Understanding Happiness as a Choice, Part 1 (TMF:2400)

Friday, July 19, 2024

Peace to Live By: Understanding Happiness as a Choice, Part 1 (TMF:2400) - Daniel Litton
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Most people see their personal happiness as dependent upon their circumstances. I do it at times, though, I am trying more and more to get out of this mindset. Why is this bad—to base our happiness on our external circumstances? Well, it’s an incorrect line of thinking because true happiness comes from our relationships with God. It doesn’t come from whether things are seemingly going good or seeminelying going bad. It doesn’t come from how many people like us today versus how many people are upset with us. When we know we are in right relationship with the Creator, we can truly be happy and spend time with him on a daily basis. I think that the more and more I live out my life, I have come to realize that the less the things I want, the less the things I desire, the happier and freer I feel. The very essence of the feeling of wanting, whatever it is that we want, means that things are incomplete right now. Deep down in the realm of how things really are, we know that’s not true. Like I said, what really matters is that we are in right relationship with God.

Sitting in the Cemetery, Part 2 (TMF:2399)

Thursday, July 18, 2024

Peace to Live By: Sitting in the Cemetery, Part 2 (TMF:2399) - Daniel Litton
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It would be nice if I could say that everyone helps everyone else, but we all know experientially that that is not the case. I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I said otherwise. So, in light of that, how do we live our lives? How are we doing? Which person are we?And third, sitting in the cemetery reminds me that just as behind every tombstone was a person who lived so it is that behind every tombstone is a person who still is living. No one ever ceases to exist. We know that if we are Christians. We know that every person needs the chance to believe in Jesus, to believe on him for the forgiveness of their sins. And so, the cemetery is the greatest Gospel reminder I have personally found. Nothing reminds me more of the importance of the Gospel, of people’s hearing, and of their believing in it. For those who do believe, the tombstone doesn’t mean much because they will raise again. They, like their Lord Jesus, will raise from the dead to a new life, and one of which death can never occur again.

Sitting in the Cemetery, Part 1 (TMF:2398)

Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Peace to Live By: Sitting in the Cemetery, Part 1 (TMF:2398) - Daniel Litton
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Once or twice a year, I will usually find time to go to the cemetery and take a seat. “Sounds strange,” someone might say. “What is wrong with you.” Well, actually, I find that sitting in the cemetery is a good reminder of things. For one, when I sit in the cemetery I can remember that one day I am going to die. Just like all these tombs bear witness to, one day that’s going to be me. I’m no different than anyone else. One day I am going to be buried in the ground like the rest of these people. And that being the case, it reminds me that my time here on the earth is important, and that what I spend my life doing is important. What other lives am I going to affect for the good? And that thought being in view, it then brings up the next point. And that is that really other people matter. We all affect people in different ways. We all have people that are important to us: family members, friends, and even acquaintances. We each make a difference in the lives of people whether we realize this fact or not. Some of us for the good. Some of us in a neutral way. And, unfortunately, some of us in a bad way.

Deciding We Don’t Judge the Creator, Part 3 (TMF:2397)

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Peace to Live By: Deciding We Don’t Judge the Creator, Part 3 (TMF:2397) - Daniel Litton
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If someone else, say the business you work for, decides to make a choice that directly puts you out of work, that’s not God’s fault. He didn’t interfere with their choice. Now, God can work good for us and get us another job somewhere else, and he will do that for us, especially when we don’t judge him for our now negative circumstances. But it’s important to realize that God wasn’t at fault. He was bound by it just as much as you were. Sure, theoretically, he could have intervened and made things go a different direction. But he usually doesn’t do that. When we make the conscious choice not to judge God for bad things that happen, then, we increase our happiness level a lot. This means that when unfortunate events do come our way that we don’t feel like we need to get mad at God. We don’t even feel like God was at fault for allowing whatever to have happened happen. Rather, instead, we seek God for his comfort and his help in our newfound situation. This way, with this attitude, he can provide us with help to get us out of, or through, whatever we are facing.

Deciding We Don’t Judge the Creator, Part 2 (TMF:2396)

Monday, July 15, 2024

Peace to Live By: Deciding We Don’t Judge the Creator, Part 2 (TMF:2396) - Daniel Litton
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What I mean is that God allows humans to make choices and he refuses to interfere with those choices. Understanding things that way makes much more sense. If God controlled everyone’s choices, then no one would really be making choices in the first place. He would just be running everything behind the scenes. So, I have come to the conclusion in light of the fact that God allows us to choose things that he then is not at fault when things don’t work out in our favor. If someone else, say the business you work for, decides to make a choice that directly puts you out of work, that’s not God’s fault. He didn’t interfere with their choice. Now, God can work good for us and get us another job somewhere else, and he will do that for us, especially when we don’t judge him for our now negative circumstances. But it’s important to realize that God wasn’t at fault. He was bound by it just as much as you were. Sure, theoretically, he could have intervened and made things go a different direction. But he usually doesn’t do that.