Making Your Heart Glad

A good word makes a glad heart. Are you speaking good words to yourself in how you think? Are you speaking good words to others in what you say? You can use good words today by:

• Being thankful for who you are

• Being grateful for what you have

• Saying "thank you" to those people who help or encourage you

• Helping others to lift their burdens, whether through sharing a compliment, encouragement, or wisdom

I heard from a young woman recently who told me that someone had spoken some devastating words to her as a child and she believed them. As an adult, she now has a poor self image and is afraid to trust people. It is sad, but it happens to so many people. Someone plants a negativity seed in your mind - but then you water it, fertilize it, and build fences around it by agreeing with what they said and by meditating on that word. Soon, it brings forth a harvest of negative results in your life. As I considered the young woman's situation, I thought about a bible story I read last week that illustrates an important principle behind this. In the story from 2 Samuel 18:6-8, King David's servants were in a battle with the supporters of David's son Absalom, the people of Israel. Absalom was trying to take over David's throne and had forced David to go on the run. Here is what the scripture said about the battle:

"So the people went out into the field of battle against Israel. And the battle was in the woods of Ephraim. The people of Israel were overthrown there before the servants of David, and a great slaughter of twenty thousand took place there that day. For the battle there was scattered over the face of the whole countryside,and the woods devoured more people that day than the sword devoured."

What caught my attention was the last verse about how the woods devoured more people than the sword devoured. In my bible, it gave a little commentary about how those woods were filled with dense brush, vines, and hidden pits in the ground. David's men survived the woods of Ephraim because they were familiar with the terrain. But the Israelites weren't, became trapped by them, and died there. The spirit revealed to me that more Christians are devoured by the woods of Ephraim than the sword. That is, they fail to take their thoughts captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ, so they end up being defeated by dense woods of fear, depression, anger, and doubting (and the bad decisions that go with it), than by any sword of the enemy or the world. I've got a challenge for you and it's one that I am taking myself. For the next 30 days, clear out some of those dense woods in your mind by making your heart glad with good words, inside and out. Plant good words in your heart and mind through study of God's word. I declare that as you do so, God will bless you with an abundant harvest of strength, peace, and joy!