Live, love, and laugh

Good morning, everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Lighten up a little”

Our Bible verse for today: “And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Philippians 4:19-20 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Live, love, and laugh”

As we conclude our month-long study about learning to lighten up a little, I want to revisit a few of the key themes we’ve considered.

One important way to develop a lighter countenance is we need to learn to trust God. In Philippians 4:19-20 the Apostle Paul made a pretty bold statement, a promise really, about the provision of God in our lives. Please note that he wrote about God providing for “all” of your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. That’s a pretty all-inclusive statement. It’s a reminder of that great passage from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:25-34 where Jesus taught us about the sovereignty and provisions of God. Your Father in heaven is aware of your every need, He has the power to provide for you, and He is committed to doing exactly that.

Another lesson we learned was that laughter is good medicine (Proverbs 17:22), but a heavy spirit dries up the bones. A heavy spirit makes you sour and grumpy. Laughter lightens things up and makes you feel better. Happy people are healthy people. Even if your body is sick, your spirit is healthy. Laughter is good medicine.

Many of our devotional messages were about the importance of being intentional about being happy (Psalm 118:24). You can’t always choose your circumstances, but you can always choose your attitude about your circumstances. I encourage you to go back and review some of the strategies we discussed for being intentionally joyful in your outlook and attitude.

We have also considered the brevity of life (Psalm 39:4-5) and the value of time (2 Corinthians 7:2). Life is too short and our time is too valuable to waste it in trivial pursuits or with a negative attitude. Life is also too short to live small or to whine about getting old. By-the-way, a great question once asked by Pastor Chuck Swindoll is “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?” In other words, if you didn’t know your biological age and you had to guess based upon your physical condition and your attitude about life, how old would you suppose yourself to be? You’re as young as you feel. Laughter and a happy light-hearted spirit keep you feeling young. The goal is to die young, as old as possible.

What we have really been talking about this month is quality of life, and that is largely determined by your perspective and by your attitude. This is important. Therefore, for the next two months we are going to continue thinking about things we can do to have the best quality of life possible under whatever your circumstances happen to be. That will require an attitude characterized by determination, tenacity, and perseverance to deal well with the trials of life. It will also require intentional actions taken on your part to live a structured and disciplined life that includes taking good care of your physical body. We will address both of those subjects in detail.

For now, in the immortal worlds of that much-loved Vulcan philosopher, Mr. Spock, “May you live long and prosper.”

Live, love, laugh, and enjoy this gift of life.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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