Happiness at Any Cost

It is hard to imagine that our own hearts can actually mislead us but as we read the opening paragraph of Chapter Two of "Managing Your Moods" most of us see a reflection of our own hearts as we read:

We want to live happily ever after. And what keeps us happy? When things go our way. When everything runs smoothly in the direction we had hoped it would go, we are able to maintain a pleasant frame of mind. No bumps. No interruptions. No inconveniences."

Does that paragraph speak to your heart as much as it does to mine? I hate to admit it but there are times when I definitely want no one or nothing to "upset MY apple cart". Somewhere along the way I guess my heart led me to believe that the apple cart was mine and it was all about me. And that keeping all my pretty little apples all in the order I have placed them would make me happy. Unfortunately, like we shared in last week's lesson, circumstances, relationships, ill health, inconveniences happen and the apple cart gets upset and my happy little world is shattered.

Perhaps I missed the truth of Jeremiah 17:9 (pg 10 #2).
The heart is more deceitful that all else, and is desperately sick, who can understand it?

That word 'deceitful' also means sly. Hard to imagine I have a sly and deceitful heart that would turn on me and lead me down a slippery slope. The words 'desperately sick' can be translated as incurable. Wow! My heart is so sick it is incurable. Talk about spiritual heart disease.

Yet our society is filled with phrases like "our hearts are essentially good" and "follow your heart." The message from God's Word of Truth is that our hearts are not essentially good and are in need of healing. And we should definitely not follow our hearts unless our hearts are following Jesus and His truth.

Mark 7:21-23 (pg 11 #3) shows the depth of our sick hearts:
And Jesus said, “The things that come out of people are the things that make them unclean. All these evil things begin INSIDE people, in the mind: evil thoughts, sexual sins, stealing, murder, adultery, greed, evil actions, lying, doing sinful things, jealousy, speaking evil of others, pride, and foolish living. All these evil things come FROM INSIDE and make people unclean.” NCV

So, as much as we are influenced by the world around us to make poor choices we have to realize that before any cultural influences ever entered our lives we had a bent, an inherent tendency toward sin. Just take a look at a two year old child. I have never seen a parent teach a child the word, "Mine!" as they plucked the toy of their desires out of the hands of another "mine" intended child. Likewise, we can look at the life of Cain and readily see there was no influence of violent video games, movies or Internet and yet the jealousy and anger of his heart led him to murder his younger brother. Yes, we must concur with God's Word, our hearts are indeed deceitful and full of incomprehensible sin, whether we want to believe it or not.

In class Thursday I shared how at times I can be in a group of people and suddenly have a really unkind or evil thought pass my mind. Then the very next thought will be, "Edna, what if someone could read your mind." Yikes. I quickly put that one away and try to think on something more, ummmm "godly", just in case ;0). Yet God's word makes it clear that He is the one who reads my mind and heart. 1 Samuel 16:7, Psalm 44:21, Jeremiah 17:10 and Hebrews 4:12 (pg 12 #5) all express how God sees into the depths and recesses of our hearts. Reckon I should be a bit more concerned about what He's seeing in my heart instead of others lest I be found guilty of the desire for the "approval of man instead of the approval of God."

And yet I am amazed in all my depravity that I have this God who loves me beyond measure; who is willing to come alongside me and heal my incurable heart of the sin which seeks to destroy me. Psalm 34:18 tells us to cry out to Him because "He is NEAR to the brokenhearted and crushed in spirit." Our God does not run away from us. He seeks to draw near to His children in their brokenness. Whether that brokenness is from self inflicted wounds of our own foolish choosing or from the wounding which comes at the hand of another's sin, He wants to bring healing.

God's Word can do just that, bring healing to your wounded heart. Jeremiah 8:22 speaks of a healing balm and a physician which could heal the Israelites of their incurable hearts. The same balm and physician which could heal them could heal us. I believe in this passage the Physician is God Himself and the balm is His truth, His word. God wants to add healing balm to our incurable hearts of Jeremiah 17:9. Be it those self inflicted wounds or the wounds of others God is in the business of offering His balm of truth to our broken hearts. (To know how you can have eternal healing for your incurable heart see bottom of page)

In Jeremiah 23:29 God's word is referred to as a fire and a hammer. God desires to use the intense heat of His word to purify our impure thoughts, motives and actions. And as painful as it sounds to know God's word is like a hammer, His purpose is to break the hardness that surrounds our rebellious hearts so He might get to a soft, pliable and teachable heart. The use of His word by a metaphorical fire or hammer initially is painful but results in the blessings of peace, joy, hope and the knowledge that He loves us deeply.

King David is a classic example of one who needed the the hammer of God's truth as Nathan the prophet spoke truth to David's heart regarding his adulterous sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah. In Psalm 51 we see David's hard heart broken by the knowledge of his sin against God. What emerged was a heart tender and humble toward God. Most telling of the pain of David's sin is in verse 12 where he says, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation." This indicates that at one time David enjoyed a wonderful intimate relationship with God which became hindered when David determined that Bathsheba was what he needed to be happy. What he thought would bring happiness only brought a temporary euphoria which cost him greatly in the long run. Much like Eve who was convinced that "everything in the garden" was just not enough to make her happy, David paid a heavy price.

And what about us? What do we find our hearts yearning for? What are the affections of this world and our flesh which tell us that God is just not enough? If we ask God those penetrating questions we are assured some answers. Psalm 139:23-24

Let me close with a quote by Martin Lloyd Jones and some practical applications.

Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself.......You must take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, you have to preach to yourself, question yourself......then you must go on to remind yourself of God. Who God is, and what God is and what God has done and what God has pledged to do.

In three practical steps this profound quote tells us to:

1. Stop listening to yourself. Stop allowing your heart to lie to you, to play those wrong thoughts over and over and over again in your mind.


2. Start talking to yourself. Yes, give yourself a good talking to. Say no to the thoughts which try to convince you that what you need to be happy is something more than or other than God, himself.


3. Remind yourself of God. Go to His word. Be reminded of who He is and what He has done to heal and capture your heart through Jesus Christ. Remind yourself of all He has done to prove His love to you. And remind yourself of all those promises He has made in His word which can never and will never be broken because He is faithful.

Have a wonderful day and be happy, IN HIM.

God's eternal healing of your incurable heart:
Your initial healing begins when God, through His Son Jesus Christ, gives you a new heart and a new life through a born again experience by His Holy Spirit. [John 3].

This takes place as you recognize the truth that your sinful heart is incurable [Jeremiah 17:9] and will result in eternal death [Romans 6:26] apart from God's intervention.

He intervenes as His Holy Spirit makes known to your heart the truth that Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection from the dead is your only hope for healing and eternal life as you put your trust in Him alone for salvation. As you repent (have a change of heart to turn from your sin to follow Jesus) and trust Him alone and nothing of yourself [Ephesians 2:8-9] He will hear your prayer, for He promises to hear the prayers of a humble and contrite heart. [Psalm 51:17]

For more information on how to have the hope of eternal life go to lovelybranchesministries.org which you can access at top right of this page. Once there click the HOPE link on the right side of page.

Feel free to email me at edna@lovelybranchesministries.org