{"product_id":"2940014872966","title":"Christ's Secret of Happiness","description":"An excerpt from the beginning of the first chapter:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBlessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u003cbr\u003eBlessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.\u003cbr\u003eBlessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.\u003cbr\u003eBlessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.\u003cbr\u003eBlessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.\u003cbr\u003eBlessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.\u003cbr\u003eBlessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.\u003cbr\u003eBlessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHERE are three kinds of happiness: j pleasure, joy, blessedness. Pleasure I is the happiness of the animal nature; joy, of the social nature; blessedness, of the spiritual nature. Pleasure we share with the animals, joy with one another, blessedness with God.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA boy comes home at Christmas from college. At the close of the Christmas dinner he says, \" Mother, I haven't had as good a dinner as this since I was home at Thanksgiving.\" That is pleasure. Friends come in; there are games, dancing, quiet talks in nooks and corners; in brief, a good time. That is joy. By and by the friends depart, the children go to their rooms, the father closes the house, the mother sits meditatively by the dying embers of the fire, living over the birth, the childhood, the early youth of her boy, and looking forward with a mother's hope to his future, and as her husband comes to remind her that it is time to retire, she draws a sigh of quiet joy, and says, as she reaches out to take his hand, \" John, we are certainly blest in our children.\" That is blessedness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese three types of happiness are not inconsistent. One may have them all. God does not require us to choose.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe ascetic is certainly mistaken when he imagines that one must give up this world in order to enjoy the next, or sacrifice the happiness of the body in order to have the happiness of the spirit. God \"giveth us richly all things to enjoy.\" He who eagerly desired to have one last social meal with his friends before he died did not condemn the joys of friendship. He who compared the kingdom of God to a great supper, and himself to one playing in the market-place that the children might dance to his music, did not condemn the legitimate pleasures of a social table and a healthful dance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe child of the world is equally mistaken when he imagines that to have a good time he must postpone the consecration of his life to Christ until he has exhausted the pleasures of youth. It is not true that:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"We followers of an injured King\u003cbr\u003eAre marching to the tomb.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe are marching to victory, and we are followers of a triumphing King. The joy of his life should be in our hearts and the light of his life on our faces. Because we are Christ's, we of must deny ourselves all pleasures and all joys? No ! Because we are Christ's, all things are ours: whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are ours: all teachers, all material things, all normal activities, all present opportunities, all future expectations, and even death itself; for if we are Christ's, death is our servant, not our master.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBlessedness, joy, pleasure, are not inconsistent ; but they are always to be estimated in this order. Blessedness is better than joy; joy is better than pleasure. For pleasure depends on the possession of things, and things decay; joy depends on the possession of friends, and friends die; but blessedness depends on the possession of character, and character is immortal. The kingdom of heaven, says Paul, is not meat and drink; it is not pleasure. What then? It is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Righteousness, or a character conformed to God's character; peace, or harmony with God and with the laws of one's own soul; and therefore joy in the Holy Spirit, that is, in healthfulness of spirit inspired by fellowship and cooperation with the Spirit of God.* This is immortal. The springs of this happiness are within one's own soul.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e* Or, through a holy spirit with which we have been endowed. In Pauline use, Holy Spirit sometimes means the Spirit of God, sometimes the spiritual nature in man, which Paul habitually connects with the inspiration of God acting upon man.","brand":"OGB","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47146172645616,"sku":"2940014872966","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014872966_p0.jpg?v=1763616291","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014872966","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}