where does happiness come from?...

now I have dealt here with the fact that paul the writer of this positive book was in prison but as paul harvey used to say, here's the rest of the story. the last four years he has been miserable in circumstances. he spent two years in prison in caesarea on a trumped up charge. then he's put on a ship to go to rome to appear before nero who is not known for his justness towards CHRISTians. on the way he's shipwrecked, stranded on an island, bitten by a poisonous snake, waits the winter there, continues on to rome, spends another two years in prison awaiting trial to be executed. and during this two year period in rome he is chained to a guard for 24 hours a day. he has absolutely no privacy. and every four hours he gets a new guard.

but paul in spite of all of these circumstances, says in philippians 1.18 (niv), i rejoice and i will continue to rejoice.

can you say that about your situation, your circumstances? do you think that life must be perfect for you to be happy? if i could just change my situation life would be great. if i could just get rid of all my problems... but there's no such thing as a problem free life.

if you're going to learn to be happy, joyful, you must learn to be joyful in the situation, in the problems, in the very experiences of life.

you see the word "happiness" comes from the word "happenstance" from which we get the word "circumstance". it depends on happenings. joy is internal. happiness is external. you have a happy time at disneyland, you leave and you lose your happiness. joy is constant. how do you have happiness in spite of what is going on in your life?

put your joy in something that is going to last. put your joy in HIM and HIS plan for your life.

just some thoughts from the front porch...