PURSUITS

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

ARE YOU SEEKING?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

I get this a lot.

“Come on Pastor, its right there in the Bible, eat drink and be happy?”

And yes…it is…

Ecclesiastes 8:15

¹⁵ So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad.

But I often counter with “but does that REALLY make you happy?”

Why"

Because if it did, then why are you talking to “that weird transformational recovery”wacko and not out there “pursuing that happiness”?

Hmmm....

We all think we got a handle on this old and tricky “pursuit of happiness thing”; it is even one of our unalienable rights. And boy do we chase it and chase it hard.

For the recovering we have chased it in every conceivable form haven't we?

From a couple of beers after work to hard core partying, from a casual flirtation to an affair, from an experiment to an obsession, we have chased it. We have even thought we have “found” it once or twice. But finding TRUE happiness in the things of this world is well…elusive and frankly impossible.

The smartest cat to ever walk the planet, Solomon, tried it and came to that conclusion.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-2

I said to myself, "Come on, let's try pleasure. Let's look for the ‘good things' in life." But I found that this, too, was meaningless. So I said...What good does it do to seek pleasure?"

He couldn’t find “real” happiness with what the world had to offer, AND HE HAD ALL the world had to offer. Money, fame, the cool crib, lots of babes, let’s face it; he was the first real “player”. And as hard as he lived and as hard as he tried, he couldn’t find the answer to happiness here on earth.

You see finding TRUE happiness in the things of the world is kind of like grabbing a greased down watermelon in a swimming pool. Impossible.

And in life, these “happiness watermelons” bob all around us, promising joy and satisfaction. But the truth is as soon as we “think” we have "it", it slips right out of our grasp. But we keep on chasing don't we? Always thinking that if we can just find the right person, the right job, and the right friends, the RIGHT HIGH then we'll be happy.
But we won't.

Why? All of that stuff is okay right?

Absolutely, GOD has given us CREATION for our ENJOYMENT we are just not to seek CREATION for our JOY. Follow me?

Remember the “joy of the LORD (not creation) is our strength” and real joy comes from, is rooted in and is expressed through GOD and GOD alone.

So what are we to do?

Well the answer is right there. Pursue GOD.

We want to be happy.

GOD wants us to be happy.

So instead of seeking happiness in the things around us, let’s pursue the SOURCE of ALL JOY!

GOD.

Psalm 37:9

…those who wait and hope and look for the Lord [in the end] shall inherit the earth.

And the Lord asks us to pursue these things...

1 Timothy 6:11-18

…pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

True happiness is found when we live in obedience to God. In fact that pursuit is really the only chase worth “chasing”.

When we shift the pursuit from our happiness (indulgences, selfish compulsions) to His happiness, check this out...

1 Timothy 6:17-18

¹⁷ Command those…to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

...look what we find!

Have a blessed day!

I love you all

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney