{"id":4730,"date":"2021-04-01T12:57:20","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T18:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theclarion.org\/?p=4730"},"modified":"2021-04-01T12:57:20","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T18:57:20","slug":"thoughts-from-the-bible-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/?p=4730","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts from The Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jesus Is The Way To A Better Life<\/strong>
\nby Terry Broome<\/em><\/p>\n

The popular goal of our generation is \u201cthe good life.\u201d This dream is not new. It can be found in every age and every walk of life. To find the truly good life we must recognize that JESUS IS THE WAY! Before we can come to see how this is true, we will have to cultivate a new way of thinking. Jesus corrects our misconceptions. It\u2019s unfortunate that so many people think of the \u201cgood life\u201d in terms of material prosperity, pleasure, and popularity. It\u2019s far better that we sum it up as \u201cHAPPINESS\u201d and \u201cPEACE.\u201d Even a cursory observation reveals that many wealthy, high-living, famous people are extremely unhappy and lacking inner peace. Jesus is the way to true happiness and peace. He teaches that there is more to life than material possessions: Luke 12:15 (KJV) 15 \u201cAnd he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man\u2019s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our material possessions do not define who we are and they certainly don\u2019t provide us with a lasting joy. They are too fleeting. Jesus offers a peace which things of the world cannot give, and a joy which is complete and full:
\nJohn 14:27 (KJV) 27 \u201cPeace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n

John 15:11 (KJV) 11 \u201cThese things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.\u201d What the world cannot give, Jesus can give. How does He do it?
\nFirst, He identifies and roots out the real problem. What is the cause of so much unhappiness in this world? What deprives so many of inner peace? Jesus declared that the source of all these things starts with the sinful hearts of men: Mark 7:21 – 23 (KJV) 21 \u201cFor from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one to thing to identify the problem; but What Has Jesus Done to Provide a Solution? The apostle Paul explains in his letter to Titus: Titus 3:3-7 (KJV) 3 \u201cFor we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. 4But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 5Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.\u201d In other words, Jesus removes the problem of unhappiness and lack of inner peace by first removing the cause: SIN! But there is more…
\nSecondly, Jesus leads the way to true happiness and peace by teaching us to seek new goals in life. He warns us of the folly of seeking after riches: Matthew 6:19 (KJV) 19 \u201cLay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:\u201d Riches are perishable, and open to theft; therefore, He teaches us to put our treasure in heaven: Matthew 6:20 (KJV) 20 \u201cBut lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, Jesus leads the way to true happiness by giving us what we do not expect! Once we learn not to make material things, pleasure, and fame our goals in life, but to instead make following Jesus and His teachings our goal, He then provides us an unexpected portion of these very things! Matthew 6:31 – 33 (KJV) 31 \u201cTherefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.\u201d
\nThe author can be reached for comments at 256-574-2489.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jesus Is The Way To A Better Life by Terry Broome The popular goal of our generation is \u201cthe good life.\u201d This dream is not new. It can be found in every age and every walk of life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tho"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4730"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4731,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4730\/revisions\/4731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}