Power Point with Jack Graham - March 21, 2004

 

March 21, 2005

 

…Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.

--1 Peter 1:8

 

I love to laugh. And if you know me, you know that the happiness that Jesus Christ gives is worth expressing. But, I have noticed something about happiness in the lives of believers—they don’t have much. Most of you have heard it said, that happiness is a choice. President Abraham Lincoln once said, “People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

 

In addition to that, I believe happiness is a consequence. It is a result of something that takes place in our lives that produces happiness. It’s a habit—one that is produced in our lives when we practice spiritual disciplines and godliness. It is a consequence of the character and the attitude of our lives built in when our faith grows. Happy, happy, happy!

 

Have you noticed in the Bible how often the great qualities of the Christian life are described in superlatives? It’s not simply hope; but it’s the blessed hope! It’s not simple life; but Jesus said, “I’ve come that you might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). It’s not just grace; but it’s wonderful and glorious grace. It’s not just joy; but it is “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8).

 

The Lord doesn’t just dole out His blessings one at a time, but He pours them on. That is our promise. As a believer in Christ, we need to learn that life is not simply something that we endure, but it is to be enjoyed to the fullest.

 

Next time you show up at church, don’t go looking like you just swallowed the communion rail with a stained glass look in your eyes. Go to celebrate the goodness and graciousness of God in your life! And when it’s time to laugh, let it loose!

 

The happiest people on earth are not the richest, most talented, or the most beautiful. They are the ones who have that happiness is the Lord! Happiness is in knowing Jesus Christ. And that happiness then if produced…a process that is produced every day, and a

 

HAPPINESS IS AN EVERYDAY PROCESS, AND

A CONSEQUENCE OF LIVING OUR LIFE GOD’S WAY.