Ps Benny Ho - The Pursuit Of Happiness

fantastic thank you so much so that uh nice welcome send you greetings from Perth and you know you guys have Jenny with me in the hope process or wanting to build a new building for the flower church and I'm glad to report to you next week of your official opening for our new church building and thank you for all your prayers thank you for joining with us encouraging me all the time and rather come to share with you about our desire and you know we this building project costs us about thirty four million dollars and I'm glad to report to you that we have actually completed the building without drawing down a single bank loan so we praise God for His goodness towards us in praise God for all this amen and I did the first time I heard no I'm hope some favorite by the teacher maybe this maybe it's just so that you could rhyme with a H you know illiterate I understand okay fantastic well you're ready for the Word of God I actually believe that we serve a God who is a giver of life and God's intention is for you and I to live with his abundance and we live life God's Way I believe that you'll be delightful and you're not be depressing now this does not of course mean that life does not have its ups and downs its crease and turns any realease among us will tell us that life is not a bed of roses life comes with challenges it comes to reset moments but one thing we know is that when God has finished with us our lives will reflect his happiness his holiness and his hope and I want to speak to you this morning and the subject of the pursuit of happiness the pursuit of happiness how many of you here want to be happy your your faces must show it and how many of you want to be happy oh we do of course so I'm gonna try and unveil to you some of the master keys I found in the scriptures on how we can actually be on a pathway towards true happiness which about with me and we'll pray father god I pray this morning that you are not just servants so that I may deliver your word with with compassion but yet also a passion so that your word will come across strongly to every one of us Lourdes our desire that your word would transform us from the inside out as far as a team have have reminded us today and Lord Jesus now a not just servant so that I may speak it with clarity with simplicity and all sober authority in Jesus name we pray amen amen you know there's a story towable guy was quite unhappy with his with his work with his family and in life in general so he decided to kind of do something about it so he heard about a monastery where you can actually sign up and you can be there for two years so that you can reorder your life and in the part of the monasteries Roux is this that when you join a monastery you are supposed to take a vow of silence you know an own and once in three months only you're allowed to speak to the priests that were who's trying to oversee you and every three months you're only allowed to speak two words okay so he thought to himself not bad no for two years I don't have to take all the nagging from my bosses my wife my children and so maybe I should just do it so he sign up so first three months after three months he came and he was caught to the priests office and in pre said now you're allowed to speak two words what do you have to say he said yeah foot bed then went away three months later he's it's back to the priest again you say okay now you can speak another two words he say Beit hot then ran away again three months later he comes back and say now what you had to say rune smelly say okay go finally one year come along he's back in the office again the priest asked him anything else you want to say I quit then the priest said actually I'm not surprised at all because all you have been doing since you came is complain complain complain complain now I think about that and I said no when I think about it there are so many people's life that is something like that they spend a huge part of their life complaining and they complained about everything under the Sun they are such a pessimistic view to its life you know I went on an internet I found a few interesting things listen to how some people view life there's a Jewish writer by the name of solemn al Azim who described life this way listen this one life is a blister on top of a table humor and a ball on top of that that is pain on a statement I mean you could literally feel his definition listen this life is a blister on top of a tumor and a ball on top of that is pain upon pain I mean if you agree what a way to view life and then there's another guy called khao san but who put it this way he said life is an onion you peel it off one layer at a time and then sometimes you we I thought this was quite true life is like an onion is so many layers is so complex and sometimes you you had to go through it and as you do sometimes you cry only if you agree if you cried before you know life is not always smooth but when you ask most people in this world what do you want in life the people will net generally tell you I just want to be happy is that true I just want to be happy now they all have different ideas about what brings happiness but there all want to be happy some look for happiness in material wealth others look for it in human relationships from some finite in noble acts high achievement some just want the latest iPhone you know this way but every one of them is on a pursuit of happiness now for some of us Christians we may find it uncomfortable they actually a meet that we are in a pursuit of happiness you know why because it sounds very unspiritual I think we would prefer the word joy I'm in pursuit of joy and in some sense yes it is true that there is a subtle difference a subtle distinctive between happiness and joy now if you ask me I'll put it this way happiness may be temporal rooted in circumstances but joy is lasting and it's rooted in something within now you all know that happiness sometimes can be quite superficial and mundane like for example if you manage to find a scoop on deal on your in your favorite restaurant on your birthday or happy early now for some others you know when you are able to book a Singapore Airlines ticket you know there is cheaper and your friends jet start to get on the same day while very happy for others it could be like we use Swiss film you know we obviously had a film called pursuit of happiness he all his life he wanted to be a stockbroker try everything you could to land a job when he finally landed the job as a stockbroker he had tears in his eyes in the film and he described it as a moment of happiness it can all boy doubt the things that are quite mundane but hear me on this I believe that happiness and joy overlaps at some point happiness and joy do over life so when I speak about joy and I'm speaking about I'm also speaking about true happiness are you with me they are happiness that is superficial but there's also happiness that is true and when I talk about joy and talk about I'm talking about true happiness and that is why the Bible don't really shy away from presenting happiness as a valley pursuit for example when Jesus speak preach the Beatitudes he used this phrase again and again blessed are this blessed are their right blessed are the poor in spirit then the Greek word for the word blessed is actually the word macros which literally means happy so Matthew five can be translated as happy is the man who is poor in spirit see blessed happy how many of you want to be blessed yes you want to be happy say it's the same same word but it's true happiness the sum is in sums one the quest is blessed is a man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly same word macros which literally means happy is the man who walks in the ways of God see so happiness and joy they overlap now listen to what the psalmist said in Psalm 16 verse 11 he had been flesh a few times already and this is the the key listen carefully that is you you are show me the path of life in your presence is fullness of joy at your right hand are pleasures forevermore listen what he's saying in in your presence there is fullness of joy at your right hand are pleasures for Emma bong see God encourages to pursue joy and pleasures but it must be centered in him in your presence fullness of joy at your right hand pleasures forevermore in other words true happiness my friends are rooted in God and it goes beyond favourable circumstances so if our happiness is purely based on everything going our way then I think there'll be very few happy people in this world because how many of you agree we do face difficulties in life isn't it true no it cannot be there and even if your circumstances circumstances are favorable today there is no way to guarantee that you will stay like that tomorrow is that true because the truth is we are simply not in control so my question has always been how can we be consistently happy then if we pursue happiness in what this temporal world can offer then life can be disappointing but if we pursue God and what he has to offer not just in this life but even beyond that's where we find through satisfaction our happiness quotient will escalate you know when we realized that Jesus came to offer us abundant life now and and the fullness of it in in the next world God you got to capture that so let me put it this way happiness is not found in pursuing it it is a byproduct of pursuing God that's the fundamental thing happiness is not found by trying to pursue it but it is a byproduct of pursuing God and when God is in the center of our pursuit of happiness we were beginning to find true happiness we will find joy by embracing his view for our life being thankful for what he has done in the past what he's doing now and what he's going to do in our future see and that is the fundament thing so with that as a backdrop what I like to do now is to help you to see how can we cultivate happiness intentionally I want to give you tree master keys that you need to have okay the other three key principles to nurturing or cultivating a life of true happiness number one is this make Jesus central make Jesus central in your life you know in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus make this most profound statement that all of us like the code Matthew chapter 6 verse 33 where Jesus said seek ye first and if I may add and foremost the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you seek efis and foremost the kingdom of God and His righteousness known this statement in Matthew 6:33 was actually spoken in the context of life and the context of life circumstances what was Jesus talking about in Matthew 6 before he made this statement he was actually talking about our physical and emotional well-being he's talking about what we eat know what we were talking about the physical and emotional well-being and then he challenged us at the end you go beyond looking at what you eat drink or wear or worry about and then you seek God and his kingdom first and foremost and this is a primary principle to the pursuit of happiness make Jesus central now I used to think that I grew up in a church where they like to use this phrase put God first have you ever heard this phrase before put God first and I used to think that that is all about priority when you say seek efis you know first sounds like priority so if there's a first there's a second is a third so because that's the thinking therefore we try to make life very neat you know and say okay if you want to really live life well then first you put God first okay then after that you look you put your family then after you put your family then you put your minister your church and then after that you look then you do deal with your work and then it goes on it's like a list of priorities I wish that life can be so neat I have discovered sins that life is not so neat it's not always just okay it's not I put God first and the family then I'm in seat and the world everything will fall in place because there are times I find it's not so neat sometimes this order can change depending on the season that you are in am i right like there are seasons when when if you are student for example when exams comes around all of a sudden you probably had to deal with your world before your ministry event so it's not so neat it's actually more dynamic than that and this hope brings support so when he says that in Matthew 6:33 seek Eve first it is not sequential it is substantial can I said again it's not a list of it's not about priorities it's about Zika first and foremost it's not sequential it's substantial now this whole thing became much clearer to me once because we had a management trainer I was once involved you know in in the in the sales industry doing training and we invited a special speaker all the way from the states and to come and talk about work-life balance and things like that so he came up with this model during the training he came out this model I know this guy was a Christian so he came up with this and he says that life is divided into different segments okay like for example we have our physical life okay we have our mental life we got our professional life I still remember then we have our financial life create our social life of what else our family life community life spiritual life okay and he says life life is makeup on many different areas okay then he asked us to do an exercise and now forget that it says okay I ask you to exercise from a scale of 0 to 10 you great your life how are you doing and so okay we all had to do it now so we say fiscal life I look at myself in the mirror I think treater look at mental life or lasya read two books okay maybe five professional life for very good last year I got promoted three times so announcer nine profit a financial life fantastic and make a hundred thousand very good social life a very good every night drink until you know lots of friends so he give us a seven community life don't know what's happening so give it a to speech ally we went to church three times so maybe a tree and then after that they asked you to join up the dots okay and then we ended up with a life that looks then you say okay that's your life then when you look at your life like that then was what is your life like your life is actually quite distorted now it's out of shape and then they say if your life is really good what should the shape be should be a circle correct but please something sir coming so good because some people like everything no good way small circle very bad so if your life is really good then you should be a very big circle you know everything is happening then it fantastic life that's a fantastic life but when I when I hear him do the whole teaching and the whole exercise and I know you as a Christian so I wasn't too happy to satisfy her so at the end of the the whole event I went to see him and I say if you're a Christian aren't you say yeah and say can I just say a thought with you I said maybe we can do this in a different way and say what about if we were to take the spiritual and then we put it right in the middle you put the spiritual here so you put Jesus here and then let him determine how we do the rest of our life what do you think now if you think of it this way then I think Jesus is just a compartment but Jesus is not a compartment he is central if Jesus is in a center he would teach us how to run our family he were tell us how does how to conduct ourselves professionally he would tell us how to spend our money here tell us how to take care of our body he'll tell us everything if Jesus is central then he determines everything that happens in our life are you with me he is not a compartment he is central if you want to be truly happy in life this is the starting point put Jesus in the center of it all and he would tell us how to run the rest of our life that's the first most critical key is put Jesus in the middle and I tell you if jesus knows therefore when you think of it this way making Jesus central when you think of it this way it's not about Jesus coming before my family but it is bringing Jesus into my family it's not about my work Jesus coming before my work it is bringing Jesus into my work it's not about my God coming before my ministry is bringing God into your ministry does that make sense and then the whole thing comes together and because Jesus is central to everything in our life and if Jesus is central he becomes a source of our life he's our provider or sustainer or protector or Shepherd our comfort our joy he's everything he has become my healer master King Savior Lord he is all in all and we all say amen to that isn't it that's the key and one of the best indicators of you putting Jesus in the center of your life one of the best indicators is when we make the worship of God central to our life the to worship God means to attribute worth to God so worship is when we value God for who he is see people ask me sometimes what's the difference between praise and worship I'll put it this way you know we praise God for what he has done but we worship God for who he is praise is appreciating God for what he has done but worship is going to be a doll God for who he is and if we if we worship God it doesn't matter what the circumstances are even if God don't give me what I want I can still worship Him and adore him for who he is it's not what he has done is who he is the him nice fable you should put it this way father of Jesus loves reward what rapture it will be prostrate before your throne to lie and gaze and gaze on thee this worship nothing to do my circumstance everything to do who God is it is only when Jesus is in the center of our life that worship becomes central in in our in our Christianity intimacy with God becomes our primary pursuit it is in the love worship and adoration of God we find our real joy and happiness the more we worship God the more conscious we become of his presence in his presence is fullness of joy at his right hand are pleasures forever more I think this is the first key to the pursuit of happiness make Jesus central he is not a compartment he is central everybody got that here's number two the master key number two is this count your blessings you run you live a life of happiness learn to count your blessing cultivate an attitude of gratitude the the sámi set in sums 103 verse 1 2 3 he said this praise the Lord O my soul all of my inmost being praise His Holy Name priest a lot o my soul and forget not all his benefits who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases the sum is he goes on you reach some 103 he goes on in the next 20 verses to declare the wonderful praises of God then he ends off that Psalm again with that phrase praise the Lord all my soul I know that their times and we don't feel like praising God and then we make our cell do it we wonder whether is it hypocritical you know is that is that for real is it fake but I like you to notice carefully what the Sammis is doing in some 103 listen to what he's saying again he says praise the Lord O my soul question who is the Sam he's talking to ya he's talking to himself right praise the Lord O my soul and all that is within me praise the Lord he's talking to her talking to himself so which part of him is talking to his own soul but deity I think it's a spirit it's a spirit man see he's what he's doing is this he's allowing the spirit man to rise up and actually command his soul praise the Lord remember what God has done now which means what maybe he don't feel like praising that day so and so what is he's doing he's allowing his spirit mentor rise command his soul to actually give praise to God not because he feels like it but because God is worthy to be praised which means what P praising God is a choice we can choose to focus our mind on what God has done and when we count our blessing that's when we end up praising God or an attitude of gratitude how many of you know is very easy to forget how God has blessed us you agree it's very easy to forget know how God and what God has done to actually bless us and that's why the Sammy's had to remind himself praise the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits if I can put it in a simple way count your blessings don't forget to count your blessings done for us maybe that's why you know God instituted that's why Jesus instituted the holy communion honey he'll institute the holy communion I think is so that we will never forget what he has done for us on the cross that's what we are doing right every time we take Holy Communion is to remind ourselves what God has done count your blessings don't forget that first come first Corinthians eleven that's why we always go to for Holy Communion verse 23 and 25 listen this the Lord Jesus on the ninth years betrayed he took bread and when you've give thanks he broke it and then he said well this is my body which is broken for you do this in remembrance of me in the same way after supper he took his cup and then he said this cup is a new covenant in my blood do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me so what's the whole point of the Holy Communion is so that we remember hello you with me what's the whole point of this Holy Communion it's so that we will remember we never forget we count our blessings reason why God instituted the holy communion sometimes I think it's because we are forgetful so he instituted it and says don't and whenever you drink it you remember whenever you break that bread you remember you see and so that we can become people of gratitude okay and and when we remember what he has done for us in the past we actually find the strength to overcome whatever we're going through in the present and we find a courage you know to face whatever challenges that may be there may be in the future in my journey in life I found that the happiest people I know are those who are filled with gratitude they are the ones who thank God you know for everything they have rather than to lament about what they don't have have you ever seen his name John Templeton before John Templeton is the founder of the famous Templeton fund which is one of the largest hedge fund in the world and he actually talked about in an interviewer there was a CNN interviewer and CNBC interview you know where he actually talked about how he made money for the purpose of giving most of it away and it's true you read his story over his lifetime he has literally given away millions of dollars for organization charities all over the world and in that interview he actually shared with us one of the key things that he do with his life that make him the person that he was he said every morning when I wake up I spent my first few minutes thinking about five new ways in which I have been blessed this is everyday habit every day when he wakes up first thing you do he sits down then she recalls at least three to five new things in which in which he has been blessed you know what he's trying to do he's trying to wake up with gratitude in his heart so the best way to wake our gratitude recall count your blessing and that's what he does every day then he said he believed that that was the key as to why he feels so much peace so much contentment so much happiness in his life now I have a question for us today how do you begin your morning how do you begin every day what do you wake up with I think about it what do you wake up with I hope you don't wake up watching CNN then your minds gonna be filled with all the bad news you know I also hope you don't wake up looking our Instagram you know sometimes you wake up first thing we do it stretch over to a base I take a phone and start looking that's how we wake up and then we start scrolling well if you do that I tell you by the time you actually get out of it but you leave for work you're in your mind you're already feeling with all those wonderful things they post and their experience not yours by the time you leave though the meeting you feel like oh you know I think my life is so lacking you know what a miserable life I have compared to all these wonderful people you know and you know today in a social media world you gotta understand this you know you don't believe everything you see on the Instagram and as serious then sometimes I think I'll be you watch too much we actually can become depressing because you look at Wow look at all those amazing places they're been and never been before or look at a wonderful food eating I'll never taste that before look at all wonderful things they are doing no look at the body they have a Soul Reaper and by the time you look at all this thing and you feel depressing and and don't you believe everything you see under under Facebook Instagram abhi cuz I guarantee you every one of them is their best pal the best pose it's the happiest moment it's the highlight of that trip you know it's the big best achievement it's the best sight that they are showing you you can check my Instagram pose it's all one side and always decide because I think I look better this side and this side now we always make sure we are the best and then you always see it's the best moment it's a happiest moment of the whole trip that you're going to check that my always Eiffel Tower behind you husband and wife face side my side smiling then you post everybody looking his or they also happy I look at your marriage to get my yo-yo they are so happy but actually what then they only post you the final destination when they arise so happy but what it impose are is the in-between no on the way there they fight in a car corner inside the neighbor post only post a final thing you don't believe it but you know my you can't check I also went off without my wife and I cross singer but in between getting there we are fighting in a car no because I was driving couldn't find a place and dry dry dry angry I meant never my wife saying why don't we stop now we asked people as we whined I need to ask people I know what I'm doing okay you don't worry dry dry dry and enjoyed I Drive an F say a pass the same spot four times you know four times there they my wife would say why don't you stop I couldn't after the holiday okay now you're not asked going outside your answer then stop the hell going as any campaign see all you need to take this thing now going turn your true enough you arrived they don't say actually I know us on the way I was on the way you only asked us now all these things in between we never post we only post finally reach there so you don't believe everything you see you get me this is this is life in the social media have created a whole new kind of world you know but here's the thing how does you don't want to begin the day you know what why don't I suggest you you start the day open the precious Word of God read the good news for the day and then you're here the Sami says this is the day that the Lord has made I will rejoice and be glad in it you read it your new your says our God is able to supply all your needs according to your riches in glory you were here Jesus say therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow what they care has worries about yourself each day has enough trouble of his own see and once you have the right perspective then happiness becomes our portion now even though we face troubles in life if we have the attitude of gratitude I think we can always find something that we is that true you got life you gotta had a gratitude it will help you find happiness because you can always find something to be grateful for every ever they ever tell you this there was this pastor know his well known for being a grateful person he's always thanking God for this thanking God for that and then one Sunday he was on his way to church when all of a sudden he had a flat tire so he had no choice he came out he was replacing his tire and while he's doing that there was a sudden downpour and then the guy got totally soaked you know and he kept his sermon notes inside his coat pocket and then by the time the whole thing finished he realized all his sermon notes are wet all the in rain already now he couldn't read these notes and he was late so he's rushing all the way to church when he got there run up the steps Nancy run off the step he trip and he fell and by the time he finished he ran into the hall he was hazard he was we're drained bruised everywhere he looked totally totally gone you know and he came in just in time for pastoral prayer immediately had to come up to the pulpit and to pray so he got a people to pray he says lord I thank you then he stopped and couldn't couldn't don't know what to thank God for and the people are all look at him they know he's in trouble right so they were thinking I wonder what he can thank God for then he raised his voice again lord I thank you then you stopped thinking thing then he races why even though there is now he says lord I thank you that not every Sunday it's like that he found something to be grateful is that true it's not every time you're in this bad shape isn't it so be thankful and be grateful if you really have a heart of gratitude if you really have a grateful heart you can always find something to be grateful for count your blessings how many we believe you have been very blessed you're very blessed people count your blessings if we have an attitude of gratitude we always find something to be grateful for you know where the anchor for the lodge where the theological anchor for being grateful always I think it is found in 1st Thessalonians 5:16 can I give you this verse listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote here very extreme verses he goes like this 1st Thessalonians 5:16 be joyful always - meizu be joyful he says always right pray continually how often do you pray all the time give thanks when in all circumstances and I thought wow that's extreme statements is that true a very extreme you know be joyful always pray continually give thanks in all circumstances how for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus brothers and sisters here is a theological anchor for gratitude it is all rooted in one thing God is sovereign and he's in control and because God is sovereign because God is in control therefore we can be joyful always therefore we can pray always we can give things under all circumstances because whether good times are bad I know one thing circumstances can change one thing never change my God is in control he is sovereign and if this is God's view for me then I am Not Afraid see and is rooted in this that's why we give thanks in all circumstances said rich-poor in plenty on one I give thanks with a grateful heart why because our God is suffering he's in control he's good and we can trust him that's why I like the old song we used to sing now we don't sing it that much remember that song give thanks with a grateful heart give thanks to the Holy One give thanks because he's given Jesus Christ his son listen this is good theology we are grateful why because of Jesus give thanks with a grateful heart because he has given Jesus Christ his son see God put all things in Christ and then he give us Christ so that we can have all things it's good theology he put all things in Christ and he give us Christ and today we can have all things in him you see I think the big danger facing the church is not that people hate God but it's because we think God for granted that's the biggest danger facing us that we take God for granted sometimes we live life without tech without reference to God we take so many things for granted like as even is an entitlement we enjoy his provisions without any sense of gratitude and brothers and sisters in these last days we were told in in in first Timothy that ungratefulness is going to be rampant you know one of the the mucks of the end times is ungratefulness and therefore in a miserable ungrateful world the church must go in the opposite spirit we should be the most grateful people possible is that true in a miserable ungrateful world we had to go in the opposite spirit and be grateful people let us be thankful you know for our salvation thankful for health our family our homes our friends our faith the freedom that we have in our city thank God that after this service you can go out and enjoy a simple lunch just to be able to enjoy the food that we eat it's a grace from God and we are thankful for this you know and we learn again to sing that o Sunday school song I like another song it goes like that College your blessings name them one by one count your blessings see what God has done remember that song count your blessings name them one by one count your blessing and you were surprised you what God has done so it since you have received so much you know we learn to pray this prayer Lord thank you for giving me so much in life now give me one more thing a grateful heart just give me one more thing a grateful heart here are two master keys to a life in the pursuit of happiness number one make Jesus central he's not a compartment he's central number two you say count your blessings count your blessings and then forget not any of his benefits and I'll leave you one last key and it is this live for others live for others you want to find happiness live for others there was this guy who was traveling you know on a train and he was in a same cabin as two other ladies so they are sharing this cabin and he's standing out for him a rather unpleasant experience the reason is because these two ladies who are strangers also to each other but they are calling throughout the whole journey they're fighting all the way okay what happened was the ladies sitting furthest away from the window wanted the window open is it if not our dire heatstroke another lady sitting next to the window say it must be close or else I died of pneumonia so they were fighting all the way no one wanna open one wanna close the door opening closing opening closing and this guy is sitting there watching this whole thing and they were going back and forth finally no choice they brought in the ticket inspector to try and mediate you know so the ticket inspector can talk to them but nobody wanted to give way so in the end the ticket inspectors I don't know what to do so in desperation you turn to this guy sitting didn't say what do you think and this guy said I'll tell you what I think I think we should close the window and queue the first one then we open a window queue the second one and then I can have some peace finally you tell me what's wrong with this whole scenario what's wrong this whole scenario I'll tell you what's wrong every single person in that cabin is self-centered z true everybody just want to have their own way and once you have people living like that all self-centered people we will have nothing but chaos there is no happiness in a situation where everybody is self-centered and that's why we have a verse like James chapter 4 verse 1 you know James chapter 4 and this the Apostle James wrote this he says what causes fights in chorus among you it's actual rhetorical question what causes fights in chorus among you and then he answered himself he says don't they come from your desires that battle within you why do people fight in color why is there so much unhappiness at home and in the workplaces and sometimes even in church is it because because of the desires that batters within you there were desires in the greek is the word hidden or from where you get the word hedonism what is hidden ism hedonism is basically a philosophy of life that says that the pursuit of pleasure is paramount so who is a hiddenness hiddenness is someone who believes that the pursuit of my pleasure is paramount in life that's the most important thing I must be I must pursue it's a pursuit of my own pleasure see and once we live like that we live the kind of self-centered all I want is to pursue my own pleasure we have nothing but chaos then you have fights and chorus and that's the problem sometimes I think with the prosperity gospel we turn our whole focus to just give me help give me well give me myself that's all you want so that's why I like what rick warren wrote in his book The Purpose Driven Life you seen a Purpose Driven Life there were 40 days of devotion he started the first day in the first line of his 40 day devotion he start with this phrase it's not about you and I thought that's a good start it's not about you we can never find meaning and purpose and happiness in life by looking within ourselves what I want what I desire what I seek after what I prefer what I pursue if we lived life like that if we only live for ourselves there is no joy there is no happiness how many of you agree that's a key live for others General William Booth was the founder the Salvation Army was once asked to speak in a conference for all his officers you know and he was scheduled to go but unfortunately he fell sick he was so sick that he couldn't control so what the organizers did was they asked him you know why don't you as our leader sent us your message you know during those days is all by faxes affects us your message we will read it to the people in general will humble say ok I'll do that so he fax his message across his message was very simple only one word others there was his message to them others and that's why the Salvation Army is all about it is living for others and I think that is the master key to the pursuit of happiness to live others centered life so X 20 verse 35 we can recorded this it is more blessed to give than to receive we live to give we live the self we live the bless we live to share and that is a master key to happiness why because it's the heart of God this is the essence of who Jesus is Jesus came for others he live for others and he died for others we describe him in mark chapter 10 verse 45 with this verse right for even the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many I have observed that people who live only for themselves are never really successful in satisfying themselves or anyone else especially when we live in the age of self-actualization you know we live in an age of self promotion you know self the self that self-expression self assertion everything is about self and I think this is all propagated and added on intensify because of this social media again now at least understand I've got nothing against social media in fact I cannot live without it you know social mean because of social media the gospel has been published you know far and wide like never before because the social medias so much can happen but at the same time you need to realize the danger of this do you realize that it is only on social media that boasting becomes legitimate now posting is legitimate because of social media it's only on social media you can post you know your letters your certificate law your latest achievement on your report is law you know you can post and everybody like like like like like like you know it's only on social media you do that you never go around do your certificates going around see see I got new self get never do that right Oni on social media becomes legitimate it's only on social media that materialism become acceptable only on social media it becomes acceptable and then the whole world were like like like like and without realizing it we promote things that are actually undermining our own life okay and we need to recognize this that while we use it we don't get trapped by it our attitude slowly people people's attitude change so people begin the thing what's mine is mine if I can keep it what's yours is also mine if I can get it the example that Jesus gave us is the exact opposite look at Philippians 2 verse 3 and 4 listen how he puts it do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourself each of you should look not only to your own interests were also to the interests of others your attitude should be like that of Jesus Christ is this is the practical outworking of living for others how do you live for others is when you look not only to your own interest but you looked at the interests of others that is what it means to live for others three master keys I want to live with you this morning as we are on this pursuit of happiness the first make Jesus central make Jesus central he's not a compartment he is central and once he is central he would teach us how to determine the priorities of our life he'll teach us how to do everything we need to do and out of the central place he will make sure that our life is in in a good place and joy and happiness will be our portion okay number two count your blessings forget not any of his benefits we are already so blessed and we should take joy in that and number three you live for others you live for others sent that life and therein you find your happiness can I end with this and then we'll pray this true story is a chilly winter morning in London it was right after the war London was still in disarray no ruins everywhere economy was totally totally down and there was a soldier that's walking along that Street that morning and then he come across a little boy there was ten outside the bakery shop looking into the bakery his nose plastered against the window with saliva coming out of his mouth no and it was actually he was looking at all the fresh donuts that were coming out from the from the oven but he had no money to buy so the soldier walk past saw these he had compassion and a little boy so what he did was he walking to the bakery shop he bought half a dozen donuts he came out and then without saying a word he pass it to the little boy then he walked away and as he walked away he felt a tug on his shoulders he looked back and he saw this little kid looking up at him with eyes as big as saucers with a heart full of gratitude and then this is a boy ask him mister are you God mister are you God I thought about it and it's so true you are never more like God then when you give we are never more like God you know when we are filled with gratitude no heart we are never more like God then when we actually live for this and never more like God when you put Jesus into the center of all the thing that we do and let him govern us I think that's what it's all about if you truly want to find happiness my brothers and sisters upwardly make Jesus central inwardly count your blessings and then outwardly you live for others I think these are the biblical keys to the pursuit of happiness do you want to be happy come to Jesus if you truly want to be happy make him central count your blessings I think you live for others centered life happiness it's not fun when we pursue it it is a byproduct of pursuing God that's what it is amen what you rise with me please this morning thank you Jesus you

Channel: Hope Singapore

Views: 13,984

Rating: 4.8608694 out of 5

Keywords: ps benny ho, pursuit of happiness, sermon, hopesg

Id: 0ETL4d9Tmb8

Length: 48min 52sec (2932 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 01 2018