Your Daily Devotional for May 4, 2007

 

May 4,  2007

 

 

Developing a Happy Heart

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly."

 

Psalm 119:1-8

 

 

As I was witnessing to a man once in his front yard, his bulldog walked up to us.  The dog's tongue was hanging out and he was growling at me. The man looked at the dog and said, "Be nice, Happy." As Christians we are to be happy and have the joy of the Lord, yet sometimes we can look more like that bulldog!

 

We find our verses today in Psalm 119. Psalm 119 is not only the longest Psalm, but also the longest chapter in the Bible. Of the 176 verses, 174 praise the Word of God. God emphasizes the importance of His Word in this chapter of the Bible.

 

Notice the first word of Psalm 119, blessed. That word means happy. God chose to start this chapter with the word blessed. God is showing us that apart from His Word, we cannot have true happiness. We should live each day with a happy heart that seeks to please God.

 

We can develop a happy heart by spending time each day in His Word. God's Word is full of promises that we can claim! Someone once said that joy is the byproduct of obedience. As we are obedient to God in seeking His face each day through Bible-reading and prayer, He is able to give us joy.

 

It is said that as Benjamin Franklin concluded a stirring speech on the guarantees of the Constitution, a heckler shouted, "Aw, them words don't mean nothin' at all. Where's all the happiness you say it guarantees us?" Franklin smiled and replied, "My friend, the Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness; you have to catch it yourself."

 

God promises to give us joy, but we must spend time with Him if we wish to develop happy hearts. God cannot force us to be happy, but He does offer us His joy.

 

Do you have a happy heart? If we are not spending time with God, our hearts will lose their joy. Spend time with God now and ask Him to renew the joy in your heart as you live for Him today.

 

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

1 Kings 16-18 • Luke 22:47-71

 

 

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