How to Be Happy

Did you know that you can beat depression in less than five minutes? You can, all you have to do is a quick check- are you doing what you are suppose to be doing? 

John 15:11 I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing. 

Jesus just finished talking about abiding in Him (John 15:1-10). He said the Father is the Vinedresser, He is the Vine, and we are the branches. In short, He said if we abide in Him (which in the Interlinear Bible is defined as; to be apart of, to remain, to dwell, to continue, to endure, to live, to remain as one) we will be happy, we will have His joy and delight and our joy and gladness will be full, complete, and even overflowing!

Thus if we are on the same page as He is, in agreement with Him, on His side, and living by His command (doing what He is telling us); we will be happy, glad, and overflowing with joy! 

Have you ever witnessed a crabby Christian? I have, and I have been one because I stopped abiding - I broke my agreement! I have also been such a happy Christian that I made other people mad at me. Because of their unhappiness they are jealous when I am happy. 

This is where I park. If I lose my parking place I ask God to get me back where I belong, if I mess up I am forgiven, but I am the one that has to make the choice to park. I love to be happy, full of joy and doing what I am suppose to be doing, and so will you once you get there! Also, being happy, full of joy and doing what God is calling us to do is showing the Father, which is our call as Christians! 

Some tell me God wants us to go through bad things and be unhappy, but obviously God wants us to be happy or He would not have given us instruction that tell us how to have joy overflowing! Yes it is a fight to get there because we have an enemy. It takes some endurance and some learning, but well worth the press. Right, count it all joy because as we go through we will get to the place where we lack nothing (James 1:2-4).

The reason we won’t be happy if we don’t abide is because by not obeying God, we become a dead branch, and a dead branch is tossed out and thrown into the fire. A dead branch doesn’t have any life left in it and then, yes a dead branch is separated from the Vine and the Vine dresser.

I can recall many times when I stopped doing what God said and it wasn‘t long before I realized I was fighting depression. I also recognized that I stopped doing what God said because I started listening to the voice (the lies) of the enemy. He will do anything to keep us off the Vine; therefore we have to make an effort to abide, to stay connected, to stay on the Vine by doing everything God tells us to do.

If we don’t choose God we will automatically live in agreement with the enemy. You may not think it is that black and white, but it is - and you can tell by that darkness, the depression that starts hovering over you as soon as you get off track. 

When you make the choice to break your agreement with God (your connection with God) by you disregarding His command, you open the door for the enemy to come in and take over in your life. You will live in agreement with him rather than God, and course living in agreement with the enemy is where depression, darkness, discontentment, and discouragement will overtake you.

If you abide on the Vine you will constantly be getting instructions, even outside of the Word of God. Not only will God be reminding you to love and show you love, but He will be giving you instructions for the path He has personally preordained for you to live, the path to the good life He has just for you (Ephesians 2:10). That path that leads to your good life will overflow with gladness, goodness, purpose, contentment, peace and joy for now and for eternity with Him.

You can be happy if you abide, don’t let go, He is your lifeline!