None of us need to live with constant stress, unhappiness, and discontentment our entire lives. I don’t think that any of us want to live that way either. I feel that it is safe to say that we would all like be happy and at peace all the time but we feel that it is impossible. Well, maybe not that it is impossible, but that it seems impossible with all that we got going on in our lives. But I am here today to tell you that it is possible to enjoy every day of your life and to have constant peace at all times. It is possible to smile while your breaking down inside. It is possible to still hope when all seems hopeless. Because we serve the amazing God that we serve we can have a joy and a peace that nothing can take away from us. But we have to want it bad enough. You say, “what do you mean by I am going to have to want it bad enough? Isn’t Jesus suppose to just put joy and peace in me and I go about my marry way?” Yes He gives it to us, but, we there is a part that we play in it as well. And if we do not have it then we can not blame God or the devil for it because we are in the midst of the equation. You see, the devil can not make us do anything and God will not make us do anything. We have authority over he devil and God gave us the gift of free choice.

Our ultimate stress free and happy life comes from the choices that we make. We get to choose our level of stress and happiness. It can be as high or as low as we want it. How many times have you sat back and realized that you are down or upset because of a choice that you made? How many times have you been weighed down with regret because of choices that you made? How many times have you been so thankful that you chose to make the right choice or decision? How many times have you been happy that you chose to do the right thing and have reaped a blessing from it? Our choices go both ways. Choices bring different consequences, rewards, punishments, and blessings. So by the choices that we make we are either suffering and losing, or we are gaining and prospering. It is up to us.

Making the right choices are not always the easiest thing to do. We are constantly having to fight our flesh and sinful nature when it comes to our choices. But no matter how strong they may be, our spirit is stronger. It may just need to be exercised. It may need to stand up against the flesh and the sinful nature a few times to gain it’s strength over the flesh and the sinful nature. They try to influence us into doing what they want us to do but we can withstand them and do what we know to do.

The devil and God will try to influence us as well but it ultimately up to us to do what we know that we should do. The devil will try to make us do the things that we do not want to do. And God will try to tell us what we should do. But at the end of it all, it is up to us to make the right choice. The devil can not make us do anything and God will not make us do anything. Choose to do today what you will be happy with later on by making the right choices.