Daily Devotional For Sunday, April 19, 2026
Good morning Southside! Today, our devotional comes from Proverbs 15:13:
“A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken” (NASB).
Emotions are wonderful and powerful. They can lift us up or they can make us feel in the pits. These proverbs remind us of this. This tells us that the mood of the heart can be seen in one’s face. If we are observant, we can detect this in others. We might say, “Why so sad?” or “What’s up with you?” “Why are you so cheerful?” And in our American culture, we are pressured to put on a happy face no matter what our heart is feeling. There is an old ode that goes like this:
“Pick out a pleasant outlook,
Stick out that noble chin,
Wipe off that ‘full of doubt’ look,
Slap on a happy grin” (Source: Gary Brady, Heavenly Wisdom: Proverbs Simply Explained, (p. 426).
Unfortunately, many Christians attempt to fake their way through being at church or around other Christians for fear they will not seem spiritually mature. Our Lord was not insecure. He showed His emotions: anger, sadness and joy. It is the “joyful heart” that makes for a "cheerful face, not the other way around. How disappointing it is when a preacher preaches a joyful sermon as if he had died or or congregation to sing joyful hymns or songs as if they had died. Temperaments determine a lot and as Christians, we have a lot, and I mean a lot, to be joyful about today.
When our hearts are sad, our spirit is broken. When we lose a loved one, when we lose our job, when we lose something sentimental to us, it is normal and natural to be sad. If it is a loved one who died without Christ, then we should be crushed in our spirit. Yet, joy in a heart when tragedy comes or something terrible unexpected happens, we can still experience the “joy of our salvation” (Ps. 95:1). The “joy of the Lord” can still be our strength (Neh. 8:10).
Joy heals diseases. Joy in spite of one’s circumstances makes the challenging endurable. I think of Paul and Silas, who after being beaten and thrown into prison, they began to sing (Acts 16:25). How could they do this? We are commanded in Scripture to let hardships be opportunities of great joy, not great jeering (James 1:2-4). An eternal joyful hope can do more to restore wasted strength than anything else.
If more Christians lived out real internal joy rather than jeering, complaining, whining, and judging, maybe more of those who are lost would believe that the Gospel and Jesus are about joy. In the movie, Remember the Titans, Julius Campbell says to Gerry Bertier, “Attitude reflects leadership.” Christians are to be leaders and our attitudes reflect the king of leaders we are.
Reflection Assignment: Would the Lord say you are a joyful person or a jeering person? When things go south in your life, is the “joy of the Lord” still your strength? Do you exude a positive attitude or a negative one? When bad things happen, do you have Job’s attitude, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21b)? Do you lead in joy or in jeering around people?
Scripture To Meditate On: Proverbs 17:22, “A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, please forgive me when I jeer. I want to cheer. I want to lead with joy, not with sour grapes. Lord, I have every reason to be joyful. I am saved. I have the Holy Spirit. I have Your Word. I have You. Please use me to bring joy to others, especially the lost. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly