So You Want to be Happy?
By Scott Phillips
By Scott Phillips
As we walk down the road of life, we have a choice of how we approach life. I would like to give you how I try to approach to life. I see this same approach in scripture. If I may say, the approach of those I have considered in scripture, there was an attitude towards life that captured their minds and powered their life that is identifiable.
From Abel, to Noah, To Abraham, To Jacob, To Joseph, To Moses, To Joshua, To David, To Christ, To the disciples. They had a philosophy of life that if we can learn to follow it, we will find what the world and it's trinkets cannot supply. I will use the eleventh chapter of Ecclesiastes as my scriptural basis.
"Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days."
Take a risk, playing safe is for wimps.
"Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth."
Give. Live your life based on what you can offer and not what you can get. Let your motivation be, who can I help, how can I help, what can I do. Leave a Mark. A spirit of generosity should define
the character of God's people.
"If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be."
Everything is a product of something else. It rains because the Clouds are full of rain. A tree falls and where it falls there it is. Don't over-analyze things, take a deep breath, say a prayer and
chill out.
"He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap."
Don't be pessimistic.
When I was a teenager, I had a drive to do better than average in money. I was not content to work for minimum wage while I saw that my hard work was making money for the man that was my boss. So I saved my money and purchased lawn equipment that would help me buy the tools to do better. I remember when I had finally saved enough,
my Dad went and purchased what I needed with the money I had saved.
I ran an add in the classifieds that week and on that Friday and Saturday I had worked hard and made more money than I had to that point.
As time passed, many times I would get up in the morning and look at the weather and would make a decision based on what the
weather looked like, and often the forecast was wrong. I remember many times my dad would tell me, " He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." So even when the clouds were dark in the morning, I found that as the sun rose it would burn the clouds off more often than it would rain.
If you're looking for the perfect day to do something, the perfect day will never come. Don't wait for the perfect scenario, work towards making your own scenario. Don't wait for someone to hand it to you, work towards it, work for it and you will find that it is not how hard you work, but can you plan to make things better.
I learned then as a young man, you got to be willing to work the minimum wage job, to save the money to buy the equipment to do better. Some think they are too good to work a low paying job. What happens, they never reach beyond a certain point because they are not willing to do the hard dirty work to get where they want to go.
"As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good."
Your not God. You don't know everything. So don't let it stop you from doing something. Be busy doing the good you can. Sow Baby Sow, because something good will come up.
Abel was bold enough to offer what he had. Cain stopped when the first time he failed.
Noah, saw coming destruction, but that just fueled him to believe, "I can build a boat and live to see another better day."
Daniel, was a slave. But he was the best slave, and his devotion to his position elevated him to a ruler of rulers.
If your looking for an excuse to quit, you already have. However if your looking for a reason to keep going, here it is.
Faith is my forecast. No matter what cloud may arise on the Horizon. It's not going to stop me from sowing or reaping. If the clouds get full of water, it will rain. If the wind blows, the tree will fall. However these are simply facts of our existence. I am not going to let a little rain dim my view of the future.
With God is My Guide, he knows where I am going. I don't worry about tomorrow. I can only take this day, time and season and make the most of it.
It is this philosophy of life that caused God's people to triumph.
We have hope. Hope for tomorrow. Hope for our children. Hope for the Church. And Beyond.
Will you have troubles? Will you face trials? Will you get sick?
Broke, disappointed, discouraged?
Yes.
But that is not the end. There is a Great Day Coming. Your First Day in heaven as you stroll down the golden avenue.
When you taste of that clear water, and eat that heavenly fruit,
When you see Paul and Bartholomew.
Oh, it will be worth it all. All your prayer, all your giving, all your sacrifice, all your trials, all your temptation.
"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (19) For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." Romans 8:18-19 KJV
It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus.
Live your life in Anticipation.
The Miracles, The Revival, The Healings, The Harvest, The Deliverance, The Joys.
In Him, By Him, Through Him,
Scott Phillips
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