1-49pm
I think this is a very regularly googled phrase – “I just want to be happy”.
16 700 000 results.
I found this on the internet as well, although I am not sure who wrote it….
What got me thinking about this today was a poster I saw hanging in a shop. I didn’t go back and take a photo of it, so I looked online and there were plenty to be had…
It is true that happiness doesn’t just ‘happen’. You have to work on it. I don’t just wake up happy. My first thoughts when I wake up direct me to happiness. When I think happy thoughts, I am happy. When I speak happy words, I feel happy. When I act happy, I become happy. But it all starts in my brain. You choose your thoughts. You choose your words. Positive thoughts become positive words become positive actions. Do that every day and you’ll find yourself, amazingly, having a happy day, a happy week, a happy month, a happy year and at the end of it all, a happy life! Now that sounds pretty fantastic!
They say ‘practice makes perfect.’ Exercising your way to happiness doesn’t happen overnight. It takes determination and practice. You have to decide to make a mental change to dump being pessimistic and take up some positivity to train your way to optimism. I don’t like to call someone a pessimist. I prefer to call them an optimist-in-the making! Anyone can be an optimist, but it takes mental time…continual reminding to stop thinking negatively and to reassure that everything will turn out all right. We know that everything will be okay, not because of ourselves or our world (we know for sure that’s in a mess), but we know everything will turn out okay because the Bible says so. As followers of Christ, we believe the Bible to be true and if that is so, then we know for sure that no matter what happens in our lives, everything will be all right in the end (and if it’s not all right, it’s not the end!)
Look at these words from Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The worst thing that can happen to you is not your death, but the death of your dearest loved ones. That pain is extreme, yet it will not separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. He came so that we may have an abundant life. Your life may get hard. But God is bigger than your circumstances. You may face any number of daily difficulties, sickness, financial burdens, an unhappy marriage, persecution, loneliness, fear, uncertainty, but God is bigger. He has you in the palm of His hand and that’s where He’ll keep you until you meet with Him.
Happiness can be an every day event. Keep trusting Jesus. He is the only way.
Keep the smile going!
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂
Rejection of positive thinking. The antithetic way of thinking which is entertained by fundamental Christians commits them to give full recognition to the existence of negative, sinful thoughts and works. We should be discerning Christians who are able to identify and resist evil things, particularly religious deception. A sinner should be called a sinner, despite the fact that it is a negative label. Likewise, God’s judgements upon sinners should be proclaimed together with the solution to this problem. However, liberal churches, as well as the ecumenical movement, regard fundamental Christians as a big threat to their programme of promoting unity with Roman Catholics and the non-Christian religions, and present us in a negative way as intolerant and intent on sowing seeds of conflict and discord. In so doing, we pose a threat to their efforts of becoming conformed to the world. From our position, we reject their humanistic-driven positive thinking because they are deceived and unable to discern between good and evil. Please read http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-optimism.html
…and also http://www.gotquestions.org/joy-Christian.html and http://www.gotquestions.org/power-positive-thinking.html .
All I’ve got in mind is 2 Cor 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
I don’t believe Christ wants us to be thinking negatively.
Christ is fully against the mixing of unbiblical new age “power of positive thinking” philosophies with true joy and peace in the Holy Spirit.
Hello Helga. I agree with you 100 per cent. Well said
Thanks Gwen and Sue! 🙂
Definitely in line with Philippians 4:4 and 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8 NLT) blessings Helga xx