Can we have a moment of laughter….
Filed in General |The Bible teaches that laughter is good for the soul. It is also healthy for your faith walk. People who 
never laugh live sad lives. So it seems to me.
Jesus said that His sheep could hear His voice. Has the Lord ever put laughter into your walk of faith. Boy, He surely has mine. I laugh all the time. And if I’m not laughing, I’m singing. And if I’m not singing, I’m picking on someone, trying to get them to laugh.
It bothers me to no end to be around people who have a hard time smiling.
Ok, so I am goofy at times. Jest can’t help it. 
What does the Bible say about laughter…
Did you know that the word gospel really means ‘good news’ or ‘glad tidings.’ In Luke 2:10, the angel says to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.” (Luke 2:10)
Notice how the good news will bring great joy. Actually this statement can be equally translated, “I evangelize to you a great joy.” (Wycliff)
The implication is, ‘I am bringing a message from heaven that will put laughter in your soul!’
The gospel is designed to put joy and laughter into the believer’s life. It is possible to concentrated so much on the sufferings of the cross that we neglect the victory of the cross. Did not the apostle say that the kingdom of God consists of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Did you know that some people have a hard time seeing Jesus laughing. Not only did Jesus laugh, but he became so filled with joy that He literally twirled around in a Hebrew type step.
Listen:
“At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, ‘I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.” (Luke 10:21)
The ‘rejoiced greatly’ literally means to exult, leap for joy, to show one’s joy by leaping and skipping denoting excessive or ecstatic joy and delight. – The Complete Word Study Dictionary
This is what Robertsons Word Pictures says –
“This holy joy of Jesus was directly due to the Holy Spirit. It is joy in the work of his followers, their victories over Satan, and is akin to the joy felt by Jesus in John 4:32-38 when the vision of the harvest of the world stirred his heart.”
He laughs….
Did you know that the nickname of a believer could well be, ‘he laughs’? You didn’t? I am surprised.
Ok, listen to what happened to Abraham and Sarah. Abraham was one hundred years old when Isaac was born and Sarah was long past the age of child bearing.
What was Sarah’s response to having her baby boy? She said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” (Gen21:6)
Has God ever made laughter for you? I can’t number the times that I’m sure I heard the Holy Spirit laugh inside me. Course, it could have been me laughing in my own heart. Don’t take much.
Now about your nickname, ‘he laughs’. Not convinced yet? Lets move on.
Did you know that the name Isaac literally means ‘he laughs’, and God was the one who gave him his name. The Lord said,
“Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.” (Gen 17:19)
Still not convinced that your nick name is ‘he laughs’?
Well, now I’m gonna have to nail it down. Listen to the great apostle Paul –
“And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.” (Gal 4:28)
Thats it. If we are like Isaac, then our nickname must be ‘he laughs.’
Is it alright to laugh and have fun… (I’m not talking about that ludicrous laughing movement.)
While you are thinking about all this, take time to listen to one of my favorite singers. If Mark Lowry can’t make you laugh, you are in real trouble. After this I’ll tell you a story of the Lord laughing at me. (At least that’s what I think happened.)
You’d had a dollar now, but as it was ….
Oh yes! God laughs. Now I don’t think God actually speaks to me in a Cajun dialect, but I do think that way some times.
Anyway, I had a friend doing a tent meeting down a ways from where I was pastoring. (Long years ago.) Now in my billfold I had me a hundred dollar bill and a one dollar bill. All day long I was thinking, ‘I’ll get down to the store and change that hundred dollar bill into twenties. That way I can give a twenty dollar offering.’
I figured that twenty dollars was a pretty good offering. (Remember this was back in 1975.) Anyway, it kept slipping my mind. So here we are at the tent and I’m squirming, jest a hoping that no offering will be taken up. Not to happen.
Here comes the offering bucket. My wife Betty knows exactly why I was squirming and she is laughing already. The bucket comes by, and I takes out a dollar bill and drops it in. End of story?
Not hardly. My conscience smote me real hard and I called to the bucket man to come back. Out came my hundred dollar bill and into the bucket it went.
On the way home I was musing to myself when this thought just droped out of no where. It set me off to my laughing moment. To this day I believe the Holy Spirit was chuckling with me.
Anyway, what I heard 
was, ‘I you’d a give the hundred dollar bill up front, you’d a had a dollar right now. But like it was, you had to give the hundred and the one.’
I’ve been laughing about that hundred dollar incident ever since. For some reason it was music to my soul. And I learned a great lesson about faith. You can figure that one out.
The devil hates to hear the laughter of faith…
What many don’t realize is that laughter and joy are hallmarks of a person who is truly realizing his life in the world of faith. It absolutely shows in his face. Listen to what the Psalmist said:
“How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance.” (Psalm 89:15)
And again,
“They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces will never be ashamed.” (Psalm 34:5)
Is it alright to laugh at the devil? God does. God laughs at anyone who would make himself His enemy.
The early Christians quoted from a unique Psalm that had to do with the enemies of Christ. The enemy stood against God and His Christ, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!”
What was the Lord’s response? It says, “He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them.” (Psalm 2:3,4)
Did I get the lesson across? While I do love to try and tickle folk to get them to laugh, you can be sure that I’m quite serious when it comes to the laughter of faith.
Try it. Try laughing at your struggle, at the devil, at whatever you may be going through. Ask the Lord to put laughter in your soul.
You see, joy and faith truly do belong to the same camp.
Much love coming your way,
Buddy
