how to be happy

©2019 dan bulkley | ask@lifechurchco.com

happiness:

Happiness is being delighted, pleased or glad over a particular thing. It is characterized by or indicative of pleasure, contentment or joy.

key principle: psalm 1:1-3

psalm 1:1-3

How happy is the man

who does not follow the advice of the wicked

or take the path of sinners

or join a group of mockers!

Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction,

and he meditates on it day and night.

He is like a tree planted beside streams of water

that bears its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.

Happiness at its core is an emotional outcome of gaining that which you want, while sadness is just the opposite, not getting what you want proverbs 13:12 proverbs 13:19 . We struggle to feel happy because our desires are not being met proverbs 13:4 . If we want to be happy, we either have to find a way to fulfill every desire we have proverbs 11:6-7 or develop a desire/taste for that which is already afforded to us psalm 40:16 psalm 16:5-6 . Our natural, evil desires end in destruction romans 6:16-21 proverbs 10:23 romans 2:8-9 , but God’s desires and those who grow to have those desires ends in life, peace, joy, love and wonder romans 6:22-23
proverbs 10:24 romans 2:7 romans 2:10 .

my notes:

supporting scriptures

proverbs 13:12

Delayed hope makes the heart sick,

but fulfilled desire is a tree of life.

proverbs 13:19

Desire fulfilled is sweet to the taste,

but to turn from evil

is an abomination to fools.

proverbs 13:4

The slacker craves, yet has nothing,

but the diligent is fully satisfied.

proverbs 11:6-7

The righteousness of the upright rescues them,

but the treacherous are trapped by their own desires.

When the wicked man dies,

his expectation comes to nothing,

and hope placed in wealth vanishes.

psalm 40:16

Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;

let those who love Your salvation continually say,

“The Lord is great!”

my notes:

psalm 16:5-6

Lord, You are my portion

and my cup of blessing;

You hold my future.

The boundary lines have fallen for me

in pleasant places;

indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

romans 6:16-21

Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey — either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were transferred to, and having been liberated from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. I am using a human analogy because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you offered the parts of yourselves as slaves to moral impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from allegiance to righteousness. So what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death.

proverbs 10:23

As shameful conduct is pleasure for a fool,

so wisdom is for a man of understanding.

romans 2:8-9

but wrath and indignation to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth but are obeying unrighteousness; affliction and distress for every human being who does evil, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek;

romans 6:22-23

But now, since you have been liberated from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification — and the end is eternal life! For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

proverbs 10:24

What the wicked dreads will come to him,

but what the righteous desire will be given to them.

romans 2:7

eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality;

romans 2:10

but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.

my notes:

key principle: job 36:21

job 36:21

Be careful that you do not turn to iniquity,

for that is why you have been tested by affliction.

We often turn to more wickedness james 4:1-2 to get what we want rather than turn to the Lord even when we realize what we wanted is not satisfying the way we had hoped isaiah 46:1-2 ii chronicles 28:22 ; thus frustrating ourselves even more and producing sadness rather than happiness deuteronomy 32:36-39 . Our selfish desires can never be satisfied ephesians 4:19 , rather they simply frustrate us because fulfilling them causes those desires to grow, while at the same rate causing the pleasure of them to diminish ecclesiastes 5:10-11 .

supporting scriptures

james 4:1-2

What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from the cravings that are at war within you? You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your evil desires.

isaiah 46:1-2

Bel crouches; Nebo cowers.

Their idols are consigned to beasts and cattle.

The images you carry are loaded,

as a burden for the weary animal.

The gods cower; they crouch together;

they are not able to rescue the burden,

but they themselves go into captivity.

ii chronicles 28:22

At the time of his distress, King Ahaz himself became more unfaithful to the Lord.

deuteronomy 32:36-39

The Lord will indeed vindicate His people

and have compassion on His servants

when He sees that their strength is gone

and no one is left — slave or free.

He will say: “Where are their gods,

the ‘rock’ they found refuge in?

Who ate the fat of their sacrifices

and drank the wine of their drink offerings?

Let them rise up and help you;

let it be a shelter for you.

See now that I alone am He;

there is no God but Me.

I bring death and I give life;

I wound and I heal.

No one can rescue anyone from My hand.

my notes:

ephesians 4:19

The Lord will indeed vindicate His people

and have compassion on His servants

when He sees that their strength is gone

and no one is left — slave or free.

He will say: “Where are their gods,

the ‘rock’ they found refuge in?

Who ate the fat of their sacrifices

and drank the wine of their drink offerings?

Let them rise up and help you;

let it be a shelter for you.

See now that I alone am He;

there is no God but Me.

I bring death and I give life;

I wound and I heal.

No one can rescue anyone from My hand.

ecclesiastes 5:10-11

The one who loves money is never satisfied with money, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. This too is futile. When good things increase, the ones who consume them multiply; what, then, is the profit to the owner, except to gaze at them with his eyes?

my notes:

key principle: psalm 34:11-14

psalm 34:11-14

Come, children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

Who is the man who delights in life,

loving a long life to enjoy what is good?

Keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from deceitful speech.

Turn away from evil and do what is good;

seek peace and pursue it.

God doesn’t merely want to deny our desires. Rather He wants us to turn our hearts from self-destructive jeremiah 2:19 , empty jeremiah 2:13 , futilely unsatisfying ecclesiastes 2:10-11 desires. He longs to turn us to that which truly satisfies and brings more than a moment of pleasure hebrews 11:25 proverbs 20:17 proverbs 23:31-32 and to a life filled with the qualities that make life truly pleasing psalm 128:1-2 . The satisfaction of a desire contentedly fulfilled proverbs 13:25 only comes through the Lord Himself psalm 103:1-5 philippians 4:11-13 .

supporting scriptures

jeremiah 2:19

Your own evil will discipline you;

your own apostasies will reprimand you.

Think it over and see how evil and bitter it is

for you to abandon the Lord your God

and to have no fear of Me.

This is the declaration

of the Lord God of Hosts.

jeremiah 2:13

For My people have committed a double evil:

They have abandoned Me,

the fountain of living water,

and dug cisterns for themselves,

cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.

ecclesiastes 2:10-11

All that my eyes desired, I did not deny them. I did not refuse myself any pleasure, for I took pleasure in all my struggles. This was my reward for all my struggles. When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.

hebrews 11:25

and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the short-lived pleasure of sin.

proverbs 20:17

Food gained by fraud is sweet to a man,

but afterward his mouth is full of gravel.

proverbs 23:31-32

Don’t gaze at wine because it is red,

when it gleams in the cup

and goes down smoothly.

In the end it bites like a snake

and stings like a viper.

my notes:

psalm 128:1-2

How happy is everyone who fears the Lord,

who walks in His ways!

You will surely eat

what your hands have worked for.

You will be happy,

and it will go well for you.

proverbs 13:25

A righteous man eats until he is satisfied,

but the stomach of the wicked is empty.

psalm 103:1-5

My soul, praise Yahweh,

and all that is within me, praise His holy name.

My soul, praise the Lord,

and do not forget all His benefits.

He forgives all your sin;

He heals all your diseases.

He redeems your life from the Pit;

He crowns you with faithful love and compassion.

He satisfies you with goodness;

your youth is renewed like the eagle.

philippians 4:11-13

I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content — whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.

key principle: psalm 16:2-9

psalm 16:2-9

I said to Yahweh, “You are my Lord;

I have nothing good besides You.”

As for the holy people who are in the land,

they are the noble ones.

All my delight is in them.

The sorrows of those who take another god

for themselves will multiply;

I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,

and I will not speak their names with my lips.

Lord, You are my portion

and my cup of blessing;

You hold my future.

The boundary lines have fallen for me

in pleasant places;

indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

I will praise the Lord who counsels me —

even at night my conscience instructs me.

I keep the Lord in mind always.

Because He is at my right hand,

I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad

and my spirit rejoices;

my body also rests securely.

The Lord has given us instruction through His commands of what produces true love, joy, peace...for our purposes, happiness. All His commands hang on the principle of self-denial for the Lord and for others matthew 22:36-40 . It is in our genuine, self-sacrificial relationships with God and others ii john 1:1-6 that the true joy of eternal life is found john 15:11-13 i john 1:2-7 . We can have every circumstance and possessions go the way we want; but if we are alone in it, of what lasting pleasure is it john 12:24-26 luke 12:15 proverbs 18:1 ? Even in our sinfulness we can’t help but understand our happiness in relating it to others ecclesiastes 4:4 . The joy God gives us through each other is more valuable than what money can buy luke 16:9 , is eternally genuine ephesians 1:17-18 and it is the glorious reward for laying down our own soul; we gain even more souls back philippians 4:1 i thessalonians 2:19-20
i corinthians 3:8-14 proverbs 11:30 matthew 19:29 .

supporting scriptures

matthew 22:36-40

“Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?”

He said to him, “ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

ii john 1:1-6

The Elder:

To the elect lady and her children: I love all of you in the truth — and not only I, but also all who have come to know the truth — because of the truth that remains in us and will be with us forever.

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

Truth and Deception

I was very glad to find some of your children walking in the truth, in keeping with a command we have received from the Father. So now I urge you, dear lady — not as if I were writing you a new command, but one we have had from the beginning — that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk according to His commands. This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: you must walk in love.

john 15:11-13

“I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is My command: Love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.

i john 1:2-7

that life was revealed,

and we have seen it

and we testify and declare to you

the eternal life that was with the Father

and was revealed to us —

what we have seen and heard

we also declare to you,

so that you may have fellowship along with us;

and indeed our fellowship is with the Father

and with His Son Jesus Christ.

We are writing these things

so that our joy may be complete.

Fellowship with God

Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. If we say, “We have fellowship with Him,” yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

john 12:24-26

“ I assure you: Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces a large crop. The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me. Where I am, there My servant also will be. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

luke 12:15

He then told them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.”

proverbs 18:1

One who isolates himself pursues selfish desires;

he rebels against all sound judgment.

ecclesiastes 4:4

I saw that all labor and all skillful work is due to a man’s jealousy of his friend. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

luke 16:9

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of the unrighteous money so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings.

ephesians 1:17-18

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints,

philippians 4:1

So then, my brothers, you are dearly loved and longed for — my joy and crown. In this manner stand firm in the Lord, dear friends.

i thessalonians 2:19-20

For who is our hope or joy or crown of boasting in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy!

i corinthians 3:8-14

Now the one planting and the one watering are one in purpose, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field, God’s building. According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one must be careful how he builds on it. For no one can lay any other foundation than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on that foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one’s work will become obvious, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, it will be lost, but he will be saved; yet it will be like an escape through fire.

proverbs 11:30

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,

but violence takes lives.

matthew 19:29

And everyone who has left houses, brothers or sisters, father or mother, children, or fields because of My name will receive 100 times more and will inherit eternal life.

my notes:

key principle: psalm 34:8

psalm 34:8

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him!

Because of our own sinful blindness job 37:19 hosea 4:6
ephesians 4:18-29 , we must taste, practice, and live in the Lord john 15:7-10 to discover, understand philemon 1:6 and experience the good, perfect and pleasing nature of our God romans 12:2 . If we delve into the understanding of how good God and His ways are, we would delight in Him. Then the desires of our hearts would be satisfied in Him psalm 37:4 so that we would actually be happy no matter our circumstances ii corinthians 12:9-10 . But we are like brute beasts who do not easily learn or understand that there is no desire greater, more satisfying or pleasing than the Lord Himself psalm 73:21-28 psalm 32:9-11 .

supporting scriptures

job 37:19

Teach us what we should say to Him;

we cannot prepare our case because of our darkness.

hosea 4:6

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,

I will reject you from serving as My priest.

Since you have forgotten the law of your God,

I will also forget your sons.

ephesians 4:18-29

Please refer to your Bibles for this passage.

john 15:7-10

If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples.

“As the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you. Remain in My love. If you keep My commands you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love.

philemon 1:6

I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

psalm 37:4

Take delight in the Lord,

and He will give you your heart’s desires.

ii corinthians 12:9-10

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, catastrophes, persecutions, and in pressures, because of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

my notes:

psalm 73:21-28

When I became embittered

and my innermost being was wounded,

I was stupid and didn’t understand;

I was an unthinking animal toward You.

Yet I am always with You;

You hold my right hand.

You guide me with Your counsel,

and afterward You will take me up in glory.

Who do I have in heaven but You?

And I desire nothing on earth but You.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart,

my portion forever.

Those far from You will certainly perish;

You destroy all who are unfaithful to You.

But as for me, God’s presence is my good.

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

so I can tell about all You do.

my notes:

psalm 32:9-11

Do not be like a horse or mule,

without understanding,

that must be controlled with bit and bridle

or else it will not come near you.

Many pains come to the wicked,

but the one who trusts in the Lord

will have faithful love surrounding him.

Be glad in the Lord and rejoice,

you righteous ones;

shout for joy,

all you upright in heart.

my notes:

key principle: psalm 23:1-6

psalm 23:1-6

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.

He lets me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters. He renews my life;

He leads me along the right paths

for His name’s sake.

Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger,

for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff — they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.

Be aware of our own nature regarding happiness. Because we do not easily learn hebrews 5:11 and our sinful desires literally wage war against the good of our own souls, i peter 2:11 we struggle to be happy because as believers we have the conflict of desires of our flesh against the spirit galatians 5:16-17 romans 7:14-25 . Because of this, the Lord wrestles against the destructive desires of our natural selves to free us to have the good, perfect, pleasing desires of eternal principles job 36:5-26 james 1:2-4 . This is an unpleasant, unhappy experience because until perfection is reached, philippians 3:12-16 ii corinthians 13:11 ephesians 4:11-16 we will inevitably have some desire of ours not fulfilled; whether the flesh’s or the spirit’s, making us unhappy to some extent or another.

supporting scriptures

hebrews 5:11

We have a great deal to say about this, and it’s difficult to explain, since you have become too lazy to understand.

i peter 2:11

Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires that war against you.

galatians 5:16-17

I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want.

romans 7:14-25

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am made out of flesh, sold into sin’s power. For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me. So I discover this principle: When I want to do what is good, evil is with me. For in my inner self I joyfully agree with God’s law. But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin

job 36:5-26

Please refer to your Bible for this passage.

james 1:2-4

Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

philippians 3:12-16

Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. Therefore, all who are mature should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you. In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained.

ii corinthians 13:11

Finally, brothers, rejoice. Become mature, be encouraged, be of the same mind, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

my notes:

ephesians 4:11-16

And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head — Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.

key principle: i peter 4:1-2

i peter 4:1-2

Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, equip yourselves also with the same resolve — because the one who suffered in the flesh has finished with sin — in order to live the remaining time in the flesh, no longer for human desires, but for God’s will.

The nature of our happiness in Christ is better understood as one where once the fleshly desires are put to death, then the heavenly desires are more enjoyed isaiah 55:1-2 . So do not be surprised that this life has many sorrows acts 14:22 ecclesiastes 1:18 i peter 4:12 and that the love, peace, pleasure and happiness that the Lord describes usually comes following behind psalm 23:6 our growth through hard experiences romans 5:3-5 that help us to understand true goodness, contentment, pleasure and wonder psalm 126:5-6 job 42:3-6 job 36:11 job 36:15-17 .

my notes:

supporting scriptures

isaiah 55:1-2

Come, everyone who is thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you without money,

come, buy, and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost!

Why do you spend money on what is not food,

and your wages on what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,

and you will enjoy the choicest of foods.

acts 14:22

strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to pass through many troubles on our way into the kingdom of God.”

ecclesiastes 1:18

For with much wisdom is much sorrow;

as knowledge increases, grief increases.

i peter 4:12

Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you.

psalm 23:6

Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord

as long as I live.

romans 5:3-5

And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

psalm 126:5-6

Those who sow in tears

will reap with shouts of joy.

Though one goes along weeping,

carrying the bag of seed,

he will surely come back with shouts of joy,

carrying his sheaves.

job 42:3-6

You asked, “Who is this who conceals My counsel with ignorance?”

Surely I spoke about things I did not understand,

things too wonderful for me to know.

You said, “Listen now, and I will speak.

When I question you, you will inform Me.”

I had heard rumors about You,

but now my eyes have seen You.

Therefore I take back my words

and repent in dust and ashes.

job 36:11

If they serve Him obediently,

they will end their days in prosperity

and their years in happiness.

job 36:15-17

God rescues the afflicted by their affliction;

He instructs them by their torment.

Indeed, He lured you from the jaws of distress

to a spacious and unconfined place.

Your table was spread with choice food.

Yet now you are obsessed with the judgment due the wicked;

judgment and justice have seized you.

key principle: i timothy 6:5

i timothy 6:5

...and constant disagreement among people whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way to material gain.

We need to be put through trials even to simply realize that seeking happiness is a futile pursuit matthew 6:32-33 . Happiness should not be our goal, but by faith, happiness should only be an anticipated by-product of our true pursuit of an ever-deepening relationship with the Lord philippians 3:7-11 . We start off naturally seeking the Lord to make ourselves happy john 6:26 , but as we learn and grow through hardships, we find that the Lord Himself is better than our own happiness, pleasure and even our own life itself psalm 63:1-3 job 13:15 . Yet what wondrous grace we find in seeking Him through losing all for Him mark 8:33-37 . He Himself becomes our All in All i corinthians 15:28 and in giving us Himself He gives us all good things romans 8:32 psalm 34:10 , even happiness.

my notes:

supporting scriptures

matthew 6:32-33

For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

philippians 3:7-11

But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ — the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.

john 6:26

Jesus answered, “ I assure you: You are looking for Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.

my notes:

psalm 63:1-3

God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You.

I thirst for You;

my body faints for You

in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.

So I gaze on You in the sanctuary

to see Your strength and Your glory.

My lips will glorify You

because Your faithful love is better than life.

job 13:15

Even if He kills me, I will hope in Him.

I will still defend my ways before Him.

mark 8:33-37

But turning around and looking at His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan, because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns, but man’s!”

Summoning the crowd along with His disciples, He said to them, “If anyone wants to be My follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it. For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world yet lose his life? What can a man give in exchange for his life?

i corinthians 15:28

And when everything is subject to Christ, then the Son Himself will also be subject to the One who subjected everything to Him, so that God may be all in all.

romans 8:32

He did not even spare His own Son

but offered Him up for us all;

how will He not also with Him grant us everything?

psalm 34:10

Young lions lack food and go hungry,

but those who seek the Lord

will not lack any good thing.

additional passages to consider:

for further study

ecclesiastes 5:15-20

ecclesiastes 2:26

philippians 4:4-13

i john 3:18-20

psalm 73

job 6:10

psalm 84:10-12

psalm 89:14-17

psalm 94:12-13

psalm 106:1-5

psalm 112

psalm 119:1-4

ii corinthians 7:4

hebrews 10:34

acts 5:41

habakkuk 3:17-19

philippians 2:17

ecclesiastes 7:10-14

matthew 5:3-12

my notes: