THE
ONLY ROAD TO
TRUE
HAPPINESS
by
Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
"Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind...and thy neighbour as thyself".
(Matt.22:
37-40) -
Jesus Christ
Everyone
is searching for true happiness!
There isn't an individual who doesn't want peace, joy and
fulfillment!
Unfortunately, very few find it. Not because it is not
available, but because they are not looking in the right place! Many are like a blind man, grasping in the
darkness or someone searching for a needle in the haystack.
Everything
seems so impossible!
Nothing works out. Happiness eludes them like a mirage on the
desert or a phantom rider who disappears as he turns the bend in the
road!
Judging
from the great numbers who fill our divorce courts, love and marriage
is often a bummer!
Many,
who on happier days laughed and loved, are now disappointed, bitter
and angry. They want out ~ to call it “quits”.
The
home has turned into a battlefield. The tenderness and caring is
gone, along with any desire for romance! For them, love and marriage
has not been the answer to the quest for true happiness!
A
large number will try again in a common-law (shack
up)
arrangement or a second marriage - hoping, hoping, hoping that this
one will pan out better!
KING
ALCOHOL:
A
MONSROUS TYRANT
In
many instances, alcohol seems like a comfort and friend to the lonely
divorcee, the aging gadabout or social butterfly. As well as, the
businessman about to declare bankruptcy! And what of the person who
has lost an expected promotion, the desire to compete or who has
reached the top of the ladder with no place to go?
Life
has become boring, humdrum and a waste to a lot of people; for many
and varied reasons.
For some, the future looks bleak with high rents or mortgage
payments, having to live on employment insurance or welfare cheques.
Others
are dogged by
depression, fear, sickness, pain and
even thoughts of
dying
or
suicide! And
so they try to drown their sorrows with alcohol or drugs.
But,
drugs, alcohol and suicide is not a cure-all. Rather, these only further
enslave and in the end, destroy totally! Alcohol and mind altering
drugs are cruel despots and tyrants which refuse to stop, until all
hope and life is gone!
TRUE
HAPPINESS IS NOT
FOUND
IN FAME & FORTUNE!
If
you don't think so, ask the unhappy movie
star
who visits her psychiatrist
regularly. Or consults her daily horoscope,
personal clairvoyant or New Age channeller
for guidance!
Read
the sad stories of
millionaires and
business tycoons
who have become so miserable that they have blown their brains out,
taken an overdose or leaped from the penthouse of their luxury
apartments!
Success
is sweet, but it doesn't last long enough. And if it does, very
often there is no satisfaction! And the rat race seems to be
never-ending.
Being
successful doesn't come with a guarantee. Nothing in this life is
100% permanent or secure! Exceeding the quota this year, means it
will be tougher next year!
This
year's champion is often last year's champion next year, and
"president
today"
could mean
"former president"
after the board meeting or election. And "success
today"
often is only a memory in a few years, together with some mementos on
the dresser and news stories in a scrapbook!
Father
Time
marches
on and
always takes its toll, without favouritism. The young executive who
worked so hard to make it to the top, suddenly finds himself nearing
65 with the prospects of a farewell dinner, a couple of speeches and
the "traditional
gold watch". And
then it’s out to pasture!
TIME'S
UP:
CLOSE
FOR THE NIGHT!
Time
waits for no man...and it has a way of catching up to all of us! And
the years do a job on the most healthy, robust and virile. As time
passes, hair turns grey, wrinkles appear, muscles lose their tone and
the strength of youth dissipates.
EVENTUALLY, THROUGH DISEASE,
ACCIDENTS OR 'OLD AGE', DEATH COMES TO EVERYONE. THE GRIM REAPER
ALWAYS WINS IN THE END!
Money
and riches have a way of slipping out of our hands too, and even if
we can hang on to it, what good is a fortune when you're too sick to
enjoy it or too old to spend it?
And
even if we're blessed enough to have good health, there are only so
many things to buy, see or do. Vacations and parties become boring
too, don't they? After all, you can only sleep in one bed at a time,
drive one car at a time, wear one suit of clothes at a time; and who
needs three meals a day?
And
alcohol
has
the ability to make you a slave to its intoxicating power! True
happiness does not come from a marijuana joint, a bottle of beer, a
cocktail glass, great wealth and affluence or the applause of our
fellowmen!
Nearly
2,000 years ago, St. Paul wrote, "But
godliness with contentment is great gain".
(1 Tim. 6:6) Again he declared, "Not
that I speak in respect of
want. For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be
content".
(Phil. 4:11)
The Bible says, "The
joy
of the Lord is our strength". (Neh. 8:10) Jesus said, "My
peace
I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.
“Let
not your heart be troubled".
(John 14:27) And St. Paul declared, "For God hath not given us
the spirit of fear, by of
love
and
power
and a sound
mind."
(2 Tim. 1:7)
The
only way to true happiness is going God's way, walking the Gospel
road! And the two prerequisites that Jesus Christ spelled out are:
- LOVE GOD
- LOVE YOUR FELLOWMEN
Jesus
said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father, but by Me". And St. Peter stated, "There
is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved".
(John 14:6)
St.
Paul said, "There is one God and one mediator between God and
man, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave Himself a ransom for all".
(1 Tim. 2:5-6)
The
only way we can love our fellowman, is to be filled with the Holy
Spirit, for the "love
of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost".
(Rom. 5:5). Then we will really have something to live for, and share
with our children and grandchildren!
GOD'S
BLUEPRINT
FOR
REAL SUCCESS!
Jesus
stated that upon these two commandments "hang
all the Law and the Prophets".
(Matt. 22:40)
Love for God translates into the desire and capacity of loving one's
neighbour!
The
Bible gives us the blueprint for revival in the church, good
community relations, peace on earth and prosperity among men!
If
everyone really loved God with all our being, we would keep His
commandments! We would automatically praise the Lord, preach His
Word and love our fellowman!
Then,
spontaneous
revival
would break out in our churches and sinners would flock into God's
house to receive His blessing! They would
"see
our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven".
(Matt. 5:16)
If we all loved our neighbour as ourselves we
would be kind, loving, merciful, gracious and forgiving!
We
would not judge one another or be proud, envious, jealous, resentful
or biased!
Not only would we all be truthful and godly in our living but also
caring, compassionate and helpful!
There
would be a drastic reduction in crime, lawlessness and delinquency as
parents loved, nurtured and disciplined their children.
THE
OUTCOME
- Police departments would be reduced in size and jails nearly empty.
Murderers and criminals would stop killing, stealing and raping,
bingo halls and VLT gambling arcades would shut down, bars and
taverns would go out of business!
And
pimps, perverts and prostitutes would be praising the lord at the old
fashioned revival meeting!
If
a genuine revival of righteousness came to our land, the banks would
be forced to lower "the
exorbitant usury"
they usually charge their customers and be content with decent
profits. Price gouging would be eliminated and bankruptcies would be
virtually non-existent!
Families
would grow together in love and harmony and divorce lawyers would
have to find something else to do. Abortion
Clinics
would be turned into ‘Adoption
Centres’ and
money-hungry, medical doctors
'turned executioners of unborn fetuses'
would return to the practice of saving lives!
SCHOOLS
AND UNIVERSITIES WOULD AGAIN BECOME CENTRES OF GENUINE LEARNING;
COMMUNICATING MORAL VALUES, COMMON SENSE AND RESPONSIBILITY WITH
ACADEMIC TRAINING!
If
we all loved God and our fellowman and embraced the teachings of the
'Good
Shepherd'
there would be a turning away from the deceptions of an ‘atheist
science’
which promotes the fatally flawed evolutionary theory, dangerous
occult practices of the New Age Movement and secular humanism!
Anyone
following the "Golden
Rule"
- do unto others as you would have them do unto you - would not rape,
murder, steal, commit adultery, sexual perversion or lie!
Automatically,
'born
again'
Christians seek the "high
road of life"
after an encounter with 'Jesus
of Nazareth'. We
become aware of the needs of others - spiritual, economical and
physical - because of a changed life and a transforming
spiritual experience!
The blessed Holy Spirit
tenderizes our hearts with compassion for the needy, sick, suffering
and unfortunate!
‘Loving God and our
neighbours’ also has a therapeutic effect for those who follow
Christ's teachings. By helping others, we get our minds off ourselves,
thereby releasing any neurotic tendencies which may have developed in
our lives!
By
pampering ourselves too much, we spoil ourselves and lose touch with
the real issues of life! General
William Booth
- founder of the SALVATION
ARMY.
By God's grace and sheer faith, let us resolve to do the same. And
we can do it!
One
day I received a telephone call inviting me to officiate
at a funeral
for a 59 year old truck driver who had passed away suddenly.
The
family had attended our church many years earlier but had moved away.
They had recently returned to Edmonton,
and then the father became the victim of a massive heart attack.
I
sought the Lord for an appropriate message. On my way to the Funeral
Chapel God gave me the message I should deliver. It was called, ‘The
Three Most
Important Things in Life’. I
knew I had the right message when I spoke with the family prior to
the service. His grown sons and daughters ranging in age from 25 to
35 were weeping unashamedly, as was their mother. I realized how
much they loved their father and husband!
THE
THREE MOST
IMPORTANT
THINGS IN LIFE!
- A man’s relationship with his Maker.
- A man’s relationship with his family.
- A man’s relationship with his fellowman.
First
- When
we are all dead and gone, the most important question will not be -
“How much money did he have in the bank” or “How educated,
influential or popular was she”? But, “Did
he know Jesus? Was she born again?”
Second
–
“What kind of relationship does a person have with his or her
family? Did he love his loved ones, overlook their faults and
forgive like Christ
has forgiven us all?
Were
we kind, loving, understanding or mean-spirited, unkind and
unforgiving toward one another?”
Third
– “How
did we treat our neighbours, our fellowman? Were
we honest, fair, understanding and forgiving or were we dishonest,
unfair and mean-spirited?
May
God help us all to be the kind of Christians Jesus wants us to be!
You may say, “How can I change? What must I do to become a loving
caring person?”
The
Bible says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature
(a brand new creation): old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17)
YOU
MAY ASK:
“WHY
IS THIS?”
By
receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour your life will be
transformed. He infuses us with His life, giving us His wisdom,
knowledge and goodness! We become one with Him and His life becomes
our life!
St.
Paul said, “I
am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me: and the life which I have live in the flesh I live by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me”.
(Gal.
2:20)
Jesus
said: “Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him
that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come unto
condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life”. (John 5:24)
Again
St. John writes, “We
know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the
brethren...”
(1 John 3:14)
The Bible says: “For
by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it
is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast”. (Eph.
2:8-9)
All
that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to Jesus Christ Who came to
rescue me from Satan, the World and Myself. To God be the glory
forever!
