The Problem with Happiness

Happiness is a fleeting emotion, easily interrupted by negative thoughts, words and actions. Humans can experience the switch between the heights of euphoria and the depths of depression in a matter of seconds.

When we seek happiness in circumstance, people, events, pets, career, home, gardens, hobbies, church, etc. we are continually elated and then disappointed.

In disappointment, we even give in to fear, anxiety and feel apprehensive when we consider more than the one moment of time which we are experiencing.

Fear will dispel happiness quicker and put us into a deeper depression than any other emotion, especially if we suppress the anger, which we feel along with it.

We have the right to pursue happiness, but we cannot maintain it. There is good news in the midst of this negative prognosis, however.

We can continually dwell in an emotion much deeper than happiness. This emotion is not contingent on circumstance and is spiritual and depends solely on the presence of God in our life.

This deep seated emotion is also our strength to traverse the negative path in life, which we occasionally experience. There is no earthly issue, which can ever shake us from this positive outlook on life. It is called JOY.

If we choose to focus on the negative circumstances, or if we adopt a negative attitude, our joy will hover just outside of our soul, waiting in our spirit for us to change our focus to the joy, which is always set before us (Hebrews 12:2).

The world-wide Body of Christ, both in times present and past, is an example of a people who love and joyfully trust our amazing God for His constant provision, even during dire circumstances.

Prayer:

Father God, You reach down Your arms and hold us until our grief and fears are gone (Psalm 68:5). You walk within us and guide us through the depths of grief, distress and insecurity. Regardless of the negative circumstances, Your peace and joy are our constant companions.

You love each of us the same amount and in the same way, regardless of our sinful past. We are confident of Your continual, unconditional love for us (John 3:16-17). We can never thank You enough for continually filling us with Your presence and Spirit, and for helping us to maintain a heavenly mindset rather than a carnal, earthly one.

Thought for the Day:

Our constant joy depends on our focus on the eternal Christ and our attitude of total dependence on His perfect will for our life.

God is Not Our Co-Pilot

Photo by Mike Rickard: http://lightsportrayal.zenfolio.com/

When the phrase, "God is my co-pilot" first hit the scene, it caused us to focus our attention on God being a huge force in our life. The popularity of this phrase grew over the years.

It gave me comfort to think of God next to me, traversing the issues of my life and ready to back me up if necessary. However, something always bothered me when I heard this phrase.

God showed me that He wants more intimacy and control over our life than a co-pilot. He does not want to function only during an emergency, which we find too challenging.

God wants to reign as Lord and King of our life. He is much better suited to Pilot our life than we could ever hope to be. He knows the end of our human lifespan from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10).

He saw us in our mother's womb and knit our bones together with His special purpose in mind (Psalm 139:13). He has a unique plan to provide for each one of us.

For instance, God chose to leave out four of my permanent teeth. Then He proved His love for me by allowing those baby teeth to serve me for several decades into my adult life.

He has a perfect will for each life, including yours (Ephesians 2:10). As we totally surrender to His Spirit's direction for every moment of our day, He guides us from one divine appointment to the next.

God uses us for His glory and blesses us in the process. We help to further His Kingdom on the earth and to contribute to the population of Heaven for eternity.

Complete capitulation to God's Spirit is our best recourse in life. We never feel concern over the past, or fear of the future or stress in the moment, because we cast all of our worries on our Father God, who cares about us (1 Peter 5:7).

This helps us to lose our temporal mindset and to focus on the eternal instead. Satan's temptations no longer appeal to us. We rise above the carnal cares of this life, because we trust God to supply all of our needs with His glorious riches (Philippians 4:19).

Prayer:

Father God, as we submit our life to you, there is no event, which will ever occur in our life, that is not already part of Your plan for us. We trust in Your loving kindness, because You have our best interest in Your heart. 

You weave the moments of our day into a perfect tapestry, which turns the focus away from us and puts it fully on You (Matthew 5:16).

We give You all of the praise and glory for the successes of our life, and we know that You will turn the ashes of our failures and suffering into a beautiful experience in Your time and way (Isaiah 61:3; Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Thought for the Day:

God wants complete control of every area of our life; and once we submit to His will, we find fulfillment, which is better than anything we could ever plan for our self.

Childlike Faith

 

God made mankind in His image and likeness (Genesis 1: 26). God is a triune being...Father, Son and Spirit. He created us as triune beings with a Spirit, Soul and Body. Genesis 2: 7 states, "And the LORD God formed man (body) of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (spirit); and man became a living soul."

Due to Adam's sin, our spirit is dead within us at birth, until we ask Jesus Christ to be our Savior. Then the Holy Spirit breathes the breath of life into us and our spirit is redeemed. We cannot truly live integrated, connective lives until we are Born Again. Our body is our physical being that ends up in the grave at our death.

Our soul is our mind, will and emotions. Our mind is renewed into the mind of Christ (Romans 12:2), our will is submitted to the will of God (Philippians 2:13) and our emotions are controlled by the Spirit of God who dwells within us (James 1:19). Our soul also contains our Inner Child, Inner Parent and Inner Adult.

David spoke of the Inner Child of the soul when he stated in Psalm 131:2 , “Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother's milk. Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.” So often, we lose the innocence of childhood and adopt a prideful and rebellious mindset.

As we grow up in this life, we surround our self with defense mechanisms to prevent others from perpetrating their sins on us. We mature quickly and develop strong emotions, which we use to protect our self. Unless we nurture that childlike aspect of our soul, and allow the faith and unfettered trust of a child to reign in our hearts, we cannot fully please God (Matthew 18:3).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, help us to remember that in order for You to fulfill our soul, we first need to be filled by Your Spirit. Our spirit must be born again by asking You to be our Savior and our Lord (2 Peter 3:18). Then, our Inner child will feel more secure, and adopt that childlike faith, which You desire from each of us.   

Thought for the Day:

Unless we are Born Again and become as little children, we have no hope of entering the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 18:3

The Tyranny of Self-Effort

Our human effort can never produce spirituality. No amount of carnal exertion, ceremonies, rituals or precepts can govern the spiritual world. Repentance is the first step to true spirituality. This humbles us and allows God into our life. The more we worship our Creator and King, the more spirituality we encourage in our life. This creates a new attitude and mindset in us.

God gives us gifts to use to minister to the lost and dying world around us (1 Corinthians 12:4). We testify to others about what God does in our life. Many will turn a deaf ear, because their life is ruled by the tyranny of self-effort. However, some who are tired of servitude to the dictates of the flesh will be ready to surrender their life to God and to enjoy His love and blessings like we do.

The steady habitation of our spirit by the Spirit of God gives us peace and joy, which transcends what the world and its religions can offer to us. Our connection to God becomes our foremost priority. We deepen our relationship through prayer, Bible study, fellowship with other Believers and Christian service in our community. We encounter God’s hand in our life through many significant ways.

God cares about us. He even lived in human form and suffered in every area in which we do (1 Peter 2:21-22; Hebrews 4:15). God cannot fellowship with sin, so we must not grieve His Spirit with our carnality and self-effort (Habakkuk 1:13; Ephesians 4:30). God’s Spirit continually transforms us with the mind of Christ. If we give our constant attention to His will and ways in our life, we will sense God’s powerful presence.

Prayer:

Father God, we relinquish every area of our life, which serves as a distraction to us from following You with our whole heart. We confess every sin, which stands between Your heart and ours. We trust in Your faithfulness and surrender our anxieties and stress to You for Your miraculous healing and provision. Remind us not to allow the cares of this world to choke out our focus on You (Mark 4:19).

Thought for the Day:

A personal encounter with God on a daily basis will free us from the tyranny of self-effort.

Spiritual Red Flags

Negative emotions are a red flag that something is wrong in our soul. It may be abuse from someone in our life, or society putting undue stress on us, or we may encounter an unsafe person or an experience, which causes anger to rise up in us. This happens to protect us from some perceived harm. We could also be reaping the results of our own fleshly pursuits. Negative emotions also arise when God’s will for us upsets us and reveals some idol in our life.

Our emotional red flags alert us to physical or emotional harm, erroneous beliefs, an ungodly goal or an area taking us away from God’s will. We may also feel discouraged, angry or upset because we are hungry, sleep deprived, ignored, away from the comfort of home, lonely, etc. Often a simple meal, a nap, gaining someone’s attention, meeting a new friend or going to the comfort of home will dispel these negative emotions.

If not, then get into a quiet place and reconnect with God’s Spirit, step out of your carnal, fleshly mindset and look for God’s miracle in the circumstances. When our negative emotions indicate an idol in our motives, thinking or aspirations, or reveal to us our negative spiritual attitude and focus, we can seek God’s Spirit to pluck these disturbing menaces from our soul. Once we are willing to work out our own salvation, God’s Spirit delivers us from our self (Philippians 2:12-13).

Prior to Salvation, we conformed to the image of this carnal, depraved world, but now God calls us to allow His Spirit to transform our mind and behavior and to make us holy, acceptable and perfect in God’s sight. He gives us His spirit of wisdom and revelation as we come to know Him more intimately. He enlightens our eyes to discern between various levels of evil and holiness, and to flee from evil.

By His death on Calvary’s cross, Jesus Christ set us free from the Law of Sin and Death by replacing it with the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). He removes all condemnation from us caused by our past sin and failings (Romans 8:1). He includes us in His family and makes us co-heirs with Jesus of all that He owns (Ephesians 2:19; Romans 8:17; Psalm 50:10). He calls us to imitate Him as His Beloved children (Ephesians 5:1).

Prayer:

Father God, we die to our self by denying our flesh in simple areas, such as that second piece of cake. Then we soon develop less of a desire for carnal appetites and attitudes, and more of a desire to live in submission to Your will. From this, we reap intimacy with You and have fewer areas in our life, on which the devil can feed (John 14:30). We start this walk of total dependence on You by developing quiet times in our daily schedule in order to sit in Your presence. Remind us to spend our day in praise for who You are and all that You do for us.

Thought for the Day:

As we humbly submit to God’s control over our life, He fills us with the power of His Spirit, such as was resident in the Apostles after Pentecost. - Acts 2:41