Love, Truth and HAPPINESS...

When I arose from bed this morning it had been raining pretty steadily for a few hours.  The room was darker than normal and I was a bit out of sync thinking that it was earlier than it actually was!  When I concluded my morning study time about an hour later and went back into the bedroom to help my wife up for the day, it was still fairly dark in the room.  After I opened up the blinds to let what little light there was outside into the bedroom, I turned toward the bed and observed a big black fluffy tail extending from under the bed. 

It seemed that our Australian Shepherd had gone back under the bed after I had let her out, in order to catch a few more Zzz’s before breakfast!  She was completely hidden under the bed except for her tail.  Then as I knelt down at my wife’s side so as to gently arouse her for the day, the dog’s tail began to wag!  It was kind of a funny sight and brought an instant smile and a bit of HAPPINESS to my soul.  Even though I could not make eye contact with the pooch, she was letting me know that she knew I was there and was HAPPY with the situation!

Piper on the other hand, was in cruise control and snoozed throughout my confession of our healing scriptures over her and didn’t acknowledge my presence until I physically swung her legs over the side of the bed!  Then I was rewarded with a smile… and a big yawn!  All in all it was a HAPPY beginning to what looked to be a cool and wet weather day!

I was HAPPY to begin with though, when I entered the bedroom.  I had been studying in the Bible from 1 Corinthians 13:6 where Paul declared in his treatise about the God kind of love that “(Love) isn’t HAPPY when injustice is done, but is HAPPY with the truth.” (God’s Word ©)  When I first read that I immediately caught a connection between being HAPPY and knowing the truth.  The Greek description for the word “truth” in this verse is defined by “Thayer’s Greek Definitions” as “What is true in any matter under consideration.”

Well, as far as I am concerned, that points directly to what Jesus called the truth in His prayer to the Father in the garden just previous to His crucifixion.  John 17:17 records His prayer as “Sanctify them (Believers like you and me) by the truth.  YOUR WORD IS TRUTH.” (KJV)  Another interesting point is that the words translated HAPPY or REJOICETH in the King James Version of I Corinthians 13:6 is actually two different words in the original language.  The first use is the common Greek use of HAPPY meaning “cheer, to be well, to thrive.”  The second takes an additional twist as it is defined as “to rejoice with, to take part in another’s joy.” (Both definitions from Thayer’s)

So while the first use is an independent expression, the second is predicated by another source, in this case… the truth of God’s Word!  Weymouth’s 1912 New Testament, otherwise known as “The New Testament in Modern Speech” might say it the best when it declared: “She (love) finds no pleasure in injustice done to others, BUT JOYFULLY SIDES WITH THE TRUTH.”

So if you put this thought all together, you clearly see the Apostle connecting the dots between acting in Godly love, HAPPINESS and the truth of God’s Word.  You could therefore come to the conclusion that if your thoughts, actions and words are siding with the truth of God’s Word then you are HAPPY and thereby able to do what I Corinthians 13:7 states about love while KNOWING and EXPECTING the unfailing nature of Godly love as defined in verse eight in every situation of your life!

Hummmm… sounds like the perfect antidote for consistent and unshakeable HAPPINESS for our lives!  If you and I are so focused and so sold on the truth of God’s Word in, through and for every situation in our lives, then we should be in a constant state of satisfied HAPPINESS… RIGHT?  Makes sense to me!  Sure, we all face the occasional tough times, but that doesn’t mean that we have to let it shake the core of HAPPINESS that the ROCK of the truth of God’s Word provides for our lives.  That to me just helps me to have a greater understanding of the nature of Papa God… and of His love for you and me!  Wouldn’t you agree?

Have a wonderfully HAPPY day in the midst of everything you face today!  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What or Who’s truth am I expecting to set my faith on today?”