"Happy New Year!"
Everywhere you go people are exchanging this common phrase. As I think
upon the New Year, I wonder how many individuals have actually taken the
time to think about how a HAPPY New Year is actually possible! Do you
think it is just by chance that we have a HAPPY New Year? Or do you think
it is within our control? Let's open our Bibles and see what God's instructions
are for experiencing this blissful state…
Psalm 128:1&2 (KJV)
Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in His ways.
For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: HAPPY shalt thou be, and
it shall be well with thee.
This verse shows that it is up to us to feed ourselves happiness! However,
it is not exempt from labor… Ladies, if you and I stay in the fear of
the Lord and respect for His ways this year, we will obtain for ourselves
happiness through our own behavior, for God blesses a holy life. Have
you been seeking righteousness or happiness? Are you in the habit of keeping
God’s ways?? Have you been enjoying the presence and favor of the Lord?
Are you willing to keep working at it?
Proverbs 28:14 (KJV)
HAPPY is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall
fall into mischief.
You see, the only alternative you have to not abiding in the fear of the
Lord is to get lazy and harden your own heart. Which do you prefer experiencing
this year - falling into mischief, or the promise that it shall be well
with thee? Who wouldn't want to follow God's instructions for a Happy
New Year with this kind of a guarantee?! A Happy New Year is in our control;
it lies in the godly choices we make!
Psalm144:15 (KJV)
HAPPY is that people, that is in such a case: yea, HAPPY is that people,
whose God is the Lord.
So then, who has been your god, dear lady? You? Or the Lord? Who has been
sitting on the throne of your heart most often? Did you give in to your
flesh all last year long? Or did you crucify it and yield to the Lord
and His will? Is He your Lord only because you honor Him with your lips,
yet all the while your heart is far from Him? You'll know when someone
has placed the Lord at the helm of their hearts by the depth of their
happiness and the peace of their mind...
Psalm 146:5 (KJV)
HAPPY is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in
the Lord his God:
Notice the Bible refers to the Lord God as a help and hope. It's not your
Visa card; it's not your own understanding; it's not your husband; it's
not your mother; it’s not even the medication you might be taking to help
you cope with depression and stress. A miserable man or woman is trusting
in the wrong thing. Ladies, putting the LORD as your sole source of help
and hope can guarantee you happiness this year, or any year for that matter!
Have you made the Lord your only help and hope or have you foolishly placed
it elsewhere? How happy have you been this past year? Do you want that
same portion of happiness this new year? You'll cease to be happy the
very second you forsake the Lord. Run to Him, make the Lord your help
and hope; place yourself under His government and your happiness will
abound! Drugs and alcohol, and even people are limited in the so-called
happiness they can bring you, but it is not so with God...
Proverbs 3:13 (KJV)
HAPPY is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
Proverbs 13:18 (KJV)
She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and HAPPY is every
one that retaineth her.
The Bible says we must consume God's wisdom and understanding for true
happiness. Having received the truth, why then do we forsake our Bible
reading and church attendance?? We are, in essence, turning our backs
on happiness when we aren't faithful to spend time with the Lord. There
is nothing to be compared to it! Not only should we get wisdom and understanding,
we need to retain them both. So often we learn things only to briefly
admire them; then we quickly discard scriptural insight or forget holy
perception altogether. Do you know what keeps it alive? Use! Apply what
you learn and you will forever retain it! Yes, we must seek wisdom and
understanding from the Word of God and also apply it to our lives and
then pass it along to someone else. Why not purpose in your heart to add
more scriptural wisdom and understanding to your life this year? And while
you're at it, share some along the way, for in so doing, you will be planting
seeds of happiness in the lives of others as well as your own. Remember,
only through God's methods, as laid out in God's Word, will happiness
last the whole year long!
Proverbs 16:20 (KJV)
He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in
the Lord, HAPPY is he.
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2001 Pamela A. Iannello
Revised 2004
