Devotional by Mike Mazzalongo
Video Title: Gratitude: The Way to Happiness – Mike Mazzalongo | BibleTalk.tv
Creator: Bibletalk.tv
Original Video: Gratitude: The Way to Happiness – Mike Mazzalongo | BibleTalk.tv/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnAcBrAorNs
License: Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)
Video Title: Gratitude: The Way to Happiness – Mike Mazzalongo | BibleTalk.tv
Creator: Bibletalk.tv
Original Video: Gratitude: The Way to Happiness – Mike Mazzalongo | BibleTalk.tv/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnAcBrAorNs
License: Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)
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00:00Good morning, I'm Mike Mazzalongo for BibleTalk.tv and this is your Monday morning devotional.
00:07A bit of spiritual nourishment to get your week off on a good start.
00:12First of all, I want you to think of one virtue that, more than any other, leads to happiness.
00:18And why?
00:19As for me, I believe that gratitude most often leads to happiness, and ingratitude leads
00:26to pride and darkness and, ultimately, separation from God.
00:31Paul, the apostle, makes this very point in Romans 1, verses 21-23.
00:37He says,
00:38For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks.
00:44But they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
00:49Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible
00:55God for an image in the form of corruptible man, and of birds and four-footed animals
01:01and crawling creatures.
01:04Here Paul notes that ingratitude is the first sin, first weakness, first failing or lack
01:11of wisdom that eventually leads to the rest.
01:15It is the tipping point where you trip into the rest of sin.
01:20It is as if gratitude propels you towards God and lack of gratitude drives you away.
01:28It is the thing or the action or the lever that you control that makes you move in one
01:34direction or the other.
01:38Gratitude helps you deal properly with the good and the bad in life.
01:43Paul also writes in Philippians 4, verses 10-13,
01:48But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for
01:54me.
01:55Indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity.
02:00Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I
02:05am.
02:06I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity.
02:13In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry,
02:20both having abundance and suffering need.
02:24I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
02:29Paul was content, meaning he was happy, he was satisfied, in prosperity and in want.
02:37Why?
02:38Well, he was happy because he was grateful for what God provided in every circumstance.
02:44His happiness was based on his closeness and his confidence in God, continually made possible
02:51by his gratitude, and not how much he had or did not have.
02:57His happiness was not based on how well his life was going or how successful his ministry
03:02was.
03:03After all, he was in prison when he wrote the letter to the Philippians.
03:07His happiness was directly related to his personal relationship with God, and that relationship
03:14was a close one because Paul continually gave thanks for everything in his life, great,
03:20small, hard, and easy.
03:23So let us give thanks for this food, for this day, for this family, and everything
03:29else in our lives, so that through grateful hearts we may grow closer and closer to God
03:35who promises us eternal happiness and joy in Christ.
03:40Again, as Paul says in Ephesians 5, 15-20, therefore, be careful how you walk, not as
03:47unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
03:53So then, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is, and do not get
03:59drunk with wine, for that is dissipation.
04:01But be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
04:07songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for
04:13all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.
04:19Well that's it for this Monday.
04:21I hope that you have a blessed week and will see you again next Monday, Lord willing.
04:28Discussion Questions 1.
04:31What one event, person, or attitude leads you to personal unhappiness and why?
04:412.
04:42How would the ideas in this lesson help you if applied?
04:493.
04:50Name three things or people or events in your life that bring you happiness today.
04:57Give thanks for these.