Most of us think we would be happy if only we could live our lives just as we have planned.  Some people make lists:  Get up early.  Exercise.  Eat a healthy breakfast.  After perfectly executing the above items, (after all how hard is it right?),  we would then kiss our perfect spouse (who is never grumpy) goodbye and walk out the front door of our perfect house, jump into our dream car and pull out of the drive way with plenty of time to arrive to our dream job early.  Traffic and stop lights would either be non-existent or the stop lights would turn green before you began to slow down for them and the snarls of traffic would magically disappear before your eyes.

Most people think if only they could live according to their plan their lives would be perfect and they would then have peace, joy and love in abundance in their life.   But, most of us just never seem to be able to pull it off.  Even the seemingly easy stuff like getting up early and exercising seems to elude the general population.  So what is the formula for acquiring  peace, joy and love in your life?  First of all you have to get rid of disharmony, sadness, and indifference.  It seems though that while so many people want peace, joy and love they aren’t really willing to actually accept them.  Picture a grumpy husband in the morning.  What can he expect in return from his wife?  Generally more grumpiness.  For most of us it is too hard to exchange the grumpiness for cheerfulness. 

Pray for God to create you into a new person.  As he raises you up out of the mud and wipes the dust from your eyes that you may see clearly with new eye sight.  Pray for a new heart to beat with the pureness of God’s love, kindness and thoughtfulness for others.  Because without God’s love, without kindness and thoughtfulness for others, we will never be able to experience God’s peace, joy and love in our lives.  God’s peace, love and joy are only created by living the life He created for us rather than selfishly living the life we have created for ourselves.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.  Philippians 4:13,14