There are many important disciplines to develop in life. It is the wise person who establishes regular non-negotiable "customs" like Daniel (see Daniel 6:10). The quality of our life is impacted greatly by the development of consistency in areas such as time with G*d. Bible reading, fellowship, positive declaration, thankfulness, etc. If we proactively put these in our schedule, we will set ourselves up for success in our Christian life.
One non-negotiable custom that is often overlooked is joy and laughter. "A merry heart is good like a medicine" (Proverbs 17:22). We've already acknowledged that "Dr. G*d" has give us a wonderful prescription for health and longevity. Now it is up to us to find a way to consistently make this happen in our lives (and not just wait for special moments to develop on their own).
Laughter clubs are appearing all over the world. (Do an Internet search on this and you will be amazed at what you find.) There are many people who participate in a laughter group one or more times a week. Even though we many not be able to join such a group, there are many ways we can increase joy and laughter. Here are some suggestions:
- Watch humorous, but clean, video presentation. (If you have children you could sit down and watch one of their shows, if you like stand up comedy try: http://www.bananascomedy.com/ , if you are married or engaged try: http://www.laughyourway.com/ )**
- Become a student of animals. They are funny. (America's Funniest Home videos abcfamily)
- Get CD's of people laughing uncontrollably (Anyone who has conference/session cd's of people being filled with the "new wine" of the Holy Spirit and laughing that could lend it to you is pretty funny & contagious.)**
- Create a regular joy prayer meeting where you laugh at the lies of the devil (Psalm 2:1-4) (We did this at Seymour Harvest, wow it was so freeing and we were all filled with joy.)**
- Find Christian friends to have special joy times of stirring up joy, child likeness and hilarity. (Ex. Begin praying the scriptures that speak of joy. Lay hands on one another and ask the L*rd to pour out joy and manifest His joy in them. Watch the awesomeness of G*d's joy fill them up!)**
- Look in the mirror and tell yourself this: Don't take yourself so seriously, then laugh. (Even David Hogan is a pretty joyful/jolly fellow: http://www.freedom-ministries.us/ & he's pretty serious.)**
- Give expression to your "inner laugh." Don't just laugh on the inside. (My inner laugh is hilarious! The Holy Spirit really brought that out of me a few years ago. When you hear it, it becomes contagious to laugh...LOL)**
Laughter is like a muscle. If we have not laughed much in recent times, it may take a while to get strong in this area. Don't be discouraged. Just set your compass toward increased chuckling.
(Last night I did something dumb. I snuck up on one of the cats in the house and when I touched him quickly he scatted and in the process his hind claws caught my big toe. It was a mess but the whole time I was laughing. Even though it hurt I still laughed because I knew what I did was a dumb mistake and at the same time his reaction was hilarious.)**
Declaration: I have the discipline of joy and laughter. It is one of my non-negotiable customs and disciplines.
**Quotes in lavender are from Leslie.
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