Magyar Egyház, 1984 (63. évfolyam, 1-5. szám)

1984-01-01 / 1. szám

6. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ THE WAY TO HAPPINESS Name eight things that would make you happy. If God said to you at the opening of this year of 1984, “Choose any eight things you feel will make you happy in the New Year and I shall grant them to you” what would you choose? Would you choose to be in the words of Jesus from the Beatitudes “poor in spirit.” Would you choose things such as mourning, meekness, hunger, thirst, being merciful, being pure in heart, being a peacemaker or experiencing persecu­tion? Do you think that experiencing these eight things would make you happy? Jesus seems to think so. Before you conclude that Jesus is wrong, consider the anti­thesis of these qualities, impurity, cruelty and hatred. You could not be happy with these characteristics, could you? Of course not! Therefore, let us consider each of the eight beatitudes as eight steps to happiness in this New Year. Humility is the way to happiness. In Matthew 5:3 when Jesus speaks of the “poor in spirit.” He is referring to our recognition of both a personal lack and the means that can supply that lack. It is the kind of poverty of spirit that re­sults in our discovery of the kingdom of God. The person, who is “poor in spirit” is the person who does no tboast of his attainments or talents since he knows that he has nothing that has not been given to him. Why is humility the way to happiness? Because humility enables you to be honest about yourself. When Jesus speaks of poverty he is not speak­ing of wealth as such. Money can be handled in a Christian manner or a non-Christian manner. Success and prosperity can lead a person to be self-satisfied and proud. On the other hand, poverty can drive a person to dishonesty. It can degrade. Jesus does not teach that the poor are spiritually superior. What Christ is stating is that if you are to be happy, you must be aware of your spiritual poverty. There is no more pathetic picture than a man who has a great need and is not aware of it. Do you remember Samson standing in the valley of Sorek? He was surrounded by the Philistines. Divine power had left him. But “he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.” Poverty of spirit is the beginning of happiness. It is the admission that we are nothing without Christ. Such an admission is always followed by the Lord flooding our lives with riches of His mercy and grace. To be “poor in spirit” is to be honest about yourself and this is the way to happiness. Secondly, humility is the way to happiness, because it leads to commit your full potential to God. “Blessed are the poor in spirit” means that blessed are those who realized their own helplessness and who have placed their complete trust in the Lord. When we hat done this we will become detached from things and will become attached to God. We shall commit our full potential to the will of God. The boy who came to hear Jesus preach is the example of this. He took all he had, even his last crust of bread, and committed it all to Jesus (Jn. 6:9). Once you are willing to do this you will be ab­solutely astounded at what Christ can do with what you have to offer. Andrew asked, what we are so often tempted to ask, “But what are they among so many In his own hand what the boy had was hardly enough to satisfy one’s hunger. But in the hands of Christ what he had became enough to feed more than 5,000! Never underestimate what God can do with your five loaves and two fish. When presentings your" full potential, the moment they are fully committed to Christ the impossible will begin to happen. Thirdly, humility is the way to happiness, because it pre­pares you to be filled with the Holy Spirit. No proud soul will be filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit. A life filled with pride has no room for the Holy Spirit. Where there is no willingness to be controlled by the Holy Spirit a life will be controlled by selfish emotion. Our Lord said something about becoming like little children before we can enter the kingdom of heaven. Children depend on their par­ents. Because they are their parents’ children they are not really poor. But without this relationship they would be poor indeed, for none can be poorer than a parentless child. We are God’s children and thus we are dependent on Him. Children spend little time worrying about what they will eat, or what they will wear, or where they will sleep. They simply assume that their needs will be met by their parents. Our Heavenly Father is responsible for our care. We are told to cast our care on Him since He cares for us. And as for the Holy Spirit, Jesus said: “If a son shall ask bread from any of you that is a father will he give him a stone? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him.” The poor in spirit know that they are poor in spirit. They know what they can do and can be nothing apart from the indwelling Spirit of God. Those who find happiness through humility will allow the Holy Spirit to fill them. Humility which enables you to be honest with yourself, which leads you to commit your full potential to the will of God and which prepares you to be filled with the Holy Spirit, is the way to happiness. miiiimiiiiiiimiimimiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiii Luke Ture, of San Diego, Calif., was in a serious automobile accident when he was two years old. The following Christmas, our Sunday School decided to donate our Advent Bank to Luke. Each year the mon­ey has been used differently. This year Luke’s Dad bought him a tricycle which was designed especially for him. He has special pedals that are moved by his hands instead of his feet. Luke sent the Sunday School pictures of his tricycle, and a wonderful thank you note. We consider Luke a distant, but very special member of our Sunday School. Mrs. Linda Katona S.S. Superintendent

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