by Bert Harned, MD

What is “happiness?”  What are you spending your time, money, and energy on right now that you believe will give you pleasure and happiness?  What is God’s perspective on it?  What would it take to make you really happy this year?

The world (and most Christians) say that to be happy is a function of money, prestige, and circumstances.  But Christ says, happiness comes from none of these.  In Matthew 5:3 it says, “blessed [that means happy] are the poor in spirit.” (“Poor in spirit” refers to those who recognize their utter dependence on God). Would you consider yourself truly happy if your life were characterized by meekness, mercy, love for people, and humility?

The general opinion is that happiness comes to those who are rich and honored in the world and who can spend their days in fun, entertainment, good health, and pleasure. That is also where most of us believers are today, isn’t it? The result is a great deal of emptiness and frustration, uncertainty and fear because those things can never satisfy the deep desires of a person who is indwelt by God Himself and who has been designed to be like Jesus, and bring glory to God. That means to me that we are living on a much lower plane than God intended!

In his book, REVOLUTION WITHIN, Dwight Edwards makes this statement:  ”The normal Christian life is nothing more or less than the outflowing of the indwelling Christ.” It always comes back to being controlled by the Holy Spirit, abiding in Christ, by faith allowing Christ to live His life through me. There is no “plan B.”

That is where we need to be! Genuine eternal happiness must be a function of that statement.