The Secret to a Cheerful Heart

The Secret to a Cheerful Heart

No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People who pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:43-47

"Jesus reminds us that our speech and actions reveal the true underlying beliefs, attitudes and motivations. The good impressions we try to make cannot last if our hearts are deceptive. What is in your heart will come out in your speech and behavior.

The secret to a cheerful heart is filling our minds with thoughts that are TRUE, PURE, and LOVELY, with thoughts that dwell on the good things in life (Philippians 4:8)

Proverbs 15:15 says that "All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast."

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So look at your attitudes and then examine what you allow to enter your mind and what you choose to dwell on. For our attitudes color our whole personality. What we feed our mind is just as important as what we feed our body. The kinds of books we read, the people we talk with, the music we listen, and the films we watch are all part of our mental diet. So be discerning because what you feed your mind influences your total health and well-being.

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Life Application Bible Study Notes, NIV Version, Zondervan Press

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WORDS TO WARM THE HEART

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"When life gives you lemons make lemonade!"

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Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind,

and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity."

-Joseph Addison

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"Try to be cheerful.

When we appear cheerful it is because

we are experiencing a kind of daylight.

If we program our minds with optimistic,

hopeful thoughts, we will be happier, moment by moment.

Train your mind to be in a good mood."

-Alexandra Stoddard

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"Are any among you suffering?

They should pray.

Are any cheerful?

They should sing song of praise."

James 5:13 NRSV

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"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom;

teaching and admonishing one another in psalms,

and hymns and spiritual songs, singing

with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Colossians 3:16 KJV

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"Love must be sincere."

Romans 12:9 NIV