Sermon Central
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Happiness Series
Contributed by Jeffery Anselmi on Mar 8, 2024 (message contributor)
Summary: God is interested in your happiness. Psalm 1:1-3 gives us a foundation in which we can build a happy life.
- It doesn't mean you have no other hobbies, but it does mean that you've spent enough time marinating in the Word that it simply becomes a part of who you are.
- You don't just know God's word. It knows you. Changes you.
- Let's finish with verse 3.
Psalm 1:3 (NET 2nd ed.)
3 He is like a tree planted by flowing streams; it yields its fruit at the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts.
III. Happiness is built on living a life that makes a difference.
- Serotonin is the chemical of significance.
- Being helpful and having a life that impacts others brings happiness and is the key to releasing serotonin.
- When we are fruitful, we find significance in life.
- Parts of Israel are like Arizona.
- It is dry, and water is not plentiful.
- The trees that thrive are planted by the flowing streams.
- The person who lives close to God will never wilt or be dry. Instead, they will be fruitful and successful.
- I have a friend I grew up with who never had a job except for a few weeks his entire adult life.
- His life had no joy or happiness because he was all about himself.
- We reconnected a few years ago, and I would visit him when I would go home, but he was just a bitter old man now.
- He cut me off as a friend because one day, I could not take a call because I was in meetings.
- He is now in a care facility, lonely and bitter; he did nothing with his life.
- One of the things I love about ministry is the impact God has made in the lives of those He has brought in my path.
- I love what I do, and I love helping people grow in their faith.
- Is your life making a difference, or are you just running out the clock?
- I think some folks get bitter when they get older because things start falling apart with us physically, and the environment around us changes.
- The longer we live, the more friends and family we lose.
- We get bitter because we are self-focused and not making a difference with our life.
- You do not have to do spectacular things to make a difference.
- You can do the simple things that can make a difference in the lives of others.
- Something as simple as a smile or giving some time to others can impact others and make a difference in their life.
- Fruitfulness and success in life spring forth from pursuing God and His will.
CONCLUSION
- Through cultivating positive relationships, engaging in discovering God, and embracing one's significance in God's plan, you can find true happiness and fulfillment in your life, like a flourishing tree by streams of water that bears fruit and remains steadfast in all seasons.
