A MERRY HEART DOES GOOD LIKE A MEDICINE
Prov. 17:22
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR:
1. A young man went to the drug store to buy three boxes of chocolates. The pharmacist said, “What size do you want? Small, medium, or large?” The young man said, “I want to buy one of each.” “Why?”
2. Young man said, “I met a pretty girl. I’m having dinner with her parents tomorrow night and then we’re going to go out. If she lets me hold her hand, I’ll give her the small box. If she lets me kiss her on the cheek, I’ll give her the medium box. If she lets me kiss her on the lips, I’ll give her the big box!”
3. The next night he was sitting down to eat with the girl and her parents and he volunteered to pray over the food. He prayed for several minutes.
4. Afterward the girl whispered, “I didn’t know you were such a religious person!” He whispered back, “I didn’t know your father was the pharmacist!”
B. TEXT
“A merry heart does good like a medicine: but a broken spirit dries [up] the bones” Prov. 17:22. “…he that is of a merry heart has a continual feast” Prov. 15:15.
C. PROBLEM: WIDESPREAD PSYCH. DISTRESS
1. After months of lockdowns due to Covid-19, studies show that depression symptoms are 3X what they were before Covid., up from 8.5 percent before, to 27.8 percent now.
2. Society is experiencing elevated levels of anxiety, fear, sadness, isolation, job stress, money shortage, declining health, grief, and loss of hope.
3. Many symptoms of stress may not be recognized: Feeling emotionally numb, finding difficulty enjoying anything, trouble sleeping, changes in appetite, difficulty concentrating or making decisions, low energy, feelings of guilt or hopelessness.
4. Have you noticed any of these? If they’re severe you may need to see your doctor. Everyone is struggling in one way or another during COVID-19. [“Depression Symptoms 3 Times Higher During COVID-19 Lockdown” (Healthline magazine, Sept. 10,2020)]
5. Title: “A Merry Heart Does Good Like a Medicine.”
I. ATTITUDE CAN MAKE OR BREAK YOU
A. IT CAN DETERMINE YOUR HEALTH
1. Dr. Norman Cousins, who taught at the UCLA Medical School was diagnosed with a rare disease. The doctors told him, “Sorry, this is incurable; you’re going to die.” Dr. Cousins decided on a regimen of exercise, high doses of Vitamin C, and added an unusual thing; LAUGHTER! He rented comedy movies and cartoons and watched them for hours each day.
2. He discovered that ten minutes of hearty laughter gave him a whole hour free from pain. He began to get better. The day came when he went back to the doctors and they said, “We don’t know what happened, because this was an incurable disease; but as far as we know, you’re completely cured.”
3. He lived another 20 years and wrote a book on how a cheerful attitude, or lack thereof, can determine whether you get sick and how quickly you get well. [Keep Believing Ministries] In his case, a merry heart did good, like a medicine!
B. THE BATTLE IS IN THE MIND
The greatest battle we face is our battle of the mind – it impacts your faith. Victory or defeat take place in the mind. The Apostle Paul said;
1. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things….And the God of peace will be with you” Phip. 4:8-9. As Christians, we should be thinking good thoughts about ourselves; be a positive person! We have a God who can do anything!
2. REJECT WHAT’S NOT FROM GOD
Any thoughts that are DEPRESSING, are not from God.
Any thoughts that are DISCOURAGING, are not from God.
Any thoughts that are DOUBTS, are not from God.
Any thoughts that are UNFORGIVING, are not from God.
Any thoughts that are CRITICAL OF OTHERS, are not from God.
Any thoughts that are PRIDEFUL, are not from God. Reject them.
Any thoughts that are IMPURE, GREEDY, are not from God. Reject them.
Any thoughts that are VIOLENT, are not from God. Reject them.
3. Instead, Paul tells us to focus on everything that is good, encouraging, what builds us up spiritually, what makes us more like Jesus, that gives us joy in the Spirit!
4. Spend time THINKING OF HOW GOOD GOD IS!
C. LIMIT EXPOSURE TO NEGATIVE INFLUENCES
1. Associate with cheerful people. You become like those you hang around. “They who walk with the wise grow wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm” Prov. 13:20. If you hang around negative or critical people, you become like them.
2. Don’t listen to negative news media. Have uplifting Christian praise music playing around you – it will alter your attitude from depressed to happy.
II. PERSPECTIVE & FOCUS
A. DO WE HAVE ENOUGH TO BE HAPPY?
1. Americans are the most privileged, prosperous, and healthy people who’ve ever lived on the face of the earth, and yet many Americans aren’t happy. We think if we have MORE, we’ll be happy.
2. King Solomon tried it and it didn’t work! He found that:
a. Wisdom and knowledge didn’t make him happy, Ec. 1:17.
b. Wine (stimulants) didn’t make him happy, Eccles. 2:3.
c. Business successes didn’t, Eccles. 2:4ff.
d. Wealth didn’t make him happy, Eccles. 2:7. He had more gold than we can imagine.
e. Relationships. He had 1,000 wives, but even that left him feeling empty inside! Eccles. 2:10. Solomon tried everything the world said would make him happy and it only left him empty. WHY?
f. THE ONLY THING THAT’S GOING TO MAKE YOU HAPPY IS A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS! As Blaise Pascal said, “There’s a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, that only God can fill.” Nothing else will fill that need but a Savior!
B. FOCUS ON ETERNAL THINGS
We need to change our focus from earth to ETERNITY.
1. THIS LIFE CAN BE TRAGIC. Life is good, but life can also be very difficult here. Problems arise. Losses and setbacks occur. Disaster strikes. If this world were all we had, then we might have reason to despair.
2. But the Child of God knows that we serve a God Who is preparing a place for us in heaven. We have a future and a hope. THE BEST IS YET TO COME. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man(kind) what God has prepared for them that love Him” 1 Cor. 2:9.
3. As Franklin Roosevelt said, “We…hold to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.” It’s not just a fantasy, but a solid future reality! We will live in Paradise for eternity with a loving God.
4. So if you’re a child of God, there is no hopeless situation, for we always have before us the promise of eternal life, of seeing our loved ones again, of a resurrection body, and of the joys and rewards of Heaven which stagger the imagination.
III. THE KEY TO A MERRY HEART - connection to Jesus
A. DEFINITION OF A MERRY HEART
1. A Merry Heart is one into which God’s presence and promises flows and out of which God’s blessing flows to others by loving thoughts, encouraging words, and gracious actions.
2. It’s a heart connected to God by surrender, praise, fellowship, and contemplation. Jesus told the Woman at the Well, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” John 4:13-14.
3. Jesus wants to put a “spring” or “well” of living water, inside each of us, that isn’t dependent on our circumstances, that we can drawing on, whether in good times or bad. It will satisfy and sustain us.
4. You are dependent on your city’s water system to have water; if it malfunctions, you won’t have water. But if you have a well on your own property, then you’re not dependent on the city – you’ll have water regardless of whether the city system is working or not. Jesus wants to give you your own well!
B. HOW TO OBTAIN A MERRY HEART
1. MARY & MARTHA were entertaining Jesus at their house. The Bible says, “But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Lk. 10:39-42.
2. What had Mary been doing that was the one needed thing? Verse 39 says, “Mary…sat at Jesus' feet and heard his Word.”
3. HUMOR.
a. One day, a teacher was teaching her young class the story of Jesus visiting Mary and Martha. She carefully explained how Mary and Martha had hurried to clean the house and cook a special meal.
b. Then she paused and asked, “WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF JESUS WAS GOING TO VISIT YOUR HOUSE TODAY?”
c. One girl quickly responded, “I’d get my Bible out of the closet and put it on the table!”
4. SO WHAT ARE THE ORIGINS OF THIS JOYFUL HEART?
C. THE JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH, Neh. 8:10
1. It’s God’s joy. God is a joyful God! He is filled with joy. Matt. 25:21, 23; "Enter... into the joy of your Lord."
2. WE RECEIVE THIS JOY BY:
a. ENTERING HIS PRESENCE; "In Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand are pleasures for evermore" Ps. 16:11.
b. BY WORSHIP; “You Who dwell in the praises of Israel” Ps. 22:3 AMPC. God inhabits our praises.
c. THROUGH GOD’S WORD; “Mary…sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his Word.” This brought her into connection with Jesus.
d. BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT; "The kingdom of God is... joy in the Holy Spirit" ROM. 14:17. "And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” Acts 13:52.
3. ILLUS. – HOW DO I KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE THIS?
Like the boy on the beach, holding a string going up into the air. A man walked up, looked up and saw nothing, and said, “What is on that string?” The boy said, “A kite.” The man said, “But I don’t see the kite. How do you know it’s still there?” The boy said, “Because I can still feel it tugging on the string.” Our assurance is the witness of the Spirit within. Do you have it?
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
Bruce Larson tells how he helped people struggling to surrender their lives to Christ:
1. For many years I worked in New York City and counseled at my office any number of people who were wrestling with this yes-or-no decision. Often I would suggest they walk with me from my office down to the RCA Building on Fifth Avenue.
2. In the entrance of that building is a gigantic statue of Atlas, a beautifully proportioned man who, with all his muscles straining, is holding the world upon his shoulders. There he is, the most powerfully built man in the world, and he can barely stand up under this burden. 'Now that's one way to live,' I would point out to my companion, 'trying to carry the world on your shoulders. But now come across the street with me.'
3. "On the other side of Fifth Avenue is Saint Patrick's Cathedral, and there behind the high altar is a little shrine of the boy Jesus, perhaps eight or nine years old, and with no effort he is holding the world in one hand. My point was illustrated graphically.
4. "We have a choice. We can carry the world on our shoulders, or we can say, 'I give up, Lord; here's my life. I give you my world, the whole world.'"
B. THE CALL
1. How many of you have been weighed down with care and want to turn all your troubles over to the Lord? Raise hands.
2. How many want to let Jesus put a “well of living water” down in your souls? Come meet me at the front.
3. How many want to have the Joy of the Lord be your strength? You also come to the front. PRAYER.
