Let us enjoy the happiness of heaven
Mt 3:1-3
Hallelujah! May the grace and peace of our Lord be with us all. Every father desires true happiness for their children. In the same way, because God is our Father who gave us new life, He wants us, His children, to be happy. Friends, is there something in your life that you think, if resolved, would make you happy? Our Heavenly Father wants to reveal Himself as your Father by solving your worries, anxieties, and painful problems. Once these issues are resolved, you will naturally experience peace and joy—that is happiness. The happiness of heaven is similar, but it goes beyond peace and joy; it also includes righteousness.
God, in His desire for us to understand this, sees our hearts when we decide to live for righteousness and resolves our problems. The Lord said, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Therefore, when things are not going well for us or when we face difficulties, we must recognize that it might be because we have not sought God’s kingdom and His righteousness. Romans 14:17 says, “The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
God calls us to repentance, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near,” so that we may receive the happiness of the kingdom of heaven. To grant us this heavenly joy, He commands us to do three things: first, repent; second, make the path for the Lord straight; and third, recognize that the kingdom of heaven is near.
By sharing these three truths, I hope and pray that we all will experience the happiness of the kingdom of heaven.
To experience the happiness of heaven, the first step is repentance. The original meaning of “repent” is “to change your mind” or “to transform your thoughts.” So, what thoughts need to change? It is our understanding of faith in the Lord we are called to follow. Our Lord is known as Jesus of Nazareth. In this world, Nazareth was considered a place for the foolish, weak, and lowly. The path Jesus walked was, by worldly standards, a path of foolishness, weakness, and humility. Yet, most people seek a path of wisdom, strength, and honor—a path that aligns with human nature and is broad and easy.
Why do we desire wisdom, strength, and honor? It is often for self-preservation. The problem is that by choosing the broad path for our own survival, we live as if death has no relevance to us, ignoring its reality. To discern whether we are on the path of life or death, we need to pause and reflect on what comes after death. When we meditate deeply on the parables of the Lord, wisdom will arise.
Consider the parable Jesus shared: A rich man had fertile land that produced an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, “What should I do? I have no place to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I’ll do. I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry.’” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” Jesus concluded, “This is how it will be for whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
To follow the Lord, we must deny ourselves and take up our cross. What does this mean? The way of the cross is not about seeking personal comfort in this world but about seeking the good of others so that they may receive salvation. It is about living a life that gives life to others. To give life, one must be willing to lay down their own life—this is the way of the cross. This is how the Lord gave us life. John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance to testify that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ who saves us. Peter, preaching about the crucified Jesus of Nazareth, said that God raised Him and made Him both Lord and Christ, and he accused his audience of having crucified Jesus. What does it mean to crucify Jesus? It means to reject Him, to reject Jesus of Nazareth.
Now, we must change our thoughts and hearts. What does faith in the Lord mean? The Bible says, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him.” God does not reveal Himself through our wisdom, strength, or honor. Instead, God’s wisdom, strength, and glory are revealed through our foolishness, weakness, and humility.
The Lord we are called to follow is Jesus of Nazareth. His way teaches us not to be ashamed of appearing foolish, weak, or lowly when dealing with others to bring salvation to their souls. If we change our hearts today, we can experience the joy of heaven 100%. But if we delay repentance until tomorrow, the likelihood of repenting may decrease—90%, 70%, 50%, 30%—until it becomes increasingly unlikely. When that happens, the kingdom of heaven may become distant and irrelevant to us. Let us not delay but instead embrace the path of repentance today.
2. To experience the happiness of heaven, we must make the Lord’s way straight. The phrase “make straight” means to correct our hearts and align our lives with the Lord’s will. John the Baptist’s call to prepare the way for the Lord implies removing any impurities and obstacles that hinder His coming. While there are many such hindrances in our lives, I would like to highlight three. I hope that, as you reflect on these, you will agree and take the time to remove them.
1) Pride and Self-Centered Thinking
God loves the humble but opposes the proud. What is pride? Pride is the illusion that we can live without God. This illusion leads us to undervalue prayer and dependence on Him. Even when self-centered people pray, they seek their own desires and benefits rather than God’s will. What does Scripture say? James 4:6 declares, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
2) Spiritual Laziness and a Lack of Prayer
Our relationship with God requires constant effort and time because He exists in the unseen realm. Spiritual laziness causes us to neglect praying in the Spirit and reading the Word of God, which proceeds from His mouth. Praying in the Spirit means allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us to pray according to God’s will. One way to pray in the Spirit is to offer the prayer Jesus taught us. Singing hymns that move your heart is another form of Spirit-led prayer. This kind of prayer is the breath of the soul: through prayer, we inhale the Spirit of God and exhale the spirit of the world, just as our bodies inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide to sustain life. Prayer, therefore, invites the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and drives out worldly influences.
When the Holy Spirit dwells in us, He writes God’s Word on our hearts as we read the Bible or listen to sermons preached by God’s servants. That Word transforms our lives, brings righteousness, fills us with peace, and overflows our hearts with joy, allowing us to experience the happiness of heaven. Therefore, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing,” Mark 14:38 instructs, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation,” and Luke 18:1 teaches us to “always pray and not give up.” I pray that such a movement of prayer will arise in all of us.
3) Worldly Values and Priorities
Worldly values often run counter to the teachings of God. For example, the world values success, personal happiness, and self-gratification above all else, while God calls us to prioritize love, service, and the salvation of souls for His glory. Worldly values cause us to focus our priorities on earthly things rather than on God, thereby hindering our intimacy with Him. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing, and perfect will.” Matthew 6:33 declares, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” James 4:4 warns, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”
May we have the wisdom to discern these truths and align our hearts with God’s will.
3. The kingdom of heaven is near. This statement declares that God’s kingdom has already come. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is not a future event but the present reality of God’s reign and presence here on earth. When we repent, the Holy Spirit comes upon us, Satan flees, and the Lord’s rule is established. The kingdom of heaven is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Because the kingdom is not of this world, it is not subject to circumstances. Those who possess God’s righteousness in their hearts are free from worry, fear, and anxiety. They are at peace and always filled with joy. Is this possible? Yes, when we repent, the Holy Spirit transforms our hearts, and we become like newborn children.
This is why Jesus said, “Unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Adults, burdened by worldly knowledge, often carry anxiety and worry. But children, lacking worldly knowledge and wisdom, do not worry about life’s struggles. They only need their mother, trusting her for protection. This is faith. When we repent, we become citizens of God’s kingdom, and Jesus, our King, protects us as He has promised.
Just as U.S. citizenship offers strong protection abroad, how much more are we, as citizens of God’s kingdom, safeguarded by our King, Jesus? Earthly kings often fail to protect their subjects fully, but Jesus protects us from all trials and extends His grace to us. This is why we can give thanks and sing praises in all circumstances. David, trusting in the King’s protection, could write the Psalms even amidst overwhelming trials. Similarly, Paul, enduring countless dangers and hardships, could pen his epistles with joy.
Worldly knowledge, wisdom, and experience often hinder our faith. Paul declared that he considered everything that was once a gain to him as rubbish for the sake of knowing Christ. He testified in 2 Corinthians 4:7-10, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” Paul’s heart was filled with righteousness, peace, and joy, no matter his circumstances. May we experience the same in the name of the Lord.
Finally, life may feel peaceful and joyful at times, and we might call that heaven. However, the happiness of heaven given by God goes beyond personal peace and joy—it includes the righteousness that comes from saving souls, which makes it truly fulfilling. The world finds peace and joy only when personal problems are resolved, but heavenly happiness is different. It is through the resolution of our problems that others come to believe in the living God and return to Him. This is why we can pray, “Not my will, but Yours be done.”
To seek only the fulfillment of our desires is to live for ourselves, just as the world does. Instead, we must live for others, sacrificing ourselves so that others may live. This means dedicating our remaining lives to the salvation of souls, not for our benefit but for the glory of God. When God sees this sincerity in our hearts, He resolves our problems to bring us peace and joy. However, this is not the end; we continue to live as stewards, as fishers of men, fulfilling His will. This happiness is eternal. Even after leaving this world, we will experience the eternal joy of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit in the new heaven and new earth. May this blessing be with all of us.
To summarize:
God desires for us to be happy. This happiness is a life filled with righteousness, peace, and joy. If you desire this happiness, you must make a decision today, right now:
The Lord we follow is Jesus of Nazareth, who was foolish, weak, and humble in the eyes of the world.
For the Lord to dwell in us, we must cast aside pride, dedicate ourselves to praying in the Spirit, and commit to reading the Word daily.
For the happiness of the kingdom of heaven, we must resolve to live the rest of our lives as stewards, dedicated to the salvation of souls.
Based on my personal experience, I assure you: whatever problem you face, the Lord will work all things together for good and lead you on a blessed path. You will find peace and joy overflowing because nothing will harm you. May this grace and blessing be with all of you.
Here is an example of a prayer that receives a certain answer:
“Lord, I have this overwhelming problem. If this issue is resolved, I will have peace and joy in my heart. I believe You desire Your children to have peace and joy. Please resolve this problem and this pain so that I may live with peace and joy. Then I will dedicate the rest of my life not to living for myself but to the salvation of others. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.”