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Source: Rolf Bruderer/Fuse / Getty

There is something miraculously healing about smiling … and giggling … and a contented chuckle or two. Not only does a merry heart have the capacity to heal you but it is also contagious. The joy that you express often is “caught” in the very best sense by others.

This word “joyful” in the ancient Hebrew is actually translated as “expressing joy, or rejoicing”. You must express the joy for it to heal you! You must rejoice out loud for the miracle to begin!

When I was a melancholy teen-ager, my father used to kindly say to me, “Smile,

Carol! Your face won’t break!”

That was good advice to a morose adolescent and it is GREAT advice to all of us who deal with emotional grayness. Find something to smile about and find someone to smile at – you will find that it is the beginning of your own healing.

It may take some practice … but eventually it will work. You can try to argue with the Bible and minimize its power – men and women from every generation have tried to make the exact same argument. It didn’t work for them and it won’t work for you!

So … take some advice from an old pro and put on a happy face!

Practical Application: 

1- Increase your Thanksgiving list by adding three more things for which you are grateful! #beatdepression!

2- Every time you make eye contact with someone today – smile. Look up some humorous stories or jokes on the internet and share them. Recall a happy childhood memory and share it with a friend or a family member. Today, your assignment is to “be happy out loud!”

Declaration: 

I declare that I will express joy regardless of my circumstances. I will rejoice in the Lord today because He has made this day for me!

Prayer: 

“Father God, I pray that I will be an encouragement to everyone that I meet. Give me divine appointments with people who need a cheerful countenance or a friendly face. I am Yours and I pray that You would use me. Amen.”

Scripture:  Proverb 17
1Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.sacrifices: or, good cheer
2A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.
3The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts.
4A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.
5Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.unpunished: Heb. held innocent
6Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.
7Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince.Excellent…: Heb. A lip of excellencylying…: Heb. a lip of lying
8A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth.a precious…: Heb. a stone of grace
9He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.seeketh: or, procureth
10A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.entereth…: or, aweth more a wise man, than to strike a fool an hundred times
11An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.
12Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.
13Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.
14The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.
15He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.
16Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?
17A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
18A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend.understanding: Heb. heart
19He loveth transgression that loveth strife: and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.
20He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief.He that hath a froward…: Heb. The froward of heart
21He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy.
22A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.like: or, to
23A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.
24Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.
25A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him.
26Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.
27He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.an…: or, a cool
28Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

Inspirational Lifestyles: 21 Days To Beat Depression…There Is Healing In Laughing (Day 4)  was originally published on praisedc.com