So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Hebrews 10:35 NLT
Last night, my hubby and I streamed a movie titled “Shortcut to Happiness.” Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Love Hewitt make a deal with each other. Alec is a struggling, frustrated writer and makes a deal with the devil, Jennifer Love Hewitt. She will grant his main desire of success as a writer if he will give her soul to him. When John and I got the premise of the movie, we almost turned it off, but something made me want to see how these famous actors portrayed a very real struggle in today’s society.
What is the struggle? Everyone, including Christians, wants to be happy…and not eventually, but right now. Feeling that way is not wrong but responding to that thought should be based on what we know to be true in the end. We know that things and events can make us happy and we like that feeling, don’t we? So, we want more and more happiness. When frustration or trials come, we are desperate for that happiness. The truth is…there is only one lasting happiness and it is found in God.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV
He has already made a way for us to have it, through His Son and the Holy Spirit. The joy we have in Jesus is true, loving and forever! We just have to make right choices based on His truths. Life is all about making lots of choices, isn’t it? Every minute of the day we can choose to commit to Jesus for the long haul, even in really tough times. You know what? Short cuts that promise instant happiness will let us down. It is the long haul commitment that gives us lasting joy. Don’t let the enemy make you think there is a short cut to forever joy. There just isn’t. Jesus is the only way.
Let us not choose to take the short-cut to happiness by making a temporary deal with the enemy.
Let’s be in this race for the long haul, for eternal joy, eternal life with our Savior!
Let’s not set up for ourselves idols here on earth that make us happy , like fame and money and houses and cars and popularity. These things will not last and they do not matter in the kingdom of God.
Lets be in this life with a purpose, to take the burdens of life as God allows, knowing that He has a plan for us that makes us better versions of ourselves and more like Him.
Let’s fully embrace the joy of Jesus with our eyes on our heavenly home. He is our prize, waiting for us after the long haul of life.
Let’s make Him proud in the way we run our life’s race. Let’s not make deals with the enemy, knowing that there really is no shortcut to happiness.
Let’s make our lives, not about ourselves, but about others, so they can have the joy we have!
If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:11 NIV
Here is the best way I can describe joy. To me it is a glimpse of heaven. “To know Jesus is to know joy and to know joy is to catch a glimpse of what waits for us in heaven.”
With love from the Father to you all,
Christina
Glory in the Morning 