Pastor Claude Thomas Blog

By C Sudlow
Article Collected by: Pastor Claude Thomas

Happiness can be defined as various of things depending on whom you are, we can all find our own little pieces of happiness from various sources, in all honesty it does not matter where these sources originate but what matters most is that we feel happiness. Life is a very frightening place with trials and tribulations, a little bit of happiness can brighten the most darkest of days and help us to deal with whatever life throws at us. Happiness has no restrictions, age limits, guidelines or boundaries, it is reachable by all. Go in search of your little bit of happiness, make it your aim!!!

Happiness

Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life.

An emotion desired by all,

mans great aim in life.

A state of being only you can create.

Don’t wait on it from others or expect it from fate.

Happiness wont find you,

for you have to make it.

You choose to create, to spread and partake it.

An inner state of well being,

a sanction in life.

Appreciating what you have,

even your troubles and strife.

Our troubles help us build the character we are,

even the ones that seem so bizarre.

Hard to find but impossible to expect,

it takes lots of giving and time to reflect.

Make what we say, do and think all in tune,

for this life we have been given, ends far too soon.

Whatever our beliefs for beyond this existence,

don’t dwell on the years, face with persistence.

Submitted by: Pastor Claude Thomas

By Jason Osborn.

One of the questions that people have been asking since the very beginning is how to find true happiness. It seems like everyone is looking for it but doesn’t really know what it is. What about you, do you know what true happiness is? Here are 3 keys on how to find happiness so that you can live a great life.

1. Know what happiness is for you.

How to find true happiness must first start with you knowing what happiness is for you. After all, if you are looking for it, it would help to know what exactly it is you are looking for. Take some time and really define what happiness looks, feels, sounds, and tastes like to you. Once you know this you will be able to stop chasing the wind.

2. Create a map to happiness.

Just like you would map out a route if you were taking a road trip, you need to create a map or a plan on how you are going to reach your definition of happiness. It’s great to know what happiness is for you but that is useless information if you don’t create a plan on how you are going to achieve it.

3. Work the plan.

Happiness won’t necessarily happen over night but it will come if you work your plan. The key here is to work your plan until you have reached your goals and to never stop for nothing less. The moment you stop or allow defeat to enter in, you will never have true happiness. There will be plenty of opportunity to quit but you can’t give up.

Posted by: Pastor Claude Thomas
By Sahar Nabi

About Happiness they speak

Wishing for happiness

and wanting happiness

but what do they mean?

About Happiness they speak

Is it in someone loving you

Is it in the crazy things we do

Is it in earning more money

or maybe just giving will do

About Happiness they speak

yet to find it they don’t know

what to do

how to live or

where to go

can we find happiness

or it is us that happiness seek

About Happiness they speak

Happiness, the mystery of all times

I know you, I feel you

I almost hear your sound

I feel you when I witness the dawn

the beauty of a tree

When birds are around

In the night’s silence and

in the day’s crowed

About Happiness they speak

I feel you when I listen to my heart

when I understand

how strong I am

yet very weak

When I am proud of my deeds

I feel you,

I merge in you,

I become you

When I truly feel that

I am in no need

About Happiness they speak

Happiness is only a state of mind

it is not something we seek

and try to find

Happiness, I lived my life

searching for you

waiting for you

wanting you

and when I became so tired

and thought that I missed you

only then I understood

that you are not to be found

and that you can only come

from the inside.

About Happiness they speak

Author: Pastor Claude Thomas

A little boy went to church services one Sunday in response to the encouragement of some friends from school. The little fellow was feeling insecure since “church” was out of his comfort zone. But he also felt a little excited because he really did like the idea of going to “Sunday School” and “church” with some friends. But something happened that fateful morning the shaped his attitude about “church people” for many years to come. He was scarred by the experience.

What happened? Well, he did not dress like the other people at church that Sunday. You see, it was still the time when people, even little boys, wore special dress clothes to church. All the little fellow had was a pair of clean blue jeans and a clean polo shirt. And he wore them. And guess what happened. One of the “churchy” teachers scolded the little fellow for not “dressing up” to come to church.

How did he feel? Terrible! Rejected! And less than the “other children.” How did he respond? Well, he never returned to that church. And he did not attend church as a child or teen-ager. It was not until he was an adult he went to church again. The occasion? A funeral of a friend!

That is sad… and so unlike Jesus. He loves all of us. And we do not have to “dress up” to gain His attention or love. He loves us unconditionally. He desires to have a relationship with us… regardless of who we are and where we have been.

Contemplate these true words from Scripture: God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. (1 John 4:9-11 NLT)
Consider how you and I have been loved by God and let us show that same kind of love to others.

Author: Pastor Claude Thomas

For a few moments let’s go on an imaginary journey with Jesus. Stay close and don’t miss anything. It’s going to be quick. In this journey we are going to find one word again and again. It is used more than any other in the Bible to portray the heart of Jesus.
First, from Matthew 9:36; “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them…”

In Matthew 14:14; Jesus saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion. What did He do to show it? He healed their sick.

In Matthew 15:32; a multitude had been with Him for 3 days and had no food. How did Jesus feel toward them? He was moved with compassion. What did He do? He fed them!
In Matthew 18:27; Jesus told the parable of the forgiving and the unforgiving men. One had compassion and one did not. What did the person with compassion do? He forgave. Jesus has compassion. What does He do? He forgives! If we are connected to His heart, we also forgive!

In Matthew 20:34; Jesus encounters two blind men along the road outside of Jericho. He was moved with compassion as they cried for mercy. What did He do? He gave them sight!

In Mark 1:41; Jesus encounters a leper. He is moved with compassion for him. What does Jesus do in response to His compassion? He cleanses the leper!

In Mark 5:19; a Gaderene man was possessed with demons. Jesus was moved with compassion toward him. What did Jesus do in response to His compassion? He delivered the demon-possessed man.

In Luke 7:13; Jesus and His followers are entering the little city of Nain. They encounter a funeral procession going outside the city to bury the body. The body was that of a widow woman. Jesus had compassion toward her. What did His compassion move Him to do? He comforted her with words. And He gave her son life.

In Luke 15:20; parable of a lost son returning home to his father. The heart of the father in the parable is a picture of the heart of God. When the son was still a long way down the road, the father saw the son coming toward home and had compassion toward him. What did his compassion cause him to do? Forgive the son and restore the son!

Notice in each instance, Jesus had compassion for them. And what He felt toward them forced Him to do something for them! He ministered to them!

Hearts closely connected to the heart of Jesus will be moved with compassion and help others! And across America and around the world, there are people in need. They are alone. They are lost. They are defeated. They are hungry. They are sick. They are oppressed. They are naked. And the list goes on.

Who are they? They are children. And we can help change a child’s life today and tomorrow by showing the heart of Jesus and uniting with Feed The Children, Inc. For more information about this international Christian relief ministry go to www.feedthechildren.org