120 SMILE
120 SMILE
Neh 8:10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
They say that a smile is contagious and that you can pass them around; this is true. Try smiling at people as you meet them and you will find that most cannot help but smile back. It is a pleasant feeling when you are smiled at; it makes you feel accepted and cared about.
[Unfortunately, a smile is also used by those wanting to hurt or take advantage of you. It is also used by the advertising companies to get you to trust them and buy their customers products by making you think that having their products will make you happy.]
Genuine happiness does not ask for anything but gives, willingly, just because it is a nice thing to do and for the uplift it can give to another’s life or day.
Just think YOU have the power to brighten someone else’s next few minutes.
Life, in general, wants to put you down, tread on you and take from you all that it can. It wants to wear you out so that it can take advantage of all that you have and, when you have nothing left, it will throw you away and move on to the next person.
Many people have succumbed to the pressure from their lives and become depressed, suicidal, selfish or angry, and, sometimes, all of these; they are in desperate need of a mental break. Humanity spends a lot of time and money trying to find happiness, peace or, even, just a little rest from it all.
Those of us that know God and have a relationship with Him and His son, Jesus, realize that we control very little of what goes on in our life and what goes on around us; He is in control and even the bad things that happen to us have a meaning and purpose. [Sometimes what happens to us has a purpose for someone else and not us directly. What God allowed us to do to Jesus was for our benefit, not Jesus’.]
There are many things that want to take your smile away, once you have it; I won’t go into detail about any one of them but, if you think about it, you will notice that every one of them occur when we take our minds off Jesus and His watchful care in our lives and start thinking about ourselves and our life.
Try something this season; when you’re in church singing the hymns about ‘Joy to the world’ and such, feel your inner self and see how happy and uplifted you are. While you are worshipping the King of kings and Lord of lords, you are not thinking about yourself and all your troubles and problems seem to disappear; that is why so many people only go to church at Christmas time. No-one is trying to get them to give a bunch of money, join a study group or commit to regular attendance; they can be anonymous and enjoy singing and get a rest.
If you really want to help these people and the others that you meet in your life, just smile and wave at them once in a while. Even Jesus looked after the people’s personal and physical needs first and then told those that stayed to listen about His father, God, and His coming kingdom.
Smile often and sooner or later someone will want to know why you’re happy.
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Yes, it's so simple that we often overlook it because we think we are looking for somethimg that is more complicated.
The Peace we want but do not reconize requires that it be accepted. Our rejection of it leads us to experience Peace as elusive.
We are not abandoned as we suffer in this valley of tears, it is we who reject Peace.
Many experience false peace. A peace built that depends upon our hands and therefore subject to failure along with our false smile as skies darken and cold winds blow in our lives.
Accepting that Peace which prevails in suffering and trial asks that we surrender to it. "Be not afraid" of letting go and placing your life trustingly in Our Lords hand. Come out of fear!
The complicated is simple, trust the self you know but partly or trust He who knows you fully?