[Billie]

[Gabz]

This is going to be FUN..................as soon as I get some coffee into me.........

[The Mayor]

February 22, 2005

A Reason For Optimism

Read:
John 16:16-33

A merry heart does good, like medicine. -Proverbs 17:22

Bible In One Year: Numbers 18-20

The Bible isn't a psychology textbook, but it gives us the wisest counsel for experiencing happiness here and now. Proverbs 17:22, for example, assures us that "a merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones."

That simple statement was recently corroborated by the extensive research of Dr. Daniel Mark, a heart specialist at Duke University. The New York Times article that reported his findings carried this headline: "Optimism Can Mean Life for Heart Patients and Pessimism Death." The article begins with these words: "A healthy outlook helps heal the heart."

But Dr. Nancy Frasure-Smith, a heart specialist who has studied the effect of depression, anxiety, and anger, admitted, "We don't know how to change negative emotions."

Faith in God, however, can produce that change. People who look beyond their present difficulty and put their trust in God's goodness cannot help but be joyful.

It's significant that our Savior said on several occasions, "Be of good cheer" (Matthew 9:2,22; 14:27; Acts 23:11). Knowing that life is filled with many crises, He encourages us with this word of reassurance: "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). -Vernon Grounds

All your anxiety, all your care
Bring to the mercy seat, leave it there;
Never a burden He cannot bear,
Never a friend like Jesus. -Joy

No matter what happens, you can find joy in the Lord.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
Do I Have The Right Kind Of Faith?
Knowing God Through Proverbs

[tuliptree76]

Good morning, Billie. It looks like I don't have many fonts installed on my computer. LOL!

[Aquamarine]

Just trying out the new Quill font that I downloaded.

[Molly Pitcher]

Wow!!! Billie thank you, and a Terrific Tuesday "good morning" to everyone!

[ST.LOUIE1]

COOOOOL thread!! Colorful too!

I'll let the girls do the font tricks since I don't have many of the ones you've used. : )

Morning, gorgeous BillieBlue! : )

[luvie]

Great! This is something I have wanted to learn. But I will have to bookmark it for later, because this is a work day and I haven't enough sittin' time to read it carefully and try it out. Thanks for your expertise on this good stuff. Hope I can pick it up!

[dansangel]

Hi ((((((Billie)))))))

I am in desperate need of new fonts because I can't see the difference in many of the fonts mentioned.

I'm also in desperate need of space on this old PC since it only stores 4 gigabytes. I am going to bookmark this thread and play around with the fonts on my laptop which has tons more space on it.

Thank you for this great lesson in fonts/web graphics. Not only informative, but *beautiful* as well.

[Diver Dave]

I think I've gone deaf and dumb in both eyes - I can't see my message.

:)