How To Be Happy

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Today’s program is called How To Be Happy. We are weak, but He is strong. In Habakkuk, chapter 3 it is written, The Lord God is my strength; He makes my feet like hind’s feet, and makes me to walk on my high places. Let’s turn to 1 Cor 1:17-31, The Apostle Paul said, For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.  In 2 Cor 12:1-10, the Apostle Paul talks about a vision that he had where he went to the third Heaven, and in verse 7 he said, And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2Co 13:4,  For though He was crucified through weakness, yet He lives by the power of God.

Let’s turn to Psalms 145: 1-21, I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts.  I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, and I will declare Your greatness. They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, and shall sing of Your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. All Your works shall praise You, O Lord, and Your saints shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your Kingdom, and talk of Your power, to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, And the glorious majesty of His Kingdom. Your Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord upholds all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways, gracious in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. The Lord preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh shall bless His Holy name forever and ever. Psalm 147:1-11, Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground. Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praises on the harp to our God, who covers the heavens with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the mountains. He gives to the beast its food, and to the young ravens that cry. He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy. Psalm 118:8-14, It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. All nations surrounded me, but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. 

They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me; but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. They surrounded me like bees; they were quenched like a fire of thorns; for in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. You pushed me violently, that I might fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. Let’s go back to Psalm 146:1-10, Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being; in the King James Version it says, I will sing praises to my God while I have any being! Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans perish. 

Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps truth forever, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; but the way of the wicked He turns upside down. The Lord shall reign forever—Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord! Verse 5, Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help; whose hope is in the Lord his God!

It is the Lord God who is strong. We are weak. Even the strongest of men cannot resist Him, nor stand before Him. God will show Himself strong on behalf of those who trust in Him; whose heart is perfect toward Him. When we trust in a man, our heart is not perfect toward God. Many men are strong in the flesh, and they are able to build great things. People are impressed by their confidence and their influence in the world and in the church. This is a great error in the Church of Jesus Christ; that we should trust in a man. No matter how great he may seem to be, we should never glory in men, but only in the power of God; for He alone is great; He alone is worthy of our praise and devotion. We are to be strong in the Lord, and the power of His might. When we are strong in our own flesh, we miss out on the great blessings that come from waiting on the Lord, and trusting Him to show Himself strong on our behalf. The Lord knows those that put their trust in Him; like the prophets and teachers in Acts 13, who were fasting and praying and seeking God. The Holy Spirit said, Separate Barnabas and Saul for the work that I have called them to do, and He sent them out, and Paul, who was beset with weaknesses, became the Apostle to the gentiles, and established many churches. God started his work, and God prospered it. God was glorified through Jesus Christ in all those churches, and in all the fruit of Paul’s ministry, even to this day. The Apostle Peter said, If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him minister as of the ability which God gives, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever, Amen! The Apostle Paul said, God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. The Apostle Paul said in Phil 2:1-11, Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

Jesus was walking with His disciples one day and they were discussing among themselves which one of them was the greatest. When they came to the place where they were going, Jesus said, What were you talking about in the way? Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them and said unto them, Do you see this little child? He who humbles himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of God. He also said, Unless we humble ourselves as little children, we will by no means enter into the Kingdom of God. At the Last Supper, when Jesus had finished washing the disciples’ feet, He said, Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then your Lord and Master have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily I say to you, the servant is not greater than his lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them. If we will humble ourselves before our great and mighty Lord and Father, the God of the whole Earth, the one who opens His hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing, the one who calls all the stars by name, the one by whom all things consist, the one who created us and all things by His Word and by His power, the one who raised His Son from the dead in victory over all sin and death, and all the power of evil, the one who loves you and gave Himself for you; if we will fall before Him on our faces and say, like the Apostle Paul: I am nothing Lord! I can do nothing without you! All glory and honor and blessing and power and might and dominion be unto you Father in Heaven, and unto you, my Lord Jesus Christ; and continue to walk humbly in Him, trusting only in Him, giving Him all glory and honor; if we will do these things, then we will be happy!

Interpretation of a message in tongues:

I am God Almighty. I am with my servant Rob. Those of you who are listening, give heed to these words. I love you, but you must understand that I am God. I am God, and you are my children. I created you to serve Me and love Me and honor Me and glorify My name and glorify My Son. If you will do these things, I will bless you, says the Lord.