Made You Laugh!
Matthew Chapter 15
Scripture= Matthew 15:10-11
Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.' "
Observations and Applications=
When you were a kid did you ever play a game where the object of the game was trying to make someone laugh and then trying not to laugh yourself? This was such a good game that they made a television game show with the same premise. The contestants would try as hard as they could not to laugh while comedians were cracking jokes and doing comedy routines. If you laughed you lost and were out. If you kept a straight face and didn’t snicker you would go on to the next round.
Could you do it, could you make it to the next round? I had a pastor of mine that used to do this to me as a little kid. He would try to make me laugh and I would try as hard as I could to keep a straight face. I always broke and smiled or laughed. When I would lose it he would say to me, “you have too much happiness in you to stay sad.” He was right. I really didn’t know what sadness was all about. It wasn’t that my life was perfect; I had experienced a lot of illness earlier in my life with doctors, shots, lots of test’s and even hospital visits. But none of that trauma outweighed the love of my family, extended family and the other joys of my childhood. I was now healthy and filled with life and I couldn’t stay sad. My heart was filled with happiness and joy would bubble out.
Our lives are a lot like that game, no matter how hard we try to hide it or fight it; sooner or later the circumstances of our lives will bring out the true nature of the contents of our hearts. It doesn’t matter who you are, the truth is, you won’t be able to hold it in and sooner or later your heart wins and out comes your true self.
So what is in your heart? Would you be able to stay sad and not laugh? Maybe I should ask, “Can you stay angry with someone and not let it go?” Do you think that people purposely are against you? Do you feel that your life will never be what it should be? Whatever it is that is in your heart, understand that it is good if you can’t hide these things. In fact they ought to be allowed to be expressed; especially around the brothers and sisters of your church family. It is not that it is okay to just stay stuck in your stuff but it is okay to not hide it. Jesus said the sick need to find a place where they can be healed and no one can get any help whatsoever without first knowing that it is okay to admit it when they are sick. If we can find a loving body of believers that will love us and accept us and we will allow God to heal our hearts we will never be able to win 'the make you laugh game' and that would be all right with me.
Prayer= Thank you Lord for your GRACE and your MERCY and your UNCONDITIONAL LOVE and thank you for my brothers and sisters in Christ who love me and help me examine my heart.
Scripture= Matthew 15:10-11
Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.' "
Observations and Applications=
When you were a kid did you ever play a game where the object of the game was trying to make someone laugh and then trying not to laugh yourself? This was such a good game that they made a television game show with the same premise. The contestants would try as hard as they could not to laugh while comedians were cracking jokes and doing comedy routines. If you laughed you lost and were out. If you kept a straight face and didn’t snicker you would go on to the next round.
Could you do it, could you make it to the next round? I had a pastor of mine that used to do this to me as a little kid. He would try to make me laugh and I would try as hard as I could to keep a straight face. I always broke and smiled or laughed. When I would lose it he would say to me, “you have too much happiness in you to stay sad.” He was right. I really didn’t know what sadness was all about. It wasn’t that my life was perfect; I had experienced a lot of illness earlier in my life with doctors, shots, lots of test’s and even hospital visits. But none of that trauma outweighed the love of my family, extended family and the other joys of my childhood. I was now healthy and filled with life and I couldn’t stay sad. My heart was filled with happiness and joy would bubble out.
Our lives are a lot like that game, no matter how hard we try to hide it or fight it; sooner or later the circumstances of our lives will bring out the true nature of the contents of our hearts. It doesn’t matter who you are, the truth is, you won’t be able to hold it in and sooner or later your heart wins and out comes your true self.
So what is in your heart? Would you be able to stay sad and not laugh? Maybe I should ask, “Can you stay angry with someone and not let it go?” Do you think that people purposely are against you? Do you feel that your life will never be what it should be? Whatever it is that is in your heart, understand that it is good if you can’t hide these things. In fact they ought to be allowed to be expressed; especially around the brothers and sisters of your church family. It is not that it is okay to just stay stuck in your stuff but it is okay to not hide it. Jesus said the sick need to find a place where they can be healed and no one can get any help whatsoever without first knowing that it is okay to admit it when they are sick. If we can find a loving body of believers that will love us and accept us and we will allow God to heal our hearts we will never be able to win 'the make you laugh game' and that would be all right with me.
Prayer= Thank you Lord for your GRACE and your MERCY and your UNCONDITIONAL LOVE and thank you for my brothers and sisters in Christ who love me and help me examine my heart.
