So are we not to be happy?

True, but in Psalms 1, it literally means to be happy with an exclamation...

LIke, "OH happy!!!!"

At least that is what all my studies said when I taught on it a couple weeks ago.

 

Happiness and joy will never be found if you keep looking at the circumstances of your life. The quote by Piper has already been given and its worth repeating. "God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him."

There have been many have suffered far more terrible things than you or I for that matter but there lives were fragranced with Christ-centered, grace-given, God-exalting joy. Why? Because they found their deepest satisfaction in live in the person of Christ.

I hurt for you as I read your posts because it seems to me that you are honestly crying out for answers. I do not think an internet forum is the best place to find those. I good pastor and God-focused church would be a good place to start. Here are some resources that I have found helpful in the past.

Desiring God

Also I will make an effort to pray for your situation, and that you may find the joy and happiness that you desire.

 

We have joy even in the worst of times, it comes from the indwelling Holy Spirit. We don't have to 'feel' joyful and doing the happy dance to have Jesus' joy in us.
Happy depends on the happenings around us, in our lives. Two totally different things.
Let me tell you, when my teenage son was arrested years ago, I knew there was the possibility he would be gone a very long time. I was not happy. Who could be looking at their child through glass, talking to him only on the phone, never allowed to touch them? But in my heart, I knew I had Jesus' joy, and the knowledge helped to sustain me. Focus on God, and your relationship with Him, seek obedience to God in your life. God is your only answer.
I'm familair with Beth Moore. What do you think 'the pit' is in your life?

 

Question:

1) Will we be happy in heaven?

2) If we will be happy in our final state, would it not stand to reason that God desires us to be progressing toward the ideal of our sinless existence in heaven?

 

Logical fallacy

 

Maybe we should spend more time relying on scripture and less time on Beth Moore.


Php 4:11 - Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

1Ti 6:8 - And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

Heb 13:5 - Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

 

Listen to 4HisGlory. You've got a lot of issues going on there. You need a good pastor to help you through this.

Actually, this serves as an example of what we're trying to say. The health/wealth crowd implies that all we have to do is believe in Jesus and all our problems just disappear. Happiness is guaranteed. Well guess what - it's not true. For some people, things (circumstances) just get worse the more they try to trust God. No one should expect you to just shake it off and be "happy" in the midst of a divorce. What you need right now is not happiness but courage. Courage to face your own faults, and courage to face the faults of people you love. Pray for courage and remember that growth is often painful. But there is a sunrise after darkness.

Psalms 6:6 (KJV) I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.

Psalms 42:3 (KJV) My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

Psalms 56:8 (KJV) Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?

Psalms 116:8 (KJV) For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

Psalms 126:5-6 (KJV) They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

Hang in there, persevere. He will not forsake His own.

 

No, it's not.

If the final state of sinlessness and perfection in heaven includes happiness, it is no stretch to imagine that God desires such happiness for us. If it were not in his will, heaven would not be a happy place.

Now, if heaven (the ideal) includes happiness, then it is no stretch for God to desire us to experience, at least in part, what awaits us in fullness. The Bible bears out this kind of argument with other things (such as knowledge).

 

At this point I will just say that your argument speaks for itself.

 

It would be far more fruitful to engage in a substantive response.

 

I would like to but nothing substantiative to respond to. No scripture, no actual logic. I dont say that to be rude or sarcastic just blunt.

 

Try the Beatitudes in Matt. 5. As has been pointed out before, the term translated "blessed" can also be translated "happy."

 

Gotchya....

 

My point was not to reference a particular verse, but to make an argument by analogy to 1 Cor. 13.

 

Can you expound on that ?

 

Job was not happy when he was going through his terrible trials, but he did not forsake God as some would have him do.

Look what he ended up with after enduring his trials. Twice as many blessings as he had before the trials.

We have probably all had trials where it was so bad that all we could do was hang on to God's promises. And in the end, God gave us blessings.

The darkest hour is just before the dawn...

 

I agree. I had not heard of Beth Moore, but a search on the web brought up her comments on Luke 2.19, at http://www.lproof.org/Devotions/2004/MarysTreasure.htm which begins:

They (Mary's parents)were disappointed the moment they saw her. She even cried like a girl. They wanted a boy. That didn't mean they wouldn't love her. It just meant they were like every other set of Hebrew parents, hoping they would be the ones. They had no idea they had just given birth to the mother of God.

They named her Mary. The name meant “bitter.” It was a name which may have described her calling but it did not define her character. Little more than a child herself, she received the stunning news of the angel with grace and humility. Likely, Gabriel was relieved that he did not encounter the same insult he had with Zechariah.


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Mary's parents disappointed at her birth because they wanted a boy? How does Beth Moore know this? Is there a bible reference to it? "Mother of God"? "Mary" meaning "bitter"? (According to all the reference works I have consulted, it means the same as "Miriam" - "their rebellion").

If that first impression of her is wrong, I apologise, but judging by the quote above, I would say with RevMitchell, it is far better to "rely on Scripture".

 

It is said in a biography of her that she made her growing up inside a movie house environment which her father, a retired Army major, managed. Her job was to pass along free soda and pop-corn. Her biography also said that she liked to look at things from the perspective of Bible characters, which means she does have the tendency to put dialogues and feelings which tend to come out to some unscriptural.

You know. The way cable channels like discovery and A&E try to make movies and features about the Bible, Christians, and Bible characters and put a lot of "perhaps" in their commentaries instead of just going with facts of what is in print, so that in the end they sound like critics and mockers instead of just somebody trying to present both sides of an issue.

I'm not saying Beth Moore is a mocker, but from the looks of it, she doesn't really get much doctrine where she goes to church, or if she does, they may be pretty-watered down.

No one really knows.