BELIEVER, DO NOT BE DECEIVED; BEING JOYFUL AND HAVING A MERRY - TopicsExpress

BELIEVER, DO NOT BE DECEIVED; BEING JOYFUL AND HAVING A MERRY HEART HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH JESTINGS AND COMEDY!!!!!! • “A MERRY HEART does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.” (Prov. 17:22) • “And my soul shall be JOYFUL in the Lord; It shall rejoice in His salvation. “ (Psa. 35:9) • “Shout JOYFULLY to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. “ (Psa. 98:4) • “The humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord, And the poor among men shall rejoice In the Holy One of Israel. “ (Psa. 28:19) • “Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Neh. 8:10) • “Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” (Psa. 126:2) • “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.” (Prov. 15:13) • “A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, And a word spoken in due season, how good it is! (Prov. 15:23 BELOVED, where in all the above-listed scriptures were we told that laughter, joy and a merry heart should come from jestings and comedy????? Did the Lord Jesus or the Apostles or Abraham, Isaac, David or Joseph crack jokes or partake in comedies? Yes, Sarah laughed, but it was NOT at A JOKE, A LIE OR COMEDY. Sarah laughed FOR the truth and AGAINST the negative situation of barrenness, NOT at the truth NOR against the truth; the angel WAS NOT cracking a joke, nor was he playing with lies or acting a comedy; the angel sent to Sarah was speaking TRUTH!!!!! (Gen. 18:12; Heb. 11:11) “Just as damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon is someone who lies to a friend and then says, “I was only joking.”(Prov. 26:19) Instead, the Bible recommends that true laughter should emanate because of the word of God (TRUTH) or the goodness of God or our relationship with God: • “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But A GOOD WORD makes it glad.” (Prov. 12:25) • ““The Lord God has given Me The tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak A WORD IN SEASON to him who is weary.” (Isa. 50:4) • “And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; It shall rejoice in His salvation. “ (Psa. 35:9) • “Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” (Psa. 126:2) There is an overflowing, indescribable, incomprehensible joy that comes from knowing the Lord, fearing Him, loving Him, serving Him, sharing God’s word or studying His word. That joy is the joy that is recommended by the word of God. That joy causes you to be filled with laughter AGAINST negative situations and filled with laughter FOR positive situations whether other people are around or not. THIS IS THE JOY THAT GIVES YOU A MERRY HEART. The laughter/merry heart that emanates from the joy of the Lord is permanent and produces faith as long as you abide in the Lord and His word; on the contrary, the laughter that emanates from comedy and jestings is NOT permanent and does not necessarily give you a merry heart – you will still return to your state of anxiety, depression, loneliness and fear after laughing!!! “Even in laughter the heart may sorrow, And the end of mirth may be grief.” (Prov. 14:13) ANY JESTING THAT IS NOT TRUTH AND WILL NOT EDIFY, IS COARSE AND IS SIN!!!!! “Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.” (Eph. 5:4) PLEASE REMEMBER THAT our Lord Jesus warned us saying, “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day FOR EVERY IDLE WORD YOU SPEAK. THE WORDS YOU SAY WILL EITHER ACQUIT YOU OR CONDEMN YOU.” (Matt. 12:35-37) THERE ARE NO COARSE JOKES IN THE SPIRIT REALM; YOUR WORDS SHOULD BE PRODUCTIVE AND PURPOSEFUL!!!!!” Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” (Col. 4:6)