The Secret of a Happy Life | God is My Source!

To have a happy life you must learn how to have a happy day. To have a happy day you first need to have your priorities in the right order:

1. God

2. Others

3. Yourself

No other order will work. What ever you place first will be your god. You can’t make yourself god. You will be disappointed when you find that the world does not revolve around yourself. And God has a way of knocking those people down who exalt themselves. You can’t place someone else in God’s place. That person’s strength and ability is limited. He or she could never fill God’s shoes. Remember God has told us, “You shall have no other gods before me.,” Exodus 20:3.

Neither can you place God last. God would not be happy in last place. And if God is not happy, then you will not be happy. Remember, Jesus told us to, “But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness,” Matthew 6:33.

Do you put other people in last place? If you do then you will experience problems. Because those people will see your priorities and know that you are not treating them nicely. But, if you put others before yourself, then they will see it and appreciate you. As the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 2:4, “Each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.”

When we put God and others before our selves we can expect God to bless us. As the Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 5:6, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.”

Now the second part of having a happy day is having the right relationship in each of these priorities. First there is our relationship with God. Most people do not realize that their lives are futile and meaningless without God’s presence in their daily lives. The majority of people pay attention to God for a few hours on Sunday, but not the rest of the week. They do not realize how much they need God. Jesus explained our need very simply: “I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.” John 15:5-8.

When we try to do things in our own strength we will fail. But Jesus tells us to remain or to abide in him, that is, he wants us to spend time in his presence each day. Jesus tells us that he is the vine and we are the branches. As branches we receive all that we need when we are connected to the vine. But those branches that are not connected to the vine will wither. Now, if you do not want to wither then you have got to stay connected to the vine!

Next, we have to consider our relationship to other people. Have you heard the saying, “What goes around, comes around.” This means that what you do to or for others, sooner or later comes back to you. It is the principle that the Bible calls sowing and reaping: “Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that will he also reap,” Galatians 6:7. Thus, if you want to be happy, if you want others to treat you right and do good things for you, you first must treat them right and do good things for them. When a person sows he always reaps more than he sows and he reaps later then when he sows. So start sowing good things into the lives of others now and soon you will receive a harvest. Jesus told us what we can expect to reap: “Give and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you,” Luke 6:38.

Finally, we must do the right things for ourselves. We are moral beings. Any sin in our lives has a negative effect; “For the wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23a. We need to recognize sin in our lives and turn from it. It does not take a genius to understand how God wants us to live. He has told us in His word, such as:

· Love God supremely

· Love your neighbor as yourself

· How no other gods before him

· Do not yield to idols

· Don’t misuse his name

· Enter into his rest

· Honor your parents

· Do not murder

· Do not commit adultery

· Do not steal

· Do not lie

· Do not covet

And we need to strive to live balanced lives rather then to be caught up in extreme practices. Apostle Paul explains the attitude we should have: ““All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are expedient. “’All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be brought under the power of anything,” 1 Corinthians 6:12.

There are many things that attempt to gain mastery over us; things like: drinking, immorality, gambling, drug addiction, greed, jealousy, lying, pride and lust. But God has given his people the ability to say no to these practices, as Paul writes in Titus 2:11, 12: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world …”

So by turning away from ungodliness and extremes practices we can live balance lives. As a result we will experience less sorrow and pain, less sickness and better health and less worry.

Thus, you now have a formula for a happy life, not through your own strength and ability, but through God’s power as you align yourself with him.

The first step fulfilling God’s plan in our lives is receiving God’s free gift of eternal life. If you have not received eternal life, just ask God right now to give it to you by faith: “If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation,” Romans 10:9, 10. Pray this prayer and mean it in your heart:

Lord Jesus,
I now turn away from my sin and I turn to you. I believed that you died for me and rose from the dead to pay the penalty for my sins. I receive now your gift of eternal life and I make you the Lord of my life. Thank you Jesus.