How to be Happy

Everyone wants to be happy, and fortunately, Jesus told us how we can be. In His famous Beatitudes in Matthew 5, Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with the word blessed, which means happy. If you want to be happy, here is what you need to do.

First, be humble. That is what it means to be poor in spirit. This describes a person in utter poverty, bankrupt before God in the area of goodness. The poor in spirit have no works they can boast of for their salvation, and yet they are happy because they have learned to rest in the finished work of Jesus.

The next Beatitude is a paradox. Jesus said those who mourn would be happy. Sad people are not typically happy, but those who are broken and in mourning over their sin will be. Those who learn to hate sin will find comfort when they are forgiven by God, and no longer forced to carry that burden.

The meek will also be happy because they have learned to submit to the Father; these people have discovered that living for one’s self might seem promising, but it is ultimately empty. Living for God means living for a higher, more fulfilling purpose. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will also be happy. Not many people are happy while they are hungry. In fact, the term hangry is used to describe a person who is so hungry that he is angry. But when this hungering and thirsting is for righteous living, the believer will be happy because he will become filled with goodness.

Those who show mercy to others will be happy because they will receive mercy from God. The pure in heart will be happy because they are drawing nearer to their Lord, and the peacemakers will be happy because they will rejoice in seeing people brought into peace with their Maker. Even those who suffer for Christ’s sake will be happy because they are in good company, and they will have great rewards in heaven.

These are clear steps to take for a life of happiness, but I want to close by looking at what it means to be happy. The word Jesus used was a rare one, and as the first word out of His mouth in this sermon, it would have shocked the audience. The word He used for happiness was not used to describe people because it was of a level so lofty that it was said no mortal could attain it. Greek mythology applied this word to the gods, and the Greeks sometimes used it for the deceased because they were said to be happy as they were freed from the trials of life. There it is: a kind of happiness reserved for the gods and the dead, but in Christ, is available to all who trust in Him and live according to His words.

Are you happy?

The Greatest Comeback

There have been two great comeback stories in the last week. The first was the men’s basketball team from the University of Virginia. One year ago the Cavaliers made history when they became the first ever #1 seeded team in March Madness to lose to a #16. For those who do not know, the field of sixty-four teams is divided into four regions, each having sixteen teams. The #1 team plays #16, #2 plays #15, etc. The four teams that win their region make up the Final Four.

There are four chances each year for a #1 to lose to a #16, and this has been the system since 1985. That means there were 132 games before a top team fell to a #16. It happened in 2018 when the University of Maryland, Baltimore County beat UVA in Charlotte by an astounding twenty points (74-54).

This year Virginia returned to the tournament as a #1 seed (UMBC did not qualify for the tournament). They were once again the talk of the sports world: would they lose to another 16? Not only did they win their opener, they won all six games and the National Championship.

The second great comeback story this week was when Tiger Woods won the Masters gold tournament. Tiger was a household name in the 90’s, and possibly the greatest golfer of all time. A series of moral, legal, and professional failures sidelined him from the game, but he returned in a big way, winning his first major tournament in fifteen years. He received congratulatory tweets from former President Obama, as well as President Trump. It was a shocking return to form for the legend.

I am not a fan of Virginia or Tiger, but everyone loves a good comeback story. To go from historical embarrassment to National Champion in one year is incredible. To go from having a mug shot go viral, to receiving praise from Presidents is a rare second chance. UVA and Woods received their share of criticism for their performance when they were down, but they silenced their critics when they returned to the top of their game.

Those are great comeback stories, but the greatest comeback is what we celebrate this week (and all year long). When Jesus was taking His final breaths on the cross, all of hell was rejoicing. I can imagine the evil imps high-fiving and letting out shrieks of praise as they watched their enemy’s limp body be placed into a borrowed tomb. Mary was crying, disciples were hiding, and Jesus was dying. This dark day was the best one they had experienced since they revolted from heaven.

But early in the morning that next Sunday, their celebration turned to dismay as they saw the stone roll away from the tomb. Out walked the Savior, the victor over death, sin, and hell. He is still alive and well, forever the champion. Satan couldn’t stop Him, death couldn’t defeat Him, and hell couldn’t have Him. Thank God for the empty tomb!  

Walking with the Spirit

The Yangtze River Bridge is a national landmark in China. It is very busy, with heavy pedestrian traffic all day, which has made it a spot where more than a thousand people have used it to commit suicide by jumping to their death into the river a hundred yards below. Beginning in 2003 a man named Chen decided to do something about it. He started going to the bridge every weekend to try to rescue people from jumping. He has talked people down, and in some cases literally tackled some down; a few have slipped through his grip and jumped anyway.

Because it is a popular spot for tourists, countless people traverse the bridge and peer over the edge. How is Chen able to tell who approaches the edge to look, and who approaches it to jump?  When asked by a reporter how he is able to tell who has come there to jump, Chen replied, “It is very easy to recognize a person walking with no spirit.”

By that he meant that he could identify someone who had no zeal in life—they look dejected or down and out; they have no spirit. Just as Chen can identify someone walking with no spirit, we should be able to spot those who are walking with the Spirit—the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote, “I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).” Walking in the Spirit, and being led by the Spirit in verse 18, means Christians need to be sensitive to God, obeying Him as He leads the believer. Walking with the Spirit means the child of God is becoming more like Jesus every day.

Christians, we need to walk in the Spirit. I recently downloaded an app that keeps track of my steps throughout the day. It’s actually a pretty powerful motivator, and I find myself looking for opportunities to walk more so that the app will be happy with me. It doesn’t feel like I have walked several miles during the course of the day, but when I look at the app each night I see how all those little steps added up. As silly as that sounds, the more we walk with the Spirit, the more we will enjoy it, and we will find ourselves walking more and more with Him. We will be able to look back and note the progress, seeing how far we have come over time. It might not feel like you got a whole lot closer to God each day, but if you look back over the last month, or year, you will see just how far you have come. 

Walking is not as much about reaching the destination as it is about the journey. We will not reach our destination until we get to heaven, so each day until then let us keep walking with the Holy Spirit.

Decisions

A researcher from Columbia University put together a study on decision making, and concluded that the average person makes 70 decisions a day. That number turns into 25,500 a year, and a whopping 1,788, 500 decisions over 70 years. Most of these decisions are minor and insignificant. Choosing what to wear in the morning, what to eat for breakfast, or where to go for dinner certainly has some bearing, but those choices rarely lead to anything monumental. Other choices carry greater impact. Deciding whether or not to pop the question (or to say yes if he does), what to study in college (or whether to go at all), and whether to accept the job (or leave the current one) have long-term consequences. Some decisions seem unimportant at the time, but can have lasting results.

One decision stands out above all others because it has eternal ramifications. The choice to make Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior of one’s life is the best decision that a person can make. This is a one-time decision as it relates to salvation, but a Christian must make a similar decision each day. Jesus said anyone desiring to follow Him must “deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow” Jesus (Luke 9:23). I only need to give my heart to the Lord once, but each day I have to choose whether or not I will live like it. Among the 70 decisions I will make each day, several of those involve choosing to willfully sin, or else choosing to deny the desire and make choices that are pleasing to God.

Other choices believers must make include putting on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18), manifesting the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), meditating on the Bible (Psalm 1:1-2), and keeping an open line of communication with the Father (I Thessalonians 5:17). Some daily choices are insignificant, and others are just the opposite; but if the spiritual decisions are right, everything else will fall into place. If you have never made Jesus the Lord of your life, the best choice you can make today is to call out to Him for salvation. If He is already your Lord, keep choosing to honor Him with each decision you make.