Category: Blog Post

Thomas Jefferson wrote in our Declaration of Independence from the British that all of us are endowed by our Creator with “certain unalienable rights: that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.   Jefferson understood that happiness is not a God-given right. It is solely dependent on our circumstances and our reaction to those circumstances.  We should, however, be free to pursue happiness by changing our environment and adjusting our attitude.

There are people today who believe it is their right to be happy.  They see anything that interferes with their happiness as an intrusion or threat. They are even offended when someone else has a different definition of happiness than they do.  Although God created us equal in His sight, He created each of us as unique individuals and I have found that part of becoming a mature adult is accepting those differences as interesting, at times challenging, but never threatening.  There have been times in my life when I have pursued things that I thought would make me happy, but my happiness is almost always found in people and my relationships with them not material comfort.  Happiness seems to be more and more complicated and elusive in today’s society.

Joy, on the other hand, really does come from our Creator.  Joy came into the world as angels heralded the birth of Jesus.  We receive God’s joy in our hearts only through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  When we accept Christ as our savior, we are filled with true joy.  There is no need to pursue or search for it.  At times we may lose some of our joy when we concentrate too much on our circumstances or our emotions, but to become joyful again all we have to do is concentrate on our blessings and praise God for each of them.  When we do that we cannot help but be filled with joy once more.

Unlike happiness, joy does not depend on our circumstances.  In the words of one of my favorite Southern Gospel songs: “He gave me joy – real joy – unspeakable gladness, a peace I had not known before. In the storm he took away my sorrow; gave hope for tomorrow and more. He gave me joy in the storm.”

With God’s joy in our hearts we just might find that happiness is not so elusive after all.

Trust is the foundation of every strong relationship, but how do you attain it? You can’t just ask for it. When someone says, “Trust me,” our defenses go up and that is the last thing we do without a thorough investigation. So how do we become trustworthy? To answer that question make a list of everyone you trust. Now go down the list and look for common traits they all possess.

I can guarantee that everyone on your list is honest.  How can you trust someone who might be lying to you or cheating you? You can’t. So honesty is the first and most important trait of trustworthy people. I bet they are all dependable too. Honest people who aren’t there when we need them soon lose our trust. Finally, you know that each person on your list sincerely cares about you and your relationship with them.

So it is simple. To be trustworthy all you have to do is be honest, dependable and truly care about people. While that is true it certainly is not simple. We have all had someone take advantage of us in one way or another. Those in whom we have placed our trust have disappointed us. As a result, most people have built strong defenses that you must overcome in order to gain their trust and that usually takes time and a lot of effort. It isn’t enough to be honest, dependable and caring; we must prove it over time by our words and actions.

There is one way to speed up the process of earning someone’s trust. In sales it is called a referral. In other relationships we might call it a personal endorsement. It is when someone who has already earned the trust of a person vouches for your trustworthiness as well. That kind of endorsement is great, but it comes with added responsibility. You are now not only proving your trustworthiness, but the trustworthiness of the person who endorsed you.

One interesting example of such an endorsement occurred years ago when I was a pest control salesman. I inspected a prospective customer’s home and was ready to propose a solution to their problem when the gentleman told me I would have to wait for his wife to get home. Impatiently, I plopped down in a chair in their living room to wait. A little dog came over and began sniffing my pant leg, no doubt picking up the scent of my dog. I slowly reached down and began scratching him behind his ears and by the time the lady of the house came home he was contentedly curled up in my lap. Her mouth dropped open in shock. She had never seen her dog take to a stranger like that. When I presented my proposal she immediately agreed to take the service and this time her husband’s mouth dropped open in shock. He had never seen his wife agree to anything that quickly. Her best friend told her I could be trusted and that was good enough for her. I remember doing a very thorough service in order to protect her dog’s reputation as a good judge of character.

Now that we know more about gaining the trust of those around us, how does that apply to our relationship with God? Trusting God is easy. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) He is not only honest; He is truth.  God is also dependable. “Trust in the lord always, for the lord God is the eternal rock.” (Isaiah 26:4) Finally, God cares about us. “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love. God is love, and all who live in God live in love, and God lives in them.” (I John 4:16) God not only cares about us, He is love.

Only one big question remains. Can God trust us? He certainly can’t trust our sinful nature. When we put our faith in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for our salvation, repent of our sins and receive the Holy Spirit within us, Jesus then presents us to God the Father with His personal endorsement because we are now his adopted brother or sister in God’s family.  When God looks at us He sees the righteousness of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit and He can trust us to produce good fruit.

New Year’s Day is a great time for beginnings; a time to turn the page and start fresh.  There is a strong impulse to make resolutions of change for the coming year.  Most of our resolutions involve habits.  Although we often think of habits as being good or bad there are some that are neither.  For instance, it has been 51 years since I was in the military but I still step off with my left foot first.  There would be no advantage for me to step off with my right foot so why bother changing that old habit?

New Year’s resolutions are often vows to start good habits like daily exercise, daily time in God’s word and praying or daily time with family members loving and encouraging each of them.  There is a simple way to form any good habit we want.  Psychologists tell us if we do something for 21 days it will become a habit.  I don’t know what is so special about that number, but I have tried it and it works.  We may have already formed some good habits without even realizing it.  Buckling our seat belt in the car is a very good habit. It could not only save our life but also keep us from paying a fine.   Aristotle had this to say about good habits, “We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.” God’s word tells us that love is not an act but a habit we should develop.  (II John 1:5-6 and numerous other passages.)

New Year’s resolutions may also be vows to end bad habits.  When we think about our habits we seem to gravitate to the bad ones out of guilt or conviction.  Eliminating a bad habit is not as simple as starting a new one.   Simply stopping a bad habit for 21 days won’t work.  We must replace it with a good habit for 21 days to help reprogram our minds.  Some bad habits have become full blown addictions.  We need help freeing ourselves from addictions.  Through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit, Cleansing Stream classes at CLC help free us from bad habits, addictions and pain or guilt we continue to carry from our past.

I began smoking cigarettes while I was in the Air Force.  It was a common bad habit of the 1960s.  Fortunately, I didn’t smoke enough to develop a strong physical addiction to nicotine so when I came back home to look for a job and start married life God filled my life with so many positive changes that I didn’t even think about buying a pack of cigarettes.  I have friends who have experienced a very strong addiction to nicotine who testify to the miraculous power of God healing their body and setting them free with no craving or withdrawal symptoms in answer to prayer.  God wants to release us from physical, mental or spiritual addictions.  All we have to do is ask for His help.

If we rely on our own will power to keep our resolutions for this New Year, we will fail within a few days as usual.  However, if we ask God to help us make our list of resolutions and then guide us through those changes we can look forward to a year of great improvement and success.