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Tag Archives: anxiety and depression

A pill or the Gospel?

13 Aug

John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Many of us this week have been affected when one of our stars fell with Robin Williams committed suicide. He was truly one of the greatest comedians ever, and brought laughter to us when we may have needed it most. Laughter is many times the best medicine for whatever troubles us, but even the one who was so gifted, battled inner demons that brought about addictions and depression resulting in suicide. His smile hid an inner indescribable pain that only a few knew. I have heard the argument of which came first, which fed the other, the addictions or the depression. I have been open about my struggles with anxiety and depression, for I have seen how many people seem to want to hide it. I do understand that only others with these struggle can comprehend these struggles. Over and over again I hear “I don’t get it”, but to those that share your struggle, it is an open door to share and encourage each other. I look back at my life before Christ with all the partying in so many ways; I do believe I too was hiding my problems and self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. By the grace and mercy of God I walked away from that lifestyle when I was set free through understanding what Jesus Christ did for me on the cross. That does not mean I still do not struggle with anxiety and depression, it means that I deal with it differently than hiding from it by any means of bad habits; I go to God with it in prayer and his Word. He is allowing it in my life for a reason; that reason may be for me to see my need for him in my life; you cannot do life alone.

The Bible tells us in Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. What is worry anyway? Worry is truly about a future event that may NEVER happen anyway. This worry can lead you down that dark road to depression and means to cope with that worry. Depression can be described as a dark cloud looming; many times it lies on the horizon and seeks to cover the sun. What disperses clouds; what do meteorologists tell us day after day? “When the sun finally burns off the clouds or the fog”. Light dis-spells darkness; the two cannot co-exist at the same time and place. When the darkness rolls in, and it will, you must seek God in prayer and his Word to strengthen the Light living inside of you to burn through the clouds. Depression is fought in the Word of God!!!!!!!! I fully understand there is clinical depression, and modern medicine has a pill for everything, but you must seek help; you cannot do life alone, and Satan’s dark cloud will seek to rob you of the joy of life. If you battle depression, if you are unhappy with life, seek FIRST the only thing that can eternally change you; the Gospel. True change only begins with Jesus Christ. You may find a pill that makes you feel happy for your time here, but your soul needs the Healer to last an eternity.

 
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Posted by on August 13, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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IF NEED BE

28 Aug

IF NEED BE

1 Peter 1:6-9    In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith–the salvation of your souls.

This month has been a time of highs and lows, more than usual, higher and lower than usual. I experienced my first sermon, more emotions than I can articulate, but the pinnacle was a spiritual high like none before. What I took from the sermon that He gave me was that He would never forsake me; He was there to deliver exactly when and what I needed the most. After that incredible day has come waves of emotion; some building, most seeking to tear down. I have endured painful words, and found mental struggles to be great; things that I hold dear have come to be difficult. Satan is coming at me in that area of anxiety and depression; it is my thorn in the flesh as Paul describes; but even in it, there is a purpose through it from God.

As I awoke this morning, my daily verse from YouVersion was 1 Peter 4:16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. God has that incredible way to speak to us when we truly seek Him. Even in your daily devotionals He can deliver just the right word at just the right time. If in my struggles with anxiety and depression, God can be glorified, than in that fiery trial Satan’s evil works are used for good. Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. In the scripture of 1 Peter 1:6, do you see the purpose of God there in between the comma’s; IF NEED BE. There are many purposes of God behind all that is in your life, all that you struggle with can be used by God. There is nothing that cannot draw you closer to Christ. You either rebel and run away drowning your sorrows in some way, or you draw closer to Him as a result of what you are facing.

The IF NEED BE, is between you and God. Many preachers preach that trials are the punishment for sin. I concur, but I also realize we are always lost in sin no matter at what level we pursue righteousness. The trials that we face are just part of the Sanctification process of God; His way of seeking to make us more like his Son. What makes it different is how we respond in them. Do we go to Him, do we point others to Him in how we are dealing with it? The world will teach worldly ways; medication, self-helps and fixes, blame, denial, and every other road except heavenly. When you are facing a mountain, or your mountain seems to be crumbling, go to the One who made the mountain. In and through Him is where you find hope for the ability to climb or find safety from all the rocks falling around you. Then you are able to share how He helped you to deal with that trial to someone else enduring it also; God is glorified in and through you.

 
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Posted by on August 28, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Lord I need you

14 May

Lord I need you

Matthew 6:6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

It has been a rough couple of days. As many of you know, I openly struggle with anxiety and depression. I borrowed the label from the apostle Paul, and call these struggles my “thorn in the flesh”. It seems as though it is a messenger of Satan that torments me also. He loves to attack when I have my defenses down, when my eyes are on the world and not on God. When I spend little time in the Word, and when I am not prepared for battle. I am not a worthy opponent for my enemy, but I find strength only in Christ to fight this war that is on a plain I cannot comprehend. Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. There is no strength found in medication, there is only strength found in Christ for the spiritual war. It is found in the secret places with only you and God; the time spent alone in His Word and prayer; his strength that is planted in your soul for these battles. You are victorious when you rest in Him; you are fighting a war you alone cannot win, but is only won in the understanding you are fighting a defeated enemy in Christ.

It gave me peace to sit in my secret, quiet, place this morning with God. It gave me peace to know that He allows all the trials of my life to draw me closer to Him. In this I come to deepen my understanding of my daily need for Him. I come to comprehend the depth of my lostness without my strength found in Him. I am nothing without Him. 2 Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. In this quiet place I find peace; I find the ability to talk to God, to share my struggles and my need for Him; to share my hope that is found only in Him; to praise him for all that He has given me through Christ’s sacrifice for me. All that I have is found in, and through Christ. Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

My heartfelt plea in this small ministry that God gave me, is for you to come to seek to be a disciple of the One whom died to give you eternal life. To live a life of sacrificial love for the One whom sacrificed His life for you. To seek the life after, with a heart so focused, that this world holds nothing for you. To have a heart for God and the things of God, to the point you realize you cannot live without God. Your life may get harder, for your enemies desire is to take your eyes and heart off God. He knows the power that rests in the heart of a disciple. God uses all these trials that He allows in your life against Satan. He strengthens you when Satan seeks to defeat you. You are nothing without Christ, but you are everything through Him.

Praise Him in this Chris Tomlin video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rR_Rdb1CTE

 

 
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Posted by on May 14, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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It’s gonna be ok

13 Apr

It’s gonna be ok

Matthew 6:25-34    “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (ESV)

I have written in bold print in the margin of my Bible beside this passage, “DO NOT WORRY”. I openly struggle with anxiety and depression, but I do not believe there are many others out there that can say before God they do not worry. Satan is the master deceiver, and a strong tool in his arsenal is the deception wrapped in doubt. When you look at worry in its simplest form it is fear, fear of the unknown. Fear is not from God but from the author of deception and death. 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Satan is planting in your mind that you have no security; that your life and the outcome of it could fall at any time. He wants you to think you are a failure, and all your eternity is in question. He may even planted the ultimate deception in your head of life without eternity. This is all there is; get all you can while you are here.

It is no coincidence that this passage falls on the heels of the passage about wealth (Matthew 6:19-25). I bet that the majority of your fears fall under the heading of money. Will I have enough to pay my bills; will I have enough saved for college; will I be able to get that new…….; the list is endless in our lives wrapped around our finances. Believe me, my house of cards fell, and the money worries have been a big part of my life in recent years. But God has shown me that he will never fail me; just enough in the nick of time, every time, to do or pay what must be done. God is even letting that doubt Satan is planting to work for good when you are humbled and must look to Him for it all. Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. There can be a new found strength and relationship with God built as you see Him never fail you. Satan’s plan was to draw you away from God, but if you turn to God you will come to understand this passage about not worrying. When you worry you become introverted, and when you are self absorbed you are not an effective disciple to spread the Good News that He calls you to do.

It has been proven that worry and stress are bad for your physical health. They take years off your life. Christ told us that in this Sermon on the Mount 2000 years ago. 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? Spend today focused on the promise in Matthew 6:33, and do not worry about tomorrow, for you may miss the promise of today.

 
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Posted by on April 13, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Yep…..it is all good

04 Feb

Yep…..it is all good

Philippians 4:6-7   Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

As most of you know I am open about my struggles with anxiety and depression. These struggles were never a part of my life until God grabbed a hold of my soul. When Satan did not want to give me up, the battle of the mind is where he began to wage his war. I humbly confess that my struggles are on a spiritual plain, and I humbly confess that is where they are fought. When their is movement on the front lines, I approach God in prayer and his Word. The Word is the only offensive weapon we have to fight against Satan. Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. When the attacks come, the preparation you have made in your time alone with God is the weapon you will use to fight that fight on the spiritual plain.

How is it then you ask that I can describe my faith in one simple word; Peace. 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Paul follows up the scriptures of anxiety with the passage of peace too. Because no matter at what level the battle is fought; of how high the anxiety goes; of how deep the depression sinks; I am still winning the war through Christ; I am fighting a defeated enemy that refuses to accept that fact. God did not promise us a life of ease, but that we may be conformed to the image of his Son; and a part of that purification process is painful. These are either designed or allowed by God to draw us closer to him. This understanding will allow you to obtain this peace.

Paul continues to give us an example of what to focus our lives on; how to find the good and set our minds and hearts on it. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things. If you are spending your time filling your minds with all the things in this world that Satan provides you to take your eyes off God; he is winning that battle in the war for your soul. How much time do you invest in everything else but God and His Word? A heart for God is much more that a Sunday service. A heart for God sees God in everything; even the struggles that  He is allowing you to face today, to draw you closer to Him.

 
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Posted by on February 4, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Breath deep and read

24 Nov

Breath deep and read

Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad.

There is no real way to explain anxiety and depression to those that do not suffer. It is a hidden demon that lurks beneath the surface. It can lie dormant but awaken quickly when triggered. It waits for the opportunities, then has the ability to change outcomes. The battle is all in the mind, but yet the battle has physical and outward appearances. I have been open with my struggles and my battles seem to be escalating. The Bible has about 14 verses on anxiety and worry; but fear is listed 354 times in many contexts. Fear is the root of anxieties, and fear is not from God. 2 Timothy 1:For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

One of my favorite books of the Bible is Matthew 6. It speaks much of the relationship between us and God. Of what is done in secret before Him; not done in public for accolades. It speaks of prayer and fasting; it contains the Lords prayer where Jesus taught us to how to pray. It speaks of our focus in life, of where do we put our effort. Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Where is your focus? Your career, your family, your pursuit of material gain, your hobbies that have turned into idols? The list could go on. Anything that comes before Christ is an idol in your life. If we make our pursuit God and the things of God, our short time here will be rewarded eternally. Matthew 6:19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Spending time in God’s Word is the key to the battle of anxiety, worry, and life. The more time we spend in God’s Word the more our heart grows for Him. The stronger our relationship with Him, the more strength we have to fight these battles. I do believe the warfare may escalate, but I know we cannot fight without a heart for God. If we stand on our love for God as the spine of our existence, we can know that we will be ok. Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. This holiday season that is upon us will tend to bring more stress and worry. This is also a time to make the time to spend in God’s Word to give you the strength you need. It can start today.

 
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Posted by on November 24, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Oh no thanks, I can do it..

17 Apr

Oh no thanks, I can do it..

Luke 9:23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

What is the heaviest load you bear? Mine is mental stress, and the anxiety and depression that are fed from it. If I were to divulge my testimony, it would be full of the stresses of life that many of us fall under. Pride could really be the topic heading under which stress falls though, because pride will lead you to believe that you are to bear the weight of that cross. Christ tells us when we feel those loads are too heavy, to give them to Him in Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Christ is offering to carry our cross for us, and even as He says in Luke 9:23, we are to give it to Him DAILY. The weight of our cross, whatever it may be, we cannot shoulder for six days a week and give it to Him on Sunday mornings.

The true meaning in Luke 9:23 is much deeper, and our cross is none to compare to Christ’s carrying the weight of our sin. Christ was speaking to the apostles and what they must endure as followers of Him. 1 Peter 4:16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.  The apostle Paul speaks of denying himself and dying daily for Christ in 1 Corinthians 15:31. We will suffer as Christians for we are not of this world, and the world is against us recognizing that. What I consistently beg you to do, is to humble yourself before God. That denial of pride, leads to forgiveness of sin, and leads to Him shouldering the load we cannot bear. The dying of yourself should come every day through time spent with Him in prayer and His Word. We are not designed to live our life as the world presses us to live in the instant gratification and pressures of today. The only way to release those daily burdens is through daily time with the One whom has already bore the heaviest Cross for you.

 
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Posted by on April 17, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Worry? Only for a day, if that!

14 Apr

It is hard to condense a favorite verse into a OneMinuteMinistry. It is hard to decide which road to go down when God has spoken to me so many times in so many ways in these scriptures. How it is a spine of my belief system to Seek Him First. How if I could tell anyone anything next to Salvation, it would be to live your life as in Matthew 6:33. If you will truly put God first in every avenue, every detail of your life, the rest of your life will fall into place. Today I touch on anxiety, which I have been open with my struggles with anxiety and depression before, but I have found the best medicine was between the pages of the Book that is the strength He gave me. I may spend a few days here in Matthew, so bear with me as God reveals my heart to you to encourage you to seek Him in all things!

 

 

Worry? Only for a day, if that!

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Matthew 6 is one of my favorite chapters in the bible. The Lords Prayer is found there, the scriptures about time alone with God, fasting, and then it ends in the passages about anxiety. I struggle with anxiety and must press into these scriptures often. Just as a lawyer in a trial would issue their closing statement, Matthew says if we put God first in all things, nothing else will matter. Verse 34 even closes that argument stronger in the avenue of worry. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” We must understand the frailty of life and spending the day worrying about the next day that may never come is an exercise of wasted effort. James 13-14 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

Matthew 6:33 is a scripture that represents a lifestyle. It represents what you value, what you place before God. How big is your problem, or how big is your God in the avenue of everything that occupies your thoughts? When Satan enters in through doubt, he gains a foothold in the weakening of your faith. He begins to undermine your faith and continues the attack. But you must realize that God gave you the power to overcome him, and this is accomplished through prayer and time in the His Word. There is strength in the Bible that will push Satan down when worry comes and I can personally promise you this. Matthew 6:31-32 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. The world worries about how their needs will be met. As a child of God you can rest in His assurance that He will provide for you today, and you will have no need to worry about tomorrow. That is the description of biblical peace that you can obtain by Salvation through Christ, and a relationship with Him through daily time with Him, that nothing can take from you.

 
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Posted by on April 14, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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The Great Comforter

13 Feb

We all have our battles, and our stresses of life. We all can be drug down into the gloom by our enemy and the focus on the problems, and not the solution. Constant distractions, lack of time, and the pressures of society feed worry. I know we all battle it daily. But there is a solution that comes with Christ, that gives us comfort in those times of need. The more time we spend with Him, the less the cares of the world have power over us. You truly begin to see things in a different light. If I am to describe my relationship with Christ in one word, that word is Peace. That does not mean my life is a bed of roses, and it is far from it. But I do know where to turn when the pressures of life get to me. It is not only for me, it is for all of you too….all you have to do is ask Him.

 

 

 

The Great Comforter

Philippians 4:6-7   Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

What worries you? What brings you comfort? Our world promised material treasures, 30 day programs, and medications to fix any problem that we have. I don’t know of anyone who could claim to not worry over something. I suffer myself from both anxiety and depression, and I have given both up to God. Paul is speaking here of the gift of the Holy Spirit upon acceptance of the free gift of Salvation. The Holy Spirit is also known as the Great Comforter. He is the enabler, the guide to wisdom, the pathway to peace.

John 14:27 says “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Christ was speaking here of whom He was leaving with us to those that accepted Him, when Christ returned to heaven. This is a free gift that nourishes our sousl for our little time here, then we take that peace into eternity. Our world is full of daily stresses that that draw our attention away from God. But if we turn our hearts to God in prayer and time in His Word, the Great Comforter that indwells in us, will bring about a peace that surpasses all understanding. Their is only one way to gain this comfort, by the Cross of Jesus Christ.

 
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Posted by on February 13, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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