Good Morning Beloved Family,
What a joyful blessing to have all of you here today.
God is Great! Amen?
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for all that we are blessed with
both the seen and unseen
Thank you, Lord, for the joy of today.
The day has only begun, and yet so many good things have come our way
Thank You that we are here in church, body and spirit,
thank You for the joy of worshiping You,
we know that its a privilege, not to be taken lightly.
However, in the midst of all our joys, in all honesty
we admit that we come with fears
Many of our family and friends,
co-workers, and classmates
may have been exposed to Covid-19
Father, we know nothing reaches us,
unless it first passes through Your hands
we pray for protection for those we love
our families, church families, social network families,
school families and so many more
You are our Rock! Our living Savior!
Thank You in faith believing, it will be done
according to Your good pleasure and will.
In Your name we pray
Amen
"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Now stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers."
Psalm 1:1-3
Today's Message: The Secret of Happiness
Who here is delighted in God, raise your hands...
Everyone...Amen and Amen!
Delight!
From the Hebrew:
To rejoice in, to desire strongly.
To bend towards (when applied to one’s will.)
To take pleasure in, to enjoy.
To be attached to.
From English:
To be the source of great pleasure, to please highly.
To have or take great pleasure in.
To give joy or satisfaction to.
The Blessed Man delights in the Word of God.
David was a Blessed Man.
Psalm 119 is His expression of love for, faith in, respect for and obedience to the Word.
"I shall delight in Your statutes;
I shall not forget Your word."
Psalm 119:16
" Your testimonies also are my delight;
They are my counselors."
Psalm 119:24
You may also read Psalms 119:35, 47, 70, 77 and 174
However, I would suggest reading the entire Psalm.
As a man, he not only delighted in the Word of God, but also in obedience of the Word. When you truly find the Word to be a great source of pleasure and joy, then obeying it is far easier.
The promises to those who delight in God are powerful!
Psalm 37:4 – "He will give to you the desires of your heart."
I recommend reading Psalm 37:11; 23-24.
"Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart,
In the company of the upright and in the assembly.
Great are the works of the Lord;
They are studied by all who delight in them.
Splendid and majestic is His work,
And His righteousness endures forever.
He has made His wonders to be remembered;
The Lord is gracious and compassionate.
He has given food to those who fear Him;
He will remember His covenant forever."
Psalm 111:1-5
I encourage you to read the rest of the Psalm 111 on your own... all of it.
I so dearly enjoy reading the Psalms, what great encouragement, so beautifully written, literary masterpieces.
The Blessed Man knows that happiness and delight are not defined by what you do or not do, where you go or don't go, or what you are for or against.
True happiness and delight comes from the Lord!
A life lived from a negative viewpoint of doing all that is right because it must be done, and not doing all that is wrong because it can not be done, has a severely limited potential for fulfillment, peace, joy or happiness. Severely limited.
One little mistake can dash the entire foundation of this life to pieces and leave a person devastated, confused, condemned, and completely hopeless.
The things listed in our text from Psalm 1:1 that the Blessed Man does not do is contrasted in Psalm 1:2 with what he does do and why he does them. Psalm 1:2 is the reason he does not do the things of Psalms 1:1, not vice versa.
The motivation to not do wrong things is much more powerful when it is based on wanting to do right things.
Think of it like this:
If I only have 60 minutes in each hour of my day.
If I spend this time doing what I want to do and what I want to do is good, then it is not a struggle to not do wrong things, because I do not have time to do them.
"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worth of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."
Philippians 4:8-9
The secret of happiness is the right attitude of the soul to the Truth of God.
I'll say that again...
The secret of happiness is the right attitude of the soul to the Truth of God.
Paul is saying to use your time each day wisely doing good, for good, because of the evil that could potentially consume it.
The first part of this is the right attitude of the will to the Law of God.
The bias of the will is toward Divine Truth.
The ungodly and self-willed walk after their own thoughts, opinions, and ideas.
But the “Happy” man consults God’s will and is always longing for the path that God’s Word lays before him.
The “Will” in Psalm 1:2 could be defined as that delight of heart, that certain pleasure in the Law, which does not look at:
What the Law promises,
Not what it threatens
But only that “The Law is Holy, Just, and Good."
Therefore, it is not just a love of the Law, but a loving delight in the Law, which no prosperity, nor adversity, nor the world, nor the devil can take away or destroy.
This delight in the Law victoriously bursts its way through poverty, evil reports, the cross, death and hell, and adversity
In fact, in the midst of all these things, it shines its brightest!
The second part of this secret is a right relationship of our affections to the Law of God.
One man said, “The Law is love defined.”
The godly man sees in the spiritual law the declaration of the Divine Nature, which is the essence of Love.
This causes him to delight in that Law after the inner man.
Last, the intelligence must be in right relationship to the Law of God.
“He meditates in the Law, day and night…”
We must know the Law if we are to perceive its beauty and appreciate its worth.
The more we know of it, the greater shall our joy be in it.
If a man is ignorant of the Divine Law or is full of misconceptions of it, he cannot know true freedom and happiness.
If his eyes are open to the deep things of the Law, he can walk in liberty, peace that passes all understanding and joy that is unspeakable.
Isaiah 58:13-14, God’s covenant to those who delight in Him.
"If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot
From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,
And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable,
And honor it, desisting from your own ways,
From seeking your own pleasure
And speaking your own word,
Then you will take delight in the Lord,
And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
Isaiah 58:13-14
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Matthew 11:28-30
In Closing....
Let us not seek for happiness in things that are based in the realm of time or whose foundations are the five senses, but let us labor to know the Will of God, and to have our hearts harmonized with that will, and we shall find true rest to our souls. Let us apply ourselves to humble service for the cause of Christ within the context of the church.
" But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Mark 10:43-45
There are three vital biblical virtues that will keep us from becoming unsettled and restless in these difficult days ahead:
Steadfastness. Stability. Constancy.
True steadfastness and unwavering commitment in faith to the truth God has revealed to us in His Word!
Secular culture emphatically tells us that is not the case. In fact, one of the few remaining taboos our culture universally insists that is the unwritten, however, frequently spoken, social ban against believing that the Bible really is the authoritative Word of God. It is deemed as some sort of fictional literature. That's absolutely ludicrous! NOTHING could be further from the truth!!
I find it very disturbing, that even in the church, real steadfastness has become a pretty rare commodity. I know a few Christian leaders, who I'll not name here, who take great pride in shifting their theological stance every few years or so, renouncing the solid foundational biblical truths they were once formerly best known for, to suit the "needs of the congregation," to stay "culturally relevant!" This is very, very disturbing to me.
We are not to follow the current trends just because they are trendy and popular! More specifically, we are not affirm any doctrinal stance just because it happens to be in vogue. In fact, an appeal to what’s stylish is a sufficient reason to regard such a movement with the utmost suspicion.
Beloved, we’re not to be blown about by every wind of doctrine!
We must hold fast to our confession of faith.
If we truly believe as we should, as we profess, when the truth of God’s Word falls completely out out of fashion, we must be willing, to remain steadfast for the truth, even to die for our faith.
I think our Lord said it best...
"And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me."
Matthew 10:38
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Brian Monzon Ministries