John Hagee's Daily 15 February 2018 Devotional: Luke 2:10

  Luke 2:10—Then the angel said to them.  “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.”

Jesus is in the Happiness Business

When He was born, the angels over Bethlehem announced “good news of great joy that will be for all the people”.  He ordained happiness by attending the wedding at Cana.  The theme of His first sermon was happiness.  The closing picture of Him, in the book of Revelation, portrays Him as a bridegroom coming to claim His bride.  The wedding reception lasts for seven years in the joyous splendor of heaven.

Take a look at the average church congregation on any given Sunday morning.  They look like advance agents for a cyclone.  Their faces are as droopy as saxophones.  They look like Bible carrying bulldogs baptized in lemon juice!

They go to work on Monday morning saved, sour, sanctified and petrified.  They look at their coworkers and say, “Don’t you want to know Jesus?  Look what He’s done for me!”
Don’t be fooled:  Christianity certainly involves hardship and discipline.  But it is founded on the solid rock of old fashioned happiness.  Jesus is in the happiness business.  If we lose our joy, we’ve lost our credibility in this unhappy world.

Happiness begins with an absolute commitment to Christ.  There are two groups of people who came to hear Jesus’ sermon about happiness the sermon on the Mount:  the disciples, who have made an absolute commitment to follow Jesus, and the multitudes, a curious mob committed to nothing.

A disciple is someone who has forsaken all to follow Christ.  Jesus established the entrance requirements early on when He said, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever will loses his life for my sake will find it” Matthew 10:37-39.  Jesus does not call us to a life of convenience.  He calls us to a life commitment.