Daily Devotional
               Betty Miller shares her daily devotionals which are based on the book of Proverbs in the Bible.   

  The Wisdom of God

Verses for the Day:

Proverbs 17:22(KJV): "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones."

Proverbs 17:22(Amp): "A happy heart is a good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries the bones."

Thoughts for the Day:

This verse in Proverbs reveals to us that our attitude will affect the physical state of our body.  If a person maintains a joyful spirit, it is like taking a dose of medicine that brings healing to the body. Being happy and having a positive outlook actually may help people with heart disease avoid heart attacks and other health problems, according to a recent Washington University study. Physicians have also discovered that a hearty laugh causes a small, but fleeting decrease in blood pressure. Some doctors are even recommending that patients with depression and other serious illnesses add laughter to their list of medicines.  They tell their patients to get a funny movie and watch it, as laughter releases endorphins in the brain. Endorphins have a pain-relieving and soothing effect to the body.  Scientists are just confirming what the Bible had already recorded as a truth about healing.

People who are negative and pessimistic succumb to sickness much more readily than those who have a positive attitude.  As Christians, we are also given another ingredient in our medicine cabinet --- that is the ingredient of faith.  When we believe the Lord for healing and stand in faith, the Lord will bring the answer to our prayers. On the other hand, if we allow the devil to break our spirit down, he not only will rob us our faith, but a broken spirit will dry up the bones.  Our bones contain bone marrow which is vital for a healthy body.  The red marrow of the bones consists largely of blood cells in all stages of development.  These are produced and released into the bloodstream every second. The red blood corpuscles contain the iron compound (hemoglobin) that gives us strength and energy; while the white blood cells (leukocytes) protect the body against infection; and the blood platelets are essential for blood clot formation when needed. If we succumb to the devil's lies and he robs us of our joy it will cause the drying of our bones.  This, then, would affect all areas of our body.

We need to understand first that man is a spirit, with a soul, that lives in a body. The physical body is only the house or temple that holds the real man, which is the spirit man. The Greek word for spirit is pneuma or "breath.'' The spirit man is unseen with the natural eye, but is the hidden or inward man. This is the part of man that is referred to in Scripture as the heart of man. It is the sphere of divine influence. "But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price'' (I Peter 3:4). The spirit man, being the real man, will live eternally. He possesses a soul and a body, but in essence the spirit will rule over the other two.

Physical sickness causes us not to be able to worship God as we would like to do. Soulish sickness (of the mind, the emotions and the will) also affects our worship and love for the Lord, and many times it produces depression. Spiritual sickness (broken fellowship with God) causes the soul to be without joy and peace. We are a triune being designed to function as a unit. The way God designed man to operate at his fullest is to have the regenerated spirit in control of the soul (mind, emotions and will), with the body in subjection to them both. If this order is violated, man invariably functions abnormally and beneath his God-given potential. To realign our nature, we must begin with the spirit or the heart of man. This must first be in order before the rest of a man's life can be complete. The first step is to be "born again'' by receiving the Spirit of Life. Then we must ask for heart cleansing. This must continue until truly we can say that we love the Lord with all of our heart, and there is not one thing we would desire above Him. This is the first and great commandment, that we love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind. "Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment'' (Matthew 22:36-38). The Lord knew that sin is in the heart of man, and until it is cleansed, man will continue to fail God.

When Jesus shed His blood on the cross for our salvation from sin, He also bore the stripes on His body for our healing from sickness. Jesus was beaten by Roman lashes that literally tore pieces of flesh from His back. They were the stripes by which Isaiah and Peter say we were healed. "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed'' (1 Peter 2:24). We can't serve the Lord the way He wants us to if we are sick in our bodies. He wants us whole: spirit, soul, and body. One path to this wholeness is to keep a joyful or merry heart, for truly it is like a good dose of medicine that brings healing.

Prayer for the Day:

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for not only saving my soul, but for the promise of healing also.  I do appreciate the many times over the years that You have healed me personally.  I also thank you for the gift of healing as I have prayed and You have touched others with Your healing virtue.   You truly are the Great Physician. I do appreciate that about You.  Lord, I do want to always remain in a joyful attitude, no matter what might come my way.  Fill me with Your love, joy and peace daily, so that I might be an example of Your goodness. I ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.