Happiness....is in principle an Attitude; a state of mind.... I say in principle, it is the result of having 'peace'; knowing in your know-er that things are OK!
"My peace I give unto you— Joh_14:27"
"It's not peace," that the young-at-heart want, "What we want are thrills." What a very candid utterance...
As Practicing Business/Management Consultant I will assure you: Peace is the Possession of Adequate Business Resources. When long seasons of depression come and when business is stagnant, what is it that makes all the difference between intense anxiety and peace? If there be little capital and almost no reserves, how terrible these dead times must be ! Few business men can sleep not knowing how they'll turn around the 'lack of adequate resources'. But how different, when the recession come, for any business that has great reserves and is strong in the possession of adequate capital. Little capital means sleepless hours. Inadequate resources spell anxiety. Many fears and miseries haunt the thoughts of the mind during the hours of the night, when there is for sure little to fall back upon!. The 'affluent person' does not need to be unduly concerned about paying his current expenses or investing a sum of money in some new business venture.
But the man of wisdom is serene and confident, because he is conscious of perfectly adequate resources, & rest in the fact of: "Here is God's plenty" Consequently they never worried and they rarely hurried. There is a leisurely serenity about them. And that peace, whatever their task might be, found its basis in the possession of adequate resources, not in the bank but in the brain.
Jesus Christ's Peace was the Result of Adequate Resources. Please take a few minutes to discover, how true that was of Him: It was one of the Secrets of His rich Serenity. Look at Him in the storm—how calm He is! Look again—He is lying fast asleep. He is peaceful amid the raging elements, slumbering like an infant in its cradle. And all the others, Peter, James, and John, agitated, excited, and alarmed, are fearful amid the terrors of the sea. Their fear betrayed their helplessness. It showed them unequal to their problem. They were not equipped for battling with storms. They had no reserves to call upon. But He was peaceful and sleeping like a child though the wind was howling and the boat was filling, and His peace was the possession of adequate resources. Picture the anxious look upon the host's face when the wine gave out at the marriage feast at Cana. Even Mary was distressed about it, worrying over the honor of the family.
Christ alone was carefree.
Christ alone was radiant and serene because He was conscious of perfectly adequate resources.
"My peace"—it was a very wonderful peace. No sounding of our thought can ever fathom it.
There was perfect fellowship with God in it.
There was full and unconditional surrender.
But one element, one vital element, witnessed in a score of incidents, was the possession of adequate resources of God Almighty; Creator of Heaven & Earth!
By Possessing Christ, You Can Possess Adequate Resources.....
Then the Master comes to us and says, "My peace I give unto you." And, we might say: "I do not want that peace. I ONLY want to have a vivid, thrilling time of my Life !"
Well, now, think of it like this—lay aside the unwelcome sense of peace, (as if peace meant taking the color out of life and robbing experience of its vividness.)
Instead of that, say to yourself quietly, and say it again and again till you have mastered it: peace is the possession of adequate resources.
You want to live a full, abundant life; but are you really equipped for such a life?
Is your will strong enough—your feeling fine enough—your conscience quiet enough—your heart deep enough?
Then Christ comes, and says, "......Enter into My fellowship today, and I shall give you the resources that you need......."
Christ can take the sting out of the conscience.
Christ can strengthen the weak, unstable will.
Christ can exalt and purify the feeling.
Christ can deepen the 'un-deepened' heart.
He can possess you with His divine resources for a full, abundant, and victorious life, and in that possession there is peace.
Peace is harmony.
Peace is intense life.
Peace is being equal to the problem.
Peace is possessing adequate resources for an overcoming and abundant life.
That is the kind of peace which Jesus gives, not a dull and joyless resignation, but all the resources each of us needs to enjoy eternal life "in Him" now! And this contentment in the internal security it offers, lay at the foundation of an attitude, we without much thinking, easily refer to as : Happiness!
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