God Encounters –Joy Comes in the Morning

Today we will finish the posts on Jacob and his encounter with God.  Jacob in his encounter with God  wrestled with God and it changed everything for him.  It changed the direction of his life and even changed his name.  In this post we will continue to look at Jacob and again if you are unfamiliar with him please read Genesis 31 and 32 – if you wish you can click here to read it.  The minimum I think you should know about his encounter is in this paraphrase of the Scripture of Jacob wrestling with God:

Jacob stayed behind by himself and this is where there is real mystery in what happened is written. We know that Jacob wrestled with a man until daybreak. We do not know how this happened but Jacob wrestles with the man. When the man saw that he couldn’t get the best of Jacob as they wrestled, he deliberately threw Jacob’s hip out of joint.

The man said, "Let me go; it’s daybreak."  Jacob said, "I’m not letting you go ’til you bless me." The man said, "What’s your name?"  He answered, "Jacob."

The man said, "But no longer. Your name is no longer Jacob. From now on it is Israel; you’ve wrestled with God and you’ve come through." Jacob asked, "And what’s your name?" The man said, "Why do you want to know my name?" And then, right then and there, he blessed him. Jacob named the place Peniel  because, he said, "I saw God face-to-face and lived to tell the story!" The sun came up as he left Peniel, limping because of his hip being knocked out of joint.

In looking at Jacob’s encounter we have seen that different motivations drive us to God and for Jacob it was family issues and problems.  We have seen family issues do drive us to seek the presence of God and they push us to seek direction from God about them.  We also talked about the paradox that we must give up the most precious things in order get all that God has for us.  We will encounter God when it seems like everything is lost.  God will also encounter those that seek There are some tough things to learn but if you wrestle with God you will find that God does not want things easy for us but He simply wants us to hold on tight to Him through all we go through.

As we finish I want you to consider this: Seeking God is something you must do alone. Jacob’s wives or children couldn’t help him seek God’s presence. Laban and Esau were not able to spiritually help him. Jacob wrestled alone with God, and prevailed. He saw God face to face. You cannot wait for your spouse to go with you in your journey to God, it is a lonesome journey, and it’s a journey you take by yourself. As Abraham interceded alone for Sodom . . . as Moses interceded alone on Sinai . . . as Elijah alone stood against 450 prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel . . . so you must seek God’s face alone. Are you willing to seek God and are you willing to hear what he has to say to you and change what he isays change?

You will hear this idea a number of times as we go through this series and that is: We are usually surprised by God’s encounter with us. Jacob didn’t expect God’s presence that night. He retreated there to hide because he was afraid after taking his family across the brook and was probably there to pray to God and not wrestle with Him. God will encounter you but will you recognize it?

Jacob was surprised to find himself in the presence of God. Sometimes we go to church, never expecting to meet God, but in the unusual and unexpected places, we are surprised by God. God wants and desires to surprise you with an encounter with Him. He wants to do it right here and now! Consider this verse Psalm 61:2 – "When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to a rock that is higher than I” You have to get out of the way and let God come in and change you and that is the problem why many will not – they are too stuck on it being about them. You hear it in all their conversations words like: me, my, and I. You need to cling to Him and get rid of me, my, and I because they are deadly foes of God encounters.

In the end: After the blackest experiences at the lowest times of life, the dawn comes where we understand our encounter with God. For several days, Jacob lived in a dark valley that became progressively darker. The more Jacob manipulated circumstances, the worst they became. Let me say – the same is true for you – the more you try to manipulate people and things your way – the worse they will become. It is only in seeking God and doing things His way where relief is found! Only in the darkest experiences did Jacob meet God and was eventually was blessed by God. When we come to the end of our way, we need to turn to God. He will come to us. There always is a bright shining morning that follows the storms of the night. Hold on till the morning! Hold on tight like Jacob did and you will encounter God. He will change things for you!

Oh there is such great encouragement in Psalm 30 which says: "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning . . . You have turned for me my mourning into dancing, You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness"

That is what a God encounter is – it is the joy that comes in the morning. It is not grieving but dancing. It is not being clothed in sadness but in gladness! You might come to God weeping, grieving, and wearing sackcloth but you leave a true encounter with God – you will do it joy, dancing, and clothed in gladness.

Do you have any insights to share on this encounter that I did not?  I would love to hear them!

The Secret of Joy

What is the real secret to having Joy? Is there a secret?  I believe that there is a real secret to finding Joy and the reason that people do not find it, is because it is hard. We have a tendency to shy away from things that are going to be hard.  The secret of Joy is not as much of a secret as it is a tough thing that people do not want to do. What is this thing?

Forgiveness.  May people struggle with forgiveness and many times they struggle with Joy.  A lack of forgiveness leads to a lack of Joy.

You might wonder what does forgiveness have to do with Joy?  The way of feeling true Joy is by giving and getting forgiveness.  It comes by asking for forgiveness when you need to and by granting it when someone has harmed you,

Are there people in your life who you hold grudges or anger against?  If there are you are called to forgive them and when you do you will find Joy.  Look at what the Bible says about forgiveness:

Mark 11:25 "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. 26 ["But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions."]

Luke 17: 3 "Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 "And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, `I repent,’ forgive him."

2 Corinthians 2:7 Now is the time to forgive this man and help him back on his feet. If all you do is pour on the guilt, you could very well drown him in it.

Do you have anger toward yourself because of things you have done? Have you forgiven yourself?  If you ask God to forgive you of your sins, He does but the question looms – so then why can’t you forgive yourself?  Lack of forgiving yourself is a lack of joy.  Forgive yourself.   Look again at the Word of God.

Psalm 25:7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; According to Your lovingkindness remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O LORD

Psalm 103:11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His loving kindness toward those who fear Him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Forgiveness is is one of those things people struggle with in their lives.  You may be one of those people who look at others who forgive easily and say how in the world can they forgive like this? You might be like the older brother in story of the prodigal son.

Luke 15:25 "Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 "And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. 27 "And he said to him, `Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 "But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. 29 "But he answered and said to his father, `Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; 30 but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ 31 "And he said to him, `Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 `But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’ "

We need to be people who are like the father and when people repent and forgiveness comes we should celebrate. Forgiveness is a joyful thing! When we forgiven and when we are forgiven we should be joyful – forgiveness is a joyful thing!  You will feel a sense of Joy that will come as a result of forgiveness. You need to be someone who forgives easily and do not hold grudges because it will make you a better person. The more easily you forgive the more joy you will be experiencing in your life.

To wrap up this week on Joy remember these things that are all the secret to living a life of Joy:

• Be a person full of forgiveness.
• Find Joy in your relationships.
• Do all to the glory of God.
• Overcome rather than complain.
• Choose to be joyful.

Let us be joyful in out lives!

What brings you the most Joy in life?  Which one of these areas in regard to joy that we looked at do you do the best at?

Moving to Joyfulness!

We have been talking about Joy.  Here are the main ideas of what we have covered so far:   Joy – Authentic Joy comes from God and is found in God. The source is God and that is where you need to look. The starting point for the having joy in our lives begins with God.  Joy is not a one time choice but a choice that you need to make daily and many times on most days!  Make the choice now to live in Christ and to allow Christ to live in you and you will be making the choice for joy.

Here are a few more thoughts on some things we can do that will help keep us focused on being joyful.  These are areas that if we do them – we will find ourselves being much more joyful. 

Let us remember these things:

Invite God to be a part of everything you do – 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. If you are doing everything to God’s glory then you will find true joy. You will feel true joy when you are serving God in everything that you do! When you are doing it to His glory, you are asking Him to be a part of it. Never lose the focus of everything in this life is to be done with God in focus. That goes from the trivial things in life like eating and drinking to the majors in life and everything in between. Joy comes daily, when you daily do all for God.

Do not complain! – People who complain are people who do not have joy. The funny thing is that most people do not see themselves as complainers. Complainers are people who put their eyes on circumstance rather than on God. When your eyes are on the circumstances you are not making a good choice – you are not choosing joy! The bible in Philippians 2:14 says, Do all things without complaining and disputing,. The Old Testament has some harsh things happen to those who complain. Take some time later and look up the snakes biting the children of Israel in Numbers 21, why because they were complaining.

Just like joy being contagious, so is complaining. That is why I believe that God deals with it so harshly. If you complain about work do see others joining in? Yes, because most people have programmed their brains to see the negative and complain, not to see the positive and find joy in it. When things at home, work, church, or anywhere else do not go your way, what do you do? Do you choose Joy or do you complain. Most if they are honest will say they complain. To get past this you need to begin to focus in on the joys instead of everything that is wrong. The more you focus you energy on the joys of life the more joy you will feel in life.

Events are opportunities see God – Instead of getting down and depressed about things that happen in your life. Look and find God, he can be found in the most unexpected places. When bad things happen we can get upset and be miserable and begin to rob joy from others or we can be over comers. John 4:4 tells us, You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. Then in Romans we read this: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Rom 12:21).

When we come across hard times it is our chance to overcome the evil that is around us with the good of Christ. When that happens you will feel a sense of joy that is unexplainable.

People are Special – Jesus in his ministry was all about people. Jesus built relationships with people. Jesus understood that people are special and that they are the ones that bring joy. True joy is found in relationships, in building, making, and keeping relationships.  A life without relationships is a life without joy.

The goal is to live a life of joy. This is possible and it is a choice that we choose each and every day.

We begin by making the choice for a good day. Then we ask God to be a part of everything that we do and we do everything to his glory. We do not complain because that robs us of joy but we see that we are to overcome the problems. Finally we see that people and relationship are special and they are where joy can spring.  When we do these things we will find ourselves much more joyful.

Let us all make the choice right now to be joyful on a daily basis so that joy spreads rather than complaining!

Which one of the things I mentioned today (inviting God to be a part of everything, not complaining, events are opportunities, and people are special) do you have the most difficult time with and why do you think that is?

Choosing Joy

We started talking about Joy yesterday.  Here the main idea of what we talked about:  Joy – Authentic Joy comes from God and is found in God. You want joy – I mean do you really want authentic joy? The source is God and that is where you need to look. The starting point for the journey we are taking to find joy begins with God.  Joy is not a one time choice but a choice that you need to make daily and many times on most days!  Make the choice now to live in Christ and to allow Christ to live in you and you will be making the choice for joy.

But how do I live a joyfully every day and how do I bring that joy to others? That will be what we talk about today.

“Joy is contagious.
It can spread like a forest fire, whipped by a high, hot wind.
Joy can be shared in a crowd.
Or it can be savored all alone.
Joy can bellow.
Or it can fall soft as a kitten’s tread.
Joy can excite.
Or it can comfort.
Joy can be sensuous.
Or it can spring from the intellect.
Joy can bewitch.
Joy can be sweet.
Or it can be zesty, euphoric, giddy.
It can teach. It can heal. It can lay to rest old pain.
In a world so darkened by suffering and uncertainty, joy can brighten our heavens
and make life worth living all over again.” - Philip B. Kunhardt Jr., The Many Faces of Joy

I choose joy… I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical… the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God. – Max Lucado

One of the things I want you to understand is that joy is a choice. It is a choice that you can make daily or it is a choice you can choose to not make. The question is how can you make the choice to be joyful on a daily basis?

Let us look at one way today on how we be be joyful on a daily basis and we will look at more tomorrow.  The one way today  we will look at is something we have already talked about and it is:

Choose to be joyful – We were all born with a free will. We have the freedom to choose whatever it is that we want to do, whether good or bad. Therefore, since we have the power to choose, we have the power to choose if we will be joyful or not. We can not choose every circumstance that we go through but we can choose the attitude that we have when we go through it, One of my favorite quotes of all time is “… everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s own attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” – Viktor Frankl

Let me give you some background on this quote. Frankl was a Jewish psychologist locked up in a concentration camp. The quote that is made is made about those that he found were the ones who were able to make it through such a terrible time; they choose to have a good attitude in a terrible situation.

Again, as we look at joy and being joyful on a daily basis, we can see that our attitude plays a large part.  Two verses that we need to think about on this are:  Philippians 4:4 which says “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice”  and the other  verse is Psalms 118:24 which says “This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Today regardless of what you are going through you can choose to be joyful!

How often do you find yourself choosing joy?  What is the hardest part of choosing joy for you?

Consider Joy

What is Joy? How is it different from happiness or are they the same? Do you experience joy in your life on a daily basis? What are the secrets to joy? How can you have joy in hard times? What are the sources of Joy? How do you deal with joy robbers? Do you find joy in relationships? Do you bring joy to other people? What is authentic joy?

There are a lot of questions here, things that we need to wrestle with and throughout this week I will look into these questions. I believe that most of people live in some false fantasy world of what joy is and never really feel true joy. I also believe that when people do find it they allow others to come in and rob if from them right away.

Consider this statement I came across: One of the greatest marketing strategies ever employed is to position the kingdom of Satan as the place where the fun is and the kingdom of God as the place of gloom and misery.

Consider the at basic question:  What is Joy?

1. The emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires
2. A state of happiness
3. A source or cause of delight

C.S.Lewis defined Christian joy this way: Joy has to do with the deepest longings of the human heart. The satisfying of our innermost, soul’s desires. A desire that is stronger and deeper than any other longing.   And when that is fulfilled – then we have joy.

What then is joy? Is it a celebration, or a shout? You hear of joyful celebrations and shouts of joy. Are they really joy? The Bible says that the Joy of the Lord is our strength. Nehemiah 8:10 – Then he said to them, "Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." If this is true then why are we so weak and lacking in joy? How did we get to the point where joy is not what we know but we focus and live in grief? Does it have to do with the circumstances of life?

Does joy depend on the circumstances of life that you are going through?

Consider these couple of examples from the Bible:

• Acts 16 – Paul and Silas were singing and praising God after being beaten and thrown in prison.
• Book of Philippians – Paul is in prison writing that we should rejoice in the Lord.

Joy is the fruit of a right relation with God. It is not something people can create by their own efforts. The Bible distinguishes joy from pleasure. The Greek word for pleasure is the word from which we get our word hedonism, the philosophy of self-centered pleasure-seeking. – Holman Bible Dictionary

Joy is not dependent upon the circumstances but it is a choice that is made. We choose to be either joyful or not. You have the power in the middle of circumstances to be joyful or not.  Happiness comes from situations and joy comes from some other place. That is why you can choose joy in the midst of the terrible situation. So then where  those other places it comes from?

Where does Joy come from?  Consider these verses from Psalms:

Psalms 16:11 – You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Psalm 43:4 – Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.

Psalm 45:7 – You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of joy above Your fellows.

How do you define joy?  What is the greatest joy in your life? Where would you say joy comes from?

Enjoying Life and Boundaries

I discussed enjoying life in the last post and in this post I want to expand on how we can enjoy life and not complain.

How do we really enjoy life?  Here is one way:

Obey God’s commands – Deuterononmy 4:40

If you obey all the laws and commands that I will give you today, all will be well with you and your children. Then you will enjoy a long life in the land the LORD your God is giving you for all time. – NLT

John 14:23-24 23 Jesus replied: If anyone loves me, they will obey me. Then my Father will love them, and we will come to them and live in them. 24 But anyone who doesn’t love me won’t obey me. What they have heard me say doesn’t really come from me, but from the Father who sent me. – CEV

To really enjoy life you need to know your boundaries. God’s commands give us a boundary. That way we know where we can and cannot go and what we can and cannot do. To know what your boundaries are, is to know freedom. Do you understand that – let me say it again – to know what your boundaries are, is to know freedom.

God is big on giving man freedom and boundaries- freedom to manage what He has entrusted to us.  God has given us the boundaries to protect us from evil. The boundaries in the Garden of Eden were not set for the purpose of limiting Adam but to let him know what his freedom was. Adam got into trouble when he questioned those boundaries and so do we. God had provided everything Adam would need for life. He  entrusted Adam with responsibility to manage and work the Garden. God gave him freedom in that freedom came responsibility. God made us to express ourselves creatively through our work and he gave Adam that opportunity.

Each of us, in order to really be happy, must have freedom and boundaries in our  lives. Whenever you are hired for a job, you must have the freedom to make certain decisions in order to enjoy the job and be effective at it. You must have the authority to manage things within your area of expertise. You must also have limits within your area of responsibility. You need to know where those limits are and stay within them and in doing so will be enjoying what is it you do and you will be effective at what you do. The boundaries make you more effective.  In then making the connection back to God we need to understand that both freedom and boundaries are always under the umbrella of God’s authority in our lives and when we live in them we are able to enjoy life and be effective in it.

So to enjoy life,what we need to do is  live freely in the boundaries that God gives us. To know those boundaries you must know his Word and that is why imperative that you read the Word of God to learn what your boundaries are and to find the freedom that comes in the Word of God.  Are you doing that?  Do you know the boundaries that God gives in His Word to give us freedom?

When you know who God is and what His commands are, it make a difference in life.  When you know where He has set the boundaries then it really should keep you from complaining. All of this should also help you to really enjoy all you have been blessed with in this life but does it?

So what do you think today?  Do you think that boundaries give you freedom?   Do you think complainers (us) are out of God’s boundaries when we complain?

Enjoying Life

I have been refreshed by my Christmas break from blogging.  I have enjoyed all my family and it has been awesome but now I am back and ready to blog away.  I pray you have had a great Christmas!

One of the things I hate to hear in life is complaining. It drives me crazy!  There are some people complain constantly and there is nothing ever right in their lives. They are many times people people who always have some sort of drama happening. There is always someone sick in their family or there is always a stressful situation going on at work with others around them, there is always something. The problem that I see here with these people is they do not realize that everyone has sick people in their families or stressful situations going on at work or around them. The fail to realize that there is always something for everyone. They fail to understand this and they miss out and fail to enjoy the life that they have been blessed with because their focus is all wrong.

As we start a New Year, I want to encourage you begin to enjoy your life. If you already enjoy it – I want you to enjoy it some more and if you do not enjoy it – I want you to see that it is a spiritual thing to enjoy life!

Let us begin this by looking at 1 Timothy 6:17, Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. -NAS

Do you see the word enjoy there at the end of the verse? Here is what enjoy means – taking pleasure or satisfaction in something.

In life we sometimes get stuck in faulty thinking and many times we always think we will really enjoy ourselves when…I turn 18, when I turn 21, when I turn 30, when I retire, when I make enough money, when I can afford that new car, when I can get that job, when I get that promotion, when I get married, when I have kids, when the kids move out, when I get the really good job and make a lot of money, when everything is perfect, when I….

We all have a tendency to think that with money, age, status, retirement, good health, fame, or a nice car will be that one thing that will brings us to the point where we will really then begin to enjoy life. So in many ways we think that life will be enjoyable later and think we really have nothing to celebrate in life now. We think things like,”There is nothing in my life that I can celebrate now but later I will be able to”. For many, this faulty thinking follows them through life.

Sometime the faulty thinking leads them down this line of thinking.  They think that enjoyment of life is sinful or wrong because we always have to be dead serious. They think that there can be no enjoyment in the church or life because that is wrong because Jesus never really enjoyed himself.

People when you talk about enjoying life on a daily basis ask questions like: Can you really enjoy everything?  Is everyday a celebration? Can everyday be a party?

Look at these verses from Ecclesiastes from a variety of versions and see what they say about the enjoying of life.

Ec 2:24 – Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. – NKJV

Ec 2:25 – For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him? – NLT

Ec 3:12 – So I concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they can. – NLT

Ec 3:13 – And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. -NLT

Ec 3:22 – We were meant to enjoy our work, and that’s the best thing we can do. We can never know the future. -CEV

Ec 5:18 – Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage. – NKJV

Ec 7:14 – On a good day, enjoy yourself; On a bad day, examine your conscience…. – Message

I will spend more time this week talking about what it means to enjoy life but for now let me ask you these questions:

What are two things that you really enjoy in life?  Does complaining drive you crazy?  Have you ever been stuck in the  faulty thinking of “When I”?

Joy in Everything?

Let me pick up where I left off yesterday.  Several of my smart commenters made note of an important thing that I was hoping that would be brought up.  You see the post yesterday was about joy being robbed – now I believe that some allow their joy to be robbed but in reality it is not joy that is robbed but it is happiness.  I see this as the case because I think that joy can not be robbed because joy is different that happiness.

Let us look at this verse from Philippians to get an idea of the differences.  Philippians 3:1 -Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you

rejoice in the Lord – Paul continues on the theme that is throughout the book on having true joy. This is the first time that Paul adds in the Phrase “in the Lord”. Some say that “The entire phrase may be the Christian equivalent of the Old Testament exclamation, Hallelujah.”

What is the difference between rejoicing and rejoicing in the Lord? 

True joy is only ever really found in Jesus, everything else is really just temporary happiness.  Happiness has to do with circumstances and Joy has to do with inward attitude of the heart.  So what we need to be doing is looking to Christ for the joy in everything, for there is joy in everything.

Do you believe this to be true? Do you believe there to be joy in everything?

I would say to this that it is not in circumstances or in situations, but in the Lord who works all things together for good.  I find this tough because not everything that happens is joyful but even in the tough things there can be joy found and the only reason that terrible things can be joyful is because Christ can use them because He is Lord.

So let me ask you two questions that I already answered so that you can share your thoughts.  What is the difference between rejoicing and rejoicing in the Lord?  Do you believe this to be true? Do you believe there to be joy in everything?

Dry Bones or Good Medicine?

I started yesterday into some thoughts on laughing and smiling and as I did this I started out talking about Proverbs 17:22 and today I will continue looking at it.

Proverbs 17:22 - A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones – NKJV. Another Version puts it this way - A cheerful disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.

The Hebrew translates this as to make dry bones.  The dry bones that are mentioned in this proverb here signify unhealthiness and lifelessness.  An example of this lifelessness and unhealthiness is found in the dry bones found in Ezekiel 37.

People who have a crushed spirit are often people with physical aliments.  Those with destroyed minds are those whose health is never really very good.  They always have a headache or a pain here and a pain there.  They never have any energy to do things.  Why?  These people waste energy on things that they cannot change or on things that are a waste of time. 

People who are like this are a pond that dries up because it has nothing flowing into it.  People with a crushed spirit have nothing flowing into them and that is why the dry up.

What is good medicine?

Hebrew translation for this is a pleasing cure.  The idea here is that a healthy and positive attitude brings about good healing or health.  Two other Proverbs to look at with relationship to this would be 15:13 and 15:15.

Proverbs 15:13 – A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.

Proverbs 15:15 – All the days of the afflicted are bad, But a cheerful heart has a continual feast.

People who have a cheerful heart have it show on their face because they smile.  They also have a continual feast, which is a metaphor for enjoying life.  These are people who are healthy and when they do get sick it is only for a short period.  They have an abundance of energy most of the time and have a positive outlook on things to come.

These are people who have a constant flow of joy in their lives that refreshes them.

The idea of the verse – A person’s psychological condition affects one’s physical condition: a depressed attitude ruins health but a healthy attitude fosters good health.

So now that we know this we will then look tomorrow at what it means to have a cheerful and healthy mind.  But before we get to that tomorrow let me ask you about today.  Do you find that you have dry bones or good medicine?  Do you have people that you are around that dry your bones and ones that are good medicine to you?  When people are around you, do their bones get dry or do they find you good medicine in you?

It is my prayer that we all are good medicine to one another.