Introduction: Are you happy? Why or why not? How can we be happy in Jesus? The Psalmnist gives us instructions on how to be happy in the Lord!

1. Confession & Cleansing! (Psa 32:1,5) – “I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” Praise the Lord for forgiveness! It is great to be forgiven from the penalty of sin, the power of sin and one glorious day, the presence of sin.

2. Prayer & Pardon! (Psa 32:6) – “For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found.” Prayer changes things; i.e. me! That is one of the purposes of prayer. When we start being more concerned with our will than the Father’s we need a change. Whether we want to admit it or not, most of the time we’ve already made up our minds what we want. Praying the right way changes that.

3. Returning & Restoring! (Psa 32:7) – “Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.” We can hide in Jesus! He shelters us in His loving arms!! That is where we find peace and security.

4. Remembering & Rejoicing! (Psa 32:11) – “Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.” Notice our gladness and happiness comes in the Lord! Are you mad? Sad? Or Glad? Be glad in the Lord!

2) A Sinful Woman named Rahab heard about a Mighty God! (Josh 2:9-11) – “And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.”

She had heard about the wonder working power of our Great God! Are you sharing Him with others?

3) A Sinful woman was changed by a Mighty God because of her Faith in Him! (Josh 2:6,18) – “But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.”

“Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee.”

“By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace” (Heb 11:31).

You see she exercised her faith in the God of the Bible. Have you? Did you notice the scarlet thread?

1. By running in this race with our eyes on Jesus Christ! (Heb 12:1-3) – “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Jesus did not quit! Jesus persevered. Until His last breath on earth He finished faithful as our Redeemer. As we look to Him, He both motivates us and empowers us to persevere. How are you doing?

2. By keeping a good attitude! (Phil 4:8) – “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

You have heard it said, “Our attitude control our altitude”! A negative attitude results in a negative lifestyle; i.e. a quitter.
How is your attitude? Change your thinking. Think right.

3. By not quitting! (Gal 6:9) – “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

When we over do it we get weary. Stress, pressure, along with cares of this world can overwhelm us and cause us to be incapacitated. You know. Right? Perseverance is the key. In other words, we have to pace ourselves in this very demanding society in order to stay useable. Where are you at?

Introduction: We can offend others as well as being offended. Here is a brief study on this subject taken from one passage of Scripture. It is a follow up from a previous devotion. 

1. We can offend others! (Luke 17:1,2) – “Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.”

Can we be an offense and not even know it?

The word “offense” is σκανδαλίζω,(skan-dal-id’-zo): It means to “put a snare (in the way), to cause to stumble, or to give offense. Furthermore, it can have to do with causing someone else to sin. 

Has that happened to you? Perhaps every parent or person for that matter must admit to causing someone else to stumble. However, Jesus Christ stated the seriousness of doing such; i.e. hanging a milestone – heavy rock – around one’s neck and thrown into the sea.

2. We can be offended but make it right! (Luke 17:3,4,5,6) – Yes. Listen to the words of our Lord. 

“Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.”

Don’t forget. Forgiveness is a choice. But remember Jesus forgives us, if we trust Him. 

3. Faith is the key to making it right! (Luke 17:5,6) – “And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”

Notice the word “Sycamine tree”. It is συκάμινος, (soo-kam’-ee-nos), which is the mulberry tree, a black mulberry. Jesus said real Faith can pluck it up – from the roots – and thrown into the sea where it dies! 

Conclusion: Offenses happen. But they need to be made right if possible. Jesus can make it right.

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1. First, notice his FAVOR! (2Chron 26:1-3) – “Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.”

At sixteen he was crowned King of Judah…imagine a 16 yr old today being President! Nevertheless, it was so; God favored him.

2. Next see his FOLLOWING! (2Chron 26:4-15) – “And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did. And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.”

Because Uzziah did right in the sight of the Lord, God blessed him with prosperity. Has our Lord blessed you?

3. Thirdly, watch his FAILURE! (2Chron 26:16-19) – “But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense…..”

Prosperity can lead to adversity. When the king was “strong” he took things in his own hands. Here is a warning to every Christian that has been blessed. Choices and decisions need to be handled with much PRAYER and CARE!

4. Finally he’s FORGOTTEN! (2Chron 26:19-23) – “Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar…. And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD.”

Because of his bad choices and poor judgment, king Uzziah suffered immensely. First he was ejected out of the house of God. Next he was stricken with leprosy until the day he died. What a bad way to go! Probably he was remembered by how his life ended instead of his great accomplishments. Sad. How are you determined to finish?