|
SEARCHING
FOR INNER PEACE,
JOY & CONTENTMENT
What
does the Bible say obtaining
peace & joy
by:
Pastor Max Solbrekken
"My
colleagues say that I am a
success. Many honors have come
my way, but in the Bible is a
sentence which expresses the
way I feel about life: 'We
have toiled all night and
taken nothing'."
- Clarence Darrow
- famed atheist & criminal
lawyer
Everyone
has a dream, desire or goal in
life and mankind thirsts for
success, achievement and
fulfillment!
By
the standards of his peers,
Darrow had reached the
pinnacle, yet he was totally
unfulfilled, void of peace and
joy. In order to
give expression to his
dissatisfaction, he had to
quote the Bible, which he
claimed to disbelieve.
Clarence
Darrow was the trial lawyer
who defended the evolutionary
theory against the Christian
patriot William Jennings
Bryan, in the infamous 'Scopes
Trial' of the mid 1920's.
After
his great victory in gaining
for the evolutionary 'foolosophy'
theory the right to become the
official religion of Academe
in US schools, he felt
compelled to quote the Bible
to express his emptiness and
utter despair and his lack of
contentment in his own
efforts!
Here
is his summation of life:
"We have toiled all night
and taken nothing"!
His
testimony could undoubtedly be
repeated millions of times by
people across the world who
have been influential and
successful in their field of
endeavor but who have left God
out of their lives.
These people are unhappy and
unfulfilled because they are
empty inside, lacking joy,
contentment & inner peace.
Yet,
over the past 30 years I have
heard glowing testimonials of
people who in their time of
sorrow, rejection,
disillusionment and despair -
called out to God for mercy
and received help. God does
hear and answer prayer!
The
Bible declares,
"Therefore with joy shall
ye draw water out of the wells
of salvation". (Isaiah
12:3) and, "For His anger
is but for a moment, His favor
is for life; Weeping may
endure for a night, But joy
cometh in the morning".
(Ps. 30:5)
King
David declared, "I sought
the Lord and He heard me and
delivered me from all my
fears".
The
Bible says, "For God so
loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that
whoever believeth in Him
should not perish but have
everlasting life". (John
3:16)
The
Bible says, "He that
believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life: and he that
believeth not on the Son shall
not see life; but the wrath of
God abideth on him". (1
John 3:36)
|
|
FOUR
BASIC DESIRES:
Mankind
thirsts after reality.
The so-called "good
times" of this world are
like soap bubbles that look so
beautiful in the sunlight,
until they burst into nothing!
After the party, is the
hangover.
After the fling, the unwanted
pregnancy. And after the drug
scene, AIDS!
Everyone
longs to be useful.
Rick
Hansen, wheelchair athlete and
Canadian hero, is a prime
example of someone seeing an
impossible dream come to pass,
by "going the extra
mile" to help his
fellowman.
John
Wesley
founder
of the Methodist Church
stated, "Gain all you
can, save all you can and give
all you can."
Instead of cursing the
darkness, we should 'light a
candle' and instead of
pointing a finger to condemn,
we ought to "hold out a
helping hand."
General William Booth
founder of the Salvation Army
- used as his slogan the word
'OTHERS'. He was
consumed with the prospects of
blessing his fellowman.
HE stated, "Some men's
ambition is art...some
fame...some gold....My
ambition is the souls of
men."
His wife Evangeline
Booth stated,
"Stoop as low as you
lawfully can to pick them up
rather than let them become
worse while you stand on your
dignity."
We all seek for fulfillment.
Marilyn Munroe stated,
"If I can just be a movie
star, I'll be the happiest
person in the world". Her
acceptance as a sex idol and
movie star far eclipsed her
fondest hopes, yet she became
very unhappy and died from an
overdose of pills!
No
one can attain to his or her
highest potential without
divine help from Jesus Christ!
To reinforce that truth allows
me to quote Malcolm Muggeridge
- former Marxist, celebrated
writer, broadcaster and actor
- who converted to Jesus
Christ:
“Christ
is the only answer to an
insane world. They will
not understand that the
trouble with the western
civilization is not economics,
but mere good and evil!
“They are thinking they can
make things work by policies,
inventions, but man will never
live on this planet without
God!”
Blaise Pascal warned:
“If they turn away from God,
one of two things can happen.
They will think they are gods
and go mad or turn to
carnality and become
animals”.
Most
people have a hunger for the
supernatural. Everyone is
created with a desire to
worship God, and a vacuum in
their hearts that only He can
fill.
Some seek to fill that vacuum
through ESP, clairvoyance,
horoscopes or praying to Hindu
gods during Transcendental
Meditation...BUT STILL THERE
IS NO REAL PEACE!
George
Bernard Shaw stated,
"I am ready to admit
after contemplating the world
and human nature for sixty
years, that I see no way out
of the world's miseries but by
the way that would be found by
Christ's will".
Dr.
Richard Eby, well
known obstetrician,
gynecologist and surgeon, fell
off a two story balcony in
1972, and was pronounced dead.
In
his book Caught Up To
Paradise, Eby tells
his supernatural experience.
The former president of the
Kansas City College of
Osteopathy & Surgery and
the American College of
Osteopathic Obstetricians
& Gynecologists, is alive
today, and gives God all the
glory.
Jesus
said, "I
am the resurrection and the
life, he that believeth in Me,
though he were dead, yet shall
he live".--Without
doubt, putting our trust in
God is a lot surer and safer
than entertaining some weird
"spirit guide", in
an astro-travel trip!
WHAT
IS THE BOTTOM LINE ?
What
is the bottom line? Where are
we heading when life is over?
What will be the most
important thing, then? When
it's "all said and
done", the impending all
consuming question still
remains, "Where will I
spend eternity?"
The
Bible says, "He that
believeth on the Son of God
hath the witness in himself:
he that believeth not God that
made him a liar; because he
believeth not the record that
God gave of His Son.
“And
this is the record, that God
hath given to us eternal life,
and this life is in His Son.
He that hath the Son hath
life: and he that hath not the
Son of God hath not life.
These things have I written
unto you that believe on the
name of the Son of God; that
ye may know that ye have
eternal life, and that ye may
believe on the name of the Son
of God". (1 John 5:10-13)
Here
are two important truths: No.
1 - If you believe God's Word
concerning His Son Jesus
Christ you have life. No. 2 -
If you do not, you have death
because you have called God a
liar and rejected His Son
Jesus Christ, Who is Life!
YES
- Inner peace, complete joy
and contentment is found only
when you submit yourself to
God.
My
dear friend, Do the only
proper and intelligent thing -
Humble yourself and ask God
for mercy, confessing Jesus
Christ as your Lord &
Saviour!
And
He has promised to hear and
answer your prayer, bringing
peace, joy & eternal life
to you!
WOULD
YOU LIKE
TO RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST INTO
YOUR HEART TODAY?
PRAY
THIS PRAYER NOW TO RECEIVE
JESUS CHRIST IN YOUR HEART
"Dear
Heavenly Father,
I
ask for Thy great mercy and
grace. I acknowledge my
sinfulness and confess that I
cannot save myself. I
believe the GOOD NEWS that
Jesus paid the penalty for m
sins, through His vicarious
death on the cross."
"I
believe that Jesus Christ rose
from the dead according to the
Scriptures and He has the
power and authority to forgive
my sins and save my soul.
I repent of my sins and am
willing to forsake them with
the help of the Holy
Spirit."
"I
now renounce the devil and all
his works and all his ways and
I now receive Jesus Christ as
Lord and Saviour, my Master
and my God. Come into my
heart and save me now, for
Christs' sake. Thank you
Lord, for saving my soul.
In Jesus precious' name, I
pray." Amen.
|
