Tuesday

He Who Laughs, Lasts

As I've mentioned in these devotionals, many people think the Bible is only filled with commands labeled "Thou shalt not" They assume the Bible is all about restrictions and making you lead a boring life.

But this should put a smile on your face: Having fun is good for your health.

God tells us in his Word that life is meant to be enjoyed, not just endured. "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." (Proverbs 17:22 NIV)

I like to put it this way, "He who laughs, lasts." Learn to laugh at yourself, put some play in every day, relax, chill out, have some fun.

1 Peter 4:7-11 (NIV)
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

"Love covers over a multitude of sins.": The more I think about this part of the verse, the more I see how true and powerful its meaning is. Showing love can cover an immense amount of sin, and can depreciate its effects. Sin has the lethal potential to be very destructive towards people (if we let it), and because we see sin so within our lives, it may feel like sin has total control and authority over us. However, we have to remember that love, is so much stronger, and it's no doubt that God has proven that to us through His Great Love. It's the very thing that saved us from our once inevitable eternal death. If we stop using sin to remove/defeat another sin, and instead use love, I think overall, sin's influence over people will greatly diminish. Sin is not powerful, love is.

Verse 9: We should find an opportunity to serve others, even though we may not exactly find it enjoyable. We may not gain much from it, but it's really not about personal gain. It's to help others with a genuinely caring heart. In helping others, we're helping take care of those who God calls His own. Yes, we should look out for ourselves, but we shouldn't be so self-centered. It's sometimes better to look towards the needs of others, and be that support that they may need.

Verse 10-11: These verses in particular reminded me that technically, EVERYTHING we do should be for God. Everything from praising God with the utilization of our gifts, or doing homework, or showing manners, or making our beds, or really anything, we do for God. In this sense, we should bring glory to God through everything we do, we should do it for Him and not for us. Less of us, more of Him. Attending church is ultimately for God, not for us, same with being on the praise team. We shouldn't get so caught up in ourselves that we forget we're serving a purpose greater than ourselves, and greater than the world. We're serving God, and so, with everything we do, we should work to glorify Him.

People get confused of what God wants. They assume that God wants us to have a boring life. But no, in fact, it is the opposite. As much as he wants you to be wise like him, he wants you to have fun. He even states that "a cheerful heart is a good medicine." This is obviously showing that if we have a fun life, we can last long. God doesn't want us to have a boring life, as he says "a crushed spirit dries up the bones." So, as we continue to follow the rules of the Bible, we should be having fun as well.

Yes I believe having fun is good for your health and life should be enjoyed, but pursuing fun or pleasure excessively or even over God can make it a negative thing. If we make fun our primary goal, then it becomes something in the way of our relationship with God, making it an idol. This idea reminds me of Ecclesiastes 3:1 "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens". Basically there is a time to work, there is a time to have fun and relax, and at all times we should doing it for God. As an example in 7th grade I prioritized fun over schoolwork to a harmful extent, causing my grades to drop. On the other hand in 10th grade I took really hard classes which didn't really allow me to have time to relax. Fun is good for our health and brings joy into our lives, but only pursuing it makes it harmful.

God provided us with more than enough. And it was meant for us to enjoy.
Being a christian does have some guidelines to follow but with free-will. Do not be too harsh on yourself, God wants the best for you and to be happy with it.
On the other hand, we are given free-will and should be mindful of what is right and wrong.
Do what's right and do it with a happy and willing heart. If you are not enjoying what you are doing right now, rethink about what you are doing it for and why you are doing it.
Everything we do can be turned into worship. And yes, even school and work. That's what it should be like in our lives.

I keep on forgetting that there's no school this Friday.....Whoot, whoot!
~Audrey~

i like this devo   all it really says is to have fun... not much to add to that  its easy to become really stressed out and unhappy with life because of work load and responsibilities and blah blah, but we need to remember that we should sometimes just relax and have fun. this doesnt really apply to me because my problem is more reminding myself to work instead of just relaxing and being lazy all the time, but regardless its an important message to know.

1 Thessalonians 1:2

8: We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of god but our lives as well.
11-12: For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
17: But, brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you.
19-20: For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.

As leaders of our church, we have to remember that relationships are essential. Having a relationship with one another really reflects God's love for us, rather than just coming to church and leaving without any connections made with one another. Johaan always reminds our class that our time together within bible study is really precious, bonding with one another as we come together in the name of God. If not, it's just a waste of time, not just for us, but to those around us. As Paul delivered the news to the Thessalonians, he didn't just talk to them about God and leave abruptly, but had a relationship with them. He raised them up to God, encouraging and comforting them as they must've encountered doubt and uncertainty. It's important to see what kind of role model Paul was, doing his very best to plant churches the way God had wanted. Within verse 17, he also points out that even though he wasn't physically with them, he was with them, in spirit. Furthermore, Paul really emphasizes the difference between being with someone in spirit rather than in person. Lastly, he really lets the Thessalonians know that he holds them very close to his heart. Personally, I felt that Paul did his work with many churches because of the hope that he saw in each and everyone of them. He's not just faithful to God, he's also faithful to those that are misguided. He really does see the silver lining within churches, making him a fantastic missionary.

I think the biggest thing we should always remind ourselves when having fun or doing anything fun for that matter is moderation. Of course it isn't good to just always be studying hard and practicing piano or violin every day leaving no time for any down time with yourself and/or others, but you should know when to relax and when to work. Time management is key, and may be hard for some people to figure out, but we should have a good idea of how our every day lives work in order to even set time for ourselves out of our day to relax.
I am a victim of spending more time slacking off and loafting around when I should be doing work, and therefore my marks are not as high as I could possibly have them. It is a very bad habit, and I should really try and focus more on getting all of my work done as soon as I get home instead of staying up late to do everything last minute. Overall, I think having fun is important as it does teach us not to always be like robotic machines and have no time for fun, but to have fun in moderation. And above all else, of course everything we may do should ultimately be to try and please and glorify God.
                      

The "have fun and relax" part of this devo applies really well to me right now.
Even though this week is supposed ot be a shortened school week, I think that it's actually the busiest school week I've had in a very long time, and I haven't had a chance to properly relax. Or sleep.

But in light of spirituality, I think that this devotion connects with what Pastor Sam said on Sunday, that God didn't give us commandments to restrict us, but He gave them to us because He loves us. That the Bible isn't a rulebook, but a love story.

The proper balance is everything really. Have fun, relax, celebrate, and laugh, while working your hardest for God. Enjoy what God has given you, and then use it to glorify Him.

There are so many ways we can get stressed out in our lives whether it be spiritually or just your just dumped on with a ton of work. Whatever it may be, you should always have a way to release your stress so that you wont explode one day with all the stress. Its important to have fun but excessive fun can be bad because it will affect your lifestyle but just enough fun to keep your stress level down and just get away from whatevers bothering you is great!
So you guys should have some sort of stress relieving mechanism

Sorry this is late;

so my dad always tells me to "don't worry; be happy" & really, it plays a huge part of my life.

Being happy with whatever you are doing, will always result in good things. So far, pretty much everything in my life, if I've been happy & thankful all the time, I would definitely be living a more fulfilling life in a sense. Worshiping with God is also the same - we shouldn't feel forced to do anything for whatever reasons - we should always worship God and rejoice! And even when sometimes, life seems tough, we have to trust in God and know that good will come later on. Also, being happy reduces stress, and stress is never good - related to 99% of all illnesses and I feel that if we have the option to be happy, why shouldn't we choose it? With happiness we can have a different perspective/approach towards things which could lead to many positive things. Always being happy will also affect those around you, and radiate positive energy - absolutely nothing wrong with that

I think this message is for us, the Praise Team.
We've always discussed the things we shouldn't do as leaders in the PT, such as to not goof around, etc., but this devotional is telling us to
also have fun in everything we do. But of course, it doesn't mean to go wild and crazy. I personally think the PT has gotten closer not only through worshipping together, but having fun in fundays, etc.
The bible repeatedly tells us to fear God, but I think we as Christians, often take "fear" literally. God doesn't want that; he's asking for our devotion, loyalty, faith and love, not to cower in fear.
The fear topic was kind of irrelevant but one thing led to another. I think God's happy if we are happy in worship and with other fellow daughters and sons of God, having fun.

15 So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people to do in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them
Ecclesiastes 8:15