FBC Daily Devotional – September 14, 2021

Faith Baptist Church

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Well, good morning to you. Hope your day yesterday started the week off well for you, and you're ready to take charge of the day today, or charge into the day today.

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We don't take charge of the day, do we, really? But anyway, today we read in the

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Gospel of John, as well as in Psalm 106. I wanted to focus on passage in Psalm 106 for a moment this morning.

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What is your happiness quotient? What do you think of as being keys or essentials to happiness?

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I suppose if you did a man -on -the -street questionnaire, you'd come up with all kinds of answers to that question.

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Certainly, some people would think, well, you know, if I just had a job that paid me more money, and I didn't have such pressure from all these bills,

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I'd be happier. Or if my if my spouse or my husband, my wife, you know, treated me better,

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I'd be happier. If my my kids would just accept my authority as a parent, would just, you know, not cause such trouble, then

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I'd be happier. There'd be all kinds of answers to that question. What are the keys to happiness? Well, in this passage, in the third verse, we find some fundamental, foundational keys to happiness.

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Listen to what the psalmist says. He says, blessed or happy are those who keep justice and he who does righteousness at all times.

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Do you get the significance of that? Blessed or happy is he who does justice. He does what is just.

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He does what is what is fair, what is right in terms of relation with other people.

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And he consistently practices righteousness in his life. As the psalmist puts it, he does righteousness at all times.

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And if you think about it, and think about your own misery index, oftentimes you will be able to trace that unhappiness or that misery to some kind of injustice or some kind of unrighteousness, and particularly on your own part, as in your own fault.

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How many times do we express a lack of faith, or we get unduly angry, or we think unkind thoughts toward other people, or we spout off in a caustic and angry way, or on and on we can go with the oars, right?

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One thing after another. And the the net result of that behavior is unhappiness.

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I've never met anybody who was happy, who spent their life complaining. I know some people who would be the quintessential sad sacks.

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You remember, it was a cartoon or something like that, wasn't it? It had a guy who was sad sack, and he always walked around with, you know, moping, and sad, and all the rest of that kind of stuff, and invariably, the sad sacks that I've known in the ministry and in my life are also people who just complain about everything.

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Nothing ever goes right. Nothing ever goes their way. They're not content about anything.

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They're just complaining, and complaining, and complaining, and they're critical of this, and they're critical of that, and it's always everybody else's fault, and on, and on, and on, and on.

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Well, that critical complaining spirit is sin. It's sin.

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How can you have that kind of a spirit on the one hand, and be thankful in all things on the other hand?

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Obviously, the two don't go together. So, really, when you get right down to it, a fundamental, foundational key to happiness is righteousness, practicing righteousness at all times, and doing justice, treating people fairly, equitably, ensuring that those in your family, those that you have relationship with, whether you're an employer, or whatever it is, you treat them with justice.

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You treat them with fairness. These are foundational, and to the extent that I am unjust toward others, and to the extent that I am practicing unrighteousness in any form, way, shape, or form,

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I will be unhappy. Let's pursue happiness. It's our right as Americans, the pursuit of happiness.

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Let's pursue happiness, and we're going to pursue it by doing justice, and walking humbly with our

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God in righteousness. Let's do that. Father in heaven, make us a happy people.

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This we pray in Jesus name, amen. All right, you have a good day, and pursue happiness in it.