Any person who does not know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior cannot understand the relationship that binds a true Christian with God. The result is true happiness, a happiness that runs deep and doesn’t just float on the top.

There is a heavenly happiness and there is an earthly happiness. Heavenly happiness is the peak, the very top and beyond of the mountain. Earthly happiness can come in two forms; legitimate and artificial and it comes from earthly people, things and places.

Heavenly happiness can be tasted in the here and now upon earth, and then reach its fulfillment in Heaven. Earthly happiness is bound by our life on earth alone.

Many factors, beyond number actually, can affect our state of artificial happiness that only lasts for a short time.

Maybe you know someone who just can’t seem to get enough. They are always buying this or that. Why? It’s like a drug they take but quickly wears off. They buy an item thinking it will make them happy. Maybe for a second or two, a minute or a few days, it does just that, but there it goes as it fizzles away, again. So they start the whole cycle, again, and get the same results.

Others may not be constant purchasers but they may be absorbed in an activity they have made their life. In this activity they derive their happiness, so they think. I used to work for two fellows who made their company and money their life. They just couldn’t get enough time in at work to get just a few more dollars to throw on the pile they already had accumulated.  It’s been years since I worked for them, and sometimes I wonder if they ever reached the happiness they were seeking. The answer is obvious.

Then there are those who place their happiness, in what they own. They aren’t constantly buying necessarily, but have made their possessions their life.

Happiness is supposedly found by some folks on the golf course, the fishing hole, the boutique shop, the mall. Some seek it in sex, music, reading, exercising, a pet, vehicles, dances, parties, alcohol, drugs, etc. I must stop here since the list could be pages long.

Some of these things mentioned are legitimate sources of happiness and some are artificial, even illegal or immoral, but none are permanent.

There is also a happiness many pursue through other people. The obvious is your spouse, children, parents, siblings, etc. However, other people cannot make you happy, even those closest to you. True, in some families a well-adjusted family can bring legitimate earthly happiness over the span of one’s life, and then there are those families that are not well adjusted at all.

Even in the best of circumstances, true happiness does not come from people, places, or things. Real happiness can only come from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Itmust come from within us, not outside us.

The apostle Paul said: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:11)

For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16)

Paul suffered much, yet he experienced true happiness. Observe some of his sufferings by reading Second Corinthians chapter eleven beginning with verse twenty-three. Then read the following verses.

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.(Philippians 4:11-13)

Obviously real happiness is a state of mind that can only come from God. It isn’t something we manufacture or manipulate.

What makes you happy? Are you really happy? As I stated in the very beginning of this article, if you do not know Jesus Christ personally, you do not know real happiness.

Much of what constitutes earthly happiness is a sleight of hand, and the great deceiver, Satan, is behind it. Then again, many enjoyments of earth can and do bring us legitimate earthly happiness. Here’s the test. Can either sustain us during tough times?

Sin has brought many bad things into this world. We are a sinful people and are reminded daily that our rebellion against God has brought imperfection into this world we know. It started with our original parents, Adam and Eve, and continues with us today.

When bad things happen to good and bad people, what is the sustaining factor? Can we equate happiness with bad things? Yes, we can. Look at Job.

Satan tormented Job, with God’s permission, and therefore Job suffered mightily. Did Job grieve? Did he hurt? Was he in deep anguish? Was he puzzled? Yes to all the above. Now, was he happy? Yes, he was happy? How can I be so stupid you say? Think about this. “Happiness” in God, is equivalent to lasting “inner peace,” regardless what comes our way.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says:

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Even though we weep from the loss of a loved one, there is still happiness, in Almighty God. Even though we ache from the loss a storm brings, there is still happiness in Almighty God. Even though our body is falling apart, our spirit rejoices in God. There is a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance, and through out it all, we can be happy because we are at peace with God.

“Inner peace” is what we are talking about! Only true happiness from God can bring everlasting peace. We can’t get it anywhere else. That is real happiness.

When folks search for happiness in people, places, or things, they are actually seeking “inner peace.” They want “peace” inside their soul, but “inner peace” does not come from anything generated from man. It can only come from God, and He provides it freely through His only begotten Son, Jesus the Christ.

I ask again. What makes you happy? Are you really happy? Now let me ask, are you at peace with God? There abides, true happiness.

 

Grant Phillips

Revelation 19:11-19

11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.

17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;

18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

Not long ago my wife and I were watching a 2008 remake of the movie, “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” It originally came out in 1951. If you haven’t seen the movie, it’s the typical plot. Aliens come to earth. It isn’t known if they are friendly or want to take over, so they are assumed to be the enemy, which is usually a good call─but not always. I’ll not reveal any more of the movie in case you haven’t seen it and would like to, but what I have relayed to you shouldn’t be a surprise.

I visited an Internet site that had a listing of supposedly all the movies made concerning aliens. They went back as far as 1951 and totaled 331 including remakes. I actually counted them. Yeah I know. I must have a lot of time on my hands.

The History channel has “oodles” of specials on UFO sightings and abductions and even aliens from the past to the present. (I haven’t bothered to count how many.) In addition, paranormal programs are becoming very popular and numerous.

Because of this, it is my belief that the world’s system has unknowingly trained itself to accept alien abduction as a plausible justification to explain the Rapture when it occurs. But I digress.

As we were watching the movie, certain Scripture passages started coming to mind. I have always asked myself, “Why would not people fall on their knees and worship God when seeing Him in all His glory at the Second Coming?”

Revelation 19:19 (shown above), comes to mind. Why proclaim war against God? Why not cower in fear and plead for mercy? Perhaps there are at least two reasons:

1.     When Jesus returns at the Second Coming, the remainder of mankind left on earth during the Tribulation who chose not to follow Christ instead of the Antichrist will have become so hardened, they will be consumed with hate, greed, lust and every other sin imaginable. They will hate God for what they have experienced during this time. They will fear Him, but despise Him even more.

2.     I think it is also possible that they “may” attribute Jesus’ return at the Second Coming as an “alien invasion,” just has they “may” attribute the same to the Rapture. Nearly any movie you watch concerning alien invasions will depict earthlings shooting first and asking questions later. This very scenario “could” apply to Christ’s Second Coming.

It could even be possible that both of these reasons “may” be applicable.  One thing is sure, the Tribulation era may seem like judgment from hell, but when the Lord returns, it will be recognized as judgment from Heaven for rebellion against God.

It is hard for a true Christian to comprehend a heart so cold and hard that the possibly of repentance does not exist in a man or woman. However, once the mark of the Antichrist is taken, there is no hope. Notice the following verses taken from Revelation.

And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. (Revelation 9:20-21, emphasis mine)

And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. (Revelation 16:9 emphasis mine)

And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.(Revelation 16:10-11, emphasis mine)

Notice in Revelation 9:20-21 they will cling to their own good deeds and continue to hold their works higher than God’s. They will continue worshipping the “things” in their lives, placing them above God. They will continue to murder and use illicit drugs. They will continue their fornication (sex outside marriage between a man and a woman), and they will continue being thieves.

Notice in Revelation 16:9-11 that regardless of God’s effort to get their attention, they will blaspheme His name and refuse to repent.

In 1938 Orson Wells presented a broadcast of, “War of the Worlds” on CBS radio. Since he did not clearly identify the presentation as fiction, many people actually believed they were being invaded that night from Mars.

There is going to be an invasion on earth all right, and from outer space, but not from aliens. The possible UFO and paranormal experiences happening today are simply demonic activity. Satan is increasing his presence because his time is running out. The invasion to earth from outer space will come, and it will come from God. However, God is not an alien. He made this world, earth included of course, and it is His.

There is a real alien invasion taking place though every day. Satan and his followers are invading the hearts of mankind, and the activity is definitely increasing in these last days before the return of our Lord. In all my time on earth, I have never seen such wickedness. There is not one area in society that has not been corrupted by gross wickedness, and it is on an unprecedented scale.

Almighty God has done everything heavenly possible to bridge the gap between mankind and Himself. To bridge that gap, His only option was to literally sacrifice Himself to pay our sin debt against Him and satisfy His own justice. In the person of Jesus this was accomplished. There is now a bridge to God, Jesus. He is the only bridge. There is no other. We must come to God via Jesus.

Understand that God will not invade your heart. He will change your heart if you come to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ, but He will not invade it. God is a Gentleman and will respect your boundary. Satan will spiritually rape and murder you. Sounds like a “no-brainer” to me.

Grant Phillips