Joy of 
												Family
												Our study 
												on happiness today comes from an 
												Old Testament psalm. It speaks 
												of the joy of family. Don’t 
												forget, our memory verse this 
												week is Phil. 4:4. You probably 
												already have it memorized.
												Psalm 
												127:1: “Except the LORD build 
												the house, they labour in vain 
												that build it: except the LORD 
												keep the city, the watchman 
												waketh but in vain. 2: It is 
												vain for you to rise up early, 
												to sit up late, to eat the bread 
												of sorrows: for so he giveth his 
												beloved sleep. 3: Lo, children 
												are an heritage of the LORD: and 
												the fruit of the womb is his 
												reward. 4: As arrows are in the 
												hand of a mighty man; so are 
												children of the youth. 5: Happy 
												is the man that hath his quiver 
												full of them: they shall not be 
												ashamed, but they shall speak 
												with the enemies in the gate.”
												Let’s 
												notice some important things the 
												Lord says about happiness and 
												the family.
												
													- Family 
													can never be what it should 
													unless the Lord’s will is 
													being followed. Family 
													without God and His word is 
													vanity. That would mean that 
													even if you have a wonderful 
													family relationship, the 
													ultimate goal of family 
													(eternal life) cannot be 
													realized. There will be no 
													pleasant family 
													relationships in hell no 
													matter how wonderful it was 
													on earth.
- Family 
													is the creation of God. Of 
													course we know that, but we 
													sometimes may fail to be 
													thankful for family, 
													especially if it is grown 
													family and we are in the 
													midst of some squabble. Even 
													in this life, there is a 
													great loss of happiness when 
													we stop seeing the good in 
													our family.
- 
													Children are a heritage from 
													the Lord. Think about the 
													word, heritage. Your 
													children will be what is 
													left of your influence in 
													the world after you are 
													gone. They are your legacy. 
													All the more reason to let 
													the Lord build the house.
- 
													A man’s (woman’s) family can 
													bring great joy to life when 
													they are pointed in the 
													right direction like an 
													arrow flies to it target in 
													the hand of a mighty archer.
- 
													Have you noticed through 
													these first few emails of 
													the month that real 
													happiness is always 
													dependent on real dedication 
													to the Lord.
												Let’s make happiness contagious 
												to others by our own life 
												leading the way to it.
												
												
												Mike Glenn
												 
												
												
												See More on Happiness from this 
												series