Happiness Is....

• Happiness Is…
• What is Happiness ?
• A Universal Quest
• “The struggle of mankind for happiness has been a constant and engrossing one for centuries, probably since the advent of man on this earthly planet. Yet as we look about in this year of advanced civilization, we see
• Ways People Seek Happiness
• In Recreation, travel
• Ways People Seek Happiness
• In unrestrained living, drinking, drugs,
• What is Happiness?
What people think…
• Health, fitness – “If I had good health, I’d be happy!”
• What is Happiness?
What people think…
• Money, prosperity – “If I only had a lot of money, I’d be very happy!”
• What is Happiness?
What people think…
• Love – “If I fall in love, then I’ll definitely have happiness!”
• Some think it depends on being some place…
• If I were back where I grew up, I’d be happy!
• How does a happy person act?
• It doesn’t mean you get up each morning, throw your hands up and yell – feel like jumping
• “A better word is “well-adjusted.” This does not suggest that to be considered a happy person you must have an eternal song in your heart, or a grin on your face. It means that you do have worries, fears, anxieties, problems, difficulties — but that you know how to face them with courage, bear them with patience, and deal with them intelligently.”
• Happiness
• “The quality or state of being happy ... characterized by or attended by good fortune, also, having a feeling of great pleasure or pleasurable content.”

• True Happiness is found in a right relationship with God
• True Happiness is found in a right relationship with God
• Psalms 144:15 Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!
• Romans 3:20-24 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
• Happiness Involves… Wisdom
• Proverbs 3:13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding;

• Happiness Involves… Joy
• Nehemiah 8:10 Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

• Happiness Involves… Peace
• Philippians 4:7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

• Happiness Involves… Contentment
• Philippians 4:10-13 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity.11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me
• Happiness Involves… Contentment
• “Peace of mind never implies an absence of troubles, problems or worries ... it simply means that you know how to handle the troubles, problems and difficulties ... but the one thing that distinguishes him from the troubled soul ... is that he knows how to handle them! (Stop the World, I Want to Get Off! by Dr. Murray Banks, p. 11)
• Happiness Involves… Correction
• Job 5:17 "Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.

• Happiness Involves… A Mental Image of Happiness
• “There is a law in psychology that says ... if you will form a picture in your mind of what you would like to be ... and if you will keep that picture there long enough, you will soon become exactly as you have been thinking (ibid. p. 36).
• Our Happiness can be Eternal
• Revelation 14:13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Write:'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'" "Yes," says the Spirit,"that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them."

• “A good reputation; a clear conscience; appreciation of nature; a peaceful heart; the knowledge of having given happiness to others; a trained and well- filled mind; satisfaction from duty well done; faith in the outcome of right; contentment; welladjusted social relationships; these make for true happiness.” (Intro. to How to Live With Yourself by Dr. Murray Banks