needs of food and shelter. This life is a cruel school for us to learn by, to see just how evil and vain people will be without submission to the true Jehovah God of heaven, who sent His Son to save the souls of men. Thank God the goats and sheep will be divided on judgment day we will no longer be subject to this pain!  

9. The good news is Jesus frees us from it all! He took away sickness, death, and fears! He took away the curse of submitting to a religion of difficult laws. Galatians 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)

If you think your lot in life is bad, consider how Jesus had it. To the carnal thick mind of the unspiritual man, Jesus may appear to have been cursed being called by God to die on the tree, or cross, for unjust humanity, but His seemingly unfair task in life became the life giving eternal blessing and liberation of all mankind!

We have to work together with Jesus and each other! If you dislike your brothers and your church, it could possibly stem from suppressed guilt because you are actually disliking yourself for not accepting who you are and what your responsibilities in life are that God expects you to do while you live under the sun. Each one of us has a unique task and we must learn to deny ourselves, and not desire the hypocritical world with its power and wealth hungry Godless aggressors. Our joy and peace comes by serving God and others expecting nothing in this life in return! 

10. Are you discontent with life and with yourself? I wrote a poem about that.       SELF

Self-righteous, self-satisfied

Self-isolated, self-glorified

Selfish, self-loving, me, myself 

Self-pity, self-willed, prove thyself

 

I hate myself, for self causes pain 

And speak for yourself, 

Self creates the insane!

 

Self, be condemned!

Futile game!

Let another man praise you, 

Not your own name.    by Kelly Durant

 

Here on earth life will always offer you and me moments of frustration and pain but also of joy and we have our hope of a blissful life in heaven. Rev. 21: 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” 

 

Is all vanity and frustration on earth? Well, if you live without Jesus giving you eternal life and a mission to live for then yes! Life for so many is an empty, painful, experience, and then you die! But with Jesus we can get through it all, as you and I learn to trust in Him. Don’t labor for the meat that perishes but for that which brings eternal life!