Studies have been done, countless books have been written, experts give opinions, people go to conferences, turn to drugs, and try desperately anything they can do to find happiness. We all do the best we can to fill ourselves up with what we need to make us happy. The more I read and ponder and study and ask, the more I think we have it all bassackwards.
What kinds of movies make us the happiest and bring forth the most tears? What songs make our vision blurry with tears? What gives us the deepest feeling of happiness and like we have done something good? It is when we see, hear of, do a completely selfless act, thinking nothing of ourselves and are only concerned with making God and/or someone else smile.
Think about it, what do all misery; sadness, unhappiness, and stuff that make us feel bad come from? Is the root of all of it selfishness? I think if we look hard and deep enough into it, there is no denying that selfishness is the root of all unhappiness. So it is only natural that selflessness is the root of all happiness. How can you not be happy when all you are concerned with is someone else’s needs and making God and other people smile? If all your time and focus is spent on that, there is no time to spend wallowing in your misery, loneliness, and fill-in-the-unhappy-blank. There is a reason God told us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves. It is because God knows that the source of all our happiness comes from selflessness.
Jesus understood this. Here are a few examples of countless times where Jesus was completely selfless, thinking nothing of himself, and in turn it made him happy and made the person he helped happy as well.
Luke 19:1-10
Jesus ignores what is “proper” and spends the afternoon with a sinner, Zacchaeus.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2019:1-10&version=NIV"
John 4:1-42
Jesus thinks of a Samaritan woman at the well, and many are saved because of his selflessness.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%204:1-42&version=NIV"
John 8:1-11
Jesus saves a woman from certain death, rather than proves his superior knowledge over the Pharisees.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%208:1-11&version=NIV"
John 17
Jesus prays for us, on the eve of his death on the cross.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2017&version=NIV"
This can all be summed up with a verse that someone showed me once and taught me so much about. This verse has become close to my heart. John 3:30 says:
He must become greater, I must become less.
That is all there is to it. That is the key to happiness. Matthew 16:24-26 says:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Jesus wants us to be happy. All we have to do is quit trying to make ourselves happy. Make God smile today and somebody else too.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Omnipresent Comfort
My feelings about God being “everywhere” all the time have evolved drastically over the years. When I was a little kid, I was amazed that God could be everywhere at once, and hoped he didn’t see me when I went and got an extra cookie or made a face at my mom when she wasn’t looking. As I got up into teenage years, it started to terrify me. God could see EVERYTHING I was doing and there was nowhere I could go to get away with it. I felt much the same way Adam and Eve felt in Genesis Chapter 3 when they ate the fruit and found out they were naked. Completely open and vulnerable, so God could see every flaw and nuance that is less than perfect.
Why did I feel this way? Why was I so scared God was out to get me and was “always watching me” and in my business? Well, because He was first of all. But the older I get, the more I realize God is watching me to love and protect me and be there for me to run to when I am feeling… no just run to Him always. I was afraid because my motives were selfish and my love was for myself and what I wanted to do. That is a good way to invite the fear of God in you. But God is changing my fear to comfort. God is always there. Always. Jesus said in Matthew 28:20 that “[he] would be with us always, even until the end of the age.” How awesome is that? Jesus loves us so much that he is going to be with us no matter what we go through. Right there by our side, giving us every tool and everything we need.
The Psalmist in Psalm 139 completely understood this. This Psalm is a beautiful illustration of completely embracing God’s omnipresence and finding deep peace and love in it. Read it:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+139&version=NIV
Verses 23-24 are the challenging part. The Psalmist invites God into the inner depths of his heart and tells him to pretty much lay him wide open so God can see it all. Find my faults God, every dark spot in my heart. But he doesn’t stop there. He tells God, not asks, tells God to “lead him in the way everlasting.” That is close intimate relationship with God. That is omnipresent comfort.
Here are a few more passages for further digging:
Genesis 3
Jeremiah 23:23-24
Psalm 16
Proverbs 15:3
Isaiah 66:1-2
Acts 16:27
Revelation 6:16
Why did I feel this way? Why was I so scared God was out to get me and was “always watching me” and in my business? Well, because He was first of all. But the older I get, the more I realize God is watching me to love and protect me and be there for me to run to when I am feeling… no just run to Him always. I was afraid because my motives were selfish and my love was for myself and what I wanted to do. That is a good way to invite the fear of God in you. But God is changing my fear to comfort. God is always there. Always. Jesus said in Matthew 28:20 that “[he] would be with us always, even until the end of the age.” How awesome is that? Jesus loves us so much that he is going to be with us no matter what we go through. Right there by our side, giving us every tool and everything we need.
The Psalmist in Psalm 139 completely understood this. This Psalm is a beautiful illustration of completely embracing God’s omnipresence and finding deep peace and love in it. Read it:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+139&version=NIV
Verses 23-24 are the challenging part. The Psalmist invites God into the inner depths of his heart and tells him to pretty much lay him wide open so God can see it all. Find my faults God, every dark spot in my heart. But he doesn’t stop there. He tells God, not asks, tells God to “lead him in the way everlasting.” That is close intimate relationship with God. That is omnipresent comfort.
Here are a few more passages for further digging:
Genesis 3
Jeremiah 23:23-24
Psalm 16
Proverbs 15:3
Isaiah 66:1-2
Acts 16:27
Revelation 6:16
Thursday, February 4, 2010
The Great Problem amidst The Greatest Commandments
Matthew 22:34-40
34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Christianity in two sentences. Love God. Love your neighbor. The quintessential “easier said than done statement.” But when we break it down this way, our following of Christ is very simple. Is God going to be the axis by which our entire world revolves around and are we going to be concerned with others as much as we are with ourselves? There is not a simpler and more challenging teaching than when Jesus answers that question. How can we love God with everything in our heart, soul, and mind even when we feel like God has turned away and abandoned us? How can we love our “neighbor” who is gossiping about us, trying to kill us? (Fill in your favorite thing that makes you hate your neighbors.)
This is the greatest dichotomy of the human heart. Love a God whom we cannot see or hear or even think hears us at times, and love others that hate us as much as we love ourselves. But if Jesus did it, then it can be done.
Before we settle in an answer though, there are a couple Psalms I would like you to explore and chew on in light of The Greatest Commands. These are some of the darkest most desperate and heartbreaking passages in the Psalter, and I want to delve into them and see what we can find.
Here are the Psalms:
Psalm 88 in light of:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2088&version=NIV
Psalm 109 in light of:
Love your neighbor as yourself.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+109&version=NIV
Dig into these Psalms for a while. See the raw emotion and appearance of contrast to the greatest commands they bring. Are these Psalms even worthy to be in the Bible? Is this something we should get up and read on Sunday morning during worship (Both Psalm 88 and Psalm 109 were written for the director of music)? Where does the darkness fit in light of these great commands?
Post a comment or email or facebook me and let me know what you think. If you can’t figure out how to comment on the blog, I will do it for you and give you credit (or leave you anonymous if you prefer), but I want to know how you wrestled with this. And even if you do not want to have something posted, let me know what you discovered in your digging.
Hope you brought your shovel.
34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Christianity in two sentences. Love God. Love your neighbor. The quintessential “easier said than done statement.” But when we break it down this way, our following of Christ is very simple. Is God going to be the axis by which our entire world revolves around and are we going to be concerned with others as much as we are with ourselves? There is not a simpler and more challenging teaching than when Jesus answers that question. How can we love God with everything in our heart, soul, and mind even when we feel like God has turned away and abandoned us? How can we love our “neighbor” who is gossiping about us, trying to kill us? (Fill in your favorite thing that makes you hate your neighbors.)
This is the greatest dichotomy of the human heart. Love a God whom we cannot see or hear or even think hears us at times, and love others that hate us as much as we love ourselves. But if Jesus did it, then it can be done.
Before we settle in an answer though, there are a couple Psalms I would like you to explore and chew on in light of The Greatest Commands. These are some of the darkest most desperate and heartbreaking passages in the Psalter, and I want to delve into them and see what we can find.
Here are the Psalms:
Psalm 88 in light of:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2088&version=NIV
Psalm 109 in light of:
Love your neighbor as yourself.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+109&version=NIV
Dig into these Psalms for a while. See the raw emotion and appearance of contrast to the greatest commands they bring. Are these Psalms even worthy to be in the Bible? Is this something we should get up and read on Sunday morning during worship (Both Psalm 88 and Psalm 109 were written for the director of music)? Where does the darkness fit in light of these great commands?
Post a comment or email or facebook me and let me know what you think. If you can’t figure out how to comment on the blog, I will do it for you and give you credit (or leave you anonymous if you prefer), but I want to know how you wrestled with this. And even if you do not want to have something posted, let me know what you discovered in your digging.
Hope you brought your shovel.
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