Happiness

Build Connection

Every morning I take Eli to school. On Thursday something interesting happened. After dropping him off I was headed to the office and of course there was a line of traffic at the stop sign. I was listening the the radio as I always do in the mornings, Chuck Swindall was on the air and he always seems to have something good to say. As I was slowly moving down the road starting and stopping, the radio stopped playing Chuck and started playing some song, that I quickly could tell was not something the station I was listening to would be playing…

I was instantly irritated that my reception got hijacked and making me listen to something other that what I wanted to.

My conclusion was that the car behind me had a transmitter for their phone so they could listen to their music via the radio.

You may think this would make me feel better…it didn’t it actually made me even more irritated.

Create Tension

As I pondered that incident I had to ask myself, how could my happiness be so easily taken from me?

Am I that immature that something so insignificant could take away a happy moment from me?

Which raises many many other questions,

Shouldn’t I always be happy?

What happens when I’m not?

Is it a sign of immaturity when I don’t always feel happy?

This morning I want to look at how in your life, Jesus is greater than happiness.

Provide Solution

Today is Palm Sunday the day we celebrate Jesus’ Triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

John 12:12-19

12 The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors 13 took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted,

“Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!” 14 Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:

15 “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.”

16 His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him. 17 Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it. 18 That was the reason so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign. 19 Then the Pharisees said to each other, “There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after him!”

Put yourself in the disciples shoes on that day about 2000 yrs ago. What do you think they were thinking?

Imagine walking with Jesus as people throwing their cloaks and palm branches on the ground.

You couldn’t help but feel the excitement, you would have had a great big grin on your face as sure I’m the disciples did.

Now think about what happens just five days later…Jesus is arrested, tried, convicted and executed. ‘where do you think that big ol’ grin went? Away!

Or how about how Jesus commended Peter for calling him the “the Christ the Son of the living God.”

Matthew 16:17–19 “17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.””

I bet Peter had a big ol’ smile on his face when Jesus said that. he probably was like, “hey guys did you hear that, what Jesus said about me?

But then read just three vs. later in Matthew 16:23 “23 Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.””

That face went from a great big smile of happiness, to the frown of failure.

What we see from this is that…

Illustration: This happens in our life too.

In Golf, if you hit a great shot, you are happy with your game, but your very next shot can cause you to question why you play this game at all.

Or at work, your boss tells you good job, and a big smile shows up on your face, but the next thing you know one of your coworkers doesn’t do their job so you have to and the smile just as quickly goes away.

How about you wives when your husband buys you flowers you feel loved and it brings a big smile on your face, then later that night he forgets to take out the trash and instantly that happiness you felt turns into frustration…

All this leads us to realize that…

Happiness is often Achieved but Rarely Sustained.

When we don’t feel happy we have to remember that Jesus is greater than our Happiness!

Now I know what your thinking, how is Jesus greater than our Happiness?

Because he offers us something more, something greater than happiness.

Joy can not be Manufactured, only Received

John 15:11 “11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!”

We are filled with the Joy that Jesus gives us.

And like all the gifts that Jesus gives us, it can’t be taken away.

Unlike happiness that can be taken away by a negative situation, nothing can take away the Joy Jesus gives us!

But then why are there those who used to have the Joy of Jesus but now don’t? Because they chose to give their Joy way.

Joy grows in us as we mature!

Galatians 5:22–23 “22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

Notice that Joy is a fruit from the HS, and like all the fruit of the spirit, it grows in us as we become more like the person God has called us to be.

As we mature and Joy grows in us, we find that, while we wont’ always experience happiness because of our circumstances, we also know we won’t have to experience situational depression.

If our joy is lessened by things we experience, it is not real Joy, for that joy is not altered by emotion.

Because Joy is not emotional based, we can find joy when difficulty comes..

James 1:2–3 “Dear brothers and sisters,* when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.”

Happiness puts a smile on your face, whereas Joy puts a smile on your Heart!

If this is so, how can we live with a smile on our hearts?

The Greek word for Joy is Chara and is identified as a spiritual unchanging and God given Joy.

But here’s the interesting thing, the greek word for joy comes from the same root word in greek word for gift, which is charis.

Charis in the Bible 

In the New Testament, charis refers to God's favor and kindness towards humanity

It's associated with the concept of salvation, as believers are saved through faith via God’s favor and Kindness

It also denotes God's graciousness in bestowing gifts and blessings upon His people

Encourage Change

We can have Chara because of Charis

We receive the Joy that only Jesus can give because it is a gift to us by the salvation of Jesus which was bestowed through the God as a wonderful gift!