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"A MERRY HEART"
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Scripture: Proverbs 17:22 "A merry heart does good like a medicine."
King Solomon teaches that a merry heart brings health to your
body. Yet if you allow it, stress, hatred, rage, malice, grief,
anxiety, and a host of many other negative emotions can ruin your
health. Proverbs 12:25 says, "Heaviness in the heart of man makes
his heart stoop." In other words, anxiety of any kind causes
depression, which allows negative forces to work and cause havoc in
your physical body. However, it is a medical fact that chemicals
called endorphins are released in your body when you exercise
physically or laugh. Zig Ziglar says, "Laughter is like internal
jogging." When you begin to laugh and be merry, you are telling
your physical body that the stressful circumstances you are facing are
no big deal. Your laughter will regenerate your body and joy will
bring you strength.
Isaiah 12:3 declares that you can "draw from the wells of salvation
with joy." In order to draw water from a well in the natural, you
must use a bucket. In the spiritual, you have access to the wells
of salvation that contain all the benefits that God provides, but the
scripture says you must use joy to draw from these wells. Joy is
your spiritual bucket. Being angry never fixes an adverse and
ugly situation, but rejoicing in God, seeking Him, and drawing from His
wells of salvation will give insight and the solution to the
problem. Grief and sorrow can never bring your loved ones back,
but finding a place of joy in the presence of God's Holy Spirit will
give you comfort and courage to move forward. Dealing with angry
and spiteful people is never pleasant, but by drawing from God's well
of salvation you can give a soft answer which will turn away their
wrath (Proverbs 15:1). Reacting in positive ways and maintaining
positive attitudes will dispel the negative forces in your life that
can cause illness and even death. Jesus tells us plainly in the
sixth chapter of Matthew not to be anxious about anything, but to seek
first His kingdom, which is "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy
Ghost" (Romans 14:17).
We go to great efforts to maintain our health and make changes in our
habits if they are harmful to our natural body. Shouldn't we also
make adjustments in our attitudes and take control of our emotions that
could cause problems in our health? As we begin to cultivate a
sense of righteousness with God, allowing His peace to reign in our
life and the joy in the Holy Ghost to fill our souls, we will find our
health being restored. Remember, laughter does good like a
medicine and it has no ill side effects so endeavor to keep a merry
heart. +++
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