Hi, this is Joel in Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry.

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Thank you so much for tuning in today and again thank you for coming out. I like to start with something funny.

I heard about this man, he was having a terrible time training his dog. One day he came across this charismatic evangelist who promptly told him to leave the dog with him.

He'd have him trained in no time. The next day the owner came back and the evangelist went on to give a demonstration.

He threw a stick and said fetch him. The dog immediately ran, picked it up and brought it back. He said sit and instantly the dog sat in.

The owner was so thrilled. He said that's great let me try. He shouted heal. The dog lifted up one paw, put it on the man's forehead, said I command you sickness to leave.

Hold up your Bible, say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do.

Today I will be taught the word of God. I will only confess my mind is alert my heart is receptive. I will never be the same in Jesus name. God bless you.

I want to talk to you today about the benefits of laughter. Studies tell us that people that laugh on a regular basis are healthier. They live longer. They have better relationships and they make better decisions.

It's all kinds of benefits that come from laughter. But it's easy to get weighed down by the pressures of life. We all have stressed to deal with.

We have bills to pay and children to raise. We got a deadline at the office. If we're not careful we'll let everything become so intense and so pressured that we never laugh.

We never have any fun. We become burdened down by life. I know people that don't have a sense of humor anymore. Over the years they become more and more sour.

Now they're all work and no play. Everything is serious and solemn. But friends our body was never meant to live that way. One of the best stressed relievers God ever created is laughter.

When you're good natured you take time to see the humor in life. You laugh every day. It's just like you're taking medicine.

Laughter reduces blood pressure. It activates the body's natural tranquilizers that help lower stress helps us to sleep better.

Laughter strengthens our immune system. It releases endorphins that make us feel better. Not only that laughter increases our brain function.

When you laugh regularly you're going to make better decisions.

Humor helps to stimulate the brain. Normally we use the left side but when we laugh we use the right side. This study showed people that were having a hard time solving a problem. They'd been dealing with it a long time. They were stuck.

If for some reason they were to laugh it would stimulate the brain and they would be much more likely to solve that problem.

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