Happy Happy Happy!

The month of June marks the beginning of summer for most. It's a time to enjoy sunshine, sleeping late, trips to the beach, and weekends with family and friends.

Yet, for others it is simply a continuation of the never ending cycle of working in this 'rat race' we call life just trying to get by. 

So how do we, as Phil often suggests, learn to live life being "Happy, Happy, Happy!?!"

Free your heart from hate.

Hatred stems from prolonged bitterness which finds it's root in pride and fear. A heart filled with Jesus will constantly pour out a love that's void of such condemning hate.

Free your mind from worry.

Anxiety is the pressure we place on ourselves when we try to carry the overbearing weight of living up to the world's expectations. The person who acknowledges the all-sufficient power of God's grace will learn to rest in Him rather than work themselves into the cycle of worry.

Live simply. 

Living simply rests in the realization that God is the giver and the gift. It's understanding the difference between needs and wants. It's realizing that people are more valuable than possessions. It's knowing that eternal treasures are more to be desired than earthly ones.

Give more. 

To say we are blessed is to realize that we have found true happiness not in what we attain but in what we choose to give away. God gives with the expectation that we will steward it well. Our grip on our possessions, time, and even our very lives speaks volumes to how much we trust the God we claim serve.

Expect less. 

The world that God created to be good and whole no longer exists. So it's unreasonable to expect the seamless reality of a perfect world because of man's decision to pursue a cheap substitute. Man's futile attempt to satisfy and be satisfied by this world is quite burdensome. Remember that this world is the training ground for the sanctifying work God is doing in us to prepare us for a perfectly eternal home with Him.