OUR HAPPINESS DOES NOT DEPEND ON THE ADMIRATION OF PEOPLE. THE POINT THAT WE WANT TO MAKE IS THIS: FAME CAN NOT MAKE YOU HAPPY. FAME IN ITSELF IS NOT BAD, WHAT CAN TURN BAD IS HOW WE USE FAME. IF WE USE FAME FOR OUR OWN GLORY AND TO GLORIFY OURSELVES, THEN WE ARE IN DEEP TROUBLE. THE BIBLE SAYS IN THE BOOK OF PROVERBS THAT A GOOD REPUTATION IS A GOOD THING, BUT ONCE WE SEEK REPUTATION TO GLORIFY OUR NAME, RATHER THAN THE LORD'S NAME, THAT IS WICKED.
MOST OF THE HOLLYWOOD STARS ARE UNHAPPY. SOME PEOPLE THINK THAT IF THEY BECOME FAMOUS, THEN THEY WILL BE HAPPY. BELOVED, HAPPINESS CAN ONLY BE FOUND IN WORSHIPPING GOD, IN GIVING HIM YOUR WHOLE HEART. IF WE LIVE FOR THE GLORY OF SELF, THAT GLORY IS NOTHING, IT IS VAIN-GLORY. WHY NOT LIVE FOR THE GLORY THAT TRULY BRINGS HAPPINESS: TO GLORIFY GOD. READ CAREFULLY JOHN 7:2-9. THE CARNAL BROTHERS OF JESUS TOLD HIM NOT TO DO THINGS SECRETLY, BUT TO SHOW OFF HIS MIRACLES. GOD NEVER DOES MIRACLES FOR SHOW, BUT BECAUSE OF NEEDY PEOPLE. JESUS NEVER PURSUE SELF-FAME BUT ONLY THE FAME OF HIS FATHER. THE MIRACLES HE DID WERE TO GLORIFY THE NAME OF THE FATHER, NOT MERELY TO MEET PEOPLE'S NEEDS. PRIDE AND THE PURSUE OF FAME ALWAYS GO TOGETHER. MANY PEOPLE WANT TO BE SINGERS JUST TO BE IDOLIZED. MANY PREACHERS INCLUDING THIS ONE ARE IN THE DANGER AND SNARE OF PRIDE. WE MUST REALIZE THAT OUR GOAL AS PREACHERS IS NEVER OUR FAME, BUT GOD'S GLORY AND HIS HONOR ALONE. I USE TO LOOK FOR PEOPLE'S APPROVAL (PRAISE) BUT ONCE I REALIZED THAT PEOPLE'S ADMIRATION CAN'T SATISFY ME OR MAKE ME HAPPY, I STOPPED THAT SINFUL FOOLISHNESS. NOW, ALL I CARE IS THAT PEOPLE BE ATTRACTED TO ENJOY CHRIST AND NEVER TO ME. HE IS THE CENTER, NOT I. BELOVED, NEVER PURSUE HAPPINESS IN BEING FAMOUS. PREACHERS WE SHOULD NEVER SEEK OUR FAME, BUT THAT CHRIST BE FAMOUS! WHAT PEOPLE NEED IS CHRIST, NOT US! JESUS MADE HIMSELF OF NO REPUTATION, WHICH MEANS HE DID NOT CARED IF PEOPLE PRAISED HIM OR NOT, ALL HE CARED WAS THAT HIS FATHER WAS GLORIFIED IN THE WELL BEING OF THOSE TO WHOM HE SERVED. IT IS ONLY WHEN WE FIND FREEDOM FROM THE EGO THAT WE CAN TRULY BE HAPPY. WHEN WE REALIZE THAT WE ARE NOT THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERS, THAT LIFE IS NOT ABOUT US, BUT ABOUT CHRIST GLORIFIED AND ENJOYED, THEN WE TRULY KNOW WHAT HAPPINESS IS. DON'T BE ADDICTED TO FAME, BE OBSSESSED WITH THE BEAUTY OF THE GLORY OF CHRIST, FOR HUMILITY IS TO ADMIRE CHRIST AND TO RECOMMEND HIS GLORY TO OTHERS. AMEN.
