As we continue our series on supernatural joy, Carl shares the importance of having the right spirit before God and walking in peace, especially. He also shares the findings of Dr. Don Colbert from Oral Roberts University (ORU) and his study of prolonged anger in his patients. Few realize that anger can take a toll on us, not only psychologically but on our physical bodies, also. The link between cortisol and anger cannot be overlooked. Join Carl now, for the third part of this series and the hormonal impact of joy on our well-being…
Here is a complete transcript of the podcast…(below)
Friend, 1st Thessalonians 1:6, makes it very clear that the joy that we feel as Christians is of the Holy Ghost. As we rely on the impartation of the Holy Ghost within us, we draw upon the supernatural joy that is available within us. Friend, get a hold of this. We’re going to hear about scientific facts today from various doctors talking about the perspective of the internal life within you. The fact that 18% of your stimuli is through your senses, but the main part of whether you feel joyful or not depends on internally generated self-talk and imagery. In other words, no matter what the situation, you can feel joy no matter what is occurring around you, friend. It’s about focus. It’s about whether we choose to think on things that are true and honest and just, or whether we want to get our head in the gutter. And it’s our choice, friend. Join me now for part three of this message. Now I’m thinking of the weapon I’m going to use. We’re going down the road now, right? And then, yeah, now he works between eight and five. So there has to be a process of thought, right? We want to break those thoughts.
We don’t want sequential thoughts that are leading us away from the Lord. That’s the casting down of imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. So the good news is, if we stay focused on him, we’re going to feel awesome because 82% of what happens to us is internal anyway. So we’re having a gay old time, amen? To use a 1940s movie speech, we’re having a gay old time, see? A gay old time in the right context of what it used to mean, amen? It’s a choice, friends. Oh, pastor, this is too hard for me. I’ve had a rough week. It looks like you said that. Get that out and start focusing, amen? We can cast the out later. John Milton said he wrote Paradise Lost. The mind is its own place. It can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven. Whoa. That means that you can be in a wonderful place, but your thoughts can just make it hell or you can be in hell and make a wonderful place out of it, okay? We don’t mean literally, okay? Friend, this is an empowering word because we’re not victims. We can choose to have a wonderful time in the Lord because we think on those things. We say those things. We worship him. We praise him, right? And the extreme example is Acts chapter 16. You’ve been beaten up and thrown in jail. It’s time to have a pity party. No, it’s time to start praising. When bad things are happening to you, start praising God immediately. We’re not praising because he sent the stuff. We’re praising in spite of the stuff. Rejoice in the Lord always.
Did it say rejoice in the Lord when man united, win 2-0 and win the Europa League? Boom. It says rejoice always, right? Okay. Controversial. I’m going to say it anyway because I found it absolutely fascinating. Dr. Jerome Stowell, who was a friend of Aiko Horman, this lady here, her friend, Jerome Stowell was a NASA scientist also. He developed a sensitive machine that could actually measure and record thought emanations from the brain. Yes. When Stowell measured a 50,000-watt radio station that was broadcasting at the time, it registered plus nine on the meter. Very powerful. A 50,000-watt radio station. Very powerful. Beaming stuff out, right? It measured nine on the meter. The maximum it could register was either plus 500 or minus 500. Okay. Got it? When Stowell measured the thought emanations from an unbeliever yelling at nurses, cursing and using the Lord’s name in vain from his hospital bed, the machine measured negative 500. He actually went around with this thing. It must have been kind of weird. He’s going around the hospital with this machine. But they let him do it. Amen? When Dr. Stowell went to a Christian patient in the same hospital who was praising the Lord while in her hospital bed, it registered plus 500. Coincidence? Coincidence? Hmm. We cannot prove from Scripture that our thoughts are going into the spirit realm. We cannot prove from Scripture whether demons are actually reading our thoughts. We can’t prove that. What is worry? If you start worrying, you start having a conversation in your head, right? What am I going to do tomorrow? I don’t know. You ain’t got enough money for it. But that’s true. I’m not going to be able to pay that. Yeah, that’s right.
You’re going to go into further debt. Yeah, maybe I am. There’s a conversation happening, right? Now, have you opened your mouth? You haven’t even opened your mouth yet. But you’re thinking in your head of all the things that could happen, all the bad things. And in fact, you’re getting a response from this thought going back and forth. Maybe, maybe they’re seeing what you’re thinking. I can’t prove that from Scripture. All I’m saying is we need to be cognizant of our thoughts. And we need to focus on positive thoughts. And positive, not new age positive. I’m talking about positive from God’s Word, right? And there’s a difference. You need to be seeing yourself as victorious. That’s how you need to be seeing yourself in the situation you’re going through. You need to see yourself as more than a conqueror, right? What is more than a conqueror? When Mike Tyson has a fight and he wins and he brings the check to his wife, she’s more than a conqueror. We are more than conquerors, amen?
Well, I don’t feel like it, Pastor. Well, you can change your emotions though, right? Remember what I said about Smith Wigglesworth? Someone asked him and he’s a guy from Preston, from North England. Real character. How do you feel today, Smith? He’s like, I don’t feel anything. I tell myself how I feel. Woo! Come on now! You like that? Julie likes that. I tell myself how I feel. I mean, man, I like that spirit, don’t you? We’re going to take Canaan, man. We’re going in there. We’re going to take these giants. That’s the attitude. That’s a Joshua and Caleb spirit. We’re going in and we’re going to take those giants. Why? Because you’re tough? No, because the Lord is tough. That’s why. We’re just going to obey him. We don’t have to do anything, okay? You tell yourself how you’re going to feel. Who is the you? The you is the spirit man on the inside. The one who’s being born from death into life. That’s you, okay? You tell your soul how you’re going to feel. It’s a decision. You are no longer a victim then to all the stuff that’s happening to you.
Now, what do you do about the stuff? You cast your care. Then you pray. Remember Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God,” right? Then the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. So we cast our care. Then we petition. Then we receive that peace. Oh man, I prayed about that. It’s dealt with. Oh, I feel so good. Philippians 4, 6. Such a powerful verse. This is not the machine. I just found a random machine on the internet. Just in case you’re going to try and buy that from Walmart. It’s not there, amen? Target does not have a thought emanation discount right now. And you can’t go around the aisles trying to check people’s thoughts. Joy’s impact on the physical body. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine. But a broken spirit dries the bones.
Dr. Don Colbert, who I’ve referenced here several times. Dr. Don Colbert hails from ORU. He’s a great guy. He’s a doctor. He’s a spirit-filled doctor. He observed, and I wish I brought the statistics with me, but he observed that people who are angry over a six-month state. Now they studied angry people. I don’t know how they did that. Are you angry? Let’s come for a study. Are you still angry, brother? Yes, I’m mad, you know. Okay, well, come with me, you know. So they studied these guys who were angry for six months. They must have been Ajax fans who lost to Man United. But anyway, so they studied these people, and they found that the anger was changing the pH level of the blood. The pH level of their blood was turning acidic. And when it turned acidic, it was rotting the bone marrow. What does that scripture say? A broken spirit dries the bones. The bone marrow was being eaten away by the acidic blood in their system. Are you telling me the word of God is true? That’s what I’m telling you. Literally. A rejoicing heart does good to the body. It’s another Young’s literal translation. A cheerful heart makes a quick recovery. You know, they talked about some of the people who even have terminal diseases in hospitals, and they’ve played the Marx Brothers videos, and they’ve laughed their way, and they end up like they forgot they were ill
Sounds crazy, right? But they were laughing every day. When they were doing that, they were releasing endorphins into their system. And those endorphins actually physically made them better. Each time we have an emotional experience, hormones are dumped into our system. Some contend that depression is anger turned inward. I’m depressed because of the things that happen to me. I’m angry about it. But instead of taking it out on somebody else, I’m going to take it out on me. Cortisol is a stress hormone that interrupts sleep, can cause weight gain, and too much adrenaline to be produced in the body. Cortisol. Anger, anger, anger, rage, etc. When you laugh, endorphins, the feel-good hormone, are released into your system, and the body is able to heal itself. The feel-good hormone. Laughter, okay? You get some release when you exercise as well. Or you can just laugh all day and just get off the treadmill. It’s up to you, amen? No. There’s benefits to working out, of course, okay? And one of them is a release of endorphins. Matthew Henry said, Holy joy is oil to the wheels of obedience. You know, it’s true. We can’t be joyful if we’re out sinning and just doing stuff and being nasty to people. I mean, you’re not going to live a joyful life. So there’s certainly a part of obedience that comes into this, right? Obedient to the Lord. Okay, I trust this guy. Dr. Lee Burke of Loma Linda University Medical Center has written about the health and healing benefits of laughter. Yes, Joel, that really is Dr. Lee Burke. And that really was Dr. Ako Horman, but it was not his measuring stick, no. He concluded that laughter boosts the immune system and reduces dangerous stress hormones.
Okay. In one study of 16 men who watched a funny video, levels of cortisol fell by 39% after a good old belly laugh. Now, notice how fast that is. The video is, what, a movie. What, one and a half hours to two hours, maybe at the most? Your adrenaline levels can drop by 70%. Your cortisol levels can drop by 40% in a short time period, okay? You don’t have to go home and laugh for six days straight to have an impact, amen? You can do it quickly. The feeling of laughter can be felt quickly in your body. The levels of feel-good hormone endorphin rose by 36%. Growth hormone actually skyrocketed. You know all those guys are lifting weights and they want some growth hormone. You should be laughing while you’re lifting those weights, man. Your growth hormone is going to go through the roof. The hormonal impact of a good belly laugh are felt immediately in the physical body. Can we get an amen on that? Friends, we should be the most joyful people in the world. We’re going to heaven.
We’ve already got our ticket. We’ve already checked in, man. We got the Holy Spirit living in inside of us. Some of us have had the second encounter with the Holy Spirit and praying in the Spirit and prophesying. Some of us have had that as well. And you’re telling me you’re still depressed? Are you kidding me? There’s no excuse for it. We should be the most joyful people on the earth. And sometimes that needs to transmit to our face, which isn’t always easy, amen? Some people are introverted. They don’t want to smile. You know, I understand that. I was an engineer. I thought smiling was a sin. The many benefits of laughter, the physical benefits, it boosts immunity, lowers stress, decreases pain, relaxes the muscles, actually burns calories, prevents heart disease. Friend, we’ll wrap it up with our fourth and final message tomorrow about supernatural joy. Until tomorrow…
Title: Living in Supernatural Joy: Part 3 (LIVE)
https://carljosephministries.com/podcast/living-in-supernatural-joy-part-2-live/
https://www.answerthebible.com/the-fruit-of-the-holy-spirit-what-is-joy/
Related keyword searches:
Dr Lee Burke
Endorphins
Loma Londa University
Young’s Literal Translation
Dr. Don Colbert
Be imitators of God
1st Thessalonians 1:6
Jerome Stowell
John Milton
1. What does 1 Thessalonians 1:6 teach us about joy?
1 Thessalonians 1:6 reminds believers that true joy comes from the Holy Ghost. This joy is not dependent on external circumstances but is a spiritual impartation that flows from within. As Christians, we can access this supernatural joy at any time by focusing on God’s truth and allowing His Spirit to work through us.
2. How much of our joy depends on external circumstances versus internal thoughts?
According to the message, only about 18% of our stimuli comes through our senses—what we see, hear, or feel—while 82% of our emotional state is shaped by internal self-talk and imagery. This means our focus and mindset determine whether we experience joy. When we align our thoughts with God’s Word, joy becomes a daily choice rather than a reaction to circumstances.
3. How can Christians control their thoughts and maintain joy?
Scripture encourages believers to “bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). This means rejecting negative, fearful, or unholy thoughts and replacing them with what Philippians 4:8 calls true, honest, just, pure, and lovely thoughts. Choosing to meditate on God’s promises helps believers maintain joy and peace even during trials.
4. Is there a connection between joy and physical health?
Yes. Medical research and Scripture both confirm this. Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” Studies by Dr. Don Colbert and Dr. Lee Burke show that laughter and joy release endorphins, lower stress hormones like cortisol, strengthen the immune system, and even promote healing. On the other hand, prolonged anger or depression can make the body acidic and weaken bone marrow.
5. What is the difference between worldly positivity and godly joy?
Worldly positivity relies on human effort and self-affirmation, while godly joy is rooted in faith and the indwelling Holy Spirit. True Christian joy is not about denying hardship but about praising God in spite of it. As seen in Acts 16, Paul and Silas worshiped God even in prison—demonstrating that joy is a spiritual weapon and an act of faith.
6. How can I practically live a life of supernatural joy?
You can live in supernatural joy by:
- Focusing on God’s Word rather than negative emotions.
- Speaking faith-filled words that align with God’s promises.
- Casting your cares on the Lord through prayer (Philippians 4:6).
- Praising and worshiping even when things go wrong.
- Choosing laughter and gratitude as daily habits.
As Smith Wigglesworth said, “I don’t ask myself how I feel; I tell myself how I feel.” When we let our spirit—rather than our emotions—lead us, joy becomes our constant companion.
