A Heart Filled With Joy

A Heart filled with JOY!

Proverbs 17:22 22 A merry heart £does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.

Now, in that same vein, may I suggest that your emotions have a profound affect upon the way you feel.

Maybe King Solomon said it best when he wrote these words, "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones." [Proverbs 17:22]

~Our emotions cause us to sweat, to weep, to tremble.

~Our emotions cause us to turn white with fear, red with embarrassment, purple with anger, and

green with nausea.

~Our emotions really do effect us physically.

ILL. Perhaps the most famous example of this is the recovery of Norman Cousins from what was diagnosed as an incurable disease. He was bedridden & the doctors gave him no hope at all. So he decided on his own treatment. His family got a movie projector & rented all the Charlie Chaplin & Abbott & Costello movies that they could find - movies where you just sit back & laugh because they are genuinely funny.

He ran one movie after another, & the more he watched the more he laughed. The more he laughed, the better he felt. First thing you know, the doctors could find no evidence of the incurable disease.

ILL. Last week, on the editorial page of the Valley Morning Star, Paul Harvey stated that for the last 10 years Norman Cousins has been on the staff of the UCLA School of Medicine & is pioneering a new medical discipline: "pyschoneuro-immunology."

The article states, "Carefully controlled experiments conducted by Cousins & his associates demonstrate that you - just by controlling your mind set - can alter your temperature, your blood pressure & your blood chemistry in a matter of minutes."

It goes on to say, "There is now evidence that cancer patients - liberated from depression - can actually activate the anti-cancer capability of the immune system. ’The human body,’ contends Cousins, ’is far more robust than people have been led to believe. A strong will to live, along with the other positive emotions - faith, love, purpose, determination, humor - boosts disease-fighting immune cells.’"

A. So the proverb is true. If you’re joyful in your heart, then that is good medicine. But if you’re

not joyful, if your spirit is broken, then it dries up your bones. You become old & tired, & a

person no one wants to be around.

a. Who are the people to whom we are attracted?

1. "Gloomy Gus" who walks around with a frown on his face?

2. The person who sees all the bad things in the world, who is thoroughly convinced that

everything is going to fall apart?

Is that the kind of person with whom we love to spend our time?

B. No, not at all! We are attracted to the person who has a smile on his face, & joy in his heart.

C. But someone says, "Well all right, preacher, I hear you. But circumstances in my life aren’t

that good. Things have been tough. Just why should my heart be filled with joy?"

I believe that if you will take these 3 reasons home with you & live with them daily, that it will

make a world of difference in the way that you feel.

I. WE HAVE EXPERIENCED A GREAT DELIVERANCE

A. The first one is this: We who are Christians have experienced a great deliverance.

Romans 3:10 …There is none righteous, not one

Romans 3:23 ...For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 5:8 But God commanded his love toward us, while we were yet sinners,

Romans 10:9 That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.

Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation

We have been delivered. If that doesn’t bring great joy into your heart, then I don’t know what would.

ILL. I love the story about the naval officer who was made captain of a battleship & was in command of it for the very first time. Filled with pride he stood on the deck, barking out orders. Late into the night he was still standing proudly on the bridge. He was the captain & the crew obeyed his every command.

But as he stood there he saw a light slowly drawing nearer & nearer, almost directly in the battleship’s path. Immediately the captain ordered the signalman. "Signal that light to alter its course 10 degrees to the south."