The Benefits of Laughter

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See terms and conditions at UNEs dot co. 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:34.000 Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to 0:01:34.040 --> 0:01:36.800 our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:39.280 If you enjoy today's message, why don't you be a 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:40.440 blessing and share it with. 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:43.760 A friends, reappreciate you, and pray for God's very best 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:56.880 in your life. God bless you. It's a joy to 0:01:56.920 --> 0:01:59.960 come into your homes and you're ever in our area. 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:01.880 I hope you'll stop by and be a part of 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:04.480 one of our services. I promise you we'll make you 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:06.720 feel right at home. But thank you so much for 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:09.320 tuning in today, and again thank you for coming out. 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:11.880 And I like to start with something funny. And I 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:14.520 heard about this man. He was having a terrible time 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:18.840 training his dog. One day he came across this charismatic 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:22.800 evangelist who promptly told him to leave the dog with him. 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:26.040 He'd have him trained in no time. The next day, 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:28.720 the owner came back and the evangelist went on to 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:31.720 give a demonstration. He threw a stick and said fetch, 0:02:31.760 --> 0:02:34.440 and the dog immediately ran, picked it up and brought 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:38.160 it back, he said, sitting Instantly, the dog sat and 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:40.839 the owner was so thrilled. He said, that's great. Let 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:44.120 me try it. He shouted, hell. The dog lifted up 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:46.679 one Paul put it on the man's forehead, said, I 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:51.320 command you, sickness to leave. Hold up your bible, say 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:54.160 it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:56.560 am what it says I am. I have what it 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:59.000 says I have. I can do what it says I 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:02.120 can do. Today I will be taught the word of God. 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:07.000 I boldly confess my mind is alert, my heart is receptive. 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:11.000 I will never be the same in Jesus's name, God 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:14.640 bless you. I want to talk to you today about 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:18.840 the benefits of laughter. Studies tell us that people that 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:23.120 laugh on a regular basis are healthier, they live longer, 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:27.160 they have better relationships, and they make better decisions. So 0:03:27.240 --> 0:03:30.799 all kinds of benefits that come from laughter. But it's 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:33.960 easy to get weighed down by the pressures of life. 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:37.680 We all have stress to deal with. We have bills 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:40.840 to pay and children to raise. We've got a deadline 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:44.600 at the office. If we're not careful, we'll let everything 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:48.880 become so intense and so pressured that we never laugh. 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:52.880 We never have any fun. We become burdened down by life. 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:55.840 Now I know people that don't have a sense of 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:59.800 humor anymore. Over the years, they become more and more 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:04.520 Now they're all work and no play. Everything is serious 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:08.320 and solemn. But friends, our body was never meant to 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:11.960 live that way. One of the best stressed relievers God 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:17.039 ever created is laughter. When you're good natured, you take 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:20.440 time to see the humor in life. You laugh every day. 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:26.040 It's just like you're taking medicine. Laughter reduces blood pressure. 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:31.440 It activates the body's natural tranquilizers that help lower stress, 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:36.080 helps us to sleep better. Laughter strengthens our immune system. 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:40.479 It releases endorphins that make us feel better. Not only that, 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:46.200 laughter increases our brain function. When you laugh regularly, you're 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:50.200 going to make better decisions. Humor helps to stimulate the brain. 0:04:50.839 --> 0:04:53.679 Normally we use the left side, but when we laugh, 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:57.120 we use the right side. This study showed people that 0:04:57.200 --> 0:05:00.400 were having a hard time solving a problem. They'd been 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:03.400 dealing with it a long time. They were stuck. If 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:06.520 for some reason they were to laugh, it would stimulate 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:09.080 the brain and they would be much more likely to 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:12.400 solve that problem. Bottom line is, if you have a 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:16.200 sense of humor and you laugh regularly, you're going to 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:20.200 be more creative. You're going to have fresh ideas, and 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:25.120 you're going to be more effective. Laughter not only stimulates 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:28.719 our brain, but it helps to bring down the walls. 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:33.160 When you laugh with someone, their defenses come down. They 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:36.640 can be a total stranger, but humor will help open 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:39.240 the door. There'll be a lot more likely to hear 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:42.080 what you have to say. That's why I start every 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:46.680 program off with a joke. Laughter makes people receptive. It's 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:50.280 a common denominator. I remember when I was growing up, 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:53.279 every year at Christmas, we would go down to the 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:56.359 galleria and in the hotel ballroom we would have a 0:05:56.400 --> 0:06:00.000 big Christmas banquet, have a thousand or so people there 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:03.640 from the church. The highlight every year is when we 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:07.760 would show the fifteen minute blooper reel of the funny 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:10.800 things that had happened that year in church. We would 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:14.880 show people nodding off to sleep, people yawning. We'd put 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:17.560 it in slow motion, put some dramatic music to it. 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:20.520 We would edit my dad to make him say funny things, 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:23.320 or we might edit his hand motion in fast motion, 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:25.160 like three or four five times, make him look like 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:30.720 a rap artist. It was fifteen minutes of total laughter. 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:34.400 Now I'll never forget how when we showed it, the 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:38.520 serving crew from the hotel, the cooks, the waiters, the 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:41.279 bus boys, they would come out from behind the back 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:44.120 and line up around the walls of the ballroom to watch. 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:47.800 When people in the mall hurt all the laughter, they 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:50.360 would prop the doors open in the back. We would 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:52.920 have one hundred people from the mall peering in watching 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:57.480 those bloopers. What's my point? Laughter draws people to you. 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:02.520 Laughter is attractive, it's interesting. One of the longest running 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:06.120 shows on television is The Blooper Show, where you send 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:10.480 in your funny home videos year after year. While other 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:16.720 more polished, more sophisticated programs get canceled, this simple, wholesome 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:21.240 show that makes people laugh continues to get renewed, and 0:07:21.240 --> 0:07:24.000 so on. One twenty six. Verse two says, when we 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:28.760 were filled with laughter, the other nations took notice, and 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:32.480 they said, what amazing things God has done for them. 0:07:33.320 --> 0:07:37.680 When you are filled with laughter, people will take notice. 0:07:37.840 --> 0:07:41.840 It not only honors God to live a happy, joy filled, 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:45.560 faith filled life, but laughter will cause other people to 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:49.760 be drawn to you. Friends. There's too much sadness in 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:54.040 our world today. Many people have lost the joy of living. 0:07:54.800 --> 0:08:00.000 They've been beaten down by life, burdened by problems, by disappointments, 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:03.680 by heartache. We should make it our business to bring 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:08.040 joy everywhere we go. It's already enough sour people. We 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:11.160 should stand out in the crowd. One of the best 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:14.360 examples we could have is to just be happy, to 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:17.600 be fun, to be around, to let other people hear 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:22.640 our laughter. There is healing power in laughter. When the 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:25.680 joy of the Lord bubbles up out of you, that 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:30.520 laughter can break the bondages of their depression, their sadness, 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:34.960 their despair. I read about this hospital, the patients that 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:36.840 had been there a long time and were having a 0:08:36.880 --> 0:08:40.240 tough time recovering. Every day they would take them out 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:43.920 to the park for several hours to watch the children play. 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:47.000 Their purpose was to not only get them in a 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:51.440 different environment, but they discovered when they heard the children 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:58.000 laughing over and over that stimulated the body's natural healing process. 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:02.120 The patient's attitude was changed. They got their joy back. 0:09:02.559 --> 0:09:06.440 The research showed, they begin to recover quicker. Think about it, 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:12.280 just hearing other people's laughter brought healing and joy. Imagine 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:14.800 what happens on the inside of us when we live 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:17.920 full of joy. When we take time to laugh every day, 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:22.719 not only affects us mentally, not just our moods, our creativity, 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:26.400 our thoughts. It even affects us physically. Do you know 0:09:26.559 --> 0:09:30.400 laughter can help you stay young? Every time you laugh, 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:34.640 what's known as the youth hormone increases eighty seven percent. 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:39.440 That's the hormone that slows down the aging process, keeps 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:43.000 us fresher and younger. I laugh all the time, and 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:47.280 I don't look seventy seven years old. Do I But 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:50.240 you've seen people that have gone through a hard period 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:52.959 in life, a lot of stress, a lot of pressure, 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:55.360 and maybe you didn't see them for a couple of years. 0:09:55.679 --> 0:09:59.400 When you do, it looked like they had aged twenty years. 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:03.640 Why is that when we don't laugh, we don't release 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:06.920 the healing that God's placed on the inside. When we 0:10:06.960 --> 0:10:12.240 go around stressed and solemn and discouraged, the chemicals that 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:16.600 God designed to keep us young, to lower our blood pressure, 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:21.160 to stimulate our immune system, they just sit there, unused 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:24.920 and ineffective. God has given us everything we need to 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:27.840 live healthy and whole, but we've got to tap into it. 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:31.880 One of the ways is laughter, being good natured, being 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:35.520 fun to be around, seeing the humor in life. Some 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:39.040 of you today you've lost your joy, You've gotten out 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:41.839 of balance, and you're so focused on your problems. You've 0:10:41.840 --> 0:10:45.079 got so much stress that you haven't laughed, and so 0:10:45.320 --> 0:10:48.960 long your laugher has gotten rusty. You need to get 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:53.160 that thing out, dust it off, and every day on purpose, 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:56.920 find some reason to laugh. If you can't find anything, 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:59.080 go look in the mirror. That'll give you a good reason. 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:04.880 Our immune system is made up of millions and millions 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:09.120 of cells. Some of these cells their only purpose is 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:14.000 to attack and kill anything foreign to the body, bacteria, viruses. 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:18.720 They're called in case cells stands for natural killer cells. 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:24.760 The research shows that every person develops abnormal cancerous cells 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:28.400 in our body every single week. These ink cells go 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:32.840 to work and make sure they're destroyed. But negative emotions 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:39.679 like fear, worry, anxiety, depression, they weaken the natural killer cells. 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:44.440 What's interesting, studies show people that are happy, people that 0:11:44.600 --> 0:11:49.720 laugh regularly not only have more natural killer cells, but 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:53.880 their activity is increased. In other words, when you have 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:57.720 a sense of humor, when you're good natured, your immune system, 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:01.080 your natural killer cells are going to function at their 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:05.320 highest level. That's what the scripture says. A cheerful mind 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:09.840 works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:14.960 When we live sour, discourage stress, we're opening up the 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:18.480 door to sickness and disease. I believe some of you 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:22.439 would see your healing come. The headaches would go away, 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:26.040 the stomach problems, the ulcers would cease, the blood pressure 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:28.600 would come down. You would sleep better if you would 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:34.160 simply start laughing more often. Laughter is as powerful as 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.640 many drugs, but it's a lot less expensive, and it 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:43.400 has no negative side effects. Whether you're ford or against Obamacare, 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:46.520 laugh and you'll save us all a lot of money. 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:51.520 Every time we laugh, healing is released in our system. 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:55.760 Your immune system is getting more effective. No wonder the 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:59.200 enemy hates to hear us laugh. He knows when you 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:06.640 laugh you getting stronger, younger, healthier, smarter, calmer, more creative. 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:10.880 Health and favor and blessing is flowing through your system. 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:14.320 Medical science is catching on to the benefits of laughter. 0:13:14.880 --> 0:13:19.679 There's something called the Humor in Hospital movement, where hospitals 0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:23.600 are bringing in programs designed to get people laughing. They 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:27.400 know the more they laugh, the better they'll recover. There's 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:31.920 a children's hospital in another state. They have clowns on staff. 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.079 They go up and down the halls making the children laugh. 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:39.880 They're finding out children there are recovering faster than other places. 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:44.120 Why is this? When we laugh, we release the healing 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:48.000 that Almighty God's placed on the inside. You say, Joel, 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:51.280 that's not my personality. I'm not like you. I'm more serious, 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:55.360 I'm more solemn. Now realize God has made us all differently. 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:59.240 But what's happened most of the time is we've forgotten 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:02.480 how to laugh. When we were children, we all used 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:06.280 to laugh about anything and everything, But now we've let 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:10.640 the stress of life weigh us down. But every healthy 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:14.920 adult should have a healthy child on the inside. Think 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:18.160 about children. They loved to play, they loved to laugh, 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:21.200 they love to have fun, their good nature. Don't lose 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:25.080 the child that's in you. I read. We're a common 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:28.359 ingredient in people that lived way up in their nineties. 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:32.080 Wasn't their diet, wasn't their exercise routine. It was the 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:36.560 fact that they were extremely joyful people. They never forgot 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:40.080 how to laugh. About a month ago, after the service, 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:42.840 I met a man in the lobby that was one 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:46.680 hundred and six years old. He looked thirty or forty 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:51.040 years younger. He was so happy, his mind was so sharp, 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:54.600 and he had stood in line nearly forty minutes waiting 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:57.400 to visit with me. And when I got there, I said, 0:14:57.440 --> 0:14:59.880 I'm so sorry. You didn't need to stand here this long. 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:01.600 We could have gotten you a chair. You could have 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:04.000 sat down. He said, I don't need to sit down. 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:08.840 When I get old, I'll sit down. He was a 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:12.280 black man, just as handsome as can be. He didn't 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:16.080 have one wrinkle on his face. I said, I cannot 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:18.640 believe that you were one hundred and six years old. 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:21.120 You don't even look like you could be seventy. He 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:30.200 smiled and said, Joel Black, don't crack. He was so funny. 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:33.240 When he left, he turned around and said to the 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:36.480 whole group, I'll see you again this same time next year. 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:41.560 I thought, no wonder, he's so healthy. He's full of joy, 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:44.960 he loves to laugh, he's got a great sense of humor. 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:48.800 I thought about all the healing that's been released in 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:52.480 him through the years. I realize we're all gonna get old. 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:54.960 But I made up my mind. I'm not gonna turn 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:57.960 into a grumpy old man. I'm not gonna get more 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:00.840 and more sour the older I get. I'm gonna be 0:16:00.960 --> 0:16:04.160 like him and stay full of joy. Even when I 0:16:04.200 --> 0:16:07.400 get up into my eighties and nineties. I'm still gonna 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.120 have a smile. I'm still going to be having fun. 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:12.640 I'm still going to be telling jokes, and I'm still 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:17.080 going to be good looking. I'm not gonna lose the 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:21.960 child on the inside. Sometimes we think the older we get, 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:25.200 the more somber we're supposed to be and less fun 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.040 we should have, but I don't think that's God's plan. 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:32.840 The scripture says we are to finish our course with joy. 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:36.120 If you don't have joy, if you're not laughing every day, 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:38.880 if you don't take time to play, you're not going 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:41.600 to finish your course the way God wants you to. 0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:45.200 And can I tell you old is all in our mind. 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:49.520 Just because our physical bodies get older doesn't mean our 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:52.760 thoughts and our attitudes have to get older as well. 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:55.120 Knew a man when I used to go to the 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:57.760 gym all the time. He was eighty three years old. 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:01.240 He was just as happy and fun to be around 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:03.720 as could be. He acted like he was my age. 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:06.720 One day I asked him how he stayed so young. 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:11.040 He said, Joel, I don't think old thoughts. I don't 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:13.280 think of myself as being an old man. I think 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:17.440 of myself as being in my twenties. See your spirit person, 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:21.440 the real you that lives on the inside is ageless. 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:24.600 It's going to live forever. We're the ones that talk 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:28.679 ourselves in to being old and sour and grumpy. I 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:31.239 think about my father when he was up there in 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:35.120 his seventies. We would be walking down the street and 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:38.399 he would see somebody, maybe in their fifties, and without 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:40.720 even thinking, he'd say, Joel, look at that old man. 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:44.359 I would say, Daddy, he's twenty years younger than you, 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:49.080 but he was still young in his mind. My father 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:52.920 loved a kid with people here. He was a well 0:17:53.000 --> 0:17:56.920 respected minister. He was serious in his relationship with God. 0:17:57.160 --> 0:18:00.679 He was a responsible person, but he loved it have fun. 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:04.840 He would go up to someone and very dramatically put 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:09.119 his hand on their shoulder and he would say, very seriously, 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:12.439 I've been meaning to talk with you. I've got something 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:16.080 on you. They would gulf and get real nervous. Their 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:18.080 eyes got real big, and they said, Jess fastros and 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:20.560 go ahead. What is it. He would smile and say, 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:26.879 it's my hand. For years, my father carried around a 0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:30.040 little card in his wallet that somebody gave him. This 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:32.359 was his favorite thing to do. He would go up 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:35.240 to someone with a big smile and say, hey, you 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:38.760 want to see my pride and joy. He would make 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:41.240 them think, of course, it was a beautiful picture of 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:43.960 one of his grandchildren. He would play it up real 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:48.120 big and get them anticipating this award winning photograph. He'd 0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:50.359 ask them again do you want to see my pride 0:18:50.440 --> 0:18:55.880 and joy? He'd finally pull out this picture of pride, furniture, polish, 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:59.680 and joy, so he would say, that's my pride in 0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:06.840 Jim Lord. Now you know why I'm so corny some 0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:10.280 of you today. You need to retrain yourself to have fun. 0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:14.600 You need to retrain yourself to see the humor, to 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:17.800 learn to laugh. You think you got to work all 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:21.120 the time. You got so much stress and so many 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:24.040 bills to pay. And even if you're not working, you 0:19:24.080 --> 0:19:27.320 feel guilty and you're thinking about the stress in your life. No, 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:31.000 let me give you official permission to have fun and 0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:34.080 enjoy your life. You need to start taking a dose 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:39.159 of your medicine. Not every month, not every week, no 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:42.480 every day. We should find something we could laugh about. 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:46.280 You may have a serious job. I understand that, but 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:48.880 you can still be good natured. I have a lot 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:51.760 of responsibility, but I like to have fun at what 0:19:51.840 --> 0:19:55.760 I do. I like to laugh. Laughter believes the stress. 0:19:56.520 --> 0:20:00.760 Sometimes when everything's uptight, maybe plans don't worry out, or 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:03.640 you do something wrong. Instead of getting all up tight, 0:20:03.800 --> 0:20:06.040 the best thing we could do is just laugh about it. 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:09.960 The other day I was in a hotel room all alone. 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:12.359 It was early in the morning, and I had just 0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:15.840 ordered breakfast and they brought it on a table with wheels. 0:20:16.280 --> 0:20:18.439 After I got through eating, I wanted to put it 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:20.720 out in the hall so i'd have more room. And 0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:23.719 I was just in my shorts, not my gym shorts, 0:20:23.760 --> 0:20:27.679 my underwear. And I opened the door and looked out 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:29.439 in the hall, and I didn't see anybody. So I 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:33.119 opened it up whiter and I started pushing that cart out, 0:20:33.280 --> 0:20:36.320 and it was very hard to get out. The back 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:38.960 legs got caught on the threshold of the door, and 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:41.840 so I was having to struggle and finagle with it, 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:43.080 and there was just a lot of work. And I 0:20:43.160 --> 0:20:46.000 finally got it out, but I accidentally let the door 0:20:46.080 --> 0:20:51.439 close behind me in the hotel room. And you know 0:20:51.480 --> 0:20:55.640 those hotel room doors, they lock automatically. So I'm out 0:20:55.640 --> 0:21:00.479 in the hall now in my underwear. Where to go? 0:21:02.000 --> 0:21:06.200 Plus I'm on television. So I looked down the hall 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:09.919 and about five doors down there's this housekeeping car. I 0:21:10.119 --> 0:21:13.000 ran as fast as I could. I got me a 0:21:13.080 --> 0:21:16.159 towel and put it around me, and eventually the cleaning 0:21:16.240 --> 0:21:18.280 lady came out and I asked her. She had open 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:20.680 my room. She said, I can't do it without your idea, 0:21:20.760 --> 0:21:23.520 and I said, well, my IDs in the room. And 0:21:23.960 --> 0:21:26.160 I finally convinced her to do it. She opened my door. 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:28.359 She looked me up and down, said, boy, you sure 0:21:28.400 --> 0:21:35.360 look different on television. I said, yes, I usually wear clothes. 0:21:37.480 --> 0:21:39.160 But I got a bigger laugh out of that than 0:21:39.160 --> 0:21:43.959 she did. A secure a person can laugh at themselves. 0:21:44.600 --> 0:21:47.320 When you're secure, you can laugh when you do something dumb. 0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:52.560 I love the fact that Victoria keeps a joyful atmosphere 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:55.560 in our home. She loves to have fun. When I 0:21:55.600 --> 0:21:58.280 get kind of up tight, Victoria go dancing around the 0:21:58.320 --> 0:22:00.679 house and she'll come up behind me and tickle me. 0:22:00.760 --> 0:22:03.119 And when I'm stressed out, She's got a name she 0:22:03.200 --> 0:22:07.520 calls me. She calls me old Stiffy. A while back, 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:10.200 we were on the front row here during praise and worship, 0:22:10.240 --> 0:22:14.320 and I've got my head bowed and I'm in deep prayer, 0:22:14.520 --> 0:22:17.800 deep faught thinking about what I'm gonna say. And you know, Victoria, 0:22:17.880 --> 0:22:20.040 she's got her hands up. She's a lot more outgoing 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:22.359 than I am. All of a sudden she bumps me 0:22:22.560 --> 0:22:25.440 with her hips and about knocks me over. I looked 0:22:25.520 --> 0:22:27.800 up at her and she said, come on, stiffy lighting up. 0:22:30.359 --> 0:22:32.439 A few years ago, I was at home in my 0:22:32.560 --> 0:22:36.280 office preparing a message along these same lines, and Victoria 0:22:36.359 --> 0:22:38.040 came through and said, Joe, what are you gonna speak 0:22:38.080 --> 0:22:40.760 on this weekend? So I'm gonna speak on laughter and 0:22:40.800 --> 0:22:43.359 the importance of staying full of joy. And she put 0:22:43.359 --> 0:22:45.439 her arm up in the air and said, woo hoo. 0:22:45.720 --> 0:22:50.200 I don't need that, but you sure do. But we 0:22:50.400 --> 0:22:53.480 like to have fun. If you have children at home, 0:22:53.840 --> 0:22:56.480 there's no reason you shouldn't be laughing all through the day. 0:22:57.359 --> 0:22:59.960 Don't get so caught up in the pressures of rays 0:23:00.280 --> 0:23:02.920 your children that you don't take time to enjoy them 0:23:02.920 --> 0:23:05.640 and see the humor in what they do. When our 0:23:05.640 --> 0:23:08.520 son Jonathan was just a little boy, maybe about two 0:23:08.600 --> 0:23:12.600 years old, one night, about midnight, I heard this screaming 0:23:12.720 --> 0:23:15.680 coming from his bedroom. I knew he was having a nightmare, 0:23:15.680 --> 0:23:17.720 and I jumped out of bed and ran up there 0:23:17.760 --> 0:23:19.679 as fast as I could open the door, and he 0:23:19.760 --> 0:23:21.600 was sitting up in his bed. His eyes were this 0:23:21.720 --> 0:23:25.720 big Jonathan, buddy, what's wrong? He said, Daddy, the Holy 0:23:25.760 --> 0:23:31.040 ghost is under my bed. When our daughter Alexandra was 0:23:31.080 --> 0:23:33.119 about the same age, two or three years old. I 0:23:33.200 --> 0:23:35.840 was working on my message one day at home in 0:23:35.920 --> 0:23:38.720 my office at that time was right outside my bedroom, 0:23:38.800 --> 0:23:41.040 and she came in and said, Daddy, can we go 0:23:41.119 --> 0:23:44.359 outside and play? I said, no, Alexandra, I've got a finish. 0:23:44.640 --> 0:23:47.520 Maybe in an hour we can do that. She went out, 0:23:47.560 --> 0:23:50.200 and she kept coming back in, like every five minutes, 0:23:50.440 --> 0:23:53.280 again and again and again. Daddy is at time I 0:23:53.400 --> 0:23:57.160 was getting so frustrated. Finally she came in. I said, listen, Alexandra, 0:23:57.640 --> 0:24:01.359 Daddy is trying to concentrate. Please don't come back in. 0:24:01.440 --> 0:24:03.560 I'll come get you in just a little while. She said, okay. 0:24:03.960 --> 0:24:07.040 Three minutes later, the door opens, she peers her head 0:24:07.080 --> 0:24:10.720 through and says, Daddy, are you still trying to constipate 0:24:10.880 --> 0:24:16.119 and money? Do you know every time you've laughed today, 0:24:16.440 --> 0:24:21.199 healing has shot through your body. You're getting stronger, younger, healthier. 0:24:22.960 --> 0:24:26.760 I'm asking you to start taking a dose of your medicine. 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:30.320 If a doctor prescribed us a pill to take four 0:24:30.359 --> 0:24:33.280 times a day, every six hours, we would be very 0:24:33.320 --> 0:24:36.240 careful to follow those instructions, even if we had to 0:24:36.240 --> 0:24:38.760 get up at two o'clock in the morning. Well, I'm 0:24:38.760 --> 0:24:41.520 giving you a prescription not from a doctor, but from 0:24:41.640 --> 0:24:45.600 our creator. He says, to stay full of joy, take 0:24:45.640 --> 0:24:48.439 time to laugh every day, be good natured, find the 0:24:48.520 --> 0:24:52.800 humor in life. In the Old Testament, one of the 0:24:52.840 --> 0:24:56.440 ways that an enemy would overtake a city was by 0:24:56.480 --> 0:24:59.720 clogging up the wells that provided water to that city. 0:25:00.240 --> 0:25:03.360 They would fill them full of stones, and before long 0:25:03.400 --> 0:25:05.640 the people wouldn't have any water that have to come 0:25:05.680 --> 0:25:08.199 out from behind the protected walls, and that's when they 0:25:08.240 --> 0:25:12.080 would attack and overtake. In the same way, every one 0:25:12.119 --> 0:25:15.400 of us has a well of joy that God's put 0:25:15.440 --> 0:25:19.200 on the inside. When we were children, it flowed freely. 0:25:19.640 --> 0:25:22.680 We laughed, we loved to have fun. We were good natured. 0:25:23.200 --> 0:25:26.840 But too often we've allowed our wells to get clogged 0:25:26.920 --> 0:25:32.000 up with stones of worry, stones of disappointment, stones of stress. 0:25:32.320 --> 0:25:35.679 Now that joy doesn't flow freely like God designed it to. 0:25:36.359 --> 0:25:40.840 In Genesis twenty six eighteen, it says that Isaac redug 0:25:40.960 --> 0:25:45.480 the wells for the Philistines had stopped them up. It's 0:25:45.480 --> 0:25:50.280 interesting the name Isaac actually means laughter. I believe it's 0:25:50.320 --> 0:25:54.520 significant that Isaac was the one that unstopped the wells. 0:25:55.200 --> 0:25:59.000 God is saying, if you want your wells to become unstopped, 0:25:59.040 --> 0:26:01.280 if you want to see his good goodness flow once again, 0:26:01.680 --> 0:26:05.080 you've got to get your joy back. Laughter is one 0:26:05.119 --> 0:26:08.680 of the best ways to unstop your well If you'll 0:26:08.760 --> 0:26:11.959 learn to laugh on a daily basis, it'll loosen up 0:26:12.000 --> 0:26:16.200 those rocks and eventually wash them totally away. When our 0:26:16.240 --> 0:26:18.639 sink gets clogged at the house, I'll run up to 0:26:18.680 --> 0:26:21.399 the store and get some draino. You pour it in 0:26:21.440 --> 0:26:24.520 there and wait fifteen minutes. I come back and the 0:26:24.560 --> 0:26:28.320 sink is totally unclogged, and I was thinking, you know 0:26:28.359 --> 0:26:32.360 what laughter is. It's the draino in our lives. When 0:26:32.400 --> 0:26:36.120 we laugh every day, it's just like we're continually cleaning 0:26:36.160 --> 0:26:39.239 out the hard, crusty things that try to keep us 0:26:39.240 --> 0:26:43.160 stopped up. I'm not talking about laughing once since you've 0:26:43.160 --> 0:26:45.800 heard a message on it. I'm talking about developing a 0:26:45.880 --> 0:26:50.200 lifestyle of seeing the humor in your everyday life. Laugh 0:26:50.240 --> 0:26:53.600 with your children, laugh with your family, learn to even 0:26:53.920 --> 0:26:56.879 laugh at yourself when you do something wrong. If you 0:26:57.000 --> 0:26:59.679 well is clogged up, you've got to take action and 0:26:59.720 --> 0:27:03.600 start laughing more often. I heard a story about a comedian. 0:27:03.920 --> 0:27:06.879 His name was Joey Grimaldy. He lived back in the 0:27:06.920 --> 0:27:10.240 early eighteen hundreds, and he kept people laughing for over 0:27:10.280 --> 0:27:13.679 forty two years. He could change a riot into an 0:27:13.720 --> 0:27:18.800 applauding audience. But Grimaldy was a workaholic. He lived with 0:27:18.880 --> 0:27:22.240 a constant pressure of bettering his routine. He was a 0:27:22.280 --> 0:27:27.199 perfectionist that was never satisfied. Although he continued working, he 0:27:27.280 --> 0:27:30.760 became a very sick man. He went to the doctrine. 0:27:30.840 --> 0:27:34.240 This doctor didn't recognize him. He examined him and said, sir, 0:27:34.640 --> 0:27:37.440 I don't see anything physically wrong with you. I think 0:27:37.480 --> 0:27:41.560 you're just overly stressed. My suggestion would be to take 0:27:41.600 --> 0:27:44.119 some time off, and why don't you go see the 0:27:44.160 --> 0:27:48.080 comedian Joey Grimaldi. He'll do you good. He'll make you laugh. 0:27:48.800 --> 0:27:52.280 He hung his head and said, very sadly, but doctor, 0:27:52.520 --> 0:27:56.800 I am Joey Grimaldy. A few weeks later, amid the 0:27:56.800 --> 0:28:01.920 applause and laughter of a packed house, Grimaldy collapsed and 0:28:01.960 --> 0:28:06.080 died from exhaustion. He could make other people laugh, but 0:28:06.160 --> 0:28:09.520 he never took time to laugh himself. Don't let that 0:28:09.600 --> 0:28:13.600 be you job A twenty one says, God wants to 0:28:13.680 --> 0:28:17.840 fill your mouth with laughter. That's God's dream that we 0:28:17.880 --> 0:28:21.560 live full of joy. I hope you'll take time every 0:28:21.640 --> 0:28:25.280 day to laugh, get your well unclogged. Look for the 0:28:25.359 --> 0:28:29.119 humor in life. Friends. If you will let God fill 0:28:29.200 --> 0:28:32.919 your mouth with laughter, that not only brings honor to God, 0:28:33.200 --> 0:28:36.520 but you'll enjoy your life more. You'll have better relationships, 0:28:36.520 --> 0:28:39.800 you'll live healthier, you'll be more creative. I believe in 0:28:39.880 --> 0:28:43.160 declare every one of us is going to finish our 0:28:43.240 --> 0:28:47.360 course with joy and become everything God's created us to be. Amen. Hell, 0:28:47.400 --> 0:28:51.600 you receated today. We never like to close our broadcast 0:28:51.760 --> 0:28:54.800 without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the lord 0:28:54.840 --> 0:28:57.600 of your life. Would you pray with me? Just say, 0:28:57.920 --> 0:29:03.240 Lord Jesus into my life. I make you my Lord 0:29:03.280 --> 0:29:09.000 and Savior. I repent of my sins. Amen. Well, friends, 0:29:09.040 --> 0:29:11.360 if you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got 0:29:11.360 --> 0:29:14.400 born again. Get in a good Bible based church. Keep 0:29:14.440 --> 0:29:17.120 God first place. He's going to take your places that 0:29:17.160 --> 0:29:18.080 you've never dreamed of. 0:29:18.720 --> 0:29:22.160 Thank you for listening to the Joel Oustine podcast. Help 0:29:22.240 --> 0:29:24.960 us continue to share the message of hope with those 0:29:25.080 --> 0:29:28.960 all over the world. Visit joelostin dot com, slash give 0:29:29.040 --> 0:29:30.719 Hope to give a gift today. 0:29:32.000 --> 0:29:34.920 Thanks so much for listening to today's message. I hope 0:29:34.920 --> 0:29:38.320 you'll subscribe so you can receive the latest podcast to 0:29:38.400 --> 0:29:41.600 keep you inspired all through the week. We're praying for you. 0:29:41.760 --> 0:29:44.240 I know God's best is still ahead. We'll see you 0:29:44.280 --> 0:29:44.800 next time.