Home Tree of Knowledge Happiness – Fulfillment Found

Happiness – Fulfillment Found

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This is another incredible and detailed study that we hope you will find both enjoyable and enlightening. Grab your Bible and prepare to learn some amazing things regarding the deep, lasting, true happiness that only the Lord can deliver.

– G. W. Craig

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.

Based on the above statement, what are we supposed to dwell upon?

Philippians 4:4-8 reads thusly…

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

New American Standard Bible 1995 – Emphasis Added.

Begin and end each day with gratitude.

Next, please refer to 1 Peter 1:3-8 in your Bible. Are we rejoicing in fellowship? What about regular church attendance at a Bible-teaching church? Are we applying what we have learned to each circumstance? Are we reacting emotionally or responding thoughtfully – are we thinking (as we are supposed to) instead of emoting? Get a handle on these things first, and your life will change.

Happiness is not a reward, it is a mental attitude, a choice in the mind of every believer, it is a consequence of taking in doctrine, daily.

Proverbs 3:13, “How blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gains understanding.”

Bible doctrine gives the believer a capacity for a happy life. It is the mind alone that makes one miserable or happy – it is not a person, place, or condition.

Proverbs 23:7a, “For as he thinks within himself, so he is.” (Don’t hesitate to post this verse (and others) on your refrigerator door where everyone can see, somewhere in your vehicle, at your desk (home, work, or both) on your nightstand, on your bathroom mirror…)

Happiness is a mindset, a lifestyle. A happy person is not afraid to fail, not afflicted by unhappy people or circumstances. Happiness is the capacity to be relaxed about misfortunes, both during these times and when you come out of the misfortune. If you weren’t happy during those times, you have given the misfortune power over you. So, ask yourself during these times, “Who is in control, me or my misfortunes? Me or the Holy Spirit?”

Principles of happiness:

  • Happiness depends on the quality of your thoughts.
  • True happiness is a mental attitude of contentment, regardless of circumstance.
  • Do not worry about things beyond your control. Happiness requires problems which keep us aware of the reality of this world. When problems arise, stay calm. When you are running late, stay calm. When you stay calm, you stay in control. When you stay in control of your emotions, even in stressful situations, it is then you appreciate happiness – even more the Holy Spirit in you.
  • Happiness is not in getting what we want, it is in appreciating what we already have. How rich we are, even with minimal possessions, because of Who and what we know – that’s the real treasure in life. Enjoying life by appreciation means recognizing all that we possess in a constant mindset of gratitude.

So, the key to happiness is recognizing and appreciating Bible doctrine in us, the Holy Spirit in us, and living each minute with assurance and calmness. Happiness is a mental attitude of thankful appreciation, continuously. Peace in your soul overflows into life, and this is what others will see in you – soul-life, soul-happiness, a soul in control of emotions, a peaceful soul. When you truly learn this, it is like a light turned on in your soul, and this is what people notice and what sets you apart.

Conversely, uncontrolled emotional mood swings are what people see when the mind and soul are unstable. So one must take control of the soul by taking and keeping control of the thinking. We must always think first. Always.

One does not pursue happiness, one enjoys happiness, because one is at peace with God. God is always happy. If you are not happy, then your emotions are in control, not the Holy Spirit, and it’s time to change your thinking habits. Calmness means you are Holy Spirit-assured, which makes you self-assured. When things don’t go right, don’t react with emotion, respond with Truth, with thinking, with evaluating the situation and dealing with it for what it is.

Be patient and kind. Getting ahold of our emotions is difficult because emotions are powerful. They want to be in charge of your mind. They want you to give them the reins of your thinking-life.

To quote a small, green being when asked if the “dark side” is stronger, “… no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.” And that assessment couldn’t be any more accurate. He would go on to say later, “Anger, fear, aggression, the dark side are they. Easily they flow. Quick to join you in a fight.” Something to keep in mind, no?

When the Holy Spirit is in control of your thinking, you are in control of your emotions. The Holy Spirit doesn’t doubt, doesn’t fear, doesn’t panic. When you are calm and thinking straight, you are listening to the still small voice of God the Holy Spirit. This is why ecstatic worship and emotional reaction are not spiritual. Being happy is wonderful. Feeling appreciative is natural. Laugh and be happy, cry and be happy, but don’t make decisions based on how you feel. Each life-circumstance can lead to an emotional reaction, but circumstances should lead to a thoughtful response. Reactions are emotion-based (immature). Responses are thought-based (mature).

Perfect happiness possesses God’s happiness – a divine viewpoint, which comes from Bible doctrine stored in the soul and lived in the life of the believer. Pseudo-happiness is satan’s attempt to counterfeit true happiness. Stimulation, inordinate ambition, self-indulgence, instant gratification and lust are all empty, counterfeit forms of happiness. They are all a frantic search of the soul for true happiness, but in all the wrong places.

1 John 2:15, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.“
1 John 2:16, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.“
1 John 2:17, “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.“
The world is passing away with its lusts. Stop living in focus on temporary things. Be permanently in-tune with God, not the people’s world, because the world is perishing and foolish… and you have Christ.
This world is saturated with illusions, delusions, fallacies, misconceptions, and deceit; this is satan‘s world – it is not ours (Luke 4:5-7; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2). Satan‘s propaganda involves money, success, pleasure, social life, social media life, sexual life, approbation (especially public approbation, like fame), material things, travel, etc., and all are counterfeit, temporary forms of happiness. They do not make us happy; they come and they go; they do not support us in times of suffering and tribulation because all this supposed “happiness” is temporary high or fix – the wrong foundation for continuous soul-happiness. Christ gave us His peace – a gentle beauty found on the inside. God‘s happiness isn’t dependent on anything because He is perfectly happy in His perfection. He doesn’t need a stimulant.
Satan’s forces keep our thinking off-balance. They attack through arrogance, they use our ego and pride and our human nature to their fullest advantage. Listen, arrogance destroys our capacity for happiness and for life. Arrogance is the exact opposite of grace. Arrogance in the soul is manifested in jealousy, self-pity, guilt complexes, envy, resentment, paranoia, inferiority, greed, lust, etc., and the result is unhappiness. These manifestations of arrogance are the result of counterfeit living, counterfeit thinking, which is, ultimately, a submission to satanic doctrines.
Worldly motivations prevent happiness because worldly motivations intrude into the soul from the outside to the inside, whereas true happiness is an outward expression to the world. Soul-arrogance is so subtle that it is almost undetectable, especially when everyone lives and reacts the same way. Unhappiness causes the soul to go on a frantic search for happiness. When the search culminates in failed success enough times, people end up having nervous breakdowns – even destruction of the soul can result.
Humanity must stop chasing all the temporary “happinesses” of the world; we need to be at peace with God so we can find our own, true peace. Rapport with God inevitably proceeds a rapport with life and with people. True happiness is a wonderful experience and should be lived daily, regardless of people or circumstances (reference Philippians 1:16-18).
Happiness requires problems, hurts, and tests to be appreciated. Sometimes the Lord zaps us with truth, and facing that truth will give us peace because we know that we are still deeply loved by the Lord, in spite of our sin and neglected failure. Some people cannot take the truth, so they live a lie, and inner peace escapes them as they frantically search for temporary, elusive worldly happiness.
The happiest people are those who think the most interesting thoughts. They develop their mental capacity with a good book, good company, good conversation – they are happy inside, and they share that happiness in their outward-expressions to the world.
It is not how much we have, not our possessions or lack of possessions, it is how much we appreciate and enjoy. The greatest happiness is contentment in and with self, the Lord, Bible doctrine, family and friends – in that order.
The key to God‘s perfect inner happiness lies within our thinking. Pseudo-happiness makes suckers of us all by holding us captive (2 Timothy 2:26). Remember, just beyond temporary happiness lies the same old unhappiness, and the cycle begins again. After a high of coffee, sugar, drugs, or alcohol comes the low, the hangover, the guilt, and regrets. Humanity will never be permanently sustained by temporary happiness.
In the valley of despair, it gets harder and harder to climb back to the top of the hill. Temporary, self-made, worldly happiness is never a full-time sustainer, never a perpetuator of permanence – this is pseudo-happiness upon which most people live their entire lives. Your perception of the world is based either on God‘s words or satan‘s counterfeits. Please stop and consider this: You need to fulfill your own destiny in Christ, not in the world.
A mental attitude of fear and panic actually intensifies our mental suffering. In correct living, we have the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine, which actually motivates and intensifies our thinking. Whereas arrogance, fear, panic, etc. – all the pseudo-happinesses – are subversive and destructive. Our choices regarding happiness determine our days of happiness on earth. Our choices regarding pseudo-happiness determine our loss of days on earth. Subtle, huh? So it is, and so it will be.
We must recognize that our thinking in our own souls is either for or against God, for or against Bible doctrine, for or against the filling of the Holy Spirit, for or against prayer, for or against peace, for or against the satanic world-system. We must stay calm. We must let God stay in control. We must allow Bible doctrine flow into our soul and then outward to a lost and dying world.
Listen, in this life, one has learned well how to think like and live like the world, which means one has joined the world, joined forces with this satanic system, and has become a counterfeit person living a pseudo lifestyle of worldly happiness. Divine viewpoint equals divine happiness, which equals inner soul-happiness. Whether living or dying, we can have inner happiness, inner peace. We are happy in either state of being. How? With Bible doctrine acting as a constant influence in our thinking and our actions and our responses.
To be soul-happy, we must be filled with Bible doctrine and the Holy Spirit. We must share God and the cross by our lifestyle, stability, and faithfulness, without all the emotion. Now, lets get to work being truly happy.
Happy Studying.

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