"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind...and thy neighbour as thyself". (Matt. 22:37-40)          -JESUS CHRIST

EVERYONE IS SEARCHING FOR HAPPINESS - WHAT IS HAPPINESS & REAL JOY

Everyone is searching for true happiness. There isn't an individual who doesn't want peace, joy, to be happy and have real  fulfillment!  Unfortunately, very few find true happiness. Not because happiness, joy and peace are not available, but because they are not looking in the right place!

Many are like a blind man, grasping in the darkness or someone searching for a needle in the haystack.

SEARCHING FOR HAPPINESS, PEACE & JOY IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES

Everything seems so impossible! Nothing works out. Happiness, peace and joy eludes them like a mirage on the desert or a phantom rider who disappears as he turns the bend in the road!

THE DIVORCE COURTS SHOW THAT LOVE & MARRIAGES OFTEN DON'T LEAVE A PERSON WITH JOY, PEACE & HAPPINESS

Judging from the great numbers who fill our divorce courts, love and marriage is often a bummer!

Many, who on happier days laughed and loved, are now disappointed, bitter and angry. They want out, to call it “quits”. The home has turned into a battlefield. The tenderness and caring is gone, along with any desire for romance.  All feelings of peace, joy and happiness are gone.

HOW TO FIND REAL JOY, REAL PEACE AND TRUE LIFE LONG HAPPINESS

For them, love and marriage has not been the answer to the quest for true happiness.  They are still searching for that one thing that will bring them complete peace, complete joy and complete happiness.

A large number will try again in a common-law (shack up) arrangement or a second marriage - hoping, hoping, hoping that this one will pan out better and they will finally be happy.

KING ALCOHOL IS A TYRANT AND BRINGS TEMPORARY HAPPINESS

In many instances, alcohol seems like a comfort and friend to the lonely divorcee, the aging socialite or social butterfly. Alcohol can also become a friend to the businessman about to declare bankruptcy.

And what of the person who has lost an expected promotion, the desire to compete or who has reached the top of the ladder with no place to go?  Where does this person turn to for peace, for happiness...In a bottle of alcohol?

Life has become boring, humdrum and a waste to a lot of people; for many and varied reasons. For some, the future looks bleak with high rents or mortgage payments, having to live on unemployment insurance or welfare checks.

DEPRESSION, FEAR, SICKNESS & PAIN AND EVEN THOUGHTS OF SUICIDE 

Others are dogged by depression, fear, sickness, pain and even thoughts of dying or suicide!

PEOPLE TRY TO FILL THE VOIDS AND UNHAPPINESS IN THEIR LIFE WITH DRUGS & ALCOHOL OR EVEN SUICIDE.

And so they try to drown their sorrows with alcohol or drugs. But, drugs, alcohol and suicide is no cure-all. Rather, these only further enslave and in the end, destroy totally!

Alcohol and mind altering drugs are cruel despots and tyrants which refuse to stop, until all hope and life is gone!

TRUE HAPPINESS IS NOT FOUND IN FAME & FORTUNE!

If you fame and fortune can bring you true happiness and joy, then ask the unhappy movie star who visits her psychiatrist regularly. If you think the richer you are the happier you are, then why do so many rich people turn to drugs and alcohol to find peace, joy and happiness.  Money, fame and fortune only bring temporary happiness, temporary peace and very little joy.

READ STORIES OF MILLIONAIRES WHO HAVE OVERDOSED ON DRUGS OR LEAPED FROM BUILDINGS TO THEIR DEATHS

Read the sad stories of millionaires and business tycoons who have become so miserable that they have blown their brains out, taken an overdose or leaped from the penthouse of their luxury apartments!

Success is sweet, but it doesn't last long enough. And if it does, very often there is no satisfaction! And the rat race seems to be never-ending.

Being successful doesn't come with a guarantee. Success does not guarantee you will be fulfilled in your heart.  Success and fame doesn't mean you will truly be happy, full of peace and contentment.  Nothing in this life is 100% permanent or secure!  Exceeding the quota this year, means it will be tougher next year!

This year's champion is often last year's champion next year, and "president today" could mean "former president" after the board meeting or election. And "success today" often is only a memory in a few years, together with some mementos on the dresser and news stories in a scrapbook!

Father Time marches on and always takes its toll, without favoritism. The young executive who worked so hard to make it to the top, suddenly finds himself nearing 65 with the prospects of a farewell dinner, a couple of speeches and the "traditional gold watch".  And then out to pasture.

TIME WAITS FOR NO MAN - RICH OR POOR, BLACK OR WHITE - EVERY PERSON WILL EVENTUALLY GET OLD AND EVENTUALLY DIE

Time waits for no man...and it has a way of catching up to all of us! And the years do a job on the most healthy, robust and virile. As time passes, hair turns gray, wrinkles appear, muscles lose their tone and the strength of youth dissipates.

THROUGH SICKNESS, DISEASE, ACCIDENTS OR JUST PLAIN 'OLD AGE', DEATH COMES TO EVERYONE. THE GRIM REAPER ALWAYS WINS IN THE END!

Money and riches have a way of slipping out of our hands too, and even if we can hang on to it, what good is a fortune when you're too sick to enjoy it or too old to spend it?

If we're blessed enough to have good health, there are only so many things to buy, see or do. Vacations and parties become boring too, don't they?

TRUE HAPPINESS JOY AND PEACE  DOES NOT COME FROM MARIJUANA OR ALCOHOL, DRUGS OR MONEY

No, my friend. True happiness does not come from a marijuana joint, a bottle of beer, a cocktail glass, great wealth and affluence or the applause of our fellowmen!

Nearly 2,000 years ago, St. Paul wrote, "But godliness with contentment is great gain". (1 Timothy. 6:6) Again he declared, "Not that I speak in respect of want. For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content". (Phil. 4:11)

THE JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH, MY PEACE I GIVE UNTO YOU

The Bible says, "The joy of the Lord is our strength". (Neh. 8:10) Jesus said, "My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled". (John 14:27) And St. Paul declared, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, by of love and power and a sound mind." (1 Tim. 1:7)

THE WAY TO TRUE HAPPINESS IS GOD'S WAY, YOU CAN ONLY FIND TRUE PEACE, COMPLETE HAPPINESS & JOY THROUGH JESUS CHRIST

The only way to true happiness is going God's way, walking the Gospel road! And the two prerequisites that Jesus Christ spelled out are:

Love God  -  Love your fellowmen

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me". St. Peter stated, "There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved". (John 14:6)

And St. Paul said, "There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave Himself a ransom for all". (1 Tim. 2:5-6)

The only way we can love our fellowman, is to be filled with the Holy Spirit, for the "love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost". (Rom. 5:5)

Then we will really have something to live for, and share with our children and grandchildren!

GOD'S BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS!

Jesus stated that upon these two commandments "hang all the Law and the Prophets". (Matt. 22:40)

Love for God translates into the desire and capacity of loving one's neighbour!

THE BIBLE GIVES US THE BLUEPRINT FOR REVIVAL IN THE CHURCH, GOOD COMMUNITY RELATIONS, PEACE ON EARTH AND PROSPERITY AMONG MEN!

If everyone really loved God with all our being, we would keep His commandments.  We would automatically praise the Lord, preach His Word and love our fellowman!

Then, spontaneous revival would break out in our churches and sinners would flock into God's house to receive His blessing! They would "see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven". (Matthew  5:16)

If we all loved our neighbours as ourselves we would be kind, loving, merciful, gracious and forgiving.  We would bring happiness to others which in turn would give us happiness.

We would not judge one another or be proud, envious, jealous, resentful or biased.  Not only would we all be truthful and godly in our living but also caring, compassionate and helpful.  All these things bring peace and joy to our souls.

There would be a drastic reduction in crime, lawlessness and delinquency as parents loved, nurtured and disciplined their children.  

THE OUTCOME - Police departments would be reduced in size and jails near empty. Bingo halls and VLT gambling arcades would close up, bars and taverns would go out of business!

If a genuine revival of righteousness came to our land, the banks would have to lower "the exorbitant usury" they usually charge their customers and be content with decent profits. Price gouging would be eliminated and bankruptcies would be virtually non-existent!

Families would grow together in love and harmony and divorce lawyers would have to find something else to do. Abortion clinics would be turned into ‘Adoption Centers’ and money-hungry, medical doctors 'turned executioners of unborn fetuses' would return to the practice of saving lives!

SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES WOULD AGAIN BECOME CENTERS OF GENUINE LEARNING COMMUNICATING MORAL VALUES, COMMON SENSE AND RESPONSIBILITY WITH ACADEMIC TRAINING!

PEOPLE WOULD NOT BE SEARCHING FOR TRUE HAPPINESS, PEACE & JOY - THEY WOULD ALREADY HAVE PEACE JOY & COMPLETE HAPPINESS

If we all loved God and our fellowman and embraced the teachings of the 'Good Shepherd' there would be a turning away from the deceptions of an atheist science which promotes the fatally flawed evolutional theory, dangerous occultist practices of the New Age Movement and secular humanism!

Anyone following the "Golden Rule" - do unto others as you would have them do unto you - would not rape, murder, steal, commit adultery, live a homosexual  lifestyle or lie!

Automatically, 'born again' Christians seek the "high road of life" after an encounter with 'Jesus of Nazareth' making us concerned about the needs of others - spiritual, economical and physical - because of a changed life & a transforming spiritual experience!

The blessed Holy Spirit tenderizes our hearts with compassion for the needy, sick, suffering and unfortunate!

Loving God and our neighbours also has a therapeutic effect for those who follow Christ's teachings. By helping others, we get our minds off ourselves, thereby releasing any neurotic tendencies which may have developed in our lives!

By pampering ourselves too much, we spoil ourselves and lose touch with the real issues of life! General William Booth - founder of the Salvation Army - used the word 'OTHERS' as his slogan!

By God's grace and sheer faith, let's resolve to do the same and by doing these things, you will finally find the road to true peace, true happiness and true joy.