"A merry heart does good like medicine." (Prov. 17:22 NKJV)

It does a body good! 

A medical report I heard about recently said that depression actually suppresses the immune system and makes a person sick! So depression is a dangerous thing to allow into your life! DON'T ALLOW IT! It's destructive! It's satanic. It's not from God! But, the good news is that a "merry heart is like medicine" and does a body good!

 Here's what I do!

Whenever I feel any kind of "heaviness or depressiveness" trying to attack me, I use that feeling as a trigger (a reminder) to praise God! The Bible says that "God inhabits the praises of His people" (Psalm 22:3). When you praise him, He enters into your situation and that solves the depression problem! In another place in the Bible, Is. 61:3, we're again told to put on a "garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness." And it absolutely works to destroy the enemy's depression attack! It's impossible to have any kind of depression and also to have God in the same place! It's a powerful truth and a wonderful promise that works every time! "I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth." (Psalm 34:1 KJV).

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." (Eph. 3:20 NKJV)

I don't know about you, but when I think about it, I can "think" about a lot of things that I could actually "ask" for. But, truthfully, I don't always remember to "think" or to "ask" for any stuff. And, quite frankly, I no longer EVER ask God for anything that I "need" because it isn't necessary for me to do so. Why should I ask Him for something that He has clearly promised to take care of already?

He SHALL supply ALL your need!

It says very plainly in God's Word, "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:19 NKJV) It doesn't say He "maybe shall supply my need". Or, if He does "it will be determined by the state of the economy", or, "according to the prime lending rate!" He said he SHALL supply it, So, it is really unnecessary for me to ask for what he has clearly promised me in His Word. So, again, I never ask him to supply my need. Instead, I thank Him for supplying them! (And, of course, he ALWAYS does!) I am very grateful that I never need to worry about these kind of things!

 So, what then do I ask Him for you may wonder?

I ask him for things that I WANT! Jesus said that we should come to God just like little children do (Matt. 18:3). If you have children you will notice that they don't normally ask you for a "need" because they rightfully know that you, as their parent, will take care of it for them. In fact, they never seem to give "needs" a thought. But, they sure don't hesitate for a moment to ask you for things that they "want"! And, when they have a good attitude, you love to bless them with what they ask for. Most parents do!

 According to the power that works within us!

Now, I really love the last part of the promise that says that he gives "above all that we could ask or think according to the power that works within us!" Wow!! When you think of all that implies! God has given us much power, and it is within us, to do what we need to do! In fact, brace yourself for this, "the same power that raised Christ from the dead, is within you!" (Rom. 8:11). Knowing and believing this fact should be a great encouragement and faith builder for you! And nothing is then impossible for you!

"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Rom.8:32 NIV)

What God has made available for us for free wasn't free for him! In fact the price paid was the highest amount ever paid for anything that was ever purchased throughout all ofhistory, and it is impossible for that fact to ever change, because the price that was paid was the precious blood of God's only Son, Jesus!

 Don't waste it!

It is absolutely insane NOT to put to use that which was so highly paid for on your behalf!

 What did it buy for you?

• You are God's kid and Jesus's sibling! It paid for you to be adopted into God's family! You are now an heir to God! (Rom. 8:17).
• Instant access to God! You now can come boldly to God (your father) at any time of need! (Heb. 4:16).
• All 'things' belong to you! Because of what God has done, you have received 'all things' from Him! Everything that belongs to Him, also belongs to you!
• All your needs are met! Every possible need you could EVER imagine is supplied somewhere in the Word of God in the form of Promises! (2 Peter 1:4 & 2 Cor. 1:20).

You just have to find them (search them out), mix faith with them, and they are yours! 

"But, whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." (James 1:25 KJV)

You must be a doer and not a forgetful hearer if you want to be blessed in what it is that you do in life (your deed). Many folks read the Bible, (they look into he perfect Law of Liberty) but you would never know it to watch how they behave and live! They don't retain (keep in their memory) what they have read to use in their life. Therefore, they are NOT blessed in what they do.

 The steps to being blessed are clearly defined in this promise.

• First, you look into the Law of Liberty (the Word of God).
• Secondly, you continue in it (don't quit, be faithful).
• Thirdly, Don't be a forgetful hearer (remember what you have read).
• And, fourthly, be a doer of the work(do what is said to do).

As a result, there will be a blessing added to what you do!

"I prayed to the Lord and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears and troubles." (Psalms 34:4-8 GNT)

I love the fact that we serve a personal and powerful God who we can approach with great confidence knowing that He actually hears us, answers us, and does something about what we ask! And I love that he frees me from ALL my fears and ALL my troubles.

Negative Feelings

As I was thinking about the part of this verse referring to "all of my fears," I noticed that it was plural and not singular, meaning more than one fear was being talked about here. He didn't explain what each fear was, but it was definitely more than one. Usually fearful people are fearful in many areas at the same time. Fear is really just negative feelings, and you can actually do something about your fearful feelings when you understand it is something you have the power to control. 

Recognize and take control!

The first step to overcoming a negative feeling is to recognize it and then take control of it. (Fear, anger, or some other negative thing). A helpful principle to understand: "A feeling named is a feeling tamed!" Explanation: An unidentified feeling can take control of you. But, you can take control of a named feeling once you have recognized it and then take control of it. Then ask God to help you knowing that He can and He will.

"You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." (2 Cor. 9-11 NIV)

It will result in thanksgiving to God!

God will "enrich you in every way!" Wow, think of that promise! That is huge! But, notice that the reason for enrichment is explained clearly. It is NOT to make you greedy! It is to enable you to be generous on every occasion resulting in thanksgiving to God!

 Develop an attitude of gratitude!

It's about your attitude. And it's about understanding that blessings from God are intended to help you serve the Lord's people which will cause them to then overflow with many expressions of thanks to God! That's what the next verse in the promise above says clearly:

“This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God” (2 Cor. 9:12 NIV). It's a lot to praise God for?

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, (1:4) by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire." (2 Peter 1:3-4 ESV)

 Makes me want to shout!

I can hardly read this about how we have "escaped corruption" and how we have become "partakers of God's divine nature" without running around and shouting Praises to God about it! It is absolutely wonderful! Notice that "partaking of God's divine nature" happens through "the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises!"

 Obtained through knowledge!

Most Christians miss out on these wonderful benefits out of ignorance of them. Notice that the promise says these things are obtained "through knowledge". But many don't know the promises of God listed in the Bible so they cannot apply them to their lives!

 A sad story

I heard a true story about a man who had died under a bridge where he had been living for a long time. He had very little food or clothing. But, when they took his fingerprints to find out who the dead man was they discovered that he was actually a very wealthy man, but he didn't know it! He had inherited millions of dollars but no one could locate him to inform him. It's a sad story but you can say the same thing about Christians who don't bother to learn about the more than 8,000 promises from the Word of God that they have inherited from Jesus! Remember 2 Cor. 1:20, that says "all the promises of God are yes, through Jesus." But, sadly, that can only be true for the ones that have been searched out and put to use!

"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." (Luke 6:45 KJV)

 "Auto Responder" Mechanism

I spend a lot of time finding and applying God's promises to my life! Because of this habit, the promises are always on my mind and often just roll off my tongue instantly and without thinking while I'm in a conversation with just about anyone. This 'auto responder mechanism' happens because "out of the abundance of a man's heart, so he speaks".

 It happens for everyone

This auto-process actually happens for everyone, not just for me! But the subject matter varies. My sports minded friends can roll off amazing sports facts and statistics instantly because that is what they love, think about, concentrate on, are passionate about, and have filled their minds with, and so it just instantly comes out of their mouths effortlessly. I have some friends who are always "talking politics" and other friends with other interests they care a lot about, and so that's what they talk constantly about. Whatever is foremost on their minds gets talked about with enthusiasm and often passionately. Some of these friends are amazed that I can quote so much scripture without looking at the Bible.

How I Do It

They sometimes ask me how I am able to do it. Truthfully, I do not work at memorizing Bible verses, I just spend a lot of time reading the Bible, looking up things and thinking about what I have read. And, because that is what I am focused on, it comes out easily in conversation. Truthfully, I am amazed at others who can remember so much sports stuff. But again, it's a matter of focus. If you want to have the powerful Word of God at work in your life and have it pour out your mouth easily, you have to make the Word of God your "treasure". Incidentally, a few years ago I had a booth at a business trade show and spent several days talking business to many prospects who stopped by to talk about my products. When the show ended, and I was packing up, a man from the booth next to mine came over to speak with me. He reached out to shake my hand and got tears in his eyes as he spoke to me. He said, "Mike, it was a pleasure being next to you and it was such a blessing and inspiration to me. I am a brand new Christian and I just marveled over and over how easily you quoted scripture to people and shared your faith so easily with people!" I thanked him for his kind words, but truthfully, I couldn't remember having spoken to a single person at that trade show about God! But, that's what happens when the Word of God becomes a part of your normal speech. It just happens without you really noticing. Make God's Word your focus and eventually you will "have the mind of Christ" and His Word will come out of your mouth from "the abundance of your heart!"

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." (1 Cor. 10:3-5 KJV)

There is so much "meat" to meditate about; to claim for yourself, and to praise God for, in the above scripture! It is absolutely powerful! As usual, it helps to look at each part of any passage of scripture, dissecting it, so to speak, to find out what is really being said.

Breaking it down and looking at it piece by piece closely (My comments in parentheses) ...

 "For though we walk in the flesh, (we do live in a human body, it's a fact) we do not war after the flesh: (our battle is not fought physically using our fleshly body). For the weapons of our warfare (yes, it's an actual war but we DO have weapons available to fight and win it!) are not carnal (carnal means "of the flesh" and of the "human senses" - of touch, taste, sight, hear and smell) but mighty through God (how mighty is this?!! Why would we ever give into worry?!) to the pulling down of strong holds; (for pulling down those gripping, insidious, sins/problems/any disease orsickness/the lack of any kind of need being met - the list goes on and on of serious things that have held onto you so strongly). Casting down (exactly what it says!) imaginations, (most of the fearful things attack your mind and make you "imagine" worse case scenarios) and every high thing that exalteth itself (anything that claims to be higher and more powerful than God! Which, of course, is a lie from the pit of hell!) against the knowledge of God, (notice that the attack is against "the knowledge" of God, what you know about Him) and bringing into captivity (captures it) every (every means, well, it means"every"!) thought (what you think) to the obedience of Christ."

Therefore...

Know this, that your primary battle is fought and won within your mind! That's because "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he." (Prov 23:7 NKJV). You win every battle with the Word of God! In fact, it's already won by what Jesus did on the cross for you. You have a multitude of God's promises to cover every single need. And they are all "Yes" and promised by Jesus (2 Cor. 1:20). But, the devil tells you they won't work for you! So you doubt the Word of God! And that makes faith not work! But understand this, the devil cannot do anything to you without your cooperation! Remember this huge promise, "Whom the Son sets free is free indeed!" (John 8:36). And, this one, too, "I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me." (Phil. 4:13 NKJV).