I truly believe He does! But not for the reasons that, most recently, Mrs. Osteen has said.
God has several things to say on what brings about happiness in His people. Let's look at just a few of them:
God says we will be happy when we have many children!
"As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them." Psalm 127:5
He says we will be happy when we are wise and when we understand:
"Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man
that getteth understanding." Proverbs 3:13
We will be happy when we trust in the Lord!
"He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good:
and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he."
Proverbs 16:20
We will be happy if we DO what He tells us to do in His word:
We will be happy when we do not allow ourselves to do something without faith:
"Has thou faith? Have it to thyself before God.
Happy is he that condemneth not himself
in that thing which he alloweth."
Romans 14:22
We are happy when we suffer for the sake of righteousness:
"But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye."
1 Peter 3:14
Mrs. Osteen suggests that what we do, we do for ourselves, and not for God. But His Word tells us that all that we do, we do for the glory of God!
He wants us to be happy in the ways that give Him the most glory!
If-y post. I do not believe God cares about if we are 'happy'. He cares about obedience, joy, reflecting him. You pointed to a few verses... I point to the book of Job. Did God care about his happiness? Victoria was not correct. She walks on very dangerous ground of blasphemy.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading, and for your comment, Kelli. I would say that many of these passages could describe Job. He trusted God, even through his pain. He did what God wanted him to do. And he definitely suffered for righteousness' sake. I don't think happy means we will never grieve or never feel pain. Even in the account of Job, he says, "happy is the man whom God correcteth", and he goes on to describe all that he trusts the Lord to do. I absolutely agree that Victoria Osteen blasphemes. And like you, I always thought "God doesn't care if I'm happy"...then I discovered how much He says about being happy. Is it the end goal in our walk? Certainly not. But as we trust Him, we will be happy. As we fill our quiver, we will be happy. As we do all the rest I mentioned, even the verse I didn't include from Job (when He corrects us), we are happy--because we know He loves us. God bless!
DeleteOf course God wants us happy. The only true way to happiness is through God. God can meet us right where we are and fill us up with joy only He can bring. It surely is not about us but about God. We should seek His face and in doing so He brings His spirit to us and fills our heart with joy. Victoria Osteen missed it here for sure. She needs prayer.
ReplyDeletePsalms 33:21 - For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.
We trust in God alone and not ourselves.
Thank you for your comment, Anonymous! :) You are so right! :)
DeleteI also think a definition of happy is in order. It means so many different things to different people. It doesn't always mean a walk on the clouds with birds singing everywhere. I have days that are just calm and quiet enough to get my daily chores and activities done and my heart sings with joy! I believe that the joyful, content feeling of knowing our Lord has his hands around our lives, on bad days as well as good, is synonymous with "happy".
ReplyDeleteYes, you are right. Happy, in my concordance and Greek lexicon, means "blessed". You are so right that on the good AND bad days, we are blessed that He is taking care of us. Psalm 23:4 says, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." :)
DeleteThe First Commandment is recorded in Exodus 20:3: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” It tells us to put God first, it does not tell us to put or pursue or happiness first. It is all about God and only God. When we are obedient and walk in right relationship with God, this brings happiness in itself which then spills into other areas of our life. This is why the apostle Paul, spoke about being content in any situation he found himself in, because his happiness did not come from his circumstances and he had some pretty difficult ones. His happiness came from his relationship with Jesus. Mrs. Osteen clearly stated "it's not about God, that's part of it" NO!!! It's only about God and God alone. Her statements are deceiving and can lead people astray. We must pray for her and that ministry that they would realize the seriousness and responsibility they have before God and all the thousands of people listening to them.
ReplyDeleteMarie, I totally agree. The Osteen's are, sadly, deceived--and when one is deceived, they can only teach deception. I only shared the one sentence in which I agree--that God wants us to be happy. You won't find me agreeing with anything else from the Osteens. I don't even listen to them, just heard about the shared statements by all others who have shared them. Happy means "blessed" according to my Greek concordance/lexicon. It is ALL for His glory, even in the suffering for His sake! :)
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