TD Jakes Opinion on Happiness – On the Steve Harvey show – Click to watch clip

1. Own your own happiness.

– No one can make you happy, not your job, friends, family, kids, money, house, etc.

Joy and Peace comes from:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” – ‭‭Romans‬ ‭15:13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• So joy and peace comes from God. If you are in right standing with God; being righteous then, only then you can have real joy and peace.

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” – ‭Galatians‬ ‭1:3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” – ‭Ephesians‬ ‭1:2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” – Philippians‬ ‭1:2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• Do you see a pattern here 😀

2. Challenge your own story

“Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you” – Matthew‬ ‭9:29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.” – Matthew‬ ‭8:13‬ ‭NIV

Q1. What do you believe God will do for you in your life ?

Q2. What do you want from God and out of life ?

Q3. Is it about His Story or My Story ?

3. Enjoy the journey

It is about the journey not the destination. We delay our happiness. When I, when I. We set conditions on our happiness.

“Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.” – ‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭9:9‬ ‭NIV

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” – John‬ ‭10:10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

When you go for a run, it is really about enjoying the run. Not about getting home all sweaty after the run. Well sometimes it is about that also if you are unfit. The same is when we go on a road trip. 

If you are not enjoying life; then there is something wrong with your relationship with God.

3. Make relationships count

Everything is about relationships. Firstly your relationship with God. If God is not your first love, nothing else matters. 

Do you know who is really in charge !!! Talk to the Boss.

“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.” – Revelation‬ ‭2:2-4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Enjoy who God made you out to be. 

““What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’” – ‭Isaiah‬ ‭45:9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”” – Matthew‬ ‭22:37-40‬ ‭NLT‬‬

• You cannot love your neighbor if you don’t love yourself. 
• Celebrate who God made you out to be, God does not make junk. He has a purpose with your life.
• Allow God to be God in your life. It is about accepting who you are.
• If you don’t like you it makes it hard for people to like you.
• People draw you into their cosmos of life when you meet them. If people are full of drama in their life and you enter it, you get sucked up into their drama. 
• If you enjoy the relationship with yourself, when people join you they get caught up with the party you already started.
• Enjoy your relationships, make a point of it. There is no fruit without relationships. You cannot be fruitful without relationships, in business, in life, etc. You are the sum of your relationships you choose to have or will become them. 

5. Balance work with play

The one does not operate well without the other one.

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” – ‭Luke‬ ‭12:48‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Are you a fun guy to be around with ?

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