God Wants Us To Be Happy
God wants us to be happy. When He tells us in the Bible to do, say, correct, believe, feel, think or share something, it is not to take away our happiness, but rather it is to take away the things that are in the way of our full and lasting happiness. We must trust that God is after our happiness, that He knows best how to bring about our happiness, and that what He tells us in the Bible is designed to lead us into happiness. Doing what God tells us is not always easy, popular or instantly gratifying. But it is always for good, always better in the end than sin, and always the best option for making us truly, ultimately, and eternally happy.
The First Step
Taking the four basic steps of the Christian lifestyle (pray, read the Bible, do what God tells you, help others do the same) will produce countless other specific steps of faith. We are to put into practice what we profess to believe as we walk with Jesus through the everyday details and decisions of real life. What step do we take? The next right one in front of us as God leads us in the way He has designed things to work for every part of our private and public lives. He will graciously provide the instruction, desire and power for us to do, say, correct, believe, feel, think or share something that fits with what we are facing. The first step in finding out your next step is to read the Bible.
Never Give Up On People
It’s so easy to give up on people who don’t seem to get it or don’t seem to care. It’s so easy to distance yourself from people who are negative. It’s so easy to walk away from people who don’t agree with us. It’s so easy to check out of relationships when we give more than we receive. But don’t stop showing people the love of Jesus, because it is the love of Jesus that can soften a heart, transform a life, rewrite a story, and impact an eternity. Though it is sometimes hard to do good to others, let us never give up on people by remembering that Jesus never gives up on us. As He does for us, may we do for others.
Life-Giving Assurances
Today, when that temptation is offered, that relationship blows up, that meeting goes wrong, that diagnosis is grim, that pleasure is available, that problem shows up, that plan falls through, and that thing happens … you will believe something to be true. Instead of believing sin’s promises that you have been abandoned by God, or you should accept a substitute for God, believe the promises of God. Place your full weight on God’s Word, for this is the only solid ground in a world full of cleverly-disguised sinking sand. If He says it, you can believe it. And if you can believe it, you can experience its life-giving assurances.
We Are Believers
There is something you and I need to understand: we are believers. There is no one who is not a believer. We all believe in something. Even to disbelieve in one thing is to believe in another. All of life’s desires, decisions, and deeds flow from one of two basic beliefs: we believe that we need God, or we believe that we do not need Him. Want to know what you believe in? Look at your life. You will pin your hopes upon your beliefs, devote your time and resources to your beliefs, look for happiness in your beliefs, find your sense of well-being in your beliefs, and stake your life on your beliefs. You. Are. A. Believer. The question is: do you believe in Jesus and the promises of God made to you in, through and because of Him?
Steps On The Way Home
Followers of Jesus take steps of faith in our day-by-day “walk” with Him. Wherever He leads, we follow in the same direction, one step at a time. In loving obedience. With humble dependance. For a blessed experience. While there are many places we will go and things we will do, there are four basic steps that every Christian takes from the beginning, and they never stop taking until they follow Jesus all the way home: Pray. Read the Bible. Do what God tells you. Help others do the same. This is how we know, follow, enjoy and share God! Certainly we will take mis-steps along the way; but Jesus will never let us lose our way.
The Secret To Contentment
Our happiness does not depend upon us getting something we want or getting rid of something we don’t want. The secret to contentment, regardless of what we have and don’t have, what we get to do and don’t get to do, who we are and who we are not, is to expect Jesus to fulfil the longings of our hearts. When we look to Him for hope, peace, rest, comfort, courage, security, companionship, strength, and provision, and trust that He will sustain us and satisfy us in all circumstances, God is honored in us, and we are happy in Him. We can be joyfully content whether we have little or much because we have it all in Jesus.
You Are Loved Today
How much God loves you does not rise with every new entry on your resume’ and does not fall with every new entry on your rap sheet. God’s love is not based on your performance as if He only cares about you when you get it right. You are loved; not because you are perfect, but because you are His. You are valued; not because of what you have made of your life, but because you were made by Him. You are treasured; not because you cross off items on a checklist, but because Jesus died on a cross for you. God will continue to shape you into the person He made you to be. But He deeply loves the person you are today.
Walk Out Of That Cage
Too many of us live as if we are still imprisoned by our sin, sorrow and struggles with no way out of the cell that confines us. Too often we let regrets from the past, imperfections in the present and fears of the future enslave us as if we are helpless and hopeless to do anything about them. Too soon we give up and give in when victory has already been secured and is almost ready to be seen. Jesus has made amends for our past, makes provision for our present and will make a way for our future until we have been fully delivered from all fears, foes and faults. Walk out of that cell today, and in faith follow Him. You have been set free.
Grace To Fight On
Do you know how often you and I need to confess our sin to God? Every. Single. Day. As Christians, we are in an ongoing war against our sin, and there are daily occasions in which we lose the battle. This spiritual journey we are on is one in which we have not yet been fully delivered from the presence of sin, so we must fight against it and confess our failings when we lose a skirmish. Every step of the way. Every time we pray. Every single day. Ours is a humble and simple cry out for grace: “I did it. I regret doing it. Help me not do it again.” Because Jesus has already secured the final victory over our sin, there is grace for us. Grace that gives us pardon when we lose the fight, and grace that give us power to fight on.
