"If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world."—C.S. Lewis

You are 100 percent responsible for your own happiness. Other people aren't responsible. Your parents aren't responsible. Your spouse isn't. You alone are. It's not up to someone else to "fix it" for you. Dr. Gerald D. Bell

No one is really happy merely because he has what he wants, but only if he wants things he ought to want. --- Augustine

Happy people produce. Bored people consume.

The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything. They just MAKE the best of everything

The things that count the most when you get to Heaven are the level of your obedience to your heavenly Husband while on Earth, your sensitivity to His will and His voice, your choices to serve Him over yourself, your desire and choices to help others and give your life in the Lord’s service in any way that He saw fit.

For nourishment, comfort, exhilaration, and refreshment, no wine can rival the love of Jesus. Drink deeply. (Charles H. Spurgeon)

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Inasmuch as Jesus has gone before us, things remain not as they would have been had he never passed that way. He has conquered every foe that obstructed the way. Cheer up now thou faint-hearted warrior. Not only has Christ travelled the road, but he has slain thine enemies. Dost thou dread sin? He has nailed it to his cross. Dost thou fear death? Hehas been the death of Death. Art thou afraid of hell? He has barred it against the advent of any of his children; they shall never see the gulf of perdition. Whatever foes may be before the Christian, they are all overcome. There are lions, but their teeth are broken; there are serpents, but their fangs are extracted; there are rivers, but they are bridged or fordable; there are flames, but we wear that matchless garment which renders us invulnerable to fire. The sword that has been forged against us is already blunted; the instruments of war which the enemy is preparing have already lost their point. God has taken away in the person of Christ all the power that anything can have to hurt us. Well then, the army may safely march on, and you may go joyously along your journey, for all your enemies are conquered beforehand. What shall you do but march on to take the prey? They are beaten, they are vanquished; all you have to do is to divide the spoil. You shall, it is true, often engage in combat; but your fight shall be with a vanquished foe. His head is broken; he may attempt to injure you, but his strength shall not be sufficient for his malicious design. Your victory shall be easy, and your treasure shall be beyond all count. (Charles Spurgoen Morning and Evening Devotional)

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It is no use praying unless we are living as children of God. Then, Jesus says - "Everyone that asketh receiveth." (My Utmost for His Highest)

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Ever since the cross, all spiritual giants have had one thing in common. They
were in close communion with the Lord; they became lost in the glorious
vastness of Christ; and they died lamenting they still knew so little of him.
Every one of these giants shared the same ruling passion: an ever-increasing
revelation of Jesus Christ. They cared nothing for the spectacular, the
earthly, the things of this world, success, ambition or worldly fame. They
prayed—not for things, not for physical blessings, not to be used, not for
anything of self, but only for a fuller revelation of the glory and vastness of
their Lord.

A basic Bible school knowledge of Christ will not be enough in this final war!
Knowing about him is not enough. We need to seek for a greater revelation of
the Holy Spirit. That requires much time at his table. You get to know him only
by being much in his presence, only by sitting with him, hearing his voice,
waiting on him for divine wisdom. Busy, preoccupied men seldom get to know him.

God is looking for believers who will seek a revelation of him that is all
their own—a very deep personal intimacy that unlocks “the unsearchable
riches of Christ.” --David Wilkerson

As we pursue Christ and put God first, happiness will come as a byproduct. Happiness will not come as a result of chasing after it; we will never find happiness from seeking it. But if we seek God and put Him first in our lives, we will end up being happy people. -Greg Laurie

Whenever opposition arises, God’s grace thrives in us. Think about what happens to a tree when a great storm beats violently against it. The wind threatens to uproot the tree and carry it away. It breaks off branches and blows away its leaves. It loosens its roots and blows off its buds. And when the storm is over, things look hopeless. Yet, look closer; the same storm that opened crevices in the earth around the trunk of the tree has helped the roots go deeper. The tree now has access to new, deeper sources of nutrition and water. And it has been purged of all its dead branches. The buds may be gone, but others will grow back more fully. I tell you, that tree is now stronger, growing in unseen ways. And just wait till harvest—because it’s going to bear much fruit! Maybe you’re in a storm right now. The wind is blowing hard, shaking you violently, and you think you’re going down. Beloved, don’t panic! You’ve got to know that in the midst of the tempest, you are putting down deep spiritual roots. God is developing in you a deepening humility, a greater mourning and sorrow for sin, a heightened hunger for his righteousness. God is making you a seasoned soldier of the cross—battle-scarred, but battle-smart and courageous. You may get down on yourself at times—but the Lord never does. The fact is, he could have acted sovereignly at any time to pluck you out of your struggle. But he didn’t—because he saw it producing in you a greater thirst for him! Romans 5:3 says, “Tribulation worketh patience.” The word worketh means “to accomplish.” In 2 Corinthians 4:17 we read, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” The word worketh in this verse is the same as in Romans 5:3. (David Wilkerson Devotional)

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The trouble with nearly everybody who prays is that he says "Amen" and runs away before God has a chance to reply. Listening to God is far more important than giving Him your ideas. (Frank Laubach)

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"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Not when we believe in Him enough to go forward and do His will, and let Him do the impossible for us. Even Abraham and Sarah could have blocked God's plan if they had continued to disbelieve. The only thing too hard for Jehovah is deliberate, continued disbelief in His love and power, and our final rejection of His plans for us. Nothing is too hard for Jehovah to do for them that trust Him. (Messages for the Morning Watch)

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Simplicity is the secret of seeing things clearly. A saint does not think clearly for a long while, but a saint ought to see clearly without any difficulty. You cannot think a spiritual muddle clear, you have to obey it clear. In intellectual matters you can think things out, but in spiritual matters you will think yourself into cotton wool. If there is something upon which God has put His pressure, obey in that matter, bring your imagination into captivity to the obedience of Christ with regard to it and everything will become as clear as daylight. The reasoning capacity comes afterwards, but we never see along that line, we see like children; when we try to be wise we see nothing (Matthew 11:25). The tiniest thing we allow in our lives that is not under the control of the Holy Spirit is quite sufficient to account for spiritual muddle, and all the thinking we like to spend on it will never make it clear. Spiritual muddle is only made plain by obedience. Immediately we obey, we discern. This is humiliating, because when we are muddled we know the reason is in the temper of our mind. When the natural power of vision is devoted to the Holy Spirit, it becomes the power of perceiving God's will and the whole life is kept in simplicity. (My Utmost for His Highest)

In the history of God's work you will nearly always find that it has started from the obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but the steadfastly true to Jesus Christ. (My Utmost for His Highest)

 

This is our rightful place, to be "seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," and to "sit still" there. But how few there are who make it their actual experience! How few, indeed think even that it is possible for them to "sit still" in these "heavenly places" in the everyday life of a world so full of turmoil as this. We may believe perhaps that to pay a little visit to these heavenly places on Sundays, or now and then in times of spiritual exaltation, may be within the range of possibility; but to be actually "seated" there every day and all day long is altogether another matter; and yet it is very plain that it is for Sundays and week-days as well.A quiet spirit is of inestimable value in carrying on outward activities; and nothing so hinders the working of the hidden spiritual forces, upon which, after all, our success in everything really depends, as a spirit of unrest and anxiety. There is immense power in stillness. A great saint once said, "All things come to him who knows how to trust and be silent." The words are pregnant with meaning. A knowledge of this fact would immensely change our ways of working. Instead of restless struggles, we would "sit down" inwardly before the Lord, and would let the Divine forces of His Spirit work out in silence the ends to which we aspire. You may not see or feel the operations of this silent force, but be assured it is always working mightily, and will work for you, if you only get your spirit still enough to be carried along by the currents of its power. (Hannah Whitall Smith)

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It is your business to learn to be peaceful and safe in God in every situation. (Streams in the Desert)

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The understanding the of the love of God is the secret to an overcoming life. Multitudes grow spiritually
cold and lazy because they're ignorant of the Lord's love for them. They don't know that their greatest weapon against Satan's attacks is to be fully convinced of God's love for them, through the revelation of the Holy Ghost. (David Wilkerson Devotional)

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You can see God using some lives, but into your life an obstacle has come and you do not seem to be of any use. Keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you round the obstacle or remove it. The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles. Never get your eyes on the obstacle or on the difficulty. The obstacle is a matter of indifference to the river which will flow steadily through you if you remember to keep right at the Source. Never allow anything to come between yourself and Jesus Christ, no emotion, or experience; nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source. (My Utmost for His Highest)

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A Christian man should so shine in his life, that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the
gospel. (Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening Devotional)

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A Christian ought to be a comforter, with kind words on his lips, and sympathy in his heart; he should carry sunshine wherever he goes, and diffuse happiness around him. (Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening Devotional)