Anybody Can Be Happy If You Choose To Be Happy

Acts 16:22-25, “And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.”

My favorite preacher, Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001), preached a wonderful sermon in 1996 titled, “The Secret To My Christian Joy.” I encourage you to listen to this helpful sermon. I receive thousands of ministry emails each year. Some of them are from miserable unhappy Christian people. Most of them complain about God not answering their prayers. They complain about today's spiritually dead churches, which I agree with them about. Indeed, today's churches are pathetic! Some of my web visitors are down, depressed and have given up on life. I never criticize, discourage or berate them, they are already discouraged. I always try to help them by encouraging them to focus on the blessings in their life.

The basic gist of Dr. Hyles' sermon is that anybody can be happy if we choose to be happy. Happiness is a choice. The word "happy" comes from what "happens" to you. In sharp contrast, joy is an inner virtue that is not determined by what happens to us. This is why the Apostle Paul and Silas could sing hymns while imprisoned and chained in shackles. They had a joy in the Lord that couldn't be taken away from them, regardless of what happened.

Lower your expectations to ZERO and you'll be happy every day. The foundation of gratitude is the expectation of nothing. In other words, if you expect nothing then you'll be grateful for everything. Whenever I am planning to go somewhere to have a nice time, whether it be a restaurant or a trip somewhere, I never set any expectations. That way I won't be disappointed.

Have you ever gone somewhere and had a great time, and then planned to come back in the future to do it again? I'm sure you've done this, I know I have. But 90% of the time the second time when I come back I didn't enjoy it near as much as I did the first time. The reason why is because I didn't have any expectations the first time I went. But when I returned the second time I had a bunch of positive expectations based upon my memories of the first trip. So, when the experiences of the second trip didn't match the memories of the first trip, I was disappointed. So, to prevent that from happening again, I never set any expectations. I just go with the flow and enjoy the ride, not expecting anything. That was everything is a blessing.

In our text Scripture passage from Acts 6:22-25, Paul and Silas were bound in shackles in prison. Ninety-nine percent of people would be angry, sad, frustrated and complaining about the situation; but Paul and Silas were singing songs of praise to the Lord. They chose to be happy in their dire circumstances. Anybody can CHOOSE to be happy, even in the worst of conditions and dire circumstances. It all depends on what you choose to focus on.

I mentioned earlier that my ministry receives thousands of emails each year. Some of those emails are from discouraged and hurting saints, who are discouraged with life and today's horrible churches. Hebrews 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The key to living the Christian life is to abide continually in the inspired Holy Bible. Psalms 1:1-3, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Romans 10:17 teaches that FAITH COMETH BY HEARING AND HEARING BY THE WORD OF GOD. Even Christians need to have our faith boosted daily, which is what abiding in the Scriptures does for us. In every case when I find discouraged saints, they have neglected to abide in the Scriptures.

You can be happy dear reader, if you will simply choose to be happy, by focusing on the blessings in your life instead of the negative things, problems, cruel people and cruel uncaring pastors. Looking at people, family and friends can only lead to eventual discouragement. Christians at best are still people, and people at best are still sinners. When you are at a low point in your life—that is usually when family will hurt you, your wife or husband will divorce you, fair-weather friends will forsake you, and no pastor will genuinely care about you. I know because I have been there, and have painfully experienced all of these betrayals. I know exactly how David felt in the Old Testament when he said in Psalms 142:4, “I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.”

I don't know about you dear friend, but I choose to be happy. I have problems like everybody else. I suffer continually with chronic neck pain, burning nerves and the entire right side of my body feeling half asleep. I am thankful to God for the health that I have. I was driving yesterday and saw a man rolling his wheelchair down the sidewalk. I praised God for the health that I still have, despite my chronic neck pain and health afflictions. Somebody always has it worse than you do, and someone else has it better. This is just the nature of life. I choose to thank God for the blessings that I have, and not to compare myself or situation with others.

If you are sad and miserable dear reader, I do not condemn you. I love you unconditionally with God's love. I want to be a blessing to encourage you, not discourage you. What you need to do if you are sad and miserable is to start focusing on the blessings in your life. If you have pain in your leg, thank God that you still have a leg to hurt, because many military veterans have lost their limbs on the battlefield. I saw a veteran who lost an arm in Afghanistan from an I.E.D. (Improvised Explosive Device).

So, surgeons surgically attached a replacement arm from a cadaver to his body. You could visually see the misalignment of the new forearm to his upper arm, crooked. The veteran soldier was expressing his gratitude that he could finally touch his wife again when they made love, with another dead man's forearm and hand. How creepy is that? But he was very thankful. Of course, it takes years of healing and therapy just to regain even a small fraction of feeling back into the nerves. I am amazed that someone with a surgically attached cadaver arm and hand could feel anything at all. Modern medical advancements are astounding!

As I watched the documentary about the soldier's dilemma, and tried to feel empathy for his emotional pain and physical loss, I was compelled to thank God that I still have my own arms and hands. Dear reader, we are so blessed of God!!!

I read in one of his books where Evangelist John R. Rice (1895-1980) in the early 1960's fell down some basement stairs in Wheaton, Illinois (the Sword of the Lord used to be in Wheaton since they moved there in 1940, but Dr. Rice decided in 1963 to move their ministry to Murfreesboro, Tennessee instead). As a consequence of the steep fall down the stairs, Dr. Rice said his olfactory nerve in his brain was severed, which resulted in loss a smell for the rest of his life. My olfactory nerve was blocked for several weeks in 2021 when I caught the COVIS-19 Delta strain. I was unable to smell or taste anything during that time. Thankfully my smell and taste came back to normal eventually.

I try not to watch too much daily news, because the newsmedia loves spreading manure. The old adage is still true: If it bleeds it leads! Let's face it, people love negativity. The old carnal nature loves to hear bad stuff, gossip and all the juicy details of someone else's dirty laundry. I certainly don't have all the answers, but I do know that focusing on bad things all the time can only lead to more unhappiness. You show me someone who is down, discouraged and has a very bad attitude and I know they didn't just get there in a day. It took time. Behind every tragedy in human character is a slow process of wicked thinking. That is why my favorite Bible verse for several years now has been Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

I encourage you to listen to Bible preachers on a regular basis. Beware of all the neo-evangelical con artists today who want your money and have something to sell. They just want your money. Avoid Paul Washer, Joel Osteen, Pat Robertson, John MacArthur, Max Lucado, Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, and all the horrible greedy Tv preachers. They are bums! There are too many charlatans to mention. Remember, if they have something to sell or want donations, RUN! A genuine man of God doesn't want your money. I have never made a single penny in my 22 years of website ministry, and I never will. I have had countless people beg me to allow them to send me money, because God used my preaching to change their life and they love me. I just ask for your prayers friend, for my personal health and my ministry, please.

Thank you for reading my blog.