The three things all of us search for are inner peace, happiness and joy.

The more knowledge that we acquire, the less common sense we seem to have.  The more financial security we gain,  the more insecure we become. We have the world at our fingertips to enjoy, yet we are less satisfied and content than we were even 50 years ago. We are like a restless sea,  finding a little peace here or a little pleasure there, but we just can’t seem to find anything that is permanent . When I was growing up we watched movies in school that proclaimed the world would be perfect by now. That machinery and computers would solve all of our problems and we would live in perfect peace and harmony. Instead mankind has gotten worse. People will lie, steal, cheat,  kill and go to war for the sake of personal gain.

We all search for a relationship with God. Every single person on this earth is searching  for something to fill the void they have inside of his or her soul. I don’t care if they are staunch atheist. Humans have an inner drive to explain his or her existence.

We all search for a purpose or a reason to belong. Most of us are completely confused about where we fit in the scheme of things. We wonder where we come from, why we are here and where we are going? We want to know the truth about our existence that would guide us and give us meaning. There are people who speculate that the earth and everything on it is an accident, that we just happened and we have no purpose. I ask you, “if that is the case then why does mankind have such a inner drive to promote their existence”, why do we even bother with any of our ambitions and goals?

We all search for peace. It is not merely peace with our neighbor or our family. It is not a peace of  mind which is blind to the conditions of the world or a temporary peace that comes and goes with the wind. Every one of us search for an inner peace that will relieve us from the anxiety and frustrations of the daily conflicts and problems we have to endure. It is a peace of mind, body,  and soul that takes over our entire being, a comfort that guides us through the trials and tribulations of life. Jesus said,

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” – John 15:11 ESV

Are you getting what you want out of life?Are you content with what you have? I seriously doubt it.  The local news is full of stories of people who are not content with their worldly possessions. We all just can’t seem to get enough material wealth here in the good old United States of America. What is so astounding is if you make 10,000 dollars per year you make more money than 85 % of the population of earth. The average person working in this world makes two dollars a day.  People, through evil desire and greed, will do whatever is possible to obtain wealth.

If we were only content with what we have and could love our fellow man regardless of his position in life. If only there were a balance of power and wealth throughout the world where no one went hungry or cold. A world where people shared what they had with others, where the sick were cared for, where everyone had adequate food and clothing.

Our modern lifestyle of self sufficiency and self –  reliance a total failure to mankind. We have created a monster where man will do anything to get ahead. Including destroying ourselves, each other, and the world we live in.  If all seven billion of us on earth ceased our self destructive behavior this second, it still may be to late.

There are more wars, criminals, murders and suicides on this earth today than during any other generation in history. There are more males, ages 18-24, murdered in the United States every year than there than those killed in battle. We are inadequate in our ability to run this world because we are incapable of running our own lives. We are  stricken with an emotional illness – unhappiness. There is nothing we can do to please ourselves.

What if I told you there was a cure for your illness. A remedy that would repair all your past mistakes. All your failures would be wiped away. A clean slate. A new beginning. That cure was brought here to earth 2000 years ago in the person of Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:1-3,14,12,13   Most people are confused why God brought His Son to earth. They look at Christianity as a religion, but it isn’t. It is a relationship. A relationship with God that was made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Prior to His crucifixion we were separated from God by a huge canyon of sin. The cross bridged the canyon so we could come back into a personal fellowship with our Creator.  God wants us to believe in the finished work of the cross. That is really all He asks of us. The rest we do because we love Him.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13 ESV

There is a process we need to follow to find true joy and happiness. It is a process I wish someone would have explained to me a long time ago so I would not have had to go through so much dissatisfaction with myself and my calling in life.  To get God to know you are serious about having a relationship with Him you have to admit you are helpless before you can receive help. You have to become weak so He can make you strong. You have to confess that you are powerless to rule over your life before you can receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Finally you have to admit that you are unworthy of the grace He bestows upon you before you can have your sins forgiven.  You have to make a conscious effort to turn from your sins. A deliberate decision to turn towards God.

Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Acts 3:19 NLT

The changing of direction is our part of the equation, and God will do the converting, forgiving and transforming through the Holy Spirit that resides in our hearts.  If you can say, “ Jesus Christ is Lord”

The Holy Spirit is already there. You just have to learn how to take advantage of all the wonderful things He has in store for you.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

Just like there are labor pains before birth, sorrow  over sin comes before spiritual rebirth. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereasworldly grief produces death. 2 Corinthians 7:10 ESV

The cross is where judgment is passed over for forgiveness so that the world might be reconciled to God.  Where the justice of man in re – invented by the mercy of God. This is where we chose to resist responding to evil with evil, to resist responding to hate and violence. This is the basic requirement for forgiveness. But that alone is not complete in itself. There must be repentance on the part of the offender, forgiveness on the part of the offended, and reconciliation by both parties for God’s justice to be complete. The Lord’s prayer says,

“ Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sinned against us.” If the whole world would accept this wonderful blessing that God bestowed on us through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, how different this earth would be.

Nowhere in the Bible has God promised us that we would not go through trials, tribulation, suffering and pain. Disappointment and heartache affect everyone on earth regardless of their relationship with Christ. Suffering is often the testing ground for our faith. People who are tested through tribulations and overcame generally come out of the ordeal with a stronger relationship with God.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,  for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4 ESV

I believe that every child of God has some type of trial that they must overcome to find  close and lasting fellowship with God. Success and suffering go hand in hand. Dr. Edward Johnson said, “ If you are succeeding without suffering, it is because others before you have suffered; if you are suffering without succeeding, it is that others after you may succeed.”

Too many people hear the Word of God and think it is too good to be true, so they go their on way, chasing after a material life which leads us all astray.  We ignore God’s secret for happiness. We lavish ourselves with material possessions while all along we remain spiritual paupers, engulfed in a misery of our own making. They fail to realize that spiritual happiness is found from within themselves, and is far more important than what happens to us in the physical world. We do not build any spiritual defenses so it is easy for us to fall prey to Satan. When life turns against us we become resentful, depressed and delusional.  The tremendous price that God paid for our happiness through the crucifixion of His Son is enough to convince me of His love for us.

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.  John 10:10 ESV

When we are separated from God we live according to our own desires and wishes. We let out instincts rule our lives. We let our bodies rule our mind just like an animal does. But when we come to Christ, we have a whole new set of goals. We want to live for Him and do His will. We submit our will to God and that is not a natural human reaction. It is more like us to be proud and indignant. This is where the Holy Spirit and the new birth comes in effect.  If you are born once you will die twice. One will be the physical death of your body. The second death will be of your mind and spirit. If you are born twice, you die once. The second birth is your spiritual birth that reconciles you to God. So even if your body dies at your physical birth your spirit and mind live on for eternity.  I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. Romans 6:19

Instead of giving yourself over to the sinful nature of a fallen heart, abusing your mind and body with sinful desires of the flesh, humbly give yourself over to the will of God. Then your life will change and start to count for something. You won’t be bored anymore and you will start to pay dividends or product fruit. You will have a feeling of belonging and your life will become full of hope and compassion towards others. You will begin to inherit the blessings God had in store for you all along.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 NLT

Unhappiness is caused by sin in our life. All was perfect in the Garden of Eden until sin came into their lives. When sin comes in, happiness goes out. The two cannot coincide with each other.

“ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” – Mathew 5:6

A holy God can’t have a relationship with someone who has sin in his life.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

We live in a society where everything we do has to be “in”.  The problem with hanging out with the “in” crowd is they have removed the S out of Sin. There are a lot of people who believe in God, but they are too busy in their daily lives to be concerned with Bible study and prayer. The are neglecting their souls. They are hardening their heart to the word of God.  Just like someone who does not eat, when you don’t read your Bible and speak with God in prayer you are starving your soul to death.

Many people will argue with me that they believe in God, and they believe in the Bible but that is not enough. We have to receive Him into our heart. Gods nature enters into our souls, and we become a son or daughter of God. This is absolutely the first step toward happiness.

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.   For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Romans 10:9-10 ESV.

If you will hear His call and obey His word, you can be born again this very moment. He will save you now and make you a member of His family.  Through prayer you can invite Jesus into your life. Start by saying

“Dear Heavenly Father,  I admit that I am a sinner. I believe Your Son Jesus Christ died for my sins and was risen from the grave so that I can have fellowship with You.  Please come into my life and lead me in Your ways.  In Jesus Christ name I pray,  Amen.”

For us to escape sin. For us to escape the control it has over our life we have to surrender that sin, or our life to Christ. It is a unnatural act, because the natural person on this earth is possessed by sin. So we have to give over ourselves so that Jesus Christ may possess our hearts, minds and souls. When He has completed this task there is absolutely nothing left in us because all of what we were was sin. Now when we surrender our life, our emotions, our will and our possessions to Christ we become completely empty. This is the only way God can recreate us in His own likeness. There are countless thousands upon millions of people who believe there is a God, but are not willing to lose what they deem as control of their life. People are fooled into believing that they are in charge and the older we get the more we are controlled by satan, the harder our heart becomes to the gospel, the harder it is to surrender control. They believe Christ, but they never give over their life to Him so that He can purify their hearts from sin. It is an amazing thing, we have to surrender to become free, we have to give ourselves away to gain control through Jesus Christ. There is no middle ground. You are either controlled by satan, or you are saved through faith in Jesus Christ.

If you want to find happiness, show mercy toward others. When we first become a Christian it is all about looking inward. After we are convinced our faith is real we look outward. Our attitude toward one another is a better judge of our relationship with Jesus Christ than what we proclaim to be to others. The Bible says,

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said,‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37-38 ESV

The Bible also say,

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38 ESV

Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Psalms 82:3 ESV

Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. Matthew 5:42

Humans have a complicated system of neurons that flow back and forth from our brain to our nerve impulses that create our emotions of courage, anger,  love, sorrow and hatred. This complex relationship that connects our mind, body and spirit into one is called the heart in the Bible. It is the center of intellectual and spiritual life. It holds the moral DNA that is the conscience of every human being. The inerrant capability to know the difference between right and wrong is located in our heart. The closer we come to God the purer our heart becomes. This is not something we can do on our own. We have to show the initial desire, then the Holy Spirit of God takes over in our lives. Joy and true happiness are the results.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,  he saved us,not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,  whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,  so that being justified by his grace we might become heirsaccording to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:4-7 ESV

You ask, “How do we make this initial step?” You do it by faith!  You ask, “Where does such powerful faith come from?” The Bible says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17  Faith comes from reading your Bible. There is one little trick to it. You have to believe the Bible is true before you start to read. The secrets and the mysteries are withheld from the skeptic. The Bible is the Living Word of God. Jesus tells us to become like little children again. Have you ever seen a little child who didn’t believe in their parents, who didn’t trust them totally.

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.  Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.  1 Peter 2:1-3 ESV

For thousands of years mankind has been searching for the same thing you are seeking. There are thousands of people who would gladly give up all they possess. The world is desperate for peace. We have tried every type of negotiation. Every kind of agreement and compromise you can imagine, to no avail.

The way of peace they do not know,
and there is no justice in their paths;
they have made their roads crooked;
no one who treads on them knows peace. Isaiah 59:8 ESV

The problem lies inside of us. Until we correct ourselves there will be war, murders, rape and violence until the ends of time.   You can make peace with yourself and with  God by taking these simple steps:

1.) Admit the fact that you are a sinner.

2.) Turn away from your sin and towards God. Repent.

3.) Place your faith in Jesus Christ. Believe that He died for our sins. That He was crucified, buried and resurrected from the dead.

4.) Surrender your life to Jesus Christ.

5.) Seek out your spiritual gift that God set aside for you.

6.) Discover what your special service is to Christ and serve Him with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul.

7.) Rest in the confidence that Jesus Christ is Lord.

You do these things , I promise you will find peace , happiness and joy for eternity.