Living Joyful

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It's time, Your time, not just to 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:06.199 go back to school, but to come back and move 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:11.080 forward with Purdue Global, Purdue's online university for working adults. 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:19.440 Start your comeback at Purdueglobal dot edu. 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:30.560 Well, God bless you. It's a joy to come into 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:33.520 your homes. And if you're ever in our area, please 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:36.160 stop buy and be a part of one of our services. 0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:38.959 I promise you we'll make you feel right at home. 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:42.160 I'd like to start with something funny and heard about 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:45.080 this man. He was walking up to a country store 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:47.680 and there was this little boy sitting on the front 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:51.600 porch with a huge dog next to him. He said, son, 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:54.920 does your dog bite? Boy said, no, sir, my dog 0:01:54.960 --> 0:01:57.640 doesn't bite. The man reached out to pet him. The 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:00.640 dog took about half of his arm off. He said, son, 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:03.200 I thought you said your dog didn't bite. The little 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:07.040 boy said, that's not my dog. Say it like you 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:10.000 mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:12.440 says I am. I have what it says I have. 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:15.600 I can do what it says I can do. Today 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:18.520 I will be taught the word of God. I boldly 0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:22.560 confess my mind is alert, my heart is receptive. I 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:26.600 will never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you. 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:30.680 I want to talk to you today about living joyful. 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:34.680 It's easy to let the pressures of life weigh us down. 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:39.000 We have traffic, to deal with, bills to pay, people 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:42.560 that are rude. If we're not careful, we'll look up 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:45.920 and we don't smile as much. We're not as friendly, 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:50.240 we never laugh, never have fun anymore. We have too 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:55.840 much pressure, too much responsibility to enjoy life. But God 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:59.520 didn't create you to live with a heaviness. You're not 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:03.160 supposed to to go around solemn, serious all the time, 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:08.440 burdened down by problems. Taking time to laugh, to have fun. 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:13.160 That re energizes you. It helps keep you in balance. 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:17.639 If it's all work, all stress, all dealing with problems, 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:20.399 that's going to weigh you down. And you can get 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:25.680 so busy raising your children, changing diapers, getting them to school, 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:29.040 making sure their homework is done, that you don't enjoy 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:32.840 your children. It's all work, no time for play. And 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:36.720 sometimes we think we have to be serious to show 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:41.000 that we're responsible. But you can be responsible and good 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:45.200 natured at the same time. God created you with a 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:49.000 sense of humor. You were made to laugh, made to 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:52.320 have fun. Have you let the pressures of life weigh 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:56.880 you down. Are you always solemn? Always serious? If you 0:03:56.960 --> 0:04:01.160 don't make this adjustment, not only you not enjoy your 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:04.880 life to the full, but you won't have good relationships. 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:10.000 Nobody wants to be around a grumpy, sour person that 0:04:10.160 --> 0:04:14.680 pushes people away. And we represent Christ here on this earth. 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:18.200 If you're a believer, you need to notify your face, 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:22.200 put a smile on, be good natured, be friendly, learn 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:26.880 to laugh. The scripture says, a merry heart is like 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:30.880 taking a good medicine. Every day. You need to take 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:34.800 your medicine. Find something that makes you laugh, see the 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:38.680 humor in life. It's one thing I love about Victoria. 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:41.719 She laughs all through the day. I can be in 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:44.239 another part of the house and I'll hear her laughing. 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:48.080 It echoes through the whole house. Sometimes I'll go in 0:04:48.279 --> 0:04:51.200 to find out what it was. It wasn't even funny, 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:55.280 it was just something small. Most people would ignored it. 0:04:55.800 --> 0:05:00.560 Not Victoria. She's looking for opportunities to laugh. She loves 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:04.520 to have fun. She keeps a joyful atmosphere in our home. 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.320 A while back, we were standing on the front road 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:12.320 during worshiping. I had my eyes closed, my hands folded 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:16.240 thinking about what I was going to say next. Victoria 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:19.719 is much more outgoing. She had both hands in the air, 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:24.640 very expressive. All of a sudden, as I was contemplating 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:30.000 in deep thought, Victoria threw her hip into mine and 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:33.360 about knock me over. I looked at her. She said, 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:38.440 come on, Stiffy, light up. She calls me stiff. I 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:42.960 tell her the right word is dignified. A few years ago, 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:46.720 I was preparing a message along these lines, and Victoria 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:49.200 came in my office at home and asked me what 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:51.520 I was going to speak on that week. I said, 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:54.000 I'm going to speak on staying full of joy and 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:57.560 seeing the humor in light. She put both hands in 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:00.280 the air and said, woo hoo. I don't need that, 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:05.120 but you sure do. We've been married going on thirty 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:11.080 years now, and people ask me they're laughing from me, Victoria. 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:15.240 People ask me, people ask me all the time what 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:18.320 is the secret of a good marriage? Always tell them 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:23.080 treat each other with respect and keep laughter in the relationship. 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:27.960 The family that laughs together will stay together. But too 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:32.039 often we used to laugh when we were dating. We 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:34.920 used to have fun, we used to enjoy each other. 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:38.560 But now we've let the pressures of life cause us 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:41.599 to become more solemn. We don't have time to laugh. 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:44.560 We have bills to pay, we have children to raise, 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:47.679 We're dealing with problems. We don't see ey to own 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:52.000 every situation. But the joy is what's going to help 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:56.080 you get through the tough times. Laughing together, having fun, 0:06:56.360 --> 0:06:59.159 that's going to help keep you together. I know a 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:03.000 couple that was having difficulties in their marriage. They're good people, 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:06.160 they just let the pressures that come with everyday life 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:10.240 drive them apart. They were about to separate, but they 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:13.880 decided to try something. For a few months, Once a 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:17.480 week they rented a funny movie and watched it together. 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:21.640 They would sit there and laugh and laugh. They told 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:25.920 how that one simple thing helped change their perspective. It 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:29.800 helped heal the wounds. They fell back in love. Today 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:34.440 they're happily married. Maybe you would see your relationship go 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:37.360 to a new level if you would get more joy 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:42.840 in the home. Living with pressure, stress, tension, division, that's 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:46.080 going to drive you apart. If you'll take time to 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:50.200 laugh again, have fun together, enjoy each other, that's going 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:55.520 to breathe new life, freshness into your relationship. How long 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:58.920 has it been since there was laughter in your home. 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:03.480 The enemy can't stand to hear you laugh. He can't 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:07.000 stand to hear you having fun, laughing with your children, 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:11.280 laughing with your spouse, enjoying each other. He wants there 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:15.400 to be tension, pressure, strife. Why don't you get on 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:21.320 the offensive and start laughing more often? Laughter is spiritual warfare. 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:26.160 Laughter brings down walls. Laughter will help your families stay together. 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:30.640 And yes, we all have to deal with tension and stress, 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:35.040 but you need to create a joyful atmosphere in your home. 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:40.520 Don't bring in pressures from work, stress from school, offense 0:08:40.559 --> 0:08:44.040 from what somebody said. Your home needs to be a 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:47.439 retreat from the negative things you have to deal with 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:50.839 during the day. I heard about this man. He had 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:53.840 a tree in a pot next to his back door 0:08:53.880 --> 0:08:57.040 at home. He was walking into the house with a friend. 0:08:57.320 --> 0:09:00.840 He stopped and he touched the tree. Friend asking what 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:04.439 he was doing, he said, this is my trouble tree. 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:08.680 I leave all my troubles on this plant. I don't 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:14.000 take any worry inside. I don't take any problems, any disappointments, 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:17.960 any offense. I leave it at the door. We all 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:22.360 need a trouble tree. Your home should be a cheerful place. 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:27.320 If you're bringing in stress, pressure, strife that's going to 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:31.840 weigh you down, leave the negative outside. Keep a joyful 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:35.640 atmosphere in your home. There was a hospital that did 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:38.720 an experiment with patients that had been sick for a 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:42.520 long time and they weren't getting well. They started taking 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:45.800 them out to the park several hours a day to 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:50.520 watch the children playing. They discovered when they heard the 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:56.240 children laughing over and over, the sound of laughter stimulated 0:09:56.280 --> 0:10:02.040 the body's natural healing process. It only affected the patient's outlook, 0:10:02.559 --> 0:10:07.960 but research showed they begin to recover faster. Just hearing 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:13.000 other people laugh help bring healing. Imagine what happens on 0:10:13.080 --> 0:10:16.880 the inside of us when we live joyfully, we take 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:20.760 time to laugh every day. It not only affects us mentally, 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:25.800 our attitude, our moods, it affects us physically. Laughter will 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:30.000 help you stay younger. Every time you laugh, what's known 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:35.000 as the youth hormone increases eighty seven percent. That's the 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:38.959 hormone that slows down the aging process, helps you stay 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:43.080 younger and fresher. You've seen people that have been through 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:46.840 a difficult time in life. They were under stress, and pressure. 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:49.960 You see them two years later, it looks like they've 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:54.360 aged twenty years. Why is that when we don't laugh, 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:58.000 we're not releasing the healing that God put on the inside. 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:04.240 When we live stressed, somber, discourage, those chemicals God designed 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:09.880 to keep us younger are sitting there inactive, ineffective. Well, Joel, 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:14.400 that's just not my personality. I'm a more solemn, serious person. 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:18.880 I realized God made us all different. My earliest baby pictures, 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:22.200 I'm smiling from ear to ear. We have different demeanors, 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:25.720 but most of the time, what's happened is we've forgotten 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:29.920 how to laugh. The average child laughs one hundred and 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:33.960 fifty times a day. The average adult lasts three times 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:37.959 a day. Some people haven't laughed in so long their 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:41.280 laugher has gotten rusty. You need to get that thing out, 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:44.959 dust it off every day, find some reason to laugh. 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:50.079 Start taking your medicine. I read We're a common ingredient 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:53.160 in people that live way up into their nineties. Wasn't 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:57.120 their diet, wasn't their exercise routine. It was the fact 0:11:57.360 --> 0:12:01.800 that they are extremely joyful people. They never forgot how 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:06.120 to laugh. They don't take everything so seriously. I met 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:09.080 a man after the service a few years ago that 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:12.840 was one hundred and six years old. He looked forty 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:17.160 years younger. He was so happy, his mind was sharp. 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:21.200 He stood in line forty minutes waiting to visit. I said, 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:23.640 we could have gotten your chair. You could have sat down. 0:12:24.000 --> 0:12:25.920 He said, I don't need to sit down. When I 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:30.320 get old, I'll sit down. He was a black man, 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:34.240 as handsome as can be. He didn't have one wrinkle 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:37.520 on his face. I said, I can't believe that you're 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:40.679 one hundred and six. You look like you could be seventy. 0:12:40.760 --> 0:12:43.920 He put his arm on my shoulder and said, Joel Black, 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:50.680 don't crack. We laughed and laughed. When he went to 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.400 walk away, he turned around and said to the whole group, 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:58.080 I'll see you next year. I thought about no wonder. 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:02.000 He's so healthy, he's full joy. He still has his 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:05.520 sense of humor. He loves to laugh. Think about all 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:09.080 those years healing was flowing on the inside. Now I 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:12.480 realize we're all going to get old. Eventually, we're all 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:15.400 going to die. But I've made up my mind. I'm 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:18.840 not going to turn into a grumpy old man. I'm 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:21.480 not going to get more and more sour. The older 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:25.640 I get, the more responsibility I have. I'm going to 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:28.520 stay full of joy. When it's my time to go, 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:32.679 I'm gonna go like him, happy, friendly, good nature. When 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:35.320 I'm in my nineties, I'm still going to have a smile, 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:39.319 still be telling my jokes, still have my hair may 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:44.880 not be real, but I'm gonna have some. But sometimes 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:49.160 we think the older we get, the more solemn we're 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:52.360 supposed to be, the less fun we're supposed to have. 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:56.320 That's not God's way. The scripture says we are to 0:13:56.400 --> 0:14:00.840 finish our course with joy. If you don't have, if 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:03.400 you don't take time to laugh regularly, if you're not 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:06.640 good natured, you're not going to finish your course the 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:10.280 way God wants you to. And I've learned old is 0:14:10.320 --> 0:14:14.400 all in our mind. Just because our physical body ages 0:14:14.800 --> 0:14:17.920 doesn't mean our attitude and our thoughts have to get old. 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:21.120 I knew a man at the gym that was eighty three. 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:24.320 He was as happy and fun to be around as 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:27.960 can be. He acted like he was my age. I 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:31.160 ask him how he stayed so young. He said, Joel, 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:35.160 I don't think old thoughts. I don't think of myself 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:37.640 as an old man. I think of myself as in 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:42.160 my twenties. See your spirit person. The real you that 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:46.280 lives on the inside is ageless. It's going to live forever. 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:51.240 Sometimes we talk ourselves into being old and sour and solemn. 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:55.440 When my father was seventy five, we'd be walking by 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:58.680 a group of people and he would see somebody maybe 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.400 in their sixties. With that thinking, he'd said, Joel, look 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:04.640 at that old man. I would think, Daddy, he's twenty 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:08.040 years younger than you. But in my father's mind, he 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:13.160 was still young. My father was a respected pastor. He 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:16.400 was serious about his relationship with God. He was a 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:20.960 responsible person, but he still loved to have fun. One 0:15:21.000 --> 0:15:23.880 time we were in Mexico. I was a little boy, 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:27.520 and these American tourists came up to my father. They 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:30.720 were looking for the post office. They couldn't find anybody 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:34.480 that spoke English. They said to my father, post office 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:38.240 mail a letter. My father looked at them kind of 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:44.720 confused and said, no, comprende espigol. They said it even 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:49.600 more dramatic, post office mail a letter. Daddy said, oh 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:53.800 post Office. They got real excited. Yes, yes, post Offeast. 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:56.280 Daddy said, you're looking for the post office. It's right 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:59.840 around the corner. That man looked at my father and 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:04.440 a boy ought to whoop. You don't ever lose the 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:09.680 child on the inside. Look for opportunities to laugh. You 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:14.120 may have to retrain yourself to have fun, retrain yourself 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:17.480 to see the humor. Sometimes if we're not working, we 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:20.920 feel guilty. We're stressed out thinking about what we should 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:24.680 be doing. But all work and no play is out 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:30.000 of balance. Give yourself permission to enjoy your life. Start 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:33.200 taking your medicine, not once a month, not once a week, 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:36.960 but every day. And you may have a serious position 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:40.000 like my father, but you can still have a light 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:44.040 hearted spirit. During a Sunday service, I was about to 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:46.840 come up to minister and Victoria told me that my 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:49.240 hair was sticking up. Now I needed to go in 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:52.440 the back and spray it. I asked where the hairspray 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:54.760 was and she said it's in the bathroom on the 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:57.880 counter in a big red can. I went in and 0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:00.880 found the can, sprayed my hair. Wouldn't keep it down, 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:04.000 so I sprayed and sprayed and sprayed. Still wouldn't keep 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:08.040 it down. After the service, Victoria said, Joel, why didn't 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:10.800 you spray your hair. It was still sticking up. I said, 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:14.040 I did, but your hair spray doesn't work. She said, 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:16.120 show me what you use, and I brought it to her. 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:19.600 She said, Joel, this is not hairspray. This is air freshener. 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:25.080 I smiled and said, at least I have the best 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:30.520 smelling hair around. When you're secure, you can even laugh 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:34.680 at yourself. Getting upset wasn't going to make it any better. 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:38.120 If you can't change it, There's no reason to lose 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:43.359 your joy. These days, people are very uptight on edge. 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:47.680 There's so much divisiveness in our society. If we're not careful, 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:50.879 we'll think this is no time to enjoy life, no 0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:53.560 time to laugh, no time to see the humor. But 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:57.760 just the opposite is true more than ever, this is 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:01.680 the time to live joyfully. Be a part of the solution. 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:05.520 Bring some cheer to the people around you. Put a 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:09.920 smile on your face. There's too much sadness in our world. 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:15.399 Every person deals with hurt, disappointments. We all have stress 0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:19.879 and tension. Don't let that deceive you into living with 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:25.240 a heaviness discourage solemn Well, Joel, I have a good excuse. 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:29.240 I've had a lot of bad breaks. Jesus said, in life, 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:33.240 you will have difficulties. He acknowledged that we're going to 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:36.840 have challenges. Everything's not going to be perfect. He went 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:40.520 on to say, I have the solution. Be of good cheer. 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:46.520 He didn't say be discouraged, be sad, be offended. In 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:50.480 the tough times, you need your joy. Joy is what 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:53.960 gives you strength. But if the enemy can deceive you 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:58.880 into living with a heaviness, discouraged, solemn, he'll be able 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:02.720 to defeat you at every turn. Don't fall into that trap. 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:07.480 Your circumstances may not change, but you can change. Quit 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:11.679 letting everything burden you down. Make a decision right in 0:19:11.720 --> 0:19:14.879 the midst of the difficulty. You're going to be of 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:21.160 good cheer. Studies show that living joyfully boost our immune system. 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:25.640 It lowers our blood pressure. People that laugh regularly are 0:19:25.680 --> 0:19:29.919 forty percent less likely to have a heart attack. Laughter 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:34.480 releases the body's natural tranquilizers that cause us to calm 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:39.400 down and sleep better. The United States represents six percent 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:43.520 of the world's population, but we take ninety percent of 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:48.199 the world's tranquilizers. We're too uptight. You're not supposed to 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:53.919 live stressed out, always thinking about your problems. Your mind 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:58.360 needs a break. Sometimes we give our body a vacation, 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:02.040 but our mind gets a day off. You can go 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:04.879 to the beach, watch the sunset and still be worried 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:08.200 about your health, stressed out of your finances, thinking about 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:10.880 what you should be doing. You need to give your 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:15.520 mind a break. The scripture says, in God's presence is 0:20:15.640 --> 0:20:20.680 fullness of joy. If you don't have joy, you've disconnected 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:26.520 yourself from God's presence. If you go through the day worried, stressed, sombered, 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:30.600 you are separating yourself from the blessing, the favor, the 0:20:30.640 --> 0:20:34.880 strength that you need. And I realize every day we're 0:20:34.920 --> 0:20:37.640 not going to be jumping up and down laughing all 0:20:37.680 --> 0:20:41.879 the time. We have real issues to deal with, loved 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:46.200 ones that have illnesses, situations in our health, in our marriage. 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:50.159 What I'm saying is, don't let those problems weigh you 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:53.680 down to where you live with the heaviness. You can't 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:57.600 have fun, you can't laugh. You're dealing with serious issues. 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:01.920 You have to have times where you can still be lighthearted. 0:21:02.200 --> 0:21:05.480 That's what helps you to get through those times. I've 0:21:05.480 --> 0:21:08.919 been to several funerals. They can be very sad, very heavy. 0:21:09.280 --> 0:21:13.159 But I've noticed when someone gets up and starts telling 0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:17.480 funny stories about the person, the audience goes from crying 0:21:17.560 --> 0:21:21.840 to laughing. You can feel the atmosphere change. It's like 0:21:22.000 --> 0:21:25.600 healing is taking place. The whole room is being lifted. 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:29.600 God didn't create you to live with the heaviness, to 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:33.359 go around overwhelmed. You have to get some joy in 0:21:33.440 --> 0:21:37.880 your life, some fun, some laughter. That's what helped balance 0:21:38.000 --> 0:21:41.360 out the difficulties that we have to face. I read 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:45.159 about a lady that hadn't slept well in years. She 0:21:45.359 --> 0:21:49.439 was constantly taken tranquilizers. She'd been on them so long 0:21:49.680 --> 0:21:53.280 they hardly had any effect on her. She'd tried everything, 0:21:53.320 --> 0:21:58.760 different diets, different medications, different doctors. Nothing help. She went 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:02.320 to a new doctor. He gave her an unusual prescription. 0:22:03.000 --> 0:22:05.800 He told her every night before she went to bed, 0:22:06.359 --> 0:22:10.000 she was to watch something funny, funny movie, funny comedy, 0:22:10.200 --> 0:22:13.640 something to make her laugh. She started doing this night 0:22:13.760 --> 0:22:18.680 after night. She begins sleeping better and better. Today she's 0:22:18.720 --> 0:22:21.840 off of all that medicine. She can sleep like a baby. 0:22:22.359 --> 0:22:25.480 What was the problem she was having to take men 0:22:25.640 --> 0:22:31.679 made tranquilizers because she wasn't releasing the natural tranquilizers that 0:22:31.800 --> 0:22:35.359 God put in us. Could it be that you would 0:22:35.359 --> 0:22:40.080 receive the healing you've been longing for? The headaches, the 0:22:40.200 --> 0:22:44.640 chronic pain, the depression, the insomnia would go away if 0:22:44.680 --> 0:22:48.040 you would just lighten up and learn to laugh more often. 0:22:49.160 --> 0:22:53.040 Much of the sicknesses we face today are stress related. 0:22:53.800 --> 0:22:57.639 We're too uptight. If a doctor gave us a prescription 0:22:58.160 --> 0:23:01.119 to take a pill several times a day, we would 0:23:01.119 --> 0:23:04.520 be very strict to follow his instructions, even if we 0:23:04.560 --> 0:23:06.160 had to get up in the middle of the night. 0:23:07.160 --> 0:23:10.320 I have a prescription for you, not from a doctor, 0:23:10.720 --> 0:23:15.920 but from your creator, he says, Stay cheerful, laugh every day, 0:23:16.440 --> 0:23:20.439 be good nature, see the humor in life. If you 0:23:20.480 --> 0:23:24.320 will stay on your prescription, have a merry heart, you'll 0:23:24.359 --> 0:23:28.399 sleep better, You'll be more creative. These areas of chronic 0:23:28.480 --> 0:23:32.080 pain and sicknesses will begin to go away. Friend of 0:23:32.119 --> 0:23:34.720 mine is a doctor, and this lady came into his 0:23:34.840 --> 0:23:38.359 practice that had a severe case of fibril ma aalgia. 0:23:38.760 --> 0:23:41.919 It's very painful. She would spend hours a day in 0:23:42.000 --> 0:23:46.600 bed suffering. She had chronic fatigue, no energy. She was 0:23:46.640 --> 0:23:50.480 in poor health. Not only physically but emotionally. She'd gone 0:23:50.520 --> 0:23:54.040 through tough times and lived a very depressed life, and 0:23:54.200 --> 0:23:57.440 he gave her medicine for the pain, but he knew 0:23:57.560 --> 0:24:00.960 that was only treating the symptom and not the root cause. 0:24:01.720 --> 0:24:05.320 After talking to her and realizing how depressed she was, 0:24:05.600 --> 0:24:09.119 he asked her, how long has it been since you 0:24:09.200 --> 0:24:12.760 had a good, hearty laugh. She thought about it a 0:24:12.800 --> 0:24:16.080 moment and said, doctor, I haven't had a good laugh 0:24:16.320 --> 0:24:19.119 in over thirty years, since I was a little girl. 0:24:19.840 --> 0:24:23.360 He said, your prescription is to go rent every funny 0:24:23.400 --> 0:24:27.119 movie you can find, read every funny book, and laugh 0:24:27.359 --> 0:24:30.199 as much as you can. She began to do that, 0:24:30.960 --> 0:24:34.320 lying in bed. Instead of feeling sorry for herself, she 0:24:34.440 --> 0:24:38.160 started laughing. Little by little, she got her joy back. 0:24:38.640 --> 0:24:42.000 Every day she would laugh more and more. She noticed 0:24:42.040 --> 0:24:46.399 the pain started subsiding. She had more energy. She felt better. 0:24:47.040 --> 0:24:50.240 Several months later, she went back to the doctor. The 0:24:50.359 --> 0:24:53.520 moment she walked in the door, he said he knew 0:24:53.680 --> 0:24:57.000 something was different. There was a sparkle in her eye, 0:24:57.280 --> 0:25:01.000 she had a smile on her face. She said, I've 0:25:01.040 --> 0:25:04.639 never felt this good in all of my life. Month 0:25:04.720 --> 0:25:08.600 after month, as she relearned how to laugh, she got 0:25:08.640 --> 0:25:12.760 healthier and healthier. Today she's free from all those illnesses. 0:25:13.320 --> 0:25:16.800 There is healing power in laughter. When you have a 0:25:16.920 --> 0:25:23.320 joyful spirit, health wholeness is constantly flowing through you. Let 0:25:23.359 --> 0:25:27.120 me ask you what he asked her, How long has 0:25:27.160 --> 0:25:30.080 it been since you had a good laugh? A day, 0:25:30.680 --> 0:25:35.000 a week, a month, ten years. In the Old Testament, 0:25:35.440 --> 0:25:38.439 one way an army would overtake a city is they 0:25:38.440 --> 0:25:42.439 would clog up the wells that provided water to that city. 0:25:42.960 --> 0:25:46.280 They would fill it full of stones. Before long, people 0:25:46.280 --> 0:25:48.919 didn't have anything to drink, and they would have to 0:25:48.920 --> 0:25:51.720 come out from beyond the protected walls, and the army 0:25:51.720 --> 0:25:56.000 would attack. In the same way, all of us have 0:25:56.119 --> 0:25:59.720 a well of joy on the inside. When we were 0:25:59.800 --> 0:26:04.200 chick children, it flowed freely. We laughed, we had fun, 0:26:04.320 --> 0:26:08.000 we were good natured. But too often our well has 0:26:08.040 --> 0:26:12.200 gotten clogged up with stones of worries, stones of stress, 0:26:12.720 --> 0:26:16.160 stones of pressure. Now the water doesn't flow like God 0:26:16.240 --> 0:26:21.479 created it too. Genesis twenty six says Isaac reduged the 0:26:21.520 --> 0:26:25.920 wells that the Philistines had clogged up. I think it's 0:26:26.000 --> 0:26:32.159 interesting Isaac's name means laughter. It's significant that Isaac was 0:26:32.200 --> 0:26:36.080 the one that redugged the well. God is saying, if 0:26:36.119 --> 0:26:38.840 you want to get your well unclogged, if you want 0:26:38.880 --> 0:26:42.239 to see His goodness flow in new ways, you have 0:26:42.320 --> 0:26:45.840 to get your joy back. Laughter is one of the 0:26:45.880 --> 0:26:50.520 best ways to unclog your well. I'm asking you to 0:26:50.600 --> 0:26:54.919 develop a lifestyle where you see the humor in everyday life. 0:26:55.200 --> 0:26:59.000 Laughing with your children, laughing with your family, being good natured. 0:27:00.000 --> 0:27:04.000 Cure says in job, God will fill your mouth with laughter. 0:27:04.920 --> 0:27:08.679 That's God's dream that your life would be full of laughter. 0:27:09.480 --> 0:27:14.240 Are you living stressed, somber, worried? Make a change today, 0:27:14.840 --> 0:27:19.080 Get your well unclothed, take time every day to laugh, 0:27:19.520 --> 0:27:23.160 keep a joyful atmosphere in your home. If you want 0:27:23.160 --> 0:27:25.840 to make this decision to have a merry heart, I 0:27:25.960 --> 0:27:29.600 believe and declare you're going to see chronic pain and 0:27:29.680 --> 0:27:33.640 illnesses go away. You're going to have better relationships. You're 0:27:33.640 --> 0:27:37.360 going to feel younger, stronger, fresher, and you will finish 0:27:37.480 --> 0:27:41.800 your course with joy in Jesus's name, if you receive it, 0:27:41.960 --> 0:27:45.320 can you say amen? Today? I'd like to give you 0:27:45.359 --> 0:27:48.359 an opportunity to make Jesus the lord of your life. 0:27:48.760 --> 0:27:53.600 Would you pray with me? Just say Lord Jesus, I 0:27:53.760 --> 0:27:58.760 repent of my sins. Come into my heart. I make 0:27:58.840 --> 0:28:03.240 you my Lord, and say, if you prayed that simple prayer, 0:28:03.440 --> 0:28:06.160 we believe you got born again. Get in a good 0:28:06.160 --> 0:28:10.200 Bible based church, and keep God first place. Victorian, I'll 0:28:10.240 --> 0:28:12.560 be right back to speak a blessing over you. 0:28:13.680 --> 0:28:16.120 As a thank you for your support of our ministry 0:28:16.160 --> 0:28:18.760 this month, Joel and Victoria, we'd like to send you 0:28:18.800 --> 0:28:22.320 a copy of Joel's new three message series, Victory in 0:28:22.400 --> 0:28:26.840 the Storm. You'll learn you don't have to stay stuck 0:28:26.880 --> 0:28:29.480 in defeat when the winds and storms come. You have 0:28:29.560 --> 0:28:33.120 the power to stay strong regardless of what comes against you. 0:28:33.720 --> 0:28:36.720 Request your copy of Victory in the Storm today at 0:28:36.760 --> 0:28:40.440 Joeloustein dot com or call eight eight eight five six 0:28:40.560 --> 0:28:41.400 seven Joel. 0:28:43.640 --> 0:28:46.000 In difficult times, we don't have to get upset. 0:28:46.320 --> 0:28:49.840 We can stay in peace, knowing that God promised all 0:28:49.920 --> 0:28:51.840 things are going to work out for our good. 0:28:52.200 --> 0:28:54.880 That difficulty is not going to defeat you, it's going 0:28:54.960 --> 0:28:58.000 to promote you. Request this resource. It will help you 0:28:58.080 --> 0:29:00.760 live the victorious life that belongs to you. 0:29:01.360 --> 0:29:03.560 Eleven years ago, we were trying to add another child 0:29:03.640 --> 0:29:06.400 to our family. We soon found out that my wife 0:29:06.440 --> 0:29:09.760 had some medical issues. What we've learned through this ministry 0:29:10.040 --> 0:29:12.200 is that God is the god of the impossible. Not 0:29:12.240 --> 0:29:14.360 only is my wife healed and we were able to 0:29:14.400 --> 0:29:16.840 add a little baby girl to our family, but just 0:29:16.920 --> 0:29:18.880 recently we've added a baby boy. 0:29:20.280 --> 0:29:23.600 Your support is changing lives. Thank you so much for 0:29:23.680 --> 0:29:26.960 your prayer and your generosity. If you'd like to partner 0:29:27.000 --> 0:29:29.000 with us to take hope around the world, we'd love 0:29:29.040 --> 0:29:30.920 to have you do it. Go to the website and 0:29:30.960 --> 0:29:33.520 find out how Victoria and I pray for you and 0:29:33.600 --> 0:29:36.600 your family. Every day. Twenty seventeen is going to be 0:29:36.640 --> 0:29:40.400 a blessed fear for you. Keep believing, keep expecting. 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