I USED TO KNOW a
fairly young woman who spent all her time in
the pursuit
of joy and
pleasure. There is almost nothing
she hasn't tried. She's had money, sex, alcohol,
drugs, fine clothes, and,
for a while, a husband that let her do anything she
wanted to. It would seem
that she should be totally,
blissfully happy. What more could she
want?
But she is not happy. In fact, she is one
of the least happy persons
I have ever seen! Twice, she tried
to
commit
suicide and failed. Her oldest daughter
became an unwed
mother at a very
early age. A younger daughter did something
for which an adult
would have
received at least five years in prison.
Why is this woman not happy? She lived
exactly as she pleased.
She was not bound by any moral
codes or
social ethics.
And
nobody had better tell her that
she was not perfectly
happy. But
everyone who knew her knew she was really
a very miserable person.
This young woman is only one of thousands
who are eagerly searching for that blissful
happiness that always seems just
ahead but never quite attainable. Who completely
rebel at the mention of
moral laws or Christianity and scoff at the idea that
anyone can be happy who
lives for Jesus Christ.
Many have been turned off by some "christian"
who has a case of "mule-face
religion" and who criticize everyone and
everything in
the name of Christ. Peace, joy,
happiness and fulfillment
are just not their idea of what being a Christian
means!
Those of us who have found the real meaning
of LIFE realize that
just as the Bible says, "The god
of this
world [Satan]
hath blinded the minds of them which
believe not, lest the
light of the
glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the
express image of God,
should shine
unto them," (2 Corinthians 4:4; John 12:40).
This has been
true in every age. It can
be safely said that the harder
a person pursues
joy and happiness, the
more surely it evades him.
But
the more a person pursues
after the
things of God, forgetting his own happiness in the
effort to
help others,
the more joy and happiness come to him. "But seek
ye first the
kingdom of
God, and His righteousness; and all these things
shall be added
unto you,"
(Matthew 6:33). This is one thing that no one
seems willing to
do,
yet it
is the one thing you MUST do if you want joy, peace
and happiness.
Now let me ask you, are you really happy?
Are you satisfied with
your life as it now is? Have you
found
the reality
you are looking
for in drugs? In sex? In alcohol?
In "rock
music"? Are
you really "doing your thing"? Or are you still trying to find out
what your
"thing" really is?
If you've tried everything else and it
has failed, how about trying
Jesus Christ? Let His electrifying
POWER get
ahold of you and
you'll never be the same again!
"Peace I leave
with you, My
peace I give unto you; not as the world
giveth...," (John
14:27).
"These things have I spoken unto you that in Me ye might have peace. In the
world ye
shall have tribulation, but be of good
cheer;
I have overcome the world," (John
16:33). "There is no peace,
saith the Lord, unto the wicked," (Isaiah
48:22). "Whom [Christ]
having not seen,
ye love: in whom, though
now ye
see Him not,
yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full
of glory,"
(1
Peter 1:8).
How do you come to Jesus Christ? How do
you find this joy, peace and happiness
through Him? When
you truly
believe that He can save you and give you peace, then you "Repent
and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission [forgiveness]
of sins, and ye shall receive the
gift of the Holy
Ghost [the Comforter]," (Acts
2:38).
Feel that you're not good enough? "But
God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ
died for us," (Romans 5:8). "For God so loved the world that He
gave His only
begotten Son that whosoever believeth
in Him should not
perish, but
have everlasting life," (John 3:16).
What happens when you believe, repent,
and are baptized in Jesus' name? You receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost and
"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: Old things are
passed away;
behold, all things are become new," (2 Corinthians 5:17). New
desires,
new goals, and peace, joy, fulfillment. "The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace,
longsuffering, Gentleness...,"
(Galatians 5:22).
If you're tired of the old rut, try Jesus
and get turned on as never before in
your life! Get TRANSFORMED,
get POWER,
get a whole NEW LIFE!!
- S.M.S.
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