The question is, are you really happy and content?

There Is Happiness Available That Is Lasting.

There is joy unspeakable and unshakable. There is contentment that is real. But how can you get it?

If you continue to think like you've always thought, you'll continue to get what you've always got. Is it enough?

Money won't buy happiness. It's an old saying, but so true. Satan is working to make you feel unhappy and dissatisfied. If you believe the lies, you will end up chasing many things that could never satisfy. This is how people become addicted.

Here is a lie: if you just had a little more, you would be happy. That is a common thought, and it always proves itself to be false. Have you been disappointed that when you finally met your goal, you didn't experience the long-term satisfaction for which you had hoped? If you have had that experience, you are not alone. That is the norm.

For those who are striving for success, you should realize that if and when you do reach your goal, that goal will give you only temporary happiness. Your happiness will quickly fade.

There are many other paths that lead only to false happiness, a happiness that fades away, a happiness that disappears in adversity. Those who love pleasure soon find that the end of their quest is very bitter. Those who love recognition learn to know that there is no lasting peace or fulfillment in it. Those who follow the endless other paths available, thinking that these paths will lead to true joy, peace and happiness are sadly disappointed.

A recent study on happiness revealed the following interesting facts.

People who have a sense of their purpose in life are happier than those who do not have a sense of their purpose in life.

Of those happier people who have a sense of their purpose in life, there is a sub-group that is happier than the rest. This sub-group consists of people who have a sense of purpose but are also Christians.

Of this subgroup of Christians, there is a smaller group that is even happier. This group consists of those who are Christian and evangelical, that is, believing in the sole authority and inerrancy of the Bible, in salvation only through regeneration by Christ's salvation, and in a spiritually transformed personal life.

People who follow religions like Humanism, Atheism, Secularism, Agnosticism, Intellectualism, Hedonism, Hinduism, Shintoism, and the list could go on, will be less happy that evangelical Christians. Liberal Christians will be less happy than evangelical Christians.

By the way, evangelicalChristians are not a denomination or sect of Christians. They are just Christians who have become connected to Jesus and who realize a few things about that connection.

What is the most important relationship?
How About The Good News?
What Is The Purpose Of Life?

What causes addiction?

Addiction is caused by seeking satisfaction where it cannot be found.

Psalm 17:15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

The world is addicted to entertainment. Much of what is called Christendom is addicted to entertainment.

Drugs, rock, thrills, and other addictions are a growing problem. People become addicted to work, gambling, porn, over eating, promiscuity, possessions and many other things. Human beings were never created to be satisfied by such things. Only one thing really will satisfied, but until that day, we can be content because we have the Spirit of Christ.

When we look for satisfaction outside of Jesus Christ, we are looking in a place that cannot possibly satisfy us. Addiction is the result of trying to find satisfaction where no true, lasting, satisfaction can be found. When only a momentary satisfaction is found, the soon-to-be addict tries to increase the experience in hope to achieve satisfaction. This cycle continues until the person is hooked.

Many Christians are looking for a deeper emotional experience instead of the Holy Spirit. As they do so, they quickly lose the ability to tell the difference between human emotion and the Holy Spirit. The riches in glory that are by the Spirit are amazing and too wonderful for words, but those who have become addicted to the entertainment church" will never find them. They have stunted their growth.

But we keep our eyes on Jesus. We look for that which can satisfy.

Romans 8:19-23 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Until all of these things are fulfilled in your life, you can have a measure of fulfillment by walking in the Spirit. If you do, you will go from glory to glory and from faith to ever deeper faith.

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Depending on how you define the word, Evangelical, it is linked to happiness.

There are several meanings given to the word, evangelical, so it is a word that can be used for equivocation. In a recent study, people who were evangelical by the definition below were more happy than those who were not evangelical.

Evangelical Of, relating to, or being a Christian church believing in the sole authority and inerrancy of the Bible, in salvation only through regeneration, and in a spiritually transformed personal life.

The sole authority and inerrancy of the Bible: This is the only belief that makes any sense since, over thousands of years and with billions of tax dollars spent, no one has found a single error in the Bible.

salvation only through regeneration: This is the revelation that we can be reconciled to God through the work the Jesus did on the cross. This is the acceptance of the free gift of God. This is the rejection of the concept that God doesn't exist or doesn't care or doesn't judge. This is the rejection of the notion that somehow we can earn our way to reconcile ourselves back to God. If you or any person will receive this free gift, God will forgive all of your faults and sins and set you free from your slavery to sin. Whoever wishes to remain a slave of sin, remains a slave and will reap the reward of sin, which is death.

This salvation includes complete and total forgiveness. Those who receive Jesus, receive forgiveness. If they stumble and fall, they are perpetually forgiven. The Bible is clear that God is not mocked, and we cannot fool Him by faking our commitment to Him. The Bible also says that if we deny Jesus, He will deny us before His Father in Heaven. On the other hand, if we have weak faith, He is still with us. If we have faults, He gives us His Holy Spirit to help us make headway in overcoming those faults. If, at any time, we sincerely repent and turn to Him, the blood of Jesus covers us.

a spiritually transformed personal life: This is what Jesus said: "Without me you can do nothing." The Bible says that we were saved to good works. Good works are part of salvation. Before salvation, through the blood of Jesus Christ, we were unable to do any good works. Now, because Christ lives within, He can do His good works through us, if we will allow it. It is always He who does the work and not we, ourselves. Also, the process of completion continues until we reach the measure of the fullness of Christ. Eph 4.

These three points are the key to happiness and a transformed life.

An understanding of the inerrancy of Scripture will lead to other beliefs, though there are many evangelicals who profess to believe the Bible but yet rationalize away certain verses or even rationalize in additional information much as an evolutionist adds to scientific observation and filters out certain scientific observation. For instance, from Scripture, we can know some things about the nature of the Godhead, but we must guard against rationalized or spiritualized speculations. This is just one example.