Animalistic Priesthood holders

      

Animalism is a "preoccupation with or motivation by sensual, physical, or carnal appetites rather than moral, spiritual, or intellectual forces" according to Dictionary.com.  This describes two priesthood holders in 1 Samuel named Hophni and Phinehas.  The were sons of the high priest Eli.    1 Samuel 2:12-17 details their behavior:
"12 Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord.

13 And the priest's custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand;

14 And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither.

15 Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw.

16 And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force.

17 Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord: for men abhorred the offering of the Lord."

      Not only did these priests harass and bully the people they also took advantage of women.  1 Samuel 2:22 says, "Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation."  These men were animalistic, following their carnal appetites.

      At the same time the Bible tells us a wonderful story about a random woman named Hannah from the tribe of Ephriam.  Her husband had two wives.  Her sister wife, Peninnah had children but Hannah had none.  Peninnah continually harassed her to tears for having no children.  She was completely miserable.  1 Samuel 10-17 describes her desperation:  

"10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore.

11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

12 And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth.

13 Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.

14 And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.

15 And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.

16 Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.

17 Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.

18 And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad."

      God answered her prayer and she gave birth to a boy.  She named him Samuel.  Her family was not of the tribe of Levi.  Her husband was not a descendant of Aaron.  They were not involved with the priesthood work but she did give her son to God.  He lived and worked at the sanctuary with the priests.      Though we forget the story of the priests Hophni and Phinehas, we all remember the story of Samuel.  He grew up to become a great prophet and leader in Israel.  He anointed Israel's first two kings, Saul and David.  Please read this interesting story of Hannah, Samuel, Eli, Hophni and Phinehas in the first four chapters of 1 Samuel.  

      

Prophet of 1,000 wives!

Heber C Kimball believed that many wives would be available in the spirit world.  In the Journal of Discourses, Vol. 4, page 209 we can read his Salt Lake City Tabernacle message.
      "Supposing that I have a wife or a dozen of them, and she should say, "You cannot be exalted without me," and suppose they all should say so, what of that?...Suppose that I lose the whole of them before I go into the spirit world, but that I have been a good, faithful man all the days of my life, and lived my religion, and had favour with God, and was kind to them, do you think I will be destitute there.  No, the Lord says there are more there than there are here. They have been increasing there; they increase there a great deal faster than we do here,...
      In the spirit world there is an increase of males and females, there are millions of them, and if I am faithful all the time, and continue right along with brother Brigham, we will go to brother Joseph and say, 'Here we are brother Joseph; we are here ourselves are we not, with none of the property we possessed in our probationary state, not even the rings on our fingers: 'He will say to us, 'come along, my boys, we will give you a good suit of clothes.  Where are your wives?' 'They are back yonder; they would not follow us.'  'Never mind,' says Joseph, 'Here are thousands, have all you want.'"
     Brigham Young walked this back some by limiting a man to 999 wives.
      "I met with the Quorum and Presidency in the temple....President Woodruff then spoke '...In searching out my genealogy I found about four hundred of my female kindred who were never married.  I asked Pres. Young what I should do with them.  He said for me to have them sealed to me unless there were more that 999 of them.'  The doctrine startled me, but I had it done,..."  Daily Journal of Abraham H. Cannon, April 5, 1894, Vol. 18, pp 66-67
      Brigham Young stated, "We are complained of for having more wives than one.  I don't begin to have a many as I shall have by and by, nor you either, if you are faithful."  (Journal of discourses, vol. 8, page 222)
      George Q. Cannon "...remarked that people wondered how many wives and children I had.  He may inform them, that I shall have wives and children by the million, and glory, and riches and power and dominion, and kingdom after kingdom, and reign triumphantly."  (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 8, page 178)

      The great prophet Moses gave a commandment about kings, "Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away;..." (Deuteronomy 17:17)
      King Solomon had a thousand women!  Although he was the wisest man on earth, 1 Kings 11:3-4 tells us, "And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.  For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father."  Because of this God promised to take the Israelite kingdom away from him and give it to one of his servants. (1 Kings 11:11)
      The Old Testament has a number of stories of disaster and heartache resulting from polygamy.  Let us go back to the beginning.  After God made Eve and presented her to Adam, he said, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." (Genesis 2:24)  He didn't say a thousand flesh but rather one flesh.
     

Repentance

Is hell a reality?  The devil says it is not a reality.

2 Nephi 28:21-23  "And others will he (the devil) pacify, and loll them away into carnal security, that they will say: all is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well - and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.  And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none - and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.  Ye, they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be judged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment."

Is hell a place for people who have procrastinated in repenting?

Alma 34:35  "For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked."

Is this really the final state of repentance procrastinators?  Isn't there some kind of work that can be done for them?

Alma 34:33  "And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed."

Obviously a person in such a situation would want a chance to escape.

Alma 34:34  "You cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God.  Nay, ye cannot say this;..."

Many people say that repentance is a "gradual process" - it takes time.  However, we are not guaranteed tomorrow.  We may not have time for a gradual process.  We could die in a car wreck.  We could be hit by a drunk driver or a texting driver.  Some people will die of heart attacks and strokes.  It is best to repent right now!

Alma 34:31-32  "Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.  For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors."

Does it sound too easy?

2 Nephi 25:23  "..;for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."

For those of us who are hard-headed, it is after we try and do all we can do that we realize it is NOT enough.  We actually do have to depend on God's grace, not ourselves, to save us.

The self-righteous Jews stated that Abraham was their father and God was their father. They were irate when Jesus said their father was the devil.

John 8:44  "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do...."

The Book of Mormon claims that we must be "born again" and "become His sons and daughters".

Mosiah 27:25-26  "And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters;  And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God."

It is a miracle of God to be changed from a "carnal and fallen state" to a state of "righteousness" - where good deeds are flowing out of you naturally.

My friend, do not procrastinate your repentance.  Turn to the God who is the unchangeable being in Moroni 8:18 and who is the only "true and living God" in Alma 11:27-39.  Be reborn.  Become a new creation.  May God be with you.

Is Easter Important?

      There were two missionaries praying.  One jumped up and said, "I have a vision from God."  He said God had revealed to him that the church should tear down the temples.  His friend responded, "You are my missionary companion, but you are NOT a Mormon."
      Two preachers were praying during that same week.  One jumped up and said, "I have a vision from God."  He said God revealed to him that they should take the story of Jesus' death on the cross out of their Bible.  His preacher friend responded, "You are a religious person but you are NOT a Christian."
      There can be fake Mormons, fake Christians and fake lemonade.  Real lemonade is made with real lemons.  Real Christianity has a cross.  As we read the Old Testament, the scriptures point to the cross, point to the cross and point to the cross.  The crucifixion is detailed 4 times in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  The rest of the New Testament points back to the Cross.  In Corinthians 2:2, the Apostle Paul said, "For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."

Choose your God this day

    President Lorenzo Snow

 "As man is, God once was; as God is man can become".  These were the words of Mormon prophet and president Lorenzo Snow.  Moroni 8:18 speaks of another God who is not a changeable being:  "For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity." This God did not begin as a spirit being.  He was not required to take on the form of a man.  He did not have to ascend into exaltation.   He definitely did not have to become God.  He always HAS BEEN God and will always BE God.

      Have you been praying to an exalted man or the eternal God found in Moroni 8:18?  If you have been worshiping an exalted man, he is not the God found in Moroni 8:18.  It is a big temptation to seek our own glory and exaltation!   It is tempting to focus on a goddess wife.  It is very tempting to try to ascend to godhood over our own world.  REPENT, REPENT, REPENT!!!  Let us bend our knee to the great God that always was, always is and always will be God!  Let us submit ourselves to His will.  Let us only worship Him in all of His majesty!!!

"...and I will not give my glory unto another."  Isaiah 48:11

"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,"  Isaiah 46:9

"Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last."  Isaiah 48:12

"I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded the, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me, I am the LORD, and there is none else."  Isaiah 45:5-6

"For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else."  Isaiah 45:18

"...there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.  Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else."  Isaiah 45:21-22

"To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?"  Isaiah 46:5

"Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God."  Isaiah 44:6

"Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it?  ye are even my witnesses,  Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any."  Isaiah 44:8

"I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."  Isaiah 42:8

"To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One?"  Isaiah 40:25

"...I am the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he."  Isaiah 41:4

"And Zeezrom said unto him: Thou sayest there is a true and living God.  And Amulek said: yea, there is a true and living God.  Now Zeezrom said: Is there more than one God?  And he answered, No."  Alma 11:26-29

Grace vs. Works - Featuring Joe the Gentile

LDS/Christian

Beginning Dialog

Gentile Joe - Do you have to go to the celestial kingdom to become a god?

LDS- Yes

Gentile Joe - Do you have to be forgiven of your sins to go to the celestial kingdom?

LDS - Yes

Gentile Joe - Do you have to truly repent to be forgiven of your sins?

LDS - Yes

Gentile Joe - Does true repentance involve forsaking sin?

LDS - Yes

Gentile Joe - Have you forsaken all sin?
LDS - No, nobody has.
Gentile Joe - If you haven't forsaken all sin, then perhaps you have not truly repented.  If you have not truly repented, perhaps you are not forgiven of your sins.  And if you are not forgiven, perhaps you are not headed to the celestial heaven.

Desire

LDS - Well, first we must have the desire to change?

Gentile Joe - Spencer W. Kimball said "Desire is not sufficient".  "The saving power does not extend to him who merely wants to change his life.  True repentance prods one to action."  (Miracles of Forgiveness pg.163)

Trying to do our best

LDS - We always have to try and do the best we can.

Gentile Joe - Kimball said "Trying is not sufficient".  He used the example of a soldier with his army officer.  "And army officer called a soldier to him and ordered him to take a message to another officer.  The soldier saluted and said, 'I'll try, sir! I'll try!'  To this the officer responded: 'I don't want you to try, I want you to deliver this message.'  The soldier, somewhat embarrassed, now replied: 'I'll do the best I can, sir.'  At this the officer now disgusted, rejoined with some vigor: 'I don't want you to try and I don't want you to "do the best you can."  I want you to deliver this message.'  Now the young soldier, straightening to his full height, approached the matter magnificently as he thought, when he saluted again and said: 'I'll do it or die, sir.'  To this the now irate officer responded: 'I don't want you to die, and I don't want you merely to do the best you can, and I don't want you to try. Now, the request is a reasonable one; the message is important; the distance is not far; you are able-bodied; you can do what I have ordered. Now get out of here and accomplish your mission.' "  Kimball went on to say, "To 'try' is weak.  To 'do the best I can' is not strong. We must always do better than we can."  (Miracles of Forgiveness pg.164-165)

Former sins return

LDS - Nobody is perfect.  No one can completely stop sinning.

Gentile Joe - Spencer W. Kimball focused on D&C 82:7.  This verse says, "Unto that soul who sinneth shall the former sins return, saith the Lord you God."  He describes it in this way, "To return to sin is most destructive to the morale of the individual and gives Satan another hand-hold on his victim.  Those who feel that they can sin and be forgiven and then return to sin and be forgiven again and again must straighten out their thinking.  Each previously forgiven sin is added to the new one and the whole gets to be a heavy load."

      Here is my old, incorrect view of D&C 82:7:  If I were to repent of lying and stopped lying for 15 years, I would be doing well.  But if I then told another lie after that 15 years, the guilt of all my former lies would come back on me.  The Doctrine and Covenants passage does not separate sins into categories.  It simple says "sin".  If you repeat a sin, the guilt of all your former sins returns to you.

No Commandment

LDS - It is impossible to be 100% perfect.

Gentile Joe - 1 Nephi 3:7 says, "...the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."  This verse does not say we can accomplish half of the commandments God has given.  It does not say we should be able to accomplish 90% of God's commandments.  It says God has only given commandments that we can accomplish.

Sufficient grace

LDS - God gives us grace to follow the commandments.

Gentile Joe - Moroni 10:32 gives us an if-then statement.  We are all familiar with this if-then statement:  "If you finish all your vegetables, you can have some desert."  Moroni 10:32 is an if-then statement:  "...if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ;..."  According to this verse, God's grace is only sufficient for us if we do four things.  We must deny ourselves of ALL ungodliness.  We must love God with all our might, mind and strength.  Has anyone denied himself of all ungodliness?  Does anyone love God with all his might, mind and strength?  If we prayed for 20 minutes, could we have prayed for 25 minutes?  If we have fed the hungry, could we have done more?  According to this verse, who can really qualify for God's grace?

After all we can do

LDS - 2 Nephi 25:23 say, "...for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."

Gentile Joe - When will you have done all that you can do so you can be saved by grace?  What if you only accomplish 98% of all you can do?  Will the 98% be close enough to all you can do?

No unclean thing

LDS - I believe forgiveness is a long process.

Gentile Joe - If a person is in the process of forsaking sin, then they haven't completely forsaken sin.  Alma 11:37 says, "And I say unto you again that he cannot save them in their sins; for I cannot deny his word, and he hath said that no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore, how can ye be saved, except ye inherit the kingdom of heaven?  Therefore, ye cannot be saved in your sins."

Forsake sin

LDS - I believe repentance is a gradual process

Gentile Joe - D&C 58:42-43 implies that there are two states - repenting and forsaking sin or not repenting and not forsaking sin.  These verses say, "Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.  By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins - behold, he will confess them and forsake them."

Unholy temples

LDS - I don't believe God expects us to be perfect.

Gentile Joe - Helaman 4:24 says, "...the Spirit of the Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples."

The heart

LDS - I believe that God looks at our heart.

Gentile Joe - That is true but Jeremiah 17:9&10 states, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?  I the Lord search the heart,..."  We can often look good on the outside and have bad things in our heart.  We can smile at someone and shake their hand but hate them in our heart.  We can lust after someone in our heart even though we do not act on those thoughts.  The heart is harder to manage.

A space of time

LDS - I believe that there will be a space of time between this life and the celestial heaven where we will gain more knowledge and have time to perfect ourselves.

Gentile Joe - If we were to compare 1st grade math to calculus, we could say that 1st grade math is easier.  It takes a larger knowledge base to pass calculus.  If you were to gain 10 times your current knowledge during that space of time, you would have 10 times as many commands to obey.  The more you know, the more responsibility you have. If you can't be perfect now, it will be much harder to be perfect with more knowledge.  Spencer W. Kimball also believed that it would become harder to repent after this life.  On page 11 of the Miracles of Forgiveness, Spencer W. Kimball quoted Apostle Melvin J. Ballard. "This life is the time to repent. That is why I presume it will take a thousand years after the first resurrection until the last group will be prepared to come forth.  It will take them a thousand years to do what it would have taken but three-score and ten to accomplish in this life."

Wages and Debt

LDS - I believe it is a combination of works and faith together.

Gentile Joe - Romans 4:4&5 says, "Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.  But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,..."

Submit to God's Righteousness
LDS - I do not believe that a person can just say a sinner's prayer and then go live anyway he wants to.  How can he be saved to the Celestial heaven?
Gentile Joe - According to the book of Mormon, that person is not born again.  Mosiah 27:25-26 says, "...Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters; And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God."  Romans 10:3-4 tells us that we are to lean on the righteousness of God rather than our own righteousness.  "For they being ignorant of Gods righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."  When we become a son of God, we should have our eyes focused more on Christ and his work on the cross.  We should have less focus on our own works.

Schoolmaster

LDS - I believe we can draw closer to God by following his commandments.

Gentile Joe - The commandments can make us feel farther away from God.  As you go through the 10 commandments, you will probably find that you have broken most of them.  In Matthew 5:21&22 Jesus said, "Ye have heard that is was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgement: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."  In Matthew 5:28&29 Jesus said, "Ye have heard that is was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."  If I compare myself to somebody down the street, I might look pretty good.  When I compare myself to God's law, I look like a sinner.  Then I realize I desperately need a savior.  So the law points me to my need for Christ.  It is my schoolmaster. Galatians 3:24-25 says, "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.""

Daily Repentance
LDS - God has given us the gift of repentance.  I repent of my sins everyday as part of my forgiveness process.
Gentile Joe - In April of 1995, Richard Scott quoted Joseph Smith in General Conference.  Joseph Smith declared: “Repentance is a thing that cannot be trifled with every day.  Daily transgression and daily repentance is not … pleasing in the sight of God.”  If you had a friend that confessed he lied to you, apologized and never lied to you again, you would call him a true friend.  If you had a friend that lied everyday to your face and apologized daily, you would never call him a genuine friend.  You would probably start avoiding that so-called friend.

Ephesians 2:8&9

LDS - I still believe that we are saved by grace after all we can do.

Gentile Joe - Ephesians 2:8&9 says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."  

My Happiness?

      Does our heavenly Father want us to always be happy?  Is our happiness his main goal?  There is a church pamphlet on Chasity that is very good.  We would all be better off to live our lives according to God's laws.  The author of this pamphlet begins by saying that our heavenly Father loves us and wants us to be happy today and forever.  Could the author have used the word "holiness" instead of happiness?
      If you study church history from the days of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, you may find that they set aside their own happiness to embrace plural marriage.  The put what they believed to be the laws of God ahead of their own happiness.  Life was very hard for the early Mormons as they traveled west through danger and cold winters.  Many died or lost children to sickness.
      The apostle Paul set aside his own pursuit of happiness to follow God.  In 2 Corinthians 11:24-28 he writes, "Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?"
      Jesus made an unpopular statement that is related to "our happiness" in Matthew 16:24-26: "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
      Jesus said those who are persecuted are blessed and should rejoice in Matthew 5:10-12.  "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
      According to James, we should be joyful in trials because they are necessary for our maturity.  James 1:2-4 says,  "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."
      After you have lived a number of years, you will probable experience a very sad event that is hard to understand.  Not having the answers to difficult circumstances is a trial in itself.  God is all-powerful and yet He allows things to happen to us.  Job, in the Old Testament, is an incredible story and example of this.  He lost all his children, his riches and his health.  At the end of the book, God blessed him with more children and great riches.  I think it is fair to say that our immediate pursuit of happiness is not God's top priority.  He may put our need for maturity, holiness and future rewards ahead of our pursuit of happiness.