Proverbs 17:22a - A cheerful heart is good medicine. [addendum]
Proverbs 17:22a - A cheerful heart is good medicine. [addendum]
Proverbs 17:22 (NIV) A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a
crushed spirit dries up the bones.
My dog is chronically, maddeningly happy. His tail wags
incessantly, which causes me to describe him as having a "happy ending:" No
matter what his day brings, it doesn't change his joyful outlook on
life. Personally, I had perfected the art of moaning and groaning and
practiced it religiously. I was so adept at spiritlessness that I could
instantly sap my strength and the strength of anyone else within shouting
distance.
My prognosis was not pretty, so I was referred to a spiritual
cardiologist who specialized in cheerful hearts. His exhaustive examination
dictated radical treatment to snatch me from the jaws of certain death.
The bottom of my heart was identified as the diseased area. I was
quarantined to the highly infectious wards of "Daily Laughter" and
"Delighting in the Little Things:" My prescription was to forcibly readjust
my eyesight from my problems and look to God as my focused
destination. After months of rehabilitative metamorphosis, I emerged and was
issued an XXL calculator to count my abundant blessings, joys, and
forgiven sins with pinpoint accuracy and proficiency. My Great Physician,
pronouncing me healed (and sealed), released me back into the "wild:" I
fluttered down to the first challenge, wondering whether I was healthy
enough to face the infected, dejected world.
Cured I was-quite permanently! And I was imbued with the
spiritual immunity to defeat any cracks appearing in my armor while
engaging in warfare. Once plagued with Broken Spirit Syndrome, I'm now
completely recovered and dangerously contagious.
Susan M. Watkins, an author and Bible teacher, is a former
writer for The 700 Club. [The One Year Bible Live Verse Devotional]
This verse describes the positive benefits to our physical
bodies when the inner person of the heart is happy. It also describes
the opposite effect: when we are depressed or sad for an extended
length of time, it is detrimental to our physical health and strength.
When I pondered this verse on a not-so-happy day, it made me think,
"Why am I not cheerful? Where has my joy gone?" Nine times out of ten
I have been fretting about circumstances - which may not be all
that happy - instead of focusing on my relationship with Jesus. Life
isn't always a feast of pleasant experiences. We can't control the
ways our days unfold or muster up a cheerful heart on our own, but we
can pour our energies into knowing and loving Jesus, the source of
all joy, and lifting his name high in good times and bad. When he
and his kingdom are our focus, he provides what we need in those
other situations and circumstances (Matthew 6:33), and he fills us
with true cheerfulness, hope, and joy.
LORD, I want to have a cheerful heart, not a broken spirit.
Help me to focus today on you and not on the circumstances I see
around me. As you help me to do that by your Spirit, I will know and
experience your true joy in my heart and Life.
Quote: Happiness is caused by things that happen around me
and circumstances will mar it; but joy flows right on through
trouble; joy flows on through the dark.... It is an unceasing fountain
bubbling up in the heart. D. L. Moody (1837-1899) [Praying Through The
Bible By Fuller]
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT:
Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies: http://www.liftingupjesus.net/
Grace Notes: http://www.e-gracenotes.org/index.php
Excellent Spiritual Resource Site:
http://www.christianlifemediacenter.com/
More Spiritual Resources: http://www.aBible.com
TWO INCREDIBLE TESTIMONIES:
Finding God in a Prison Cell:
http://www.itiswritten.com/television#episodes/1212
With Christ in the Desert:
http://www.itiswritten.com/television#episodes/1211
