Have you ever realized that you are never really and continually happy? You are looking for success and happiness. You are looking for it impatiently because you know that the time to find it is limited. How long have you been seeking already?

Money! Perhaps you put your trust in riches. Your sole aim is to get as much money as possible. You want to be able to buy whatever pleases you. You want to be admired by your friends for spending your money freely. Perhaps you have been very successful in these your aims. But deep down you are not happy!

Enjoyment! Perhaps you spent a great evening with your friends. Everything went as well as you could have wished. You felt very happy. But - for how long?

Nature! Perhaps you enjoy nature. Watching a sunset fills you with happiness - and yet at the same time it makes you sad. You feel a longing which is not fulfilled.

Hobby! Perhaps you are enjoying a hobby. Sport is your greatest ambition and whenever you practice it you feel happy. And yet - even, if you are very successful, you realize that there must be more - there is a longing for real happiness.

Love and Care! Do you have the feeling that nobody loves you deeply and yet you sense that love would make you happy? Out of love you try to look for your fellowmen. Quite naturally you are expecting a response to your acts of love - and again you are disappointed.

Sex! Perhaps you are looking for happiness in sex and again you are unsatisfied. The pleasure is just for a moment and there you go again… disappointed and unsatisfied!

Our friend in the story above did all that and yet he could not find lasting happiness. Happiness came only when he traced his root back home. Jesus is your root; in Him is everlasting joy and happiness. The only thing you MUST do is to:
Acknowledge: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"(Romans 3:23). "God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13).
Repent: "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3:19).
Confess: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9).
Forsake: "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him... for he will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:7).
Believe: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
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Just A Moment... 11/23/2009
 
Yeah! Let's pause for a moment. Let's think about ourselves. Or may be take a few personal questions like, why am I so miserable? And if I am, whose fault is it? Well, it could be that you or I never happened to ask such questions. We could also go right to the opposite and ask ourselves, "Why am I so unspeakably happy? Whose merit is it?" There must be a reason behind these questions I may never have thought about. Let's find out!

Jesus once told the story of a young lad who wouldn't have been able to give a reasonable answer either. He was neither miserable nor really happy. He just took everything in life for granted. One day he decided to increase his happiness in an all-out freedom. Leaving home and doing whatever he desired just seemed the right thing for him to do…

And the day came when he packed his goods. Together with all his belongings and his inheritance drawn in advance, he left his father and brother behind.

Enjoying Life
All kinds of worldly attractions soon took hold of him. Glittering luxuries he never had dreamed of filled his days. Eating and drinking and amusing himself with girls seemed to produce endless happiness. His self-satisfaction made him so self-confident.

Yet, with no income, it was foreseeable that his fortune was inevitably going to dwindle. Another problem started right then to be hard at his heels. A severe famine broke out. Food became scarce and jobs were hard to be found. He however had to desperately beg a farmer in this faraway land for some kind of employment.

Now, why am I so miserable? Our friend has come to a crossroad. He discovered his mistake and had to look for money to help himself. Having had pity on this poor fellow, the farmer sent him to look after his pigs out in the field. Plagued with hunger, the young man desired to fill his belly with pig-food, but no-one gave it to him. And he didn't dare steal it either.

So, whose fault is it? At this point, he came to his real senses. At long last he asked himself, “why am I so miserable? Whose fault is it”? And the answer wasn't too hard to find, “It's my own fault. My egoism has driven me into this hopeless misery. If I had been loving and patient and content with what I had; yes, if I had trusted my father and thanked him for everything, I would have stayed at home. I can still see the many servants around my father's table with an abundance of food and I, his son, I'm going to die of hunger!”

And he got up. Deep within him he was determined to go all the way back. Home, home to his father he went. While drudging along and still a distance from his father's house, he was spotted by him. "It could well be… it must be him, my son!" And off he went, running - to meet his son. He threw his arms around him and kissed him.

I have sinned! Now his son admitted, "Father; I have sinned against heaven and against you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son" (Luke 15:21), and he had in mind to beg him, "Make me like one of your hired men." But he couldn't. His father had already ordered to let him wear the best suit, to put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet and to kill a fattened calf. With real joy the father said, "Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!" (V24).

Forgiven and really happy! Can you imagine, how unspeakably happy our friend must have been? And if you could ask the reason why: the only possible answer would be, "It's my father's love who freely forgave me my very bad behaviour".

The Apostle John exclaims, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him!"(1 ]ohn3:1).