by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n
You are in my daily prayers and I think about you often. You want the freedom to make your own decisions, which you actually always had. But now marijuana rules your life and your thoughts and it dictates the decisions you make. So as I think about you, my friend, I wonder: Are you happy?<\/p>\n
Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them<\/em>” (Matthew 7:16-20). He was speaking about false teachers, but it applies to false ideas as well. Do you find yourself happy with the type of person you are? Are you happy with the direction of your life? Does the future look brighter than today?<\/p>\n Solomon noted, “Good understanding gains favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard<\/em>” (Proverbs 13:15). Good and bad choices in life can often be detected by looking at what comes as a result of those decisions. Each choice you make impacts your life and when you let Satan choose for you, well, life isn’t so wonderful. “Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the LORD your God, and the fear of Me is not in you,” says the Lord GOD of hosts<\/em>” (Jeremiah 2:19).<\/p>\n Put the blame where it belongs, not on the friends and family who love you. I wish you joy in your life, the joy of knowing where you are going and knowing whom you serve.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSearching for My Friend\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Are You Happy? by Jeffrey W. Hamilton You are in my daily prayers and I think about you often. You want the freedom to make your own decisions, which you actually always had. But now marijuana rules your life and your thoughts and it dictates the decisions you make. So as I think about you,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":25976,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-65611","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10328,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/genesis-a-study-of-the-beginning\/the-garden\/","url_meta":{"origin":65611,"position":0},"title":"The Garden","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Garden Read Genesis 2:4-24 Genesis 2:5 says there was no rain in the early days of the earth. How, then, did the plants get water? Describe the location of the garden man was given to keep. Be as specific as you can. Can you locate this area on a\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34121,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/hebrew-poetry\/climatic\/","url_meta":{"origin":65611,"position":1},"title":"Climatic","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Climatic A progressive series with a conclusion at the end. Habakkuk 3:17-18 Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"poetry\"","block_context":{"text":"poetry","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/tag\/poetry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66153,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-gospel-accounts-a-chronological-harmony\/healing-of-the-crippled-woman-and-other-teachings\/","url_meta":{"origin":65611,"position":2},"title":"Healing of the Crippled Woman and Other Teachings","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Healing of the Crippled Woman and Other Teachings Reading Assignment: Luke 13:1-22 \u00a0 Did you understand what you read? When did some talk to Jesus about what Pilate did to some Galileans? Whom did people blame for this disaster? Why would people do such a thing? What other disaster recently\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69175,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/mark-jesus-the-active-servant\/mark-11\/","url_meta":{"origin":65611,"position":3},"title":"Mark 11","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Mark 11 Finding Transportation (Mark 11:1-6) Jesus begins walking toward Jerusalem. As he approaches the village of Bethphage on Mount Olivet, Jesus sends two of his disciples ahead with instructions to enter the village. There, they will find an untried donkey's colt next to a donkey, which they are to\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15608,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/moral-principles-for-young-people-volume-ii\/if-you-want-to-be-happy-forget-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":65611,"position":4},"title":"If You Want to be Happy, Forget It","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"If You Want to be Happy, Forget It by Kenneth Chumbley \u201cBlessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/happy-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":66415,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-gospel-accounts-a-chronological-harmony\/relationships\/","url_meta":{"origin":65611,"position":5},"title":"Relationships (Gospel Accounts)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Relationships Reading Assignment: John 15:1-16:4 \u00a0 Did you understand what you read? Who or what is The true vine? The vinedresser? The branches? The fruit? How were the disciples made clean? What does it mean to \"abide?\" Who must abide in whom? How do we abide in Christ's love? What\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65611\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}