God Wants You To Be Happy
Devotions with Pastor Jason Lim

"Have It Your Way" 
"Because You're Worth It"
"I'm Lovin' It" 
"Just Do It"

What do these slogans all have in common? Apart from belonging to the biggest and most popular brands in the world, they also show that we live in a day and age that's consumed with man's point of view. It's not theocentric, which is to say based on what God wants. Rather, it is based on my wants. 

Churches today are not spared this self-centric worldview. When we share the Word of God, we have the tendency to start from where man is. And this is how we preach the gospel. We say, 'God wants you to be happy' and we preach it as if that is the primary goal of the gospel. Certainly, if we come to Jesus Christ, we have hope, we have happiness, we have all this that is found in Christ. But be careful about putting the cart before the horse.

It is true that Matthew 5:6 tells us ''Blessed are the pure in heart." Happy are the people who are pure in heart. A sanctified people will be a happy people, but the primary goal of the gospel is not happiness, but holiness. When a preacher speaks as if God's chief desire is for man to be happy, then crowds of people with problems flock to Jesus. Those who are ill, in marital woes, or in financial debt look to the Lord for the desires of their heart. Each brings their desire for satisfaction in health, peace, prosperity or companionship before Jesus and expects Him to deliver it. They are not looking for a Saviour but for a Santa Claus, not godliness but goodies.

Jesus came so that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled. Without genuine repentance from sin to God, there is no true salvation. I believe holy people will be happy people. Blessed are the pure in heart, and the goal of the gospel is not happiness but holiness. Remember, the Holy Spirit is not called the Jolly Spirit but the Holy Spirit. He's not here to satisfy your wants and desires. He's here to lead us to likeness with Jesus Christ, with God.