A common universal goal of humankind is to be happy. Jesus, in what is known as the sermon on the mount knows how important being happy is to each person. He also knows that people seek a kind of happiness that is not lasting and often brings eventual misery in their life’s and finally brings eternal misery. The meaning of the word blessed is appropriately defined as to make happy, to bring prosperity. Jesus begins each statement in Matthew 5.3-11 with, “BLESSED ARE ……,” or in other words, “HAPPY ARE …….” When you look at what Jesus defines as happiness, as things that bring prosperity it is in sharp contrast to what people perceive as things that result in happiness.

Matthew 5.3-12

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

It is interesting, how Jesus understands humankind’s passion for happiness. So, He presents this lesson to the crowd before him on the mountain. The words of Jesus, beginning each thought with Happy are (or Blessed are) ….. “nine different things are mentioned above to bring happiness.” There must have been great interest when those words came from the mouth of Jesus – what would follow as the answer to happiness? Jesus not only knew humankind’s pursuit of happiness, but also knew they were looking for happiness in all the wrong places. I suspect the words of Jesus were not what they wanted to hear. In addition to how God defines happiness in these verses, you may begin to understand that God’s view of just about everything will be different than humankind’s perspective. There are going to be many things that you believe SHOULD BE TRUE that will invariably be quite different than God’s perspective. In every area of life, God’s way will be different and you can only correctly understand God and life if He reveals these things – which He most graciously does. God designed everything to be consistent with HIS PURPOSE – not your purpose and consequently not your view of how things should be. Why, you might ask is there such disparity? Life is a test and God’s test is perfect and you can view things your way or God’s way. In making choices your character is revealed.
Jesus describes happiness and it is different than you think it should be and largely because God wants you to be happy eternally and not everyone is willing to see past gaining happiness during their lifetime.
The same answer to happiness described by Jesus over 2000 years ago remains the only road to true, lasting happiness and few care to hear it. The personal characteristics of Matthew 5 do not bring happiness in an earthy way, that is riches, fulfillment of desires and in fact may cause a person to be treated poorly. Jesus was pointing people to something infinitely better and not only is there intrinsic eternal happiness in doing what God directs, but the knowledge of the reward brings great happiness in your lifetime. A wise person realizes there is no true, lasting happiness on earth and thus when learning of an eternal place with perpetual happiness there is overwhelming joy. The fruits of the Spirit that are characteristic of God’s faithful children include happiness defined consistently with the what God describes here in Matthew 5.3-12.

Galatians 5.22-25

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

The Truth About Seeking Earthly Happiness

Happiness is sought with great fervor. This intense effort to fulfill your dreams of earthly happiness usually brings much grief. The grief may be your own or you may cause others grief as you aggressively allow nothing to stand in the way of your happiness. The nature of this happiness search is frequently, if not always, the opposite of what Jesus describes as bringing happiness. Jesus is pointing to attitudes that are not selfish, self-centered, but represent a concern for others more than self and a devotion to God’s directions. A component of your happiness may be to gain high esteem and require you to harm others to achieve your happiness. Obviously, such plans are in opposition to the advice of Jesus for realizing happiness. It is not surprising that those who fail in life in effect act in opposition to God’s advice for happiness. This is because people generally seek all the world has to offer and the world is at enmity with God.

James 4:4

4 ………. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

The very special creation of God is humankind and yet the world is at enmity with God. There is a wall of animosity, of bitterness, of hostility between God and the world. The world has chosen to disregard God and His commandments. Thus associating with the world will not allow you to achieve happiness. This has been happening since the beginning and that includes Adam and Eve’s choice to disobey God. Today the schools teach godless doctrines, politicians support godless laws and the news media on a daily basis presents material in a way that belief in God is not even a reasonable choice. So, if your friend is the world, your enemy is God. Pretty harsh, pretty direct and it may seem incredible that we cannot love God and love the world. As you understand God, it makes perfect sense. God teaches you cannot have two masters and being God He perfectly understands what the world offers. The world offers the pride of life, the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh and these things separate you from God. The world provides continual deceit to convince people to accept what the world offers. God also knows that humankind will see nothing wrong and even laugh at the the words of God in relation to HOW to live. There is a great division and you cannot be a friend of God and a friend of the world. You will clearly make choices that will determine your happiness. The reason God allows sin is because your life is a test and a test requires you be able to make free will choices. God provides the remedy for sin, but the world or even the religions of the world will help you to realize the solution.

Do Not Underestimate God’s Revenge

Do not believe that the God of heaven, the only God that ever existed, the God of the bible, the God of love will not enact His revenge on those who die in sin, who in effect reject His Son. God’s perfect justice and His inability to lie (His word will be found true) means a certain exceedingly unhappy fate awaits those who fail. God warns of this continually in His word by indicating it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. He indicates, “vengeance is Mine”, says the Lord. This is not His desire for you, but happiness, yet He will not have those who choose pride, those who are not trustworthy and obedient to share eternity. God uses sin, which He defines as the cornerstone for the test to judge your worthiness. It will be your choices in relation to living in sin or rejecting sin that ultimately will determine your eternal fate. Since God indicates that all will sin, it would seem all will be lost. Yet, those who will reject sin and seek forgiveness can achieve heaven because of what Jesus accomplished. As Paul said, knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men. God gives humankind a taste of terror when He indicates the finality of your fate. Some may laugh at God, reject God and His Son, but heed these words and determine not to be the object of God’s wrath.

Proverbs 1.24-30

24 Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
25 Because you disdained all my counsel,
And would have none of my rebuke,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when your terror comes,
27 When your terror comes like a storm,
And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
28 “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord,
30 They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.

Someone might say, it seems it is more important to avoid the horrible unhappiness that God points to as eternal than to gain happiness. Losing your soul is indeed the only real tragedy of your existence and your success or failure is all determined during your lifetime. These are such extremes, either horrific unhappiness or magnificent, indescribable happiness. Most people cannot accept God’s way of dealing with humankind in the way the scriptures indicate – it is too harsh, too unfair. It is perfect, a perfect test to determine the fate of each person by their own choices. It is a perfect plan consistent with God’s Purpose. A person rejects God’s way because of pride and it might be expressed as, “No one tells me how to live” or “I do not understand why God does this or that and therefore I reject God’s word.” Those failing in life place themselves in the position of judging God, of knowing better than God. In some way it will always be pride, selfishness that is behind missing out on happiness.

James 4.6

6 “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

God’s word is perfect in consistency and we see throughout this page that the poor in spirit are really the humble and those are such as the kingdom of heaven. Such a simple thing to achieve heaven and likewise a simple thing to make choices that condemn. It will be your attitude, your will, your courage, your open-mindedness that decides your fate. What a beautiful, simple and perfect test that will decide your eternity.

Our Great Plans
But First, What Do We Want To Achieve?

There are various routes that people plan for their happiness. Some plans are very elaborate and others are simple and often are created, improvised as you progress through life, but for both their plan is what they believe will satisfy. The vast majority of people assume happiness is strongly associated with money, romance, family, fulfillment, security, respect, success, relationships and love. Part of happiness for some involves sacrifice, helping others as this brings satisfaction. Your happiness may be largely selfish or it may be more associated with sacrifice, helping. Most people have a mixture of both. Neither will bring you true happiness, although those who have no compassion and are purely self-centered and conceited are just passing through life headed for a horrific end. The ones with more compassion, who can see beyond their selfishness are more likely to find true happiness. Nonetheless, pride in what they believe and a closed mind may keep them from ever achieving true happiness.
In creating a road-map for our happiness, we often “jump from place to place” taking the best of our experiences and mixing them with pleasurable things and philosophies that have influenced our life. Quite often a person needs to stop and ask, “What am I trying to achieve.” My observation with a very large number of diverse people is that they want a peaceful life, free from the cares that plague the world. That is, free from disease and free from financial worry, a warm and supportive family and friends with a variety of additional perks like travel, enjoying companionship and the list gets very long. There are many that would be happy if they have food, if they can feed their loved ones. There is a smaller group that say they want to be the best, they want power, to be highly respected, to have all the things of the wealthiest persons and this list can be never ending. Regardless, if you set reasonable, survivable or extravagant goals you know what you want. None of these goal types will bring happiness, but again at best temporary happiness.

Not Caring or
Not Caring Enough About Life’s Meaning

A deadly attitude is not caring. We know the devoted atheist does not care to learn of heaven. Yet, the vast majority of those who claim belief in God also go through life with a “wait and see” attitude. In effect, such people are wasting their time on earth and this in itself will never be acceptable. The idea, and it is very common, is to live in two worlds and achieve gain in both. There is fundamentally nothing incorrect in having things in this life, but your priority needs to favor God and it is a priority seen in your life actions. Those who attempt to live in both, favoring the things of the world in reality are those who do not care about truth. They find some truth, but never refine it such that they can benefit from it because they don’t care. You cannot put God “on the back burner” and expect to find heaven. In fact, you cannot begin down the road to heaven and then look back – a person looks back because that is where their heart really wants to be. The person living on the fence ends up being unhappy in the world AND in the spiritual sense.

Luke 9.62

62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Lot’s wife looked back and was destroyed. In Hebrews 10.38,39, the warning to God’s children is not to draw back and specifically draw back to sin.

Hebrews 10.38,39

38 Now the just shall live by faith;
But if anyone draws back,
My soul has no pleasure in him.
39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

You might get the notion that very few will be in heaven and you would be correct. The scriptures so indicate and no more strongly than in Matthew 7.13,14.

Jesus was saying in Matthew 5 that true, lasting happiness exists only in heaven. The kind of person who achieves heaven will demonstrate certain characteristics during their lifetime. Living in that character will bring a person as much happiness as is possible in their earthly existence. Which characteristics spoken by Jesus from the mount are the most important? The answer is, all of them are crucial to your success.

Understand
“Being Poor In Spirit”

The few who attain meaningful happiness during their life may very well appear to be the most miserable to others. I once heard a rather powerful, but totally dishonest and self-centered person ridicule Matthew 5.3.

Matthew 5:3

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The ridicule, really the laughing at this scripture and at Jesus came from the notion that it was silly to think people could be happy and walk around with long, sad faces. You can believe about anything from the scriptures if you never desire to understand God, never desire to come to a knowledge of the truth. Much of the world “handles” scripture without regard for understanding and thus looking at Matthew 5.3 this person believed poor in spirit means unhappiness. Jesus, however is saying HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO ARE POOR IN SPIRIT and the reason is because theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The poor in spirit are those who realize the seriousness of their condition, that is a sin condition which separates them from God. Many will read, hear God’s word and not be effected by the message. The message tells of sin’s seriousness in relation to their eternity. The lost may ridicule scripture, laugh at the notion of God and disrespect God’s word leading to their own demise. Their attitude is one of arrogance, of pride, and of no one tells me what to do. The contrasting attitude is one of being deeply saddened by their sin. We might say they are POOR IN SPIRIT, seriously distraught. Such a person will seek God’s forgiveness and is willing to humble themselves before God and obey His will. That obedience places them on the road to heaven, now they have a real hope of real happiness. The world will always disappoint sooner or later and often continuously. The world wants it NOW, while God’s children lay up their treasures in heaven. They do as Jesus indicated, to save your life you must lose it. The “world” on the other hand tries to gain everything that is seen as desirable. Jesus makes it clear if you gain the whole world what have you profited if you lose your soul. So, this person laughing at the scripture is simply viewing the verse from his point of view. Without a love of the truth and a humble attitude such naysayers will never understand the scriptures sufficiently to obey and ultimately receive the great reward in heaven. It is a wonderful thing how God provides the answers to life, but in a way that only those with a good heart can understand the message.

You may have read this page with the initial idea of finding out how to be happy and indeed you can, but very likely not as you expected. Those people before Jesus as He delivered the sermon on the mount were undoubtedly surprised. The leaders of the Jews in those days were looking for a physical answer that would free them from the bonds of the Roman empire, but Jesus talked of a spiritual kingdom. A kingdom in relation to the salvation of their souls, of a kingdom everlasting in heaven. Jesus words will bring intense consideration and wonder for many people, but to most it will bring a rejection, a denial of His words as truth. His words are simply something to put out of their minds because they live for now, for all they see, for all they can possess. It would be better to be sad and thoughtful about the words of Jesus. Just maybe that will be a start, a step towards being “Poor In Spirit” and consequently a step towards heaven for you. In this you can be happy in your present existence, that is you can look down the road of life to heaven and eternal happiness.

At Best There Is Temporary Happiness On Earth

We can achieve temporary happiness when our child is born, when we gather with family and friends, when we see people we love achieve success, when we sacrifice for others. Indeed, these are temporary, but pleasant and yet eventually fade away. We try to prolong the good times, but it is impossible. God’s people realize that in the next life there is no continuation of the past good times and in fact friends and family were simply part of this existence. Those friends and family could have been entirely different persons. You will stand alone in judgment as will all your friends and family. During your lifetime, you can be and should be thankful to God for the good relationships. Many think they can be happy if they fill themselves with various sensual pleasures, but these are short-lived and usually eventually bring big problems. It is amazing that a person does not stop and think to realize that life never brings much happiness. There are moments, there are dreams of what you desire, there are successes, but there are ALWAYS problems, concerns, worries and often depression. God never meant happiness to be other than temporary during the time of your testing. There many people we observe that we think must be happy since they have all the things of our dreams. It is usually not the case, but often there is great unhappiness. In the very best of cases there is a fragile balance for people to maintain their happiness. Always, hanging over the head of those who have much are many realities such as suffering, suffering of friends, disappointment in self or in others and eventually there is death. Jesus made the following startling comment about those who have much, those who are rich.

Mark 10:25

25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Why would Jesus say this? Well first of all because it is the truth. It does not mean you cannot achieve heaven if you are rich, but He emphasizes it will be very difficult. It would be wrong to think being poor is a good thing in relation to eternal success. Jesus, would say that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Many people without riches focus on getting all they want and can be less attentive to the truth than the rich person. Another way of saying this is that anything that distracts you, often that is something you love, something that brings you happiness can so engulf you that thoughts of God, of truth, of the purpose of life are never a consideration, much less a priority.
Below, Jesus indicates that you cannot serve two masters and He is specifically referring to serving God and serving mammon, that is riches.

Matthew 6:24

24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

It just turns out that seeking; having earthly riches according to Jesus is a particularly strong force that replaces the things people need to be rich in the next life. No matter where you look, there is unhappiness, temporary happiness at best. There is not even a hope of permanent happiness in our earthly existence. You simply cannot be successful serving God if riches or any other thing dominates your life. Indeed, you will be loyal to riches or loyal to God because they are in conflict. The desire to live both in the world and live for God is not possible according to our creator, nonetheless few will heed this advice, but say I can do both.

Jesus, “wraps up” the ideas above regarding where where your heart needs to be and is really saying much about your happiness and His concern for you to have some degree of happiness on earth. He is discussing how He will take care the daily needs of those who seek first the kingdom of God.

Matthew 6.33,34

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Can You BE HAPPY In The Present Life?

You can be happy in the present existence, but it will not be what the world judges as being happy. In fact, it is the only meaningful happiness you can experience in this life. This is because you know your existence continues and your dedication to the Savior, to the gospel will result in something permanent and wonderful. If you lose all you have, you will still be happy, since there is awaiting for you a crown of righteousness. Throughout the scriptures, God describes the reward awaiting those that love Him. He reveals the wonder of eternal happiness and eternal prosperity.

1 Corinthians 2:9

9 But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

There Is Nothing New Under The Sun

More than 900 years before Christ, Solomon wrote there was nothing new under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 1.9,10

9 That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which it may be said,
“See, this is new”?
It has already been in ancient times before us.

When you understand God and His purpose you understand this statement in relation to God’s purpose. All the “wonders” of modern science and engineering are all very new and there is a continual stream of new “Things.” The important things are not the physical things, but the things in relation to your soul. There is nothing new. There has always been sin, greed, envy, lust as well as honorable things like humility, self sacrifice, courage to do the right thing to mention a few. There has been happiness at times, but always temporary. Those times of happiness are usually surrounded by times of times of unhappiness or at best concerns, worries and other unpleasant matters. That has been the way it was from the beginning. That picture of life is not one of happiness. On the other hand, what God has promised (heaven) to those who love Him, that is keep His commandments is continual happiness – never ending. Most will fail to see beyond what they want TODAY and even act to avoid the real truth about life.

The Difficult, Treacherous Road
To Earthly Happiness

You suffer loss, perhaps loved ones in death or perhaps in your disappointment with their choices and yet life is not about any personal earthly relationship. Friends and family appreciate your generosity and kindness and likewise you appreciate theirs, but the joy of such things like everything is temporary. God’s people see the world in need of the gospel and realize bringing the gospel message is the best thing you can do for someone. Life is full of ups and downs, highs and lows and there can be happiness, there can be joy. We may work very hard to sustain these things, but the very nature of earthly happiness is fleeting as one thing is completed and we are off to the next. God does not want you to be unhappy, but the opposite. However, the happiness He has planned for you is not of the earth. The creation including the earth as the primary stage exists to determine your worthiness for eternal happiness.

It turns out there is no apparent way to be happy in this life. If you find happiness it brings a new concern, even worry in relation to maintaining that happiness. Life is hurried, not enough time and there are all these disturbances to your plan for happiness. Illness, death of loved ones, loss of jobs, cruel actions by others, blatant injustice and time passes and every person grows closer to a known event – their own death. In addition to an “age limit” for humankind, we all observe that there are many deaths well before “old age.” There are times of satisfaction and contentment, but even for the apparently “most successful” beneath the surface there are many problems. The hope of happiness sustains many just as the opposite leads others to despair. Yes, many have or will eventually give up on happiness. Where is the true, consistent and eternal happiness?

Is It Really A Surprise,
That People Are Not Happy?

Many people spend every waking moment in the pursuit of earthly happiness. That in itself makes people unhappy. Maybe I should say they spend every waking moment in pursuit of things they believe will make them happy. If they do not get what they want, they are even more unhappy. If they get what they want, they will want more or realize this thing did not bring the happiness as anticipated. There are some people who are happy, albeit temporary. The fear of losing happiness can change your happy state to one of depression. The world advertises happiness by showing people enjoying many things that are either unrealistic or make people APPEAR to be very happy. The “world” seeks to be like those who appear to be so incredibly happy.

Do You Really See Happiness On Earth?

If people are honest with themselves, they routinely see a great deal more apprehension, concern, worry and often downright difficult and gut-wrenching situations than they do the pleasant things of life. Young people are mislead about life and its purpose and believe that their existence is finite. No matter how convincing the teachers and the textbooks, there is no excuse for NOT coming to a correct understanding of life. Nonetheless, the imagined philosophies and teachings of humankind devastate the masses and the actions of people correspond to the lies they accept. As a result of these godless teachings, people try to squeeze in as much happiness and good times as possible. More and more you see people living for now and for themselves and it makes perfect sense if there was no God, no eternity. It is amazing the extent people will go to show there is no God, to continually reinforce to themselves that there is no God. Of course, the dreaded and feared thing is that God might exist and that He is the God of the bible.

The Difficulty, The Price, The Pain
Of Finding/Keeping Happiness On Earth

The world’s road to happiness is GREED, but it must be achieved without appearing greedy.
Society honors riches, beauty, power and godless behavior and behind living this way is GREED.
In reality, it is selfishness – everything for me and who I love and I will do whatever it takes to get what I want. This is not happiness, at best it is fleeting happiness. There is always more to get, more to protect. Life becomes for many, paranoia. As your way of life becomes threatened or diminished, all sorts of cruel actions are now possible. People wonder after doing something out of character, “Why did I do that.” Often, there was a threat to your way of life and you reacted, poorly. If your treasures were laid up in heaven you could handle the tough things of life. So who is happy, the one with much who fears losing it or the one who knows that he/she could lose everything and not be concerned?

Sometimes being happy is simply being without pain, maybe just being able to breathe, maybe being able to see a little better, maybe being able to walk from room to room without too much pain, maybe finding out the illness you have can be helped. Happiness can be very relative or dependent on your situation. Happiness in this sense seems very elusive and such is life. Jesus, offers something different and all you have to do is open your mind to the truth. Study the scriptures with a love of the truth and you will know what God has in mind for you to know, NOW.

2 Peter 1.3-5

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

How does what Peter says about the next life sound compared to what life on earth has to offer?
Life on earth is very corruptible as everything fades away, especially people. Yet, heaven is a meaningful inheritance and NOW for the child of God there is a living hope and guaranteed to be delivered by God through faith. There is such a contrast between what is revealed in the last time for God’s children versus those who die in their sins. God tells His children they have a reservation in heaven – if they remain faithful. Those outside Christ, will have an eternity to face the fact that their pride kept them from true happiness.

Where Is Your Emphasis In Life,
Where Is Your Heart,
What Are Your Plans For Success?

Where are you laying up your treasures – in a bank account?
The advice given by Jesus in Matthew 6.19-21 is something that appears to bring happiness, namely the idea of building up treasures on earth, but once again we see the temporary nature of such things. God wants you to see beyond this life and the scriptures help you to do that in a way that you are strengthened day by day.

Matthew 6.19-21

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

So, with this advice Jesus also tells us why we desperately need to act differently than the world. Very simply, because this reveals truly who we are and that might be a clear revelation to even ourselves. We might say our heart is with God, with obedience, with spiritual things, but if we are laying up treasures on earth then realize all is not well with our souls. The bible message is that life is all about the soul and absolutely nothing else. Thus when Jesus speaks of happiness in Matthew 5.3-12 it is about the soul. It is Jesus’ mission, “To seek and save that which was lost.” No one has our happiness in mind more than God and no one gave more that we might succeed than Jesus.

Just One Focus In All Of Existence,
Just One Reason

There is a single continuous focus throughout scripture and it is your soul. It is not any other thing. There is creation and the focus is those created in the image of God. It is not the creation of the earth, the universe, the other living things, but the focus is humankind and very specifically in your case, it is you. Jesus is there because of you, because God wants you to be successful – you are the focus. You are on center stage and the stage is the rest of creation. Indeed, there are the props and there is you.
When Jesus talked of happiness, it is your happiness and if you can be the kind of person He describes you can receive the reward. However, as we have seen Jesus’ description of happiness is not what the world sees as happiness. This is because your life, on the stage of life is a test and the way to succeed is to listen to God’s advice. There is absolutely nothing else, no other meaning to life than your soul. You can be involved in 100’s of different pursuits, but they will all disappear and one thing will be left – did you achieve heaven? In 1 Peter, there is a description of how the earth and all physical creation will be destroyed – it will follow Jesus return in the sky and taking of those who are in Christ. The others still alive will be taken to the judgment, but the earth no longer matters. God destroys his physical creation, the stage on which your life has been “played out” is no longer needed.

2 Peter 3.10-12

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

It is interesting how even the, “works therein will be destroyed.” You may have been famous, you may have been wealthy, you may have many memories, you may have received various honors or you may have had very little. In every case, the works includes everything including any thing physical thing or emotional event will be gone. These things were never the purpose, they were never the focus. God knows everything about you, every deed whether good, evil, cruel, noble, kind and every thought or motive of your life. Life is about your soul, finally it is over and when Jesus comes you will understand that life was ONLY about your soul. Nothing else will matter to you. If you listened to Jesus explaining true happiness and lived accordingly, finding and obeying the truth you will receive the happiness of heaven. Such a person is the kind of person God will accept for heaven – you will not need to change. You need to make the transformation in your life, while you can during your lifetime. You were happy in life because you understood life and could differentiate between what the world sees as happiness and what life is all about. There may be tough times in your life, but as you endure you know there is a better time coming and you know you are pleasing God. In pleasing God and enduring the difficulties lies true happiness. The message is clear, life is short and worldly happiness is very temporary. Yet day in and day out people seek all things that SEEM to bring happiness. We speak of “lessons learned” in business and in life and God has provided in Solomon one who learned the lessons very well – the hard way. You can read about Solomon and his greatness, his wisdom, his achievements, his power and his failure as he went rapidly downhill as he tried to grab all life could offer. In Ecclesiastes, he concludes all is vanity and laments all he has done in opposition to God. Finally, he gives the following advice and it points to a single focus for life. It points to true happiness and it is as unexpected as was Jesus description of happiness. It is what Solomon now knows as he writes these words toward the latter part of his life. This is the way to live life, because the focus is the soul and none of the things people associate with the “good life.”

Ecclesiastes 12.13,14

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
14 For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.

The lesson to be learned
Fear God and Keep His Commandments.

Because Life Is About You

You can understand God as He has revealed Himself and then you can appreciate the importance of living your life for God. We see that God will destroy His creation, save that which is eternal, that is humankind who is made in God’s image. Can you understand why God will destroy all the physical things – this earth, the planets, the stars, the galaxies, absolutely everything? If you understand God, it is easy to understand. These things, these things of immense beauty were the stage for the test and no more. In some way everything physical is a burden. Things like eating, sleeping and all things associated with physical existence are things not needed in the spiritual existence. We love these things because it is all we know and we rightly thank God for the beautiful things of life, for the relationships and for our sustenance. Of course, I do not understand the things past this life, but God reveals how different the spiritual existence will be and that is true for those who succeed and for those who fail. Indeed, you should fear God, it is very wise. Out of that fear can come devotion, obedience and love, but to the selfish and proud they will not like idea of God using fear. How little they know compared to God who knows fear assists, motivates humankind towards obedience. It is exceedingly better to be driven initially by fear than to lose your soul. God has done all He can to help you be successful, yet the vast majority of the world either believes He does not exist or that He is not the God of the bible. Once again and in every way, God’s test is perfect in separating those who love Him for those who love themselves and respect the words of others more than His word.

How easy, yet how difficult people make life out to be. There is so much bad advice, especially from religion. Read the scriptures and see a single focus on each person following God’s way or choosing their way. One way leads to success for their soul and the other leads to failure. All the advice such as lay up treasures in heaven, all the parables are in relation to failing or succeeding in life. It is only about the soul – life is about the soul and nothing else. When you perceive that life is about something else your actions will correlate to what that “something else is.” You think life is short and then you go out of existence. You must hurry to get all you can whatever fills your desires. Do you think it is important to know the mechanism of your existence, of the existence of everything, then fill your life with searching for answers. Such a search will be futile and bring no happiness, but it will eventually bring great unhappiness as you have wasted your life.

Jesus provides a wonderful and powerful lesson in the story of a person who laid up treasures, worldly treasures. His focus in life was getting all he could – certainly he did not realize life was about the soul. Jesus on the other hand was totally focused on obeying the Father and knew all He did in obedience was because the Father’s focus was on the souls of each person.

Luke 12.16-21

16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.
17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’
18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’
20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Everything in scripture has a single focus and this man in the parable is just like the vast majority of the world. His focus was happiness which he thought he would find in, “Eat, drink and be merry.” Life, however is not about this life and Jesus points out that this night his soul will be required. This is indeed a man of the world and how many look at this man and say the same thing, perhaps in different ways. As Jesus concludes, those who lay up treasures for themselves will sooner or later find his/her soul is required. Those who understand God know that their treasures need to be rich toward God. That is, not toward their earthly wealth in support of their pride, their lust of the eyes, their lust of the flesh.

Unhappiness Will Follow Many Into Eternity

As you come to understand God, you will gain an appreciation for God and His purpose. There are many things He has revealed that will help those with good, honest hearts to understand. One of those things is how there will be no souls that go into eternal life, that is achieve heaven who have characteristics God will not accept. The scriptures are there, the answer to heaven is in front of you and yet most will choose to reject it. How can this be?
The answer lies in the verse that has been mentioned on this page. It is the first of the “beatitudes” or the “blessed are” or the “happy are” statements made by Jesus on the mountain. That is in Matthew 5.3. It was pointed out that the verse properly understood was indicating how a person recognized his/her state in relation sin and were thus poor in spirit. They were humble in relation to the message and would do what God directs. This is the kind of person God seeks and for them as Jesus indicates, “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” On the other hand the world is filled with people who are proud, who trust themselves and will not do what God directs in the scriptures. So, laid out in front of them is heaven and essentially they say, “No” to God. Many even deny His existence. As the scriptures teach the pride of life, the lust of the eyes and the lust of flesh are “their god’s” and the doctrine they follow. Even on earth these things bring as much pain as they do temporary happiness. Then the end comes and their earthly unhappiness (but greatly more severe) follows them into eternity. I do not know much about that final unhappy state, but it would be reasonable to think part of the unhappiness would be the awful regret for the pride that kept a person from living in an unselfish, humble way in obedience to God. The loss of heaven will be overwhelming and all because you could not see beyond this life to the next – you could not see beyond your pride.

The Characteristics God Wants In You Can Be Seen In Matthew 5.3-12

Take these things into your heart and become the person God will accept. The characteristics I see in these verses are:
verse 3: humility
verse 4: mourning in your compassion of others, such persons are capable of repentance
verse 5: meek, gentle, humble, considerate – quietly sacrifice on the behalf of others
verse 6: have a love of the truth
verse 7: merciful, forgiving attitude
verse 8: pure in heart
verse 9: peacemakers, the opposite of those who cause confusion
verse 10: the courageous
verse 11: those who do not relent from following Jesus
verse 12: as you stand for truth, you are doing what pleases God

One of the worst things about Christian religious groups is how they portray God’s expectations of people differently than the scriptures. They do this by first telling people they have a relationship with God through Christ when in fact they do not – that relationship requires obedience and continual effort to maintain the relationship. Secondly, they give the impression that God expects far, far less than the scriptures indicate. There is no mediocre way into heaven, no way to live in the world and also live for Christ. The characteristics mentioned above are the things you need to have and a way of life for God’s children. Religious leaders-there are none, yet there are people that can help, but these are not heirarchial. They are people just like you who wanted to know the truth. Nonetheless, your trust needs to be in God and He left His word for you to follow. Life is a tough test for every person, but some never enter the race because they do not have a love of the truth. Jesus, in telling you how to be happy in Matthew 5 is simultaneously telling you how to achieve heaven. Ask yourself, are you the kind of person God describes, do those characteristics describe you? The kind of person described in Matthew 5 will find the truth and accept nothing less. The net result for this person is an eternal happiness to look forward to and a means to be content during their lifetime.

Be Happy

Be Happy sounds like a command, it is not, but it is a choice. It is really many choices you make regarding how you will live your life. Being happy is not the result of your dreams coming true, that is your dreams of the things people believe brings happiness. Happiness is the result of living your life as God requires. To many this must seem a long way from happiness, but that is the test. Can you see beyond the days, years, and decades to an exceedingly better life? Apparently, most cannot since most live for now. There is a secret to having earthly happiness, but it is seldom spoken of or discussed. It is enacted, by the vast majority of the world. Here is the secret to happiness, live your life as though there is no next life, ignore anything that has to do with God and rapidly accept anything that supports such a belief. In other words, avoid, ignore and even ridicule belief in God. As a result, many people unquestionably accept things like the big bang and evolution. They actually believe that these things are true and consequently they never seek out the truth about life. So, do these people achieve earthly happiness? Yes, I am sure they can, but as always it is temporary and carries the concern, eventually the worry about maintaining happiness. Like the ostrich sticking his head in the sand, the inevitable is only delayed in a person’s mind. Earthly happiness is over-rated and is only valuable when associated with a path leading to eternal happiness.

There Is No Time To Consider Life’s Meaning

The excuse for knowing so little about life’s meaning is that we are too busy to consider the deeper questions of life. James gives an example of the busyness of humankind.

James 4.13-16

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”;
14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

God is very direct here comparing your life to a vapor that appears and just as quickly vanishes. The scriptures encourage humankind to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” The great stumbling block is in the boasting, the arrogance, the pride and in view of the shortness of life, our chances pass quickly. The boasting is evil simply because it is your soul at stake and to those who are lost eternally, you will indeed understand the damage boasting about your life has caused. The boasting in this example is “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit.” It is as simple as the mistake Cain made by substituting for what God directed. What is important to you “making the profit” or “If the Lord wills.”

Your Pride Stands In Your Way

Why in the world would you believe God (if you believe in God) will conform to your way, your ideas of God and the afterlife? We are so sure that God will judge this way or that and will God turn out to be just as we want Him to be. However, as you begin to understand God it will be clear that we can only know how God will judge, how God “sees things” if He revealed them. Almost, without exception the way humankind views God is very close to the opposite of God’s nature. This, like all things with God is by design. The proud, the arrogant will not come to a correct understanding of God because what they think is how it MUST BE. The humble and strong person will learn of God and what He requires. Humility is there because your way is not as important as God’s way. It will also take great strength/courage to go into action when God’s way is difficult. How strong must you be if you learn that Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Mormonism and the other man-made religions are false? Moving away from friends, family, trusted religious persons to follow after the truth will not be easy. Nonetheless, move away from the deceit quickly and decisively. Start your new life in obedience and press forward to the goal God wants for every person – heaven.
The devastating nature of pride in the grand scheme of eternal things is apparently highly under-rated. In every case, pride will come before your destruction, that is before your eternal loss. God makes this clear in Proverbs 16.18.

Proverbs 16.18

18 Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall.

Haughty carries the idea of pride, but also arrogance, exceeding disdain, snobbish. Such people place themselves on a high pedestal, being better than others and even better than God. Often, their actions, their outward appearance and character play the opposite role, but God knows the heart. The problem: such people will not follow God.

How God Planned Happiness For His Creation

First let’s establish God’s desire for humankind.

2 Peter 3:9

9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

1 Timothy 2.3,4

3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Indeed, God wants us to succeed and the ultimate gift to humankind is His own Son. It is the unfathomable gift from God wherein He shows His love of His creation.

Now, the following is to help you understand God better. We begin with understanding that life is a test and all the things that are physical are just part of the stage on which your life test is occurring. Time was created as an important part of the test. Sin has a central role in your final success or failure. Sin represents the rules of the test and humankind learns of the rules from God’s word. In addition, since you are made in the image of God in some way you understand, we might say even feel shame in doing wrong. Eventually, continuation in sin hardens a person and sin is no longer bothersome.

We live in this world and seeking the things of the world seems natural. After all this is our existence, these are our surroundings and living in a way to better our condition seems normal. So, when Jesus describes happiness in Matthew 5, it seems to be in opposition to what we understand as bringing happiness. Throughout scripture we see a similar message from God in relation to being successful in life. A reasonable conclusion from all scripture would be that God’s test determines those who can give up this present life (that is the desirable things of this life that are defined by God as sinful) and live for the next life. Why would God do this? Again, a reasonable conclusion would be that this is the best way to test the character of men and women. You may not understand why this is the best way, but as you study what God revealed this is God’s plan to achieve His purpose. There should be no surprise when Jesus says, “To save your life you must lose it.”

Mark 8:35,36

35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.
36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

Then a reasonable conclusion would be that it is difficult for humankind to be successful. Jesus confirms this in Matthew 7.13,14.

Matthew 7:13,14

13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

God is not looking for a person who lives like there is a casual road to heaven, but God seeks those dedicated to truth, humble souls with courage to do the right thing. God is central to their life’s and they show this by living in obedience to His will. How in the world, did humankind ever come to believe God will accept less than He has revealed as requirements for a successful life? One answer is that this is what the religion of humankind teaches. They project a life of convenience where you can live with one foot in the world and one in a spiritual sense, following God. It is popular because in this scenario you possibly can achieve what you want in terms of happiness now and then finally in heaven. Whereas, throughout scriptures God is saying life is difficult, life needs to be lived in obedience and to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.

Romans 12.1

12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

The sacrifice for God’s children is in choosing to obey God inasmuch as that obedience is one of denying sin, of service to others, of placing God first in our life. God’s children daily are winning the battle between themselves and sin. This is presenting your bodies as a living sacrifice and in a similar way Jesus presented His human body daily to the Father as a living sacrifice, but in His case He became a literal sacrifice for our sins.

A Living Sacrifice Means Submitting to God

Romans 10:3

3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

“Submitting to the righteousness of God” is where humankind fails and as you look at the world, how many are willing to do what God requires? So do you think that God will be able to determine those worthy for heaven? Every person who is lost will be in that condition because of choices they made. Just as every person achieving heaven will be there because of choices they made, specifically as a result of submitting to the righteousness of God. Again and again the scriptures are saying in different ways exactly what Jesus taught, that is, if you gain everything you ever desired what value is there if you lose your soul. Life is about the soul and absolutely nothing else.
Someone might read this and think that God asks too much. Of course, in the final analysis every person will wish they took God seriously and lived for the next life at any cost. Yet one should not think that the life you live for Christ is one of misery, but instead it is the best life. It is the best life because you live with a hope of heaven with the satisfaction of knowing the truth about life. You live in peace despite all the difficulties that surround you and that bother others greatly. You avoid all the deeply distressing things that sins brings. You live with a dedication to something of value and in service to the creator. Indeed, you are happy in life despite the apparent lack of “things.”

Death Where Is Your Sting

The world fears death and although many outwardly laugh at death there is a deep concern about what happens after life. Death is correctly to be feared and the scriptures are unambiguous on this point. If you do not believe in God there is no hope and if you do there remains fear of retribution. God’s people do a great deal more than believe in God. They have a wonderful insight and understanding of God, which leads to obedience. A consistent life of obedience and honor for God increases a persons understanding of God and His purpose and consequently provides 100% assurance of success in life. They know that God will bring them into a wonderful new eternal life if they remain faithful until death. These people can say, death where is your sting.

The visual to the left depicts the on-again, off-again happiness of earthly existence compared to the continual happiness of the next life for God’s children. The best (happiest) of earthly lives ends with death and for many this means uncertainty. By observation, life confirms that you came into life with nothing and will leave with nothing.

The scriptures teach as Romans 8.18 indicates, that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us. Conversely, we might say that the happiness we enjoy on earth is not worthy to be compared to the happiness that awaits those who love God. It is only those, who can say, “O, Death, where is your sting.”

1 Cor 15:55

55 “O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?

Godly fear plays an important role in the life of those who finally achieve the goal. The manner and purpose of fear is explained in great detail in Fear and Understand God. Fear’s part in the equation is just another example of how humankind perceives God incorrectly. Humankind does not like God to use fear as though they can dictate God’s viewpoint. God identifies the proud, those who will not follow their creator because they do not like His direction …… in this case Fear God and Keep His Commandments. When you understand God you will understand that His way is best, ALWAYS. You see God’s creation and should be in awe and yet that which is exceedingly more important to God, you somehow question. You are exceedingly more important because YOU are the purpose of creation. God has made no mistake in the process for you to be successful although He has left doors open for the proud, the selfish of the world to fail. Why? Simply because such persons are undesirable, unworthy to spend eternity with God.

Come To God Boldly In Prayer
And One Day Stand Boldly Before God

It is possible to come to judgment boldly not at all with arrogance, but with an assured confidence of the outcome. God’s children come boldly to God in prayer during their earthly life and the relationship is growing with God through Christ in their lifetime. It is wrong to think a person can at the end of their life find God and salvation. It would not be impossible, but exceedingly unlikely since God knows the heart and no one comes to heaven by some “back door.” The people who think this way are trying to live life getting all they can while not straying too far from the spiritual aspect of life. God cannot be fooled.

Hebrews 4:16

16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

As the smiley face pictures indicate happiness on earth is fleeting. There are good times and bad times or as we are discussing on this page – happy and sad times. Heaven has “one time” and it is wonderful and never ending. Heaven coach points out how the scriptures describe failing in life and it is not pleasant, but consistently awful. Despite God’s best efforts, the majority of the world selects living for now and gaining all that life on earth has to offer. Strangely, few obtain any happiness of significance and in the process assure eternal unhappiness. A relationship with God through Christ will provide consistent happiness on earth and eternal happiness in the next life. The consistent happiness you can have on earth does not mean there will be no suffering, no difficulties but “down the road” there will be heaven and that will sustain you and you can be happy knowing what awaits. There is a certain high degree of happiness in knowing you are serving the God of heaven even in “trying times.” So as Jesus ended His lesson on happiness, He describes how people will be happy in persecution, in being reviled, in being spoken of wrongly and it is all done for the sake of Christ and the gospel.

Matthew 5.10-12

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The Test To Gain Happiness
Really The War To Gain Happiness

I often refer to life as a test for each person and it most definitely is a test. The scriptures talk about a contest, but also refer to life in terms of winning or losing and even more dramatically as a war. Indeed, life is a war between good and evil, but it is a personal war between you and sin. It is not a war fought on conventional battlefields between enemies. It is a war fought on the battlefield of life, everyday of your lifetime with your enemy, sin. It is a war fought for your soul and YOU will decide during your lifetime to chose to follow God’s way or humankind’s way to happiness. Your weapons in the battle are described by God in Ephesians 6.13-18.

Ephesians 6.13-18

13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints

In the balance is your soul, your happiness and God will receive those who have demonstrated their love to Him through obedience. That is, fight the good fight using the weapons mentioned to win a daily victory over sin and then receive the crown of life.

A Final Brief Thought
Some Advice On How To Be Happy, Now

If you look at all of the advice from God, one can bluntly say, “If you want happiness on earth, stop TRYING to be happy.” Of course, that is stop trying to be happy the way THE WORLD SEEKS HAPPINESS. That will usually just make you unhappy since you can never have enough and in the end you have lost out on the only thing that matters – heaven. The connection is very clear to those who wonder why they should remove their focus from attaining worldly goals. Namely, seeking those earthly goals with all your abilities leaves no room for God, for truth and subsequent obedience. Not only is it true that you cannot serve two masters, but those intent on achieving worldly goals naturally develop characters that displease God. Such people are driven by pride, selfishness, meanness and just a long list of undesirable characteristics that will never be acceptable to God. So many think they can handle, manage living a worldly existence and still please God. Jesus was saying in Matthew 5 to be happy (and He means setting a course for heaven) that THIS is the type of person you need to be. He was not mistaken.

You should not stop trying to reach your honorable goals, but there should be nothing as important as achieving heaven. You can say you are seeking all the worldly things for your family, your loved ones, or for your friends. They do not need all those worldly things either. They need leadership, they need example and to see you as one devoted to something better. Lay up your treasures in heaven so you can achieve heaven.
Paul’s advice in Philippians is great advice in relation to happiness.

Philippians 4.6-8

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

So when you stop trying to be happy in the way the world measures happiness, then you can stop being anxious about happiness. In its place pray and think on things noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report and on virtuous things.
Look at Matthew 5.3-12 and incorporate those things into your life. There is something that brings great happiness and it is simply realizing God’s existence, His love, His promises and living for the Savior. Out of living this way you can as Paul says, be content.

Philippians 4.11-13

11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:
12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

You can do “all things” because of Christ’s sacrifice and because He strengthens His Children. Happiness is within your reach now and eternally. It will require a different you, the new you the scriptures describe as a new creature. Look at “This Is The First Day Of The Rest of Your Life.” It might help you to overcome some of the tougher things and realize you can do it, you can make heaven.

You come into this world with nothing and leave with nothing except your thoughts and actions upon which you will be judged. Every person needs the gospel to take care of their sins. Instead, the world will bring excuses into judgment and find out that every excuse is meaningless. Do you really think that God made a mistake, do you have a concern over how certain situations will be judged? God, you should know will handle every little concern, many of which represent your hopeful excuses of which you are so proud. Whether or not you found happiness in your short vapor-like earthly existence will not matter. Did you find and obey the truth, are you headed for eternal bliss?