I hope each of you had a wonderful Easter and God blessed you r life with the power and wonder of the resurrection. We can never get used to or allow the power of God Almighty coming, giving His life and raising for death as He defeated it. How Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Easter is so much more than a religious holiday, it’s why there is life everlasting.
Last week I started a topic on how we are handling the battle going on at the field of our mind. Looking around the church I see too many who are not doing so well in this arena. God never intended on you fighting this battle alone or you losing on this front. As I mentioned last week the Apostle Paul tells us to cast down these things.
Casting down imaginations (This word comes from a word that means to estimate. The word its self means calculation, reasoning, conscience. We are to cast down our guessing conscience), and every high thing (elevated barrier) that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought (perception and disposition) to the obedience of Christ; 2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV (Italics my adding for explanation)
We do this through daily prayer and seeking God’s help. The Lord will give us wisdom through His word and those who are anointed to help us when we are struggling.
One of the hurts and wounds we receive while dealing with this battle is the heavy hand of a depressing spirit. I promise you, it can grab you and pull you under.
As I mentioned I have asked my daughter to join me in these articles. Here is a few of her thoughts along this line. My comments on her thoughts are in dark red italics.
More than a Case of the Blues by Rachel Crabtree
Depression, it's a heavy word for a heavy emotion. We have all suffered from depression; whether we care to admit it or not. Don't believe me? According to the NIH (National Institute of Health), depression may be described as "feeling sad, blue, unhappy, miserable, or down in the dumps."
However, some of us have experienced a deeper emotion/mood that goes beyond the normal bad day. It's called clinical depression. "Clinical depression is a mood disorder in which feelings of sadness, loss, anger, or frustration interfere with everyday life for an extended period of time."
Clinical depression is what stops us from living the joyful, Christ-centered life we were intended to live. It keeps us from being productive at work. This depression kills communication with our family, friends and peers. Sadly, NIMH says 15 million adult Americans suffer from clinical depression each year. That means nearly 8% of American population of age 18 and over, is currently dealing with depression. Specialists predict that by 2020, depression will become the 2nd most common health problem throughout the world.
The question: with depression on the rise and daily affecting our lives, what can we do as Christians to combat it? I've come up with five things that as Christians will help us fight against depression. I have made sure that each is backed with the Word. Disagree with the point? Take it up with Him.
• Prayer: In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus says "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” We need to learn to take anything to God; our burdens, our fears, our anxieties and throw them down at Jesus' feet. His Word promises peace and rest. Read Psalms 51:12. We need to pray for a return of joy and pray for Him to sustain us. 2 Timothy 1:7, Luke 10:19 and Romans 8:37 speak of how we need to learn to control our fears and realize who we are in Christ. Do you have a consistent prayer life? Are you aware of who you are in Jesus Christ? One of the reasons people don’t tend to pray for help along these lines and develop a daily prayer life is a lack of faith. We may tell ourselves we know we need to or that we are too busy but in reality we really don’t believe that prayer will help. If we really did we would really pray. Yes, we miss so much help because of the lack of really believing Jesus will help us.
• Seek Help: You are never too good or too big of a super-star to seek help. Doubt it? Read your Word and study up on Moses. He was a leader to millions, the voice of God, and a bit of a doubter when it came to the promises of God. This man listened to the counsel of his father-in-law and surrounded himself with a group of like-minded leaders to help him. They enabled him to be more effective in the work place and focus on the main thing, God. Are you allowing others to help you? Something else Moses did was take assistance in holding up his arms in a battle. Israel won when his arms were up but on his own he could not continually do what he needed to do (Exodus 17:12). We all feel we can be the one giving the help but we need to realize the wonder and the miracle of receiving help.
• Exercise: Our bodies are living, breathing displays of God's creative power. Sadly, many of us distort the original design because we're too lazy to maintain. Check out the Word on that! Proverbs 6:6-11. Are you allowing laziness to create depression? "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. It's been proven by numerous medical studies that physical exercise can ease the symptoms of depression. The Mayo Clinic has an article on how exercise has proven to reduce and eliminate mood disorders and physical illness. Find time each day to exercise and you will be amazed by the results! Enough cannot be said about this subject. The condition of your body will really affect your mind.
• Community: Who are you surrounding yourself with? Are you surrounded by healthy, uplifting people? Or Debbie-Downers? The attitudes, emotions, and beliefs of those you are around will rub off on you. Read the story of Rehoboam, son of Solomon in 1Kings 12. He could have been a successful ruler but he listened to his unwise peers and ended up losing his kingdom. Are you surrounded by wise, emotionally sound people? I would also add to this what we are listening too in the form of media and such. The problems and direction of this world will really pull you out from behind the shield of Faith. We will be tempted to throw our hands in the air and live with gritted teeth. My cardiologist told me he had to stop listening to a certain news person because he couldn’t keep his blood pressure down. No, we can’t stick our head in the sand but we can change the station sometimes and make sure we have our trust in the Lord. Remember He is running the show no matter who you may think in is charge.
• Serve: Are you selflessly serving others? Key word: selflessly. This servant hood isn't about you being seen or praised. This is about you giving someone else a helping hand. It's hard to be worried and anxious about your circumstances when you're serving a homeless family a meal at a soup kitchen. It's hard to be self-centered on your problems when you're providing groceries to a single mother. "I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:35 Also, read Luke 6:38. We can all find someone in worse shape than we. When you start pouring out yourself to others you will spend less time on worrying over things in your mind that probably don’t matter anyway. I received a tweet from T.F. Tenny that says, “Worry is today's mice nibbling on tomorrow’s cheese.” Try serving others rather than worrying.
Take these steps. Apply them to your life and see if depression is still strong in your life.
*Please note that I do not suggest you disregard any of your practicing physician’s medical advice. I would also add if you can’t fight the battle of depression on your own find some Christian professional help, get some counseling from a godly person.
Yes, this was a little long but there are some helpful points here. Next week I will go over some of the things I personally do to help me in the battle of my mind and thinking.
How we act today reveals how we are dealing with yesterday! There is no brighter tomorrow unless the sun has set on yesterday.
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