Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude. – Denis Waitley

The definition of happiness is a state and or experience that brings joy, exhilaration, contentedness, and satisfaction.  How many of us truly live and operate in a constant state of this happiness?  I believe for most this comes and goes, dependant on our current circumstances.  According to scripture we should be in a constant state of joy and peace never wavering.

Romans 5:2 tells us, “Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”

1 Corinthians 13:13 says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

Romans 15;13 says, “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

The Word of God tells us that our joy, hope, peace…all come through Him.  This is where our confidence lies.  Most don’t realize that Ive been in a season of trial after trial because of the joy that rests upon me daily.  My spirit wont even allow me to stress.  When I think about the negatives, the Holy Spirit jumps right in and begins to combat the negativity with positive declarations from the Lord.  Its absolutely awesome!!!  I experience the realness of Gods Word daily.  Because He hasn’t failed me, I have true happiness…no faking it til you make it….no, God wants us to be content in all seasons!

Romans 12:12 tells us, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”  Prayer keeps us in that intimate place with God.  When we are consistent in our prayer life we are in tune not only with Gods voice but His spirit.  This is why we are able to be joyful in difficult times.  

1 Peter 5:10 says, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

Gods grace covers the believer!  What is grace?  It is the free unmerited favor of God!  Unmerited means you don’t do a thing to earn it.  You can do nothing in yourself to earn Gods favor.  We are given new grace each day!

Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “The faithful love of the Lord never ends.  His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”  Wow!  So lets get a good grasp on this, when we awake…which is another gift that we of ourselves cannot earn or accomplish in ourselves.  We have Gods love, His grace and mercy…which let  me reiterate is never ending.  Whoa!!  How awesome is our God…why wouldn’t people run to Him…who wouldn’t want to be a part of His family.  We certainly will not find these qualities anywhere else.

1 Thessolonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

This is where the root of all happiness stems.  When we give thanks in every circumstance good and bad, we are submitting to the will of God and standing in the fact that He has a plan for us which is for our good!

1 Peter 1:7 says, “So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

We must understand that most of the trials we face are to root us in God…to bind His Word around our necks…to increase our faith…in the end to produce Christlikeness in us.  So, let us go through in joy.  Having complete happiness in every season, knowing God is pulling out the things that are not of Him and replacing them with the fruits of His spirit!

Meditation verse – James 1:2-4 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Blessings!!

Keishana