How’s your heart doing?

from you, but it’s possible that your heart is preventing you from enjoying the abundant life that Jesus came to give you (John 10:10).
 

“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”
3 John 2 KJV

We all want to prosper and be in health, and the good news is that God wants it for us, too. But it starts in the soul. Your soul is your mind, will and intellect and it includes your heart. A happy heart is a key ingredient for true prosperity. True prosperity starts in the heart. You can have an abundance of wealth and not have a happy heart, but that’s not true prosperity. Material prosperity without heart prosperity is not true prosperity. You may have good health at the moment, and not have a happy heart, but you won’t be healthy for long. If you don’t manage stress correctly, you will get sick. When you have heart prosperity it will cause health and material prosperity to flow in your life. This scripture says “I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.” That phrase, “even as” means that in the proportion to the degree that your soul prospers, so will material and health prosperity flow in your life. It starts in your heart.

“Keep (guard) thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
Proverbs 4:23 KJV (brackets mine)

Your heart is the garden of your life. What you focus on and think about are seeds that you plant in your garden. These seeds will grow and produce fruit. Negative seeds produce negative fruit. You are the gatekeeper of your heart and need to keep strict surveillance over what is allowed in, and what you keep out! What’s going on in your heart is more important than you may realize. It’s not about what head knowledge you have, or what you say you believe, but what is going on in your heart of hearts. We’re going to look at this over the next few days.

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

A happy heart is like medicine. “Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.” (helpguide.org)

“We have been made right with God because of our faith. So we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through our faith, Christ has brought us into that blessing of God’s grace that we now enjoy. And we are very happy because of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory.”
Romans 5:1-2 ERV

When we’re focused on the hope we have in Christ it makes us “very happy”! We always have a reason to be full of joy and happy. But we won’t experience this joy by accident. You have to choose to focus on the hope (especially in difficult times) and choose to rejoice in the Lord (Philippians 4:4). When we focus on the joy of our salvation, it will cause us to have a merry heart, and that is like medicine. If you’re in a situation which seems hopeless and it’s making you sad and depressed, then I encourage you to get into the Word and focus on the joy of your salvation (what you have in Christ). And if you are struggling to do that, then go watch something funny, and laugh! As you laugh, you will relax and it will help you to get into the Word easier.