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“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Premium members--download graphic
 Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”  Don’t confuse being poor in spirit with being poor. Premium members--download graphic Woody Allen says, "Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons." (http://www.freshministry.org/illustrations.html)

 Jean Chatsky, a columnist for Money magazine, conducted a poll and discovered "that money makes folks happier if their family's income is below $30,000 a year.” But once they able to meet their basic material needs, she found that “more money doesn't equate to more happiness.” (http://www.freshministry.org/illustrations.html)

 That makes sense.  If a person doesn’t have their basic needs met, it is unlikely that they will be happy.  But that doesn’t mean that money buys happiness, "People tend to crave more money and more things to restore that peak of good feeling -- only to adapt to those pleasures and seek the next high -- an addictive phenomenon that economists have labeled the hedonic treadmill." (http://www.freshministry.org/illustrations.html)

Premium members--download graphic Addressing World leaders that gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this past week, Anne Graham Lotz, said "Happiness is not about getting what you want, when you want it, and how you want it." (http://www.freshministry.org/illustrations.html)  Jesus said the poor in spirit are happy, not the poor. 

Premium members--download graphic Self-absorbed, arrogant people who live life with a “what’s in it for me” attitude aren’t happy.  Happy people are those who’ve learned to give of themselves to others. Happiness starts with humility.

Premium members--download graphic  In the mid-1960's, little Jimmy Bradley sat in his third grade classroom staring at a picture on page 98 of his history book; it was a picture of his father. The photograph depicted six soldiers planting a flagpole into the rocks of Iwo Jima, one of the soldiers was Jimmy's father,

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