Happy to Have it All (1/12/2010)

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

Let me ask you a question. It’s a bit personal, but it’s only you reading this.

What is the one thing that is keeping you from being happy? Here’s another way to get to my point - How would you fill in this blank: “I will be happy when_________________”?

Admit it.

We love to have it all.

The latest in fashions. The best gadgets. The coolest car. The biggest home. The hottest girlfriend or boyfriend. The most money. The list could go on and on.

And, despite more clothes, gadgets, cars, homes, girlfriends, boyfriends, and money, a lot us remain unhappy. Despite all the stuff, we remain discontented. Despite having it all, we remain dejected, or sad, or depressed. So what do we do? We go out and get more clothes, more gadgets, trade in the car, break up with the boyfriend or girlfriend for a new one, and grab some lottery tickets for some quick cash.

And this maddening cycle continues with no end…like a mouse running on a wheel…always chasing, and never catching.

Here’s the next question.

What if whatever you filled in the blank with never comes to pass? What if you never graduate, or get a better job, or get a raise, or get good grades? What if you can’t afford the car payment, or the rent, or the credit card bill?

Seriously ask yourself – “If none of my dreams ever come true, will I ever be happy?”

If you even have to pause to answer that question, it’s time for your personal reality check. Because if your focus is on the “good life” or “having it all,” you need to re-focus…

…On the God that provides everything for everyone.

It’s not easy to let God be God and let Him provide. We are bombarded daily on how to really have the good life – on how to be really happy. Buy this, and you will be content. Do this, and your urges will be satisfied.

But there is a problem with how our world tells us to be happy. That is, it’s here today and gone tomorrow.

Today the new car is shiny and smells so good inside. Tomorrow, it has a scrape on it because someone let their shopping cart bang into it in the mall parking lot. All of the sudden, the new car isn’t so new anymore.

Today, that new boyfriend or girlfriend is the person you have been searching for years for. Tomorrow, they are looking for someone better, or cuter, or more popular.

Today, everyone at school is in awe of you because you are wearing the latest fashions from the hottest store. Tomorrow, the clothes don’t fit right anymore, or get torn, or get a stain. No longer are you the fashion icon you thought you were.

These kinds of examples are endless. But the one thing that is not endless is this simple fact - You have a God who hears you, who knows you, who protects you, and who loves you. His love for you has no end. His love for you never goes out of fashion. His desire for a relationship with you never fades. And if you love God, He gives you the grace you need for every mistake you have made and will make today and tomorrow.

So please don’t fall into the trap that you can have it all by doing it all. It never works. But by trusting that God does and will always provide, you will find that the next time you are asked the question I asked you earlier, your response will be a joyful “I am happy because I have Christ in me.”

The Only Thing That Matters (1/7/2010)

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)

1 Corinthians 1:18 is by far my favorite scripture from the Bible. Why? Because during my first days of finding Christ, I met with a lot of resistance from a lot of people around me, especially my family. I don’t blame them for being sensitive to my decision. I was born into a Jewish home, and my family felt offended. But the more I tried to explain my decision, the worse it got. And it wasn’t until my then mentor pointed out this passage from the Bible that I was able to put my decision to accept Christ into its proper perspective.

The point here is not about my decision or my family’s reaction.

The point here is about what all believers may be going through right now, as you read this sentence, across the world.

Students in high school across America facing fellow students who ride them pretty hard for believing in something bigger than themselves.

Students in colleges across the globe sitting in a classrooms where their professors constantly question the existence of a “higher being,” no less than accepting the fact that Jesus Christ was God’s son.

Workers sitting in office cubicles, or working under cars, or painting walls, or wiring homes, or an infinite number of work settings where fellow workers laugh at a believer’s faith.

Are these fellow students, college professors, work colleagues, or friends and family who question us headed for destruction? We can’t know because many times people say stuff just to be cool, or funny, or to be accepted, not necessarily what’s truly in their heart.

But this much I do know…it no longer matters to me what my co-workers, my neighbors, my friends, or my family think of my love for Jesus.

For I know that I have been saved.

And I know the power of God.

Do you?