YOU Must SEIZE Happiness for Yourself!

Thus far we have been reminded through the Scriptures that True Happiness is Eternal Life in Christ. But did you know that you can have this Happiness NOW on Earth? True Happiness is a feeling of Peace, Joy and Confidence that only comes when you have established an honest relationship with God. Once this relationship is formed, God will begin to reveal his wisdom to YOU supernaturally and you will begin to see the world with "rose colored glasses." You will be in the world but not of the world. You will be able to Laugh when the World is Crumbling around You! Not because of anything you did, but because of God's divine grace.

Establishing an awesome relationship like this with GOD takes effort. We must 1) Get an Alarm Clock; 2) Take Out the Trash; 3) Do the Dishes; 4) Write it Down; and 5) Help Others. (Visit the BFLY entries on Getting Directions for a bit of clarity on these)But there is something else that YOU must do. The BIBLE says that "the kindom of heaven suffereth violence and it is the violent who take it by force." Matthew 11:12 WHAT?!

In order to gain access to the HAPPINESS we seek, we must work hard and sometimes we must seize Happiness violently. Just think of the violence associated with the death of JESUS. His sacrifice for us was wrenching, brutal and violent. Since the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden, God has always demanded a violent atonement for sin. In the Old Testament God demanded that the best "innocent" livestock be violently sacrificed.

Today, thanks to JESUS' selfless act of dying for us, GOD no longer demands that innocent blood be shed to atone for our sins.

But, we are not completely off the hook. This life on earth is fraught with tribulation. We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness. Today, we wrestle with emotions that are painful, with experiences that trouble us deeply. We endure this spiritual tug of war daily.

Remember Jacob who wrestled all night with the preincarnate Christ? He wrestled all night because he had a real dilemma. He was terrified of his brother, Esau whom he had wrongfully disinherited.

Jacob stole Esau's birthright through trickery and fled to avoid a confrontation with Esau. For years, Jacob lived in exile with Laban. After Jacob had accumulated a large family 12 children, 2 wives (Leah and Rachel), livestock and cattle, God tells him to leave his father in law (Laban) and travel back to his homeland.

Jacob obeyed but he was sick with worry that Esau would murder him. He did not want to go back home. So, he prayed. And he commenced to do battle with the preincarnate Christ all night. The battle Jacob engaged in was spiritual and physical. He likely wrestled with flashbacks of his terrible deed to Esau or maybe even flash forwards of Esau killing him upon his arrival. I think he wrestled with doubt. He probably asked himself, "Why would God tell me to go back to my homeland? Does God want me to die?" He certainly doubted God's plan for him. But he also probably tried to comfort himself by remembering all that God had done for him in the past. He vacillated back in forth over trusting God or succumbing to fear and disobedience. He wrestled...and wrestled...all night long.

How many times are we faced with a dilemma that keeps us up all night wrestling with ourselves and our thoughts? We are worried about a project at work...will we succeed at it? We are worried about money...will we be able to pay our mortgage on time? We are worried about how we are going to manage in a recession? We are fearful about the future...our health...our prospects of marriage...our parents...addiction...the war... Because we are Christians we try to allay our fears through our faith in GOD. We tell ourselves GOD WILL WORK IT OUT or THE BATTLE IS THE LORD'S.

This tug of war that occurs in our minds is a real BATTLE. And we must constantly fight against any feelings of depression or fear or doubt of God's PLAN. Remember, we have asked GOD to lead us. So, we must let HIM lead us even through real problems that seem to have no solution.

God, in his infinite wisdom and grace, never leaves us to do battle alone. Instead he arms us with HIS PRESENCE. All we need to do is tap into this presence. This can be accomplished through SIMPLE TRUST in God! God promised that if we seek HIM he will manifest HIMSELF and he will protect us.

Simple TRUST is all that is required. Jacob had simple trust. He traveled back home and met Esau face to face. He fought through his fear and Esau greeted him with a kiss not a sword.

THE LESSON for us is when you feel a tug of fear, doubt, confusion, depression- STOP and start telling yourself...Jesus Saves....Jesus Conquers. All is Well!

Trust God and watch HIM WORK IT OUT! I am a witness. Simple trust in God, darling! That is how you seize Happiness for yourself.