What It Really Means to Be Happy

What It Really Means to Be Happy   
By Jennifer Waddle    

To be considered blessed or prosperous in our culture, is to be affluent in wealth, success, or notoriety. In Psalm 1, however, the Hebrew word for blessed is esher, which means internal happiness and contentment. It has nothing to do with worldly achievements, but rather peace and joy that is rooted in God alone.

The promise of blessedness comes for those who find delight in the Word of the Lord, who meditate on it day and night. Of course, we can’t spend every minute reading the Bible, but we can hide the Word in our hearts and carry the Scriptures with us through every season. It’s not about head-knowledge, but rather heart-knowledge, filling our souls with words of life.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

As people everywhere strive to find happiness, we can look to the Scriptures and know what it really means to be happy.

1. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

Delighting in God simply means that we spend time with Him through prayer, Bible study, and worship. For in His presence is fulness of joy. (Psalm 16:11) Not only do we find unexplainable joy when communing with God, we are attuned to His good, pleasing, and perfect will. The desires of our hearts align with His purpose, which produces in us the genuine happiness we long for.

2. Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Isaiah 12:3

There is absolutely no greater joy than that which is found in the salvation of Jesus Christ. Delivered by the blood of the Lamb and set apart for His glory, we are liberated from sin and shame. No amount of the world’s “happy” can outshine that!

Jesus is a life-giving well, offering Living Water, that we might never thirst again. True happiness is found only in the Savior of the world.

3. He who heeds the word wisely will find good, and whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he. Proverbs 16:20

The old hymn, Trust and Obey, reminds us that there is no other way to be happy, than to put our trust in the Lord and walk in obedience. Unwavering trust leads to peace in every circumstance. Wind or rain, drought or storm, happy is he who trusts in the Lord. (Psalm 40:4)

“Happy” is promised when we plant ourselves firmly on the foundation of God’s Word. Like flourishing trees, planted by streams of water, we will be fruitful and fulfilled, rooted in the best kind of happiness there is.

Will They Know Us by Our Love?

Will They Know Us by Our Love?   
by Debbie Holloway    

"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35).

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and it not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

These two passages are arguably the most famous Bible verses about love. Love is a concept promoted by Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Muslims. It is a thing acknowledged by atheists and agnostics. Something every man, woman, and child strives to obtain every day. Love is something we all know about and all desire. But so often it seems to be the most difficult thing for us to practice.

As Christians, we have no excuse for not knowing what love is. First Corinthians chapter 13 tells us in no uncertain terms. And Christ tells us in John 13 that the world will know that we belong to Jesus if we practice this love. But how often do we truly think of those two scriptures as one command? How often do we piece together the “how?” and the “what?” of love in our own lives?

The ramifications of doing so present a clearly defined, but difficult life. If we combine 1st Corinthians 13 and John 13, what would our lives look like? How would people come to recognize Christians? 

Well, they would know us by our patience. They would know that we are Christians by our contentment, modesty, and humility. They would recognize us, for we would not be rude. We would seek the best for others, be difficult to make angry, and refuse to keep count of how many times we've been hurt. They would know us because evil makes us sad, and truth makes us happy. They would know us because we protect the defenseless and we do not live in suspicion of others.

They would know us by our hope. They would know us by our perseverance.

That is what love looks like. Those should be the marks of Christ’s disciples.

Oftentimes when the world hears “Christian” – they do not think of this love. They think Patriotic. They think of rules. They think of stingy, bad-tippers, who blindly vote Republican and will judge you if you drink beer or use four-letter words. And that might not be fair. That might not be you. But it’s still your responsibility to change what the world thinks of Christians. It’s still your responsibility to demonstrate that radical love Paul described to the Corinthians.

Because then, one by one, people might start to know Jesus a little better. Because then, one by one, we could really reach the world with this radical, biblical, Christ-like love.

Find one relationship or duty in your life that lacks love. And change it.