I Just Want To Be Happy! Vanity?

I JUST WANT TO BE HAPPY... VANITY

The elusiveness of the butterfly...

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com

37 TIMES SOLOMON STATES VANITY OF VANITIES

Ecclesiastes 1:2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 1:2 (NLT) “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”

Ecclesiastes 1:2 (MSG) Smoke, nothing but smoke. [That's what the Quester says.]

There's nothing to anything—it's all smoke.

THOUGHT TODAY: JOY IS THE FLAG FLOWN HIGH FROM THE CASTLE OF OUR HEARTS

WHEN THE KING IS IN RESIDENCE THERE...

We dream of heaven because it is a place of love and happiness.

We want to avoid hell as it is a place of misery, hate and rejection.

Life is more than a destination --- life is about the journey.

COME LET US REASON ABOUT THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS AND HOW ELUSIVE

THIS SEARCH CAN BE...

Many want to talk about SOME WHERE OVER THE RAINBOW WE WILL FIND _________???

I heard Garth Brooks say when he was asked about MAKING IT IN NASHVILLE:

OZ IS ONLY OZ IF YOU DO NOT LIVE THERE.

Where is that POT OF GOLD, that when I find it: EVERYTHING WILL BE OK!

LET US STUDY THE MAN THAT HAD EVERYTHING? AND SEARCHED DEEPLY...

SEARCH THROUGH WISDOM

A. Solomon was wise judge: The case of the two mother's baby. (1 Kings 3:16-28)

B. Solomon was WISER THAN ANY MAN BUT JESUS... (1 Kings 4:29-30)

C. Solomon WROTE ALL KINDS OF PROVERBS AND SONGS. (1 Kings 4:32-34))

D. SOLOMON'S TEMPLE ( 1 Kings 5&6)

E. Solomon's prayer life: (1 Kings 8: 22-53)

SOLOMON'S ELUSIVE PATH TO HAPPINESS CAME TO SEARCH THROUGH FOLLY...

A. LUXURIOUS LIVING (1 KINGS 4:22,23, 10:21)

B. UNEQYUALLY YOKED to heathen women (1 Kings 11&12)

C. PLEASURE, SENSUALITY EXCESSIVENESS (1 Kings 11:3)

D. MEAN ANBD OPPRESSIVE TO PEOPLE (1 Kings 12:4)

E. PERMITED, SPONCERED, AND SANCTIONED IDOLATRY...

COME LET US STUDY THE PATH AND TRAIL TO HAPPINESS---

1. WE THINK WE CAN CHASE PLEASURE AND FIND HAPPINESS...

Ecclesiastes 2:1 (NLT) I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good

things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless.

Ecclesiastes 2:1 (KJV) I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore

enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.

Today we have SPORTS: $10 MILLION fight; World Series, Super Bowl, World's Cup,

Millions on comedians, movies,

Super sports structure that will never pay for themselves... TAXES.

2. WE SEARCH FOR MIND ALTERING CHEMICALS...

Ecclesiastes 2:3 (KJV) I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart

with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men,

which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.

Ecclesiastes 2:3 (NLT) After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still

seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness

most people find during their brief life in this world.

There are 30,000 more liquor stores than churches.

77 million Budweiser a week... High Life, Weekends were made for...

Conclusion:

Proverbs 20:1 (NLT) Wine produces mockers; alcohol leads to brawls. Those led astray by drink

cannot be wise.

3. We think if I could just have.... I WOULD BE HAPPY... MATERIALISM...

Ecclesiastes 2:4 (NLT) I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting

beautiful vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees.

6 I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing groves.

7 I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household. I also owned large

herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who had lived in Jerusalem before me.

Matthew 6:33 (NLT) Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you

everything you need.

There was a man with millions of dollars of rare jewels dying of thirst in the desert,

he opened the barrels and said: NO WATER, JUST JEWELS...

4. THE JOURNEY TO HAPPINESS LEADS US TO RELATIONSHIPS, SENSUALITY...

700 WIFES, 300 CONCUMBINES...

1 Kings 11:1 (NLT) 1. Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter,

he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites.

2 The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, ‘You must not marry them, because they will

turn your hearts to their gods.’ Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway.

3 He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away

from the Lord.

Conclusion:

Proverbs 21:19 (NLT) It’s better to live alone in the desert than with a quarrelsome, complaining wife.