The 'New' Gospel, or Rather, The 'Old' Lie Brought Back

  I know I have my head in the sand, yet, I hear so much from other people that in some ways, I feel like I have been informed on the latest happenings.
  I know this really isn't a new Gospel, but there is a false one going around that many embrace, perhaps without even realizing it. It is the Gospel which says that God wants us to be 'happy'. Think about it for a moment. God created every human being to be a worshiper, correct? Everyone is a worshiper, whether he or she realizes it or not. It is just a matter of what we worship. In our fallen state, we worship whatever it is that we think will make us happy. Isaiah describes our 'idols' as lies. "Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” Isaiah 44:19b-20 ESV

   Yes, our idols deceive us and keep us from worshiping (or even seeing) the True and Living God. Can we open our hands and let God take the idols from us? Will we receive the new heart He wants to give us? In the Garden of Eden, the devil wanted Eve to believe the lie that the fruit of the knowledge of Good and Evil would make her wise. The devil went on to tell her that she could become like God if she ate it. Basically, the devil was successful in getting Eve to doubt God. She stopped trusting Him, and started trusting herself instead. We do the same thing though. We think God wants us miserable, so we don't turn to Him. We turn to things that we think will make us happy. Essentially, we are listening to the same lie, recycled and custom made for us, that the devil gave Eve. 

   We are not going to be happy, ultimately, if we live selfishly. But, unless God opens our eyes, we will not believe that. We will continue on with our rebellion and happily be on our way to hell. 

   Does God want us happy? That is the wrong question, because what God wants for us cannot be compared to anything we experience in the flesh. Being happy is the ultimate success of the flesh, but living in the spirit is much different. When we live in the Spirit, we are in a different league than we are when living in the flesh. We don't have to feed our flesh anymore. The Bible speaks about the 'joy of the Lord' which is so much higher and purer than being 'happy'. Any promise of the flesh being happy is just an illusion. A person can be 'happy' for a time, but, in a way similar to drugs, the happiness will wear off. The person will have to look again for something or someone to make them happy. It's a continuous cycle that will ultimately end in death.