True Happiness is only found in Complete Submission to God

Who wants more joy/happiness in their life? We can have it!

Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the Kingdom of God and ALL these things will be provided for you.”

John 10:10 “Jesus came to give us more and better life.”

The main reason we don’t have the life we want is because we try to have a part-time relationship with God.

Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Here is the key!

James 1:5-8  “⁵ But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸ being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

I believe that this is a commonly misquoted scripture. This is not an ‘ask for what you want and get it’ thing. This is talking specifically about wisdom. Ask believing that you will get Wisdom, and you’ll get Wisdom!

Wisdom from God will lead you into His perfect Will.  But you cannot ask having already decided what you want. That’s not asking His will.  We must ask God for his will and then obey.  Either He knows best, or He doesn’t.

While reading this Psalm, God opened my eyes to an interesting truth.   Psalm 139:7-8 “⁷ Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? ⁸ If I ascend to heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in Sheol (Hell), behold, You are there.”

When I refuse to live according to God’s will for my life, it doesn’t work, and I become frustrated with the outcome. Honestly, this what we do. We make our bed in hell by being double minded between our dedication to God and the pleasures of this world. (James 1:8)

A Personal Story

I never dreamed that I would be a missionary in Albania, or anywhere else for that matter.  When my wife asked me if I would come to Albania, I was a truck driver working 12-14 hours a day. Despite that, I told her that I needed a couple days to pray and ponder what it would mean to move 5,000 miles away from home.  So, for the next 2 days I drove around northern Wisconsin (USA) seeing and thinking about things that I would have to give up.

I love the woods! I was a hunter. I mean I really was a hunter. I lived to deer hunt, especially hunting with bow and arrow. I would spend hours and hours in the woods looking for deer sign, picking the right tree, and then sit in a tree stand for long periods of time, sometimes all day, waiting for deer to come by. Giving up hunting was a big deal for me. So, the next day when I was driving and thinking about moving to Albania, one of the first things I saw was a beautiful Oak Forest, which is perfect deer habitat, and something I was very familiar with. I remember thinking, “I’m never going to be able to hunt again.” I grieved, literally, with tears and everything. Then God spoke to me and said, “I have something better.”

I loved kayaking! I drove across a bridge that went across a gorgeous river and I thought, “I’m never going to kayak again.” I grieved again and God spoke to me again and said, “I have something better.” I love animals and we have always had one or two dogs in our home. I thought, “I cannot justify using other peoples (Partners) money for dog expenses. So, “I’m never going be able to have a dog again.” I grieved again and God spoke to me again and said, “I have something better.”

For two days this process went on. I finally realized that this was my choice. I could continue with my life, working 12-14 hours a day and make my wife come back to the States and disrupt what God was using her for, or I could trust God really did have something better and go live in Albania.

God had prepared the way so it wasn’t the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make. And I must say that after 8 years of living and serving His Kingdom in Albania, I am living the “more and better life” that Jesus promised in John 10:10.  I get to see women come to know and live in their God created identity through my wife’s ministry. I get to see their inner wounds healed.

I get to teach young people about worshipping God in Spirit and Truth. I also get to be involved in changing the spiritual atmosphere over this country through Worship Nights and Worship Camp and the School of Worship.

I can honestly say that I would not return to live in the US so that I could hunt or kayak anytime I want. I’m living my “More and Better Life” here in Albania! By the way, God gave us a street dog to adopt!

I recently came across a recording of Rich Mullins. This is what he said “The big mistake that everybody makes is they think there’s going to be a tomorrow. They think, things are bad today, if we just live long enough everything will be fine. Sometimes that’s true, sometimes things get worse. Look at the history of the world. Things have not in fact gotten better. In fact, it’s looking pretty grim. A Lot of people just want to wring their hand and say, Oh what are we going to do? Things are getting so bad! We’re so alone and people are doing such desperate things. Racism is still a thing and now we have terrorism. You add racism to terrorism, and you’ve got real problems. You’ve got people wanting to kill each other in Asia and in America and everywhere. Everybody says, What can I do? They get depressed because they think there’s nothing they can do about it. Maybe there’s nothing you can do about the situation in Afghanistan, or some other troubled spot in the world. The real tragedy is that most people don’t do anything about the situation in their immediate proximity. I think it all comes back to a lack of faith. I think we want a cheap God, a God who is easy to follow, easy to believe in, and easy to set aside whenever we’re ready to do that. Then, when we have to live with the results of that kind of faith, we don’t like HIM so much. If you don’t really believe HE's there, then you can’t believe that He can really change anything.”

Practical Application

 If you read the Bible from cover to cover enough times so that you get the basics of the message, I believe this is what you will get.

1-  Get to know God

2-  Learn to hear His voice

3-  Do what He says!

It’s very simple, but not always easy.

So I leave you with this:  Who wants more Joy/Happiness in their life? I believe we all do. So let’s take some advice from Jesus - Matthew 16:25 “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Be blessed

Ted

Our thanks to Ted for this months' Blog contribution