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THE PRESENT

20 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by christianpreneur in religion, Spiritual Discipline

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“GOD’S PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT!

Translation:

GOD’S GIFT NOW GIVEN!

God was present, is present, always present.

“THE PRESENT”

(The Moment)

(Here & Now)

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Happy New Year Revealed

04 Wednesday Jan 2012

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In Luke 6:20 Jesus is recorded as speaking to the literal poor and  saying, “Blessed (or happy) are ye poor for yours is the kingdom of God.” On the other hand, it would be very superficial to conclude that poverty is the biblical road to bliss. The facts of life, and the rest of Scripture no more support this than the other fallacy that riches are the key to happiness. Kim Hubbard said, “It’s pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness. Poverty and wealth have both failed.

Most of what Jesus taught about happiness does not deal with the absence or presence of possessions at all, but with what a person is in himself. The blessedness, happiness, and joy of Christ was not in anything he had, but in what he was. If our goal is to be Christlike than a happy new year for us will consist in becoming more like Him.

Happiness on its highest level is not to be found in what comes to us, but in what we come to be. That is what the beatitudes are all about. Jesus knew the importance of being happy, and that is why He begins His greatest sermon with a list of ways to be perfectly happy on earth for those who would follow Him and be citizens of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus wishes to each of His followers, not only a happy new year, but a perpetually happy new life. Jesus expected His disciples to be the happiest people on earth. Sometimes this has been true, and sometimes not.

Tertullian, and early Christian writer, said, “The Christian saint is hilarious.” Jesus said to His own, “My joy be with you.” The fruit of the spirit is joy, and time and time again through history Christians have produced hilarious saints. A member of the Salvation Army band was once asked not to beat the drums so loud. He replied, “Lord bless you sir, since I have been converted I am so happy, I could bust the blooming drums.”

Every person wants to be happy, or if they are already reasonably happy they want to be intensely happy. William James in his classic book Varieties Of Religious Experience writes, “How to gain, how to keep, how to recover happiness is in fact for most men at all times the secret motive of all they do, and of all they are willing to endure.”

Happiness is not only a result of health and peace of mind, it is also a cause of these values. Philip Gibbs in The Hidden City writes, “Unhappiness affects the internal secretions. It has an odd effect on the heart sometimes. It lowers physical resistance. It debilitates the nervous system and weakens willpower. Sometimes it leads to queer obsessions. Louis Evans went so far as to say, “More people are sick because they are unhappy than are unhappy because they are sick.”

Happiness is medicine for the body, mind, and spirit of man, and Jesus the Great Physician prescribes this medicine in its greatest potency. If we are to have a happy new year, we must know what happiness is, and how to obtain it. Our Declaration Of Independence declares that all men have certain inalienable rights such as the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. There is no question about our right to pursue happiness, but there is considerable question about the chances of catching it, and the means by which it can be caught.

Happy is a word that comes from hap, which means chance. Happiness is a matter of luck for many, and when they wish you happy new year, they mean good luck-we hope you get all the breaks, and that no misfortune befalls you. The happy-go-lucky man is one who trusts to luck.

The earnest social worker said to the village reprodate, “Robert, the last time I met you, you made me very happy because you were sober. Today you have made me unhappy because you are intoxicated.” “Yes,” replied Robert with a beaming smile, “Today its my turn to be happy.” Many feel that the essence of happiness is to be intoxicated. It is fools paradise, however, and Paul warns in Eph. 5:15,18, “Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise,….do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” The filling of the Spirit leads to all the values that intoxication offers without any of the dangers and defects.

The joy of the Christians at Pentecost led people to accuse them of being drunk. Jesus was also accused of being a wine bibber because of His happiness in relation to sinners. The loss of power in attracting the world to the church is due in large measure to the loss of happiness. Happiness is essential, not only to the health of the individual, but to the health of the church as a whole. All men are looking for happiness, and only when they see examples of the joy of Christ in human flesh will they be attracted to the happiness He can give in forgiveness of sin, and assurance of eternal life. We want to be happy, therefore, as a means to personal health in our total being, and as a means to be used of God for attracting others to God. In this introductory message on the beatitudes it is our purpose to get a broad view of the subject of happiness before we concentrate on the specifics.

We are not interested in the purely materialistic concept of happiness. Rousseau said, “Happiness is a good bank account, a good cook and a good digestion.” There is some truth in this view, but nothing that is distinctly human let alone Christian. This is the happiness of a dog, a cow, or any animal. We want to look at those philosophies of happiness that rise above the animal level, and which are part of a total Christian view of happiness. These philosophies fall into two basic categories. There are those which find the key to happiness in externals, and those which find it within the mind of man.

Let’s look at the external system first. I. EXTERNAL SYSTEMS. J. M. Goad said, “Now happiness consists in activity; such is the constitution of our nature; it is a running stream, and not a stagnant pool.” Happiness is doing is the essence of this philosophy, and it is to be pursued by work. Tolstoy said, “The happiness of man consists in life, and life is in labor.” Whittier wrote, He who blesses most is blessed; And God and man shall own his worth, Who toils to leave as his bequest And added beauty to the earth.

Many are philosophers and poets who expound the doctrine of happiness through creative work. If you want to have a happy new year, you must labor, build, and create. You cannot leave it to luck. You must work to be happy. We can’t go into the biblical philosophy of work at this point, but nothing is more clear in the Bible than the truth that work is a part of God’s plan for man’s happiness. God is a worker, Jesus was a worker, and He urged His disciples to work for the night was coming. “Sweet is the sleep of the laboring man,” is the Old Testament proverb. Work gives purpose to life, and gives a person an outlet for creative energy. It brings the reward of satisfaction and material blessings.

Canon Liddon, the great English preacher, said, “The happiest days of my life have been those in which I have had the most work to do, with fair health and strength to do it.” Spurgeon, the most famous of Baptist preachers, said, “The happiest state on earth is one in which we have something to do, strength to do it with, and a fair return for what we have done.” Robert Louis Stevenson kept writing even when he was in terrible pain. He did it because it was his secret of happiness. He wrote, “There is no duty we so much under-rate as the duty of being happy.”

Helen Keller who was blind, deaf, and dumb, all of her life did so much good because she felt it was her duty to be happy. She wrote, in her book My Key Of Life, “But since I consider it a duty to myself and to others to be happy, I escape a misery worse than any physical deprivation.” Where did she get her inspiration of such a view of happiness? She wrote, “His joyous optimism is like water to feverish lips, and has for its highest expression the 8 beatitudes.” We see then that on paper and in real lives the finding of happiness in externals is consistent with the happiness Jesus would have us possess. What we do will certainly play a large role in determining our happy new year.

This is not the whole truth, however, so we need to also consider- II. INTERNAL SYSTEMS. Centuries ago Cicero said, “A happy life consists in tranquility of mind.” You can do all kinds of great work, but if you are filled with fear and anxiety all your labor will not make you happy. Jesus recognized the basic need for peace of mind and heart, and this was one of the greatest gifts He offered to men. “Blessed are the pure in heart,” puts the emphasis on the inner nature of happiness. Henrich Ibsen wrote, “Happiness is above all things, the calm, glad certainty of innocence.” Here is peace and purity combined. It is the peace of sin forgiven and eliminated.

No one can dispute the internal nature of happiness. Jesus says the externals can be such as to make you mourn, and you can be in the midst of persecution, and yet it is possible to be happy because happiness is not dependant upon the externals. This means that the handicapped, the old, and the ill can still experience true happiness, even if they cannot work and create. This is what lead Joshua Liebman to write his book Peace Of Mind, which lead to an avalanche of books on the subject both Christian and secular. The danger of the peace of mind and happiness cults is that they make this partial grasp of truth the whole, and expect to find the ultimate in the mind. This is not new, for Seneca the ancient Roman said, “Unblessed is he who thinks himself unblest.” There is basic truth here, for Jesus said, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” You can build a strong case for the totally internal system of happiness.

Epicurus, the ancient philosopher, said, “Whoever does not regard what he has as most ample wealth, is unhappy, though he be master of the world.” Paul would not reject this partial truth of a pagan, for he said, “I have learned to be content in whatever state I am.” Paul found happiness in the power of positive thinking. The truth of happiness by means of peace of mind is universally recognized. We had a Hindu from India for dinner on one Christmas. He was a vegetarian from a community of vegetarians. He said that the motive behind not eating animals was compassion on all life. Some carried this to a greater extreme than others. Some of his people ate supper at 5:30 rather than 7 or 8 like most. They do this for peace of mind. If they ate later they would need to turn on their lamps, and dozens of bugs would come to the light and be killed. So they eat before the sun goes down, and avoid the needless killing. This gives them peace of mind and makes them happy.

We see then that both the external and internal views of happiness are valid in that both do account for much of what we call happiness in human life. Both are recognized by Christians and non-Christians alike. This means that in themselves neither of these systems of happiness are distinctly Christian. The reason we have looked at them briefly is that we might recognize that Christian truth does not eliminate pre-Christian or non-Christian truth, but rather gathers up the fragments and unifies them into a whole.

Jesus magnifies the meaning of happiness, and He goes beyond the systems men have expounded so as to be all inclusive. Jesus introduces something strikingly new into the philosophy of happiness with His beatitudes. They are paradoxes in that they include among the happy those that the systems of men exclude. Jesus is saying, even those who are not happy according to the philosophies of men can be happy. Even the unhappy can be happy. That is the paradox of His teaching on happiness. His is the only truly universal philosophy of happiness, for no person needs to be excluded. The happiness He can give is not only universal, but it is unique in that He adds to the external and internal the third dimension of the eternal. The happiness of Christ is lasting, whereas the best that men can offer is temporal.

What happens to the happiness in work philosophy when the boss says you are getting a raise because they want your last week to be a happy one? What happens to the happiness in the peace of mind philosophy when tragedy strikes? In a moment all the happiness men can gain by their philosophies can be shattered. Goethe said, “The highest happiness, the purest joys of life, wear out at last.” Because this is so we need to move into a new and lasting dimension of happiness in which we grasp and comprehend the teachings of Jesus in the beatitudes.  

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Happiness Through Jesus

19 Saturday Nov 2011

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WHAT IS HAPPINESS?

Epictetus, the ancient philosopher said, “If a man is unhappy,

this must be his own fault, for God made all men to be happy.

” A Christian writer, St. Bernard, said something similar.

“Nothing can work me damage except myself; the harm that

I sustain I carry about with me, and never am a real sufferer

but by my own fault.” These two men represent the internal

philosophy of happiness. External mean nothing, and need

have no effect upon the happiness of a person, is their view.

External evil is recognized as a reality, but one does not need

to let it penetrate his inner being. Epictetus, for example, said,

“I must die, but must I die sorrowing? I must be put in chains.

Must I then also lament? I must go into exile. Can I be

prevented from going with cheerfulness and contentment?

But I will put you in prison. Man, what are you saying? You

may put my body in prison, but my mind not even Zeus himself

can overpower.” Here is a rare example of how even a pagan

slave can, by the power of positive thinking, demonstrate the

human capacity for internal happiness without the externals

usually associated with happiness.

The facts of life and history show that this is possible, but it is

also highly improbable that more than a few rare individuals

can completely ignore the externals of life. The vast majority

of people depend upon externals almost exclusively. They

grasp at things as the only source of satisfaction. People

really believe that more money can bring happiness in spite of

the fact that the suicide rate is higher among the haves than

among the have nots. Abdalrahman the Khalif had thousands

of wives, and millions upon millions of wealth, but this is what

he wrote near the end of his life: “I have now reigned above

50 years in victory or peace. I have been beloved of my

subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies.

Riches and honor, power and pleasure have waited on my call,

nor does any earthly blessing appear to have been wanting to

my felicity. In this situation I have diligently numbered the

days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my

lot: They amount to fourteen.”

No amount of externals can guarantee happiness, yet man’s

natural tendency is to search for happiness in that direction.

Menhave a hard time believing that there is any hope of

happiness apart from externals. Aristotle represented the

Greek view when he said that the blessed life was impossible

to the diseased, the poor, and the slave. Samuel Johnson

had a close friend who said that his sister-in-law was really a

happy woman. This made Johnson mad, and he replied like the

brute he could be, “If your sister-in-law is really the contented

being she professes herself, sir, her life gives the lie to every

research to humanity; for she is happy, without health,

without beauty, without money, and without understanding.

” He went away growling, “I tell you the woman is ugly, and

sickly, and foolish and poor, and would it not make a man

hang himself to hear such a creature say she was happy?”

The very idea of being happy without the values so treasured

by his materialistic heart made him angry. It does not seem

fair to the secularist who has struggled for all the externals of

wealth, power, and fame to see people who are happy

who have not made the struggle.

Paul would have made him angry by his words in Phil. 4:11-12.

Paul said, “…For I have learned to be content whatever the

circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know

what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being

content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry,

whether living in plenty or in want.” Paul’s happiness was not

dependent upon what happened, or what he had. This means

that Paul’s happiness was internal. Paul did not have control

over the externals of his life, but like everybody else does, he

had control over how he would react to life internally.

If it is only going to be a happy new year for us if we get more

stuff, and all goes well, then we are living on a different level

than Paul was on. This does not mean we should not get

more stuff, and that we should not strive to make all go well.

Paul advised Christians to live peaceably with all men, and to

prevent all the negatives of life that they can. But if this is

your only level of happiness you are too controlled by the

externals, and changes can quickly rob you of your joy in

Christ. We need to see the externals as fringe benefits, and

not the base salary of the Christian life. The foundation is to

be internal and attitudinal rather than external and material.

Jesus and Paul agree here completely. Happiness does not

depend on what happens, but on how you face all that

happens. Jesus is saying in the beatitudes that you can be

happy even if you are experiencing many negative externals.

At this point we need to take a detour off the main road to

deal with the problem that Christians have with reconciling

being happy and miserable at the same time. One of the major  

problems the Christian has in the pursuit of happiness is the

sense of failure that comes due to times of depression and

other unhappy feelings. Many feel guilty for not being happy in

the Lord. Their unhappiness is magnified by their guilt. They

say, “I know I should be happy, but I just can’t seem to feel

the joy of the Lord.” The first thing we need to do is clarify the

Christians right to be miserable on a variety of levels.

Jesus wept because of people’s rejection of God’s grace. This

makes it clear that the Christian has every right to be unhappy

over lost people. If a Christian feels guilty about being sad

over this lost world, he is feeling guilty for being Christlike, for

Jesus wept over this same thing.

Jesus also wept over the sorrow of death and the lose of a

loved one. He was very unhappy also with the hypocrisy of the  

Pharisees, and the injustice of man to man. He felt rotten

about the way the  temple was being used to rip off the poor,

and how widows were being taken advantage of, and their

houses being taken from them. Add up all the unhappy

feelings of Jesus over the fallen nature of man, and you have

a host of legitimate reasons to be unhappy as a Christian. In

fact, it is unchristian if you are never sad and unhappy about

a fallen and lost world.

There are legitimate reasons to be unhappy, and it is folly to

feel guilty for them. We could list all of Paul’s negative

emotions as well, but it is not necessary, for if our Lord had

good reason to be unhappy with much of life, who can be so  

presumptuous to expect to live on a higher emotional level

then Him? Anyone who expects to be feeling happy all the time

is trying to live in a world that does not yet exist.

The only way to get there in the present is by insanity and the

loss of touch with reality. Some unhappiness is just part of the

price we pay for living in a fallen world. We have to get it out

of our head that Christian happiness means freedom from all

care. It that is the case, the average cow is happier than the

average Christian. It was because Paul cared so much for the  

churches that he went through so many negative emotions of

frustration and anxiety.

What we are dealing with here is a paradox. It is the reality of

being able to be miserable and happy at the same time. Paul

was often miserable over the problems in the church, and yet

he had an inner sense of well being that made him happy. This

means that Christian happiness is not always and emotion.

One might be dominated by the weeping with those who

weep, and so they would feel sad at that point. This does not

rob them of contentment. Paul did not have the same emotion

when he was feasting with his friends as he had when he was

in the dungeon starving and alone. Paul is not saying that one

is just the same as the other. He would have to be a pet rock

to be in such a state.

Paul had all kinds of emotions, just as Jesus did, but his point is

that he had an attitude of contentment within regardless of his

emotions. When he said that Demas had forsaken him he was

feeling bad about it. He was not indifferent to circumstances

and saying its all fine with him regardless of what was

happening. But even when he felt bad about circumstances,

he still had his contentment in Christ which circumstances

could not change. This calls for great discipline to be truly

happy on this level. We get a glimpse into the depth of what it

means to be Christlike by looking at this inner contentment of

Paul. Look at the reasons for why we are so often discontented

in life.

1. Selfishness. We want things to be our way and good for us.

When they are not we are discontent. We will all have some  

unhappiness because we always want to get our own way.

2. Envy. This makes us discontent because we see the

possessions and gifts of others almost as if they were stolen

from us, and we resent it, and so feel unhappy.

3. Covetousness. We have a strong desire for more than we

now have, and this robs us of the enjoyment of what we do

have. No matter how much we get it is never enough, for there

is so much more to covet. There is always an emptiness that

can never be fully filled because we covet more.

Paul was happy because he did not have to wrestle with these

vices. He had conquered them, and so he was content with his

life. A happy life does depend on our conquering all the

temptations of life that fill us with discontent. This means that

it is hard work to be happy, for you have to die to self and all

that the world appeals to in us.

It is important for us to be aware that almost everything that

people do is because they believe it will lead to happiness. The

Prodigal Son did not take his money and go off to live in the

pleasure of sin with any other motive than the desire to be

happy. Men just do not pursue evil for evil’s sake. Few if any

could care less about pleasing Satan. All they want is

happiness for themselves. Men chose the path that leads to

misery only because they are convinced it leads to happiness.

Sin would have nothing to offer man if it did not hold out the  

deceptive offer of happiness.

Satan competes for the souls of men by offering and imitation

of everything God offers for man’s true happiness. From the

start this was the case. The first temptation was an offer of

greater happiness by eating the forbidden fruit. Satan is

constantly trying to under sell God, and he offers to men what

he claims is greater happiness at less cost. What the sinner

fails to think of is that it is God who does the ultimate billing,

and the cost of Satan’s happiness is eternal unhappiness. No

one who really knew the whole story could purchase

temporary happiness at such a cost, but Satan is the master  

deceiver.

It is the purpose of the Christian to distinguish between the

false happiness of Satan, and the true happiness of God, and then

demonstrate its superiority in life to enlighten men. This is part

of what being the light of the world means.

A college girl told me that non-Christian kids on campus think

that the Christians are dull and boring. A cab driver said he

didn’t like church conventions coming to town because

Christians come with the Ten Commandments and a ten dollar

bill, and they don’t break either of them. His concept of

happiness was the pleasure of sin and the spending of money.

The Christian cannot please men on that level, but Christians

ought to make it clear that it is a joy to be a Christian. The

world should be impressed with Christian happiness.

When the non-Christian says we are all seeking the same

thing, we should agree, but be able to show him that the

happiness the Christian finds in Christ is of a much better

quality. The problem in doing this is simply that Christians have

not given enough thought to what happiness really is, and so

they are on the same level with the world in their search for it

in many different directions. Man is a complex being, and every

desire, and every different kind of disposition leads to a

different theory of happiness.

The ancient writer Cicero said that in his day there were 20

rival opinions concerning the source of true happiness. Varro

was able to enumerate 280 such opinions. There are probably

more opinions on the way to happiness than on any other

subject, and the problem is that there is some truth to every

one of them. Happiness has a thousand faces to match the

diversity of personalities, gifts, and natures. The poetess

Priscilla Leonard wrote, Happiness is like a crystal, Fair and

 

exquisite and clear, Broken in a million pieces, Shattered,

scattered far and near, Now and then along life’s pathway, Lo!

Some shining fragments fall; But there are so many pieces, No

one ever finds them all.

You may find a bit of beauty, Or an honest share of wealth,

While another just beside you, Gathers honor, love or health.

Vain to choose or grasp unduly, Broken is the perfect ball;

And there are so many pieces, No one ever finds them all.

Yet the wise as on they journey Treasure every fragment clear,

Fit them as they may together, Imaging the shattered sphere.

Learning ever to be thankful, Though their share of it is small;

For it has so many pieces, No one ever finds them all.

There is no doubt that she has in this poem expounded a basic

truth which the Scriptures support. Being a Christian, and

receiving God’s best, which is salvation through Jesus Christ

does not supply one with every kind of happiness. The Bible

makes it clear that there are different gifts, and different

degrees of talent among Christians.

There is probably no Christian who has ever had everything

that can be had to increase their usefulness and happiness.

If we could be happier with a gain of anything either internal

or external, we are not yet in possession of perfect happiness.  

Complete happiness is impossible, therefore, in this life. That

is what heaven is all about.  Even Jesus knew sorrow, pain,

and grief in His human life, and, therefore, the Christian goal

for this life is never absolute happiness at any price.

The Christian must recognize the limits of the happiness that

can rightly be theirs in God’s will. Sometimes God’s will requires

us to be unhappy, and this then brings us back to where we

begin, and that is that Christian happiness is basically internal,

and it is in the character of the Christian. Someone said,

“Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of

traveling.” The blessedness Jesus speaks of in the beatitudes

is an internal attitude which completely contradicts the

expected response to the external facts. The directiono f

Christian happiness is within rather than external, but because

many pagans have also found this to be the best source of

happiness, the Christian view cannot be that only.

Therefore, Pascal says, “Happiness is neither without nor

within us, it is in God, both without us and within us.”

This sounds like a circular argument that says it is neither, and

also both. It does say this, but so as to lift the subject of

happiness out of the realm where man is the center to where

God is the center. This is where the Christian view of

happiness becomes distinct. In the pagan view even their

gods are means to human happiness. In the Christian view

happiness for man is not an end in itself, but is a means to the

glory of God. In Christian theology man’s chief end is to glorify

God and enjoy Him forever. Glorifying and enjoying God is

the highest happiness man can attain. Man’s happiness,

therefore, is only uniquely Christian and Christlike when God

receives the glory.

There is never any doubt when you examine the life of Christ

as to who is the center of His life. In His prayer He taught us

to say, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name,

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.” God was the center of

His life, the source of His power, and the end of all His acts.

We very subtly are lead into a sub-Christian view of life when

we make God a means to fulfilling our own ends. The very

study of, and longing for, happiness can lead us in this

direction, and, therefore, we must ever keep in mind that the

essence of Christian happiness is in making God and His glory

the end of all we are and all we do.

Ernest M. Ligon in The Psychology of Christian Personality says

that many studies have led to the conclusion that integration of

personality is a basic key to good health in all its aspects, and

thus, to the happy life. What is integration? He writes, “Briefly,

integration is the condition of a personality in which all of the

emotional attitudes are harmonious and mutually helpful, thus

permitting all of one’s natural energy to be directed toward

end.” This is Paul’s, “This one thing I do.” It is the life with one 

supreme aim and center. Ligon says, “If an individual can

organize his emotional attitudes in such harmony with one

another, that he can direct all of his urges and appetites

about one central purpose, which is always the focus of his

interest and of his attention, we find the peak of efficiency,

and the perfect integration.” When God is that central purpose

we have arrived at the highest happiness life can offer on this

earth.

I read of a big cat who saw a little cat chasing his tail and he

asked why? “Because I am seeking happiness, and when I

catch my tail I will be happy.” The big cat said, “I too have

studied happiness and found it to be in my tail. But I have

observed that when I chase it it keeps running away, but

when I go about my business, it just seems to come after me  

wherever I go.” The point being, the chasing after happiness

can be futile, but just being faithful to your daily duties can

be fruitful in fulfilling your need for happiness. It is not all out

there somewhere, but it is internal, and comes with the

satisfaction of a meaningful life. Paul was not out chasing

happiness. Paul was doing the best he could to fulfill the

calling of God, and the result was contentment in any state.

He did not always feel delighted, or happy in the sense that

he never wept, felt angry or frustrated, or even depressed.

But he was happy that he was in the right place doing what

God wanted him to do.

Happiness for Paul was in knowing he was a tool available to

God to minister to human need. It was both internal as a

sense of peace and contentment, and external because of the

evidence that he was being used. People were changed,

churches were founded, and the kingdom was expanding. The

externals for Paul were fringe benefits, however, and his basic

happiness was the internal contentment of being in Christ,

and being used of Christ. Someone said, “Happiness is life a

butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it eludes you. But

if you turn your attention to others things, it will come and

softly sit on your shoulder.”

Happiness comes from within.

Our attitudes are the key.

No matter what circumstance,

Some good we can always see.

Try positive attitudes.

They’re so easy to create.

In joy and contentment,

Will be your happy fate.

If you do good to others,

You have made a sure-fire start.

It is almost guaranteed,

To put a smile within your heart.

Catherine Marshall has known the deep sorrows of grief, and

the great unhappiness of life going wrong in so many ways,

but she has known also the joy of success in Christian service.

She writes, “I have observed that when any of us embark on

the pursuit of happiness for ourselves, it eludes us. Often I’ve

asked myself, why? It must be because happiness comes to

us only as a dividend, as a gift given us by God. When we

become absorbed in something demanding and worthwhile

above and beyond ourselves, happiness suddenly becomes

ours as a by-product of the self-giving. That should not be a

startling truth, yet I’m surprised at how few people

understand and accept it. Have too many of us made a god of

happiness? Have we been brainwashed by the magazine and

television ads, featuring happiness?”

She sees most Americans interpreting their right to the pursuit

of happiness to mean the right to grab all the power, money,

and pleasure they can get. This leads to some very non-

Christian methods of being happy. Rights need to be dealt

with right, or they become wrongs. Both Jesus and Paul make

it clear that it is more than a right to be happy, it is a duty. It

is part of our commitment to Christ to overcome all that would

make us unhappy. Jeremy Taylor said, “God threatens terrible

things if we will not be happy.” Robert Louis Stevenson said,

“There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being

happy.” If we listen to Jesus and Paul, and follow their

example we will find happiness and contentment by knowing

God aour heavenly Father, and by being committed to that

which we know is His will for our lives.

http:www.christianpreneur.membersnap.com

Christianpreneur Unleashed

13 Sunday Nov 2011

Posted by christianpreneur in Uncategorized

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affiliate, bible, blog, book, books, christ, christian, christianity, christianpreneur, church, college, ebook, ebooks, evangelize, faith, free, funding, god, internship, jesus, marketer, marketing, members, membership, minister, ministry, miracle, mlm, network, networking, prayer, published, religon, religous, spiritual, spirituality, writers

 

CHRISTIANPRENEUR

BY: Richard D. Brahm

 

Jesus cursed the fig tree because it had no fruit. It was a symbol of

Israel. Israel was cut off because she was barren and unfruitful, and a

new branch was grafted in, which was the Gentiles. God just will not

tolerate perpetual unfruitfulness. Jesus tells us clearly why Israel was

replaced by the church to represent the kingdom of God on earth. In

 

Matt. 21:43 he said to the Jewish leaders,

“The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruit of it.” Even the kingdom of God is of no value if it produces no fruit. Every gift of God and every virtue is of no value if they do not produce fruit.

 

In the light of all this, which does not begin to cover all the stress of

Scripture on fruit, we can see why Peter makes the goal of all these

virtues the escaping of an unfruitful life. This is the worst possible fate

for a Christian to be a dead an barren branch. The world desperately

needs a army of Johnny Gosepseeds planting the trees of life in the

wilderness of the world.

 

Everyone dreams of owning a super moneymaking business where

other people do all the work, and their only duties involve the

approval of sales and bank deposit slips. It’s the only way to go as

a business owner. The problem is however, not too many people

seem to know how to “put together” such a business. What you’re

really talking about is an operation where you supply the product

and other people do the selling-A prime source with a dealer or

distributor network. Assuming that you have the product, you’ll also

need a sales kit and plenty of impressive, eye-catching promotional

materials. If you don’t supply or offer to supply materials with which

your sales force can sell the product, you’ll have a hard time enlisting

people to sell for you, and you probably won’t set any sales records

relative to your product either. Let’s assume that you’ve just written

the Ebook-

CHRISTIANPRENEUR

 

Okay, in order to sell this book, you’ve got to get the word out to the

people that you have such a book available. Advertising on your own

is going to cost you money, and unless you’ve got a good

understanding of the advertising business, you may never reach your

full sales potential besides, the time and effort expended in finding the

“right” place to advertise, the placing of your ads, monitoring your

returns, and the frustrations of dealing with the curiosity seekers, will

quickly wear you out. Such is not the way you envisioned your life

when you got the idea to write the book, get rich and enjoy a life

of leisure.

 

How Can Online Blogging Be Profitable to Ordinary Christians?

Ranking of any website depends on a few factors. It would basically depend on the relevance of the article according to the key words used; the number of times that page has been linked and viewed, etc.

These are quite easy to follow, and if these factors are carefully noted and looked into, the rankings of your website can increase considerably. The first step is to get your website linked through various other pages. The more the pages are that contain your links, the better ranking they will receive. The second aspect to be kept in mind is how often you update the content on your website. Frequently edited and updated sites receive higher ranking in search engines than those that have not been looked at by the owners for ages. Always editing the content of your website as a whole may not be an option.

 

In this case what you can do is add a Blog to your website. A Blog will function as nothing but a forum for people to come and discuss the themes that concern your website too. It will create a platform, as well as become a journal whereby you can also post updates about your operations and your website. The advantage is that the content on such Blogs will not be restricted only to text, but pictures and videos can be posted too.

 

The few easy steps as described below will take you through how to create your own blog and what are the things you must look out for:

 

• Cost can never be a problem because free blogging services are quite popular all over the world. If you choose sites like Blogger or LiveJournal, you are sure to get exactly the kind of platform you are looking for. They are absolutely free.

 

• If you are not very comfortable with web designing techniques, you need not worry. Creating your blog is not as complicated as designing template for a website. These blogging services provide a wide range of templates from which you can choose the one most suited to your tastes.

 

• You must also use your discretion while blogging. Especially if you are incorporating your blog within your website, or creating a blog to increase awareness of your product, you need to keep in mind that this is an open forum which is read by all. You do not want to say anything that may end up angering your clients. Politics and religion are the two most controversial themes, and therefore anything about those must be carefully blogged about.

 

• Anything that is particularly reader friendly and does not anger too many people is considered ‘safe’. If your aim is indeed to increase the ranking of your site, you will have to make sure many people read it. You can do this by making your content user friendly.

 

• Also keep an eye on what other people write or say on their blogs. This can give you a general idea of what kind of responses those articles receive, and you can get valuable tips from them. Blogging has come to be considered a highly effective marketing tool. You can easily create awareness of your product and get clients and customers to interact with each other. And not only customers, also those who are relatively new to your product get a platform to ask questions and clear their air about your product. Moreover, it also increases your website rankings can increase because the blog is constantly being updates, commented on, and discussions are always going on.

Because of its sheer activity, the rankings improve, creating more awareness of the product.

 

 

Join in Spreading Gods Glory throughout the World:

GET YOUR FREE COPY OF

CHRISTIANPRENEUR TODAY!!!

http://www.christianpreneur.membersnap.com

 

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08 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by christianpreneur in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

affiliate, bible, blog, book, books, boook, christ, christian, christianity, christianpreneur, church, college, ebook, ebooks, evangelist, evangelize, faith, free, funding, god, godly, hosting, internship, jesus, learning, marketer, marketing, members, membership, minister, ministry, miracle, mlm, network, networking, new testiment, prayer, published, religon, religous, share, spiritual, spirituality, tools, website, witness, witnessing, writers

 

Join in Spreading Gods Glory throughout the World:

 

Christianpreneur is all about putting one’s fate into his own hands.

 

The right attitude is the key to being able to steer one’s ship into

 

that part of the ocean where a certain kind of serenity can be found,

 

one that permeates the atmosphere as the ship sails calmly on.

 

The question is; can someone build a successful business if they

 

are starting with nothing? I believe the answer is yes, but you

 

(listen carefully if you are one of them) need to accept some basic

 

truths…

GET YOUR BRANDED AFFILIATE COPY AT:

http://www.christianpreneur.membersnap.com

 

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