Depression continues to plague Americans more and more these days. I can feel it, sense it and see it everywhere I go. I have been at the hospital a lot lately with my husband, Steve, who had a stroke a little over one week ago. Obviously, depression is rampant there.
While the disease (or DIS-ease as I like to call it) tries to take its hold on me again from time to time, I truly feel I have mastered the art of staying well. If I can get through these hard times without falling backwards, I can get through anything and I'm doing it without medication.
There are promises in God's word that I lean on daily, that keep my spirits high (or at least high enough to make it). One of my favorites is: Matt. 14:14 And Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them and He healed their sick. You see, Jesus didn't pick and choose who He would heal. He felt compassion for all of them and healed their sick.
Another way I get through is to pick out life lessons from this disaster. The first is to choose contentment. Whatever your status in life, whatever your circumstances, choose to be content with what you have. Strive for a better relationship with God, rather than striving to move up in the world. A better relationship with God will move you up when the time is right.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Saturday, September 8, 2007
I Think, Therefore I Am
Rene' Descartes' philosophy, "I think, therefore I am," has been debated, quoted, discussed, written about and THOUGHT about for centuries now. I have only recently begun to understand it and I fear that it is absolutely true! My thought life is something that I have struggled with for years now. It was the reason I fell into depression. It was the reason I could not climb out. I made me spiritually, physically and emotionally unstable!
I have noticed simply through observation that people who think negatively are sick more often than those who think positively. Those who think bad things are always going to happen to them, always experience bad things! My husband thinks positively every day about his health, finances, etc. He never gets sick and he is never late on his mortgage!
In my most recent post, I talked about the impact of what we see, hear and read on our lives. I am determined that what we put into our minds is vital to a happy healthy lifestyle. After all, where do thoughts come from? Obviously, they come from what we see, hear and read. They come from our parents from the time we are born. They come from our education and the things we experienced as children. They come from the world around us; television, books, the internet. In other words, our thoughts come from borrowed perspective. A perspective we borrowed from other people.
It is frightening to THINK about it, but our thoughts are really not our own. Obviously, we take all of the input, toss it around, choose to believe what we want and throw away the rest, but it is still a borrowed perspective. In a sense, we are all connected into an invisible grid of borrowed thoughts. I believe this grid, may be the world that Jesus called us up and out of. You could almost rephrase Descartes’ famous quote to “The World thinks, Therefore I am.”
The world we live in is a frightening, busy place. There is an overwhelming wealth of information, much of it negative, swimming around us at all times. It is not enough that we have the TV on all day. Now, when we turn off the TV, we go to the internet. That is not enough either. Now we have cell phones and IPODs that enable us to carry the internet around in our pockets. Have you ever heard the phrase Too Much Information! Too Much Information and from the wrong source is crippling our thought life. A crippled thought life equals a crippled person.
I believe that the best way to beat anxiety and depression is to rise above the grid of thoughts that keeps us enclosed in a web of deception and darkness. I believe the way to freedom from the web is the word of God. Read it, believe it and most importantly talk to God about it. Let Him replace your thoughts. Let Him BE your thoughts.
Here is some borrowed perspective from Jesus Christ:
Matt 6:27
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
KJV
Matt 6:27
27 And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the span of his life? [Ps 39:5-7.]
AMP
And then from Paul:
Rom 12:2
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
KJV
Rom 12:2
2 Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].
AMP
I have noticed simply through observation that people who think negatively are sick more often than those who think positively. Those who think bad things are always going to happen to them, always experience bad things! My husband thinks positively every day about his health, finances, etc. He never gets sick and he is never late on his mortgage!
In my most recent post, I talked about the impact of what we see, hear and read on our lives. I am determined that what we put into our minds is vital to a happy healthy lifestyle. After all, where do thoughts come from? Obviously, they come from what we see, hear and read. They come from our parents from the time we are born. They come from our education and the things we experienced as children. They come from the world around us; television, books, the internet. In other words, our thoughts come from borrowed perspective. A perspective we borrowed from other people.
It is frightening to THINK about it, but our thoughts are really not our own. Obviously, we take all of the input, toss it around, choose to believe what we want and throw away the rest, but it is still a borrowed perspective. In a sense, we are all connected into an invisible grid of borrowed thoughts. I believe this grid, may be the world that Jesus called us up and out of. You could almost rephrase Descartes’ famous quote to “The World thinks, Therefore I am.”
The world we live in is a frightening, busy place. There is an overwhelming wealth of information, much of it negative, swimming around us at all times. It is not enough that we have the TV on all day. Now, when we turn off the TV, we go to the internet. That is not enough either. Now we have cell phones and IPODs that enable us to carry the internet around in our pockets. Have you ever heard the phrase Too Much Information! Too Much Information and from the wrong source is crippling our thought life. A crippled thought life equals a crippled person.
I believe that the best way to beat anxiety and depression is to rise above the grid of thoughts that keeps us enclosed in a web of deception and darkness. I believe the way to freedom from the web is the word of God. Read it, believe it and most importantly talk to God about it. Let Him replace your thoughts. Let Him BE your thoughts.
Here is some borrowed perspective from Jesus Christ:
Matt 6:27
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
KJV
Matt 6:27
27 And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the span of his life? [Ps 39:5-7.]
AMP
And then from Paul:
Rom 12:2
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
KJV
Rom 12:2
2 Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].
AMP
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Christians with Depression and Anxiety
There are many blogs out there (mostly from doctors and hospitals) saying that the Church should accept mental illness and support those suffering from it. The Church should accept the fact that Christians need medication for depression and anxiety. I say, of course the Church should support other Christians AND accept the fact that they are on medication BECAUSE in many cases the Church is failing those Christians who suffer from these problems. The reason I make such a strong statement is because many Churches focus only on what the Christian can do for the Church and give to the Church. The members who DO and GIVE the most are considered to be the BEST. Thus, there is almost a competition and those who can't keep up, have guilt added to their daily pile of YUCK.
With stressful jobs, dysfunction in the home, pain in the heart, many people serve the Church. Even with domestic violence, adultery, and sickness going on in their homes, they serve the Church. This service in a lot of cases only adds more stress to the Christian, and takes away from their family life rather than feeding that family what it needs in order to be healthy, happy and whole. I am here to tell you that this is not what Jesus intended. This is no different than life for the Israelites just before His birth! They were very religious, all about doing the right thing, but not about having a relationship with God. They passed harsh judgement on those who could not keep up, yet did nothing to lift them up. This harsh judgement and the guilt that goes along with it, is just one more thing that makes Christians mentally ill!
Where is the redemptive spirit of Christ Jesus in today's church? That redemptive spirit can certainly take away a great deal of depression and anxiety! Forgiving and being forgiven are the first steps to being mentally sound (rooted and grounded).
Where is the spirit that heals the broken hearted in today's church? The cleansing, healing presence of the Holy Spirit is a natural remedy for anything and everything that the Christian can possibly suffer from! Where is it?
Where is the spirit of wisdom in today's church? Every Christian must have spiritual food in order to develop from "spiritual babe" to "mature Christian". Any pastor, preacher or teacher should certainly know how the Christian is impacted by lack of spiritual growth! In worldy terms, the impact could be called mental illness!
Now, having said all of that about the church, let me point out that each individual is responsible for their own relationship with God. Each Christian that has accepted Christ, but failed to accept and follow His word, experiences a conflict inside of them. It is the same type of feeling a person gets, when they have a pile of bills to pay, yet they spend their money on something else. Then at the end of the month, the pile gets bigger. Just looking at that pile causes stress. This is the experience of the Christian who is leading a double life OR one who is simply practicing religion. The bigger the pile - the bigger the stress. As a Christian, I lived this. I had a pretty big "pile" before I figured it out. It was the "pile" that made me mentally ill! It was NOT the church that took that illness away. It was and is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Gal 5:17
17 For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the [Holy] Spirit, and the [desires of the] Spirit are opposed to the flesh (godless human nature); for these are antagonistic to each other [continually withstanding and in conflict with each other], so that you are not free but are prevented from doing what you desire to do.
AMP
With stressful jobs, dysfunction in the home, pain in the heart, many people serve the Church. Even with domestic violence, adultery, and sickness going on in their homes, they serve the Church. This service in a lot of cases only adds more stress to the Christian, and takes away from their family life rather than feeding that family what it needs in order to be healthy, happy and whole. I am here to tell you that this is not what Jesus intended. This is no different than life for the Israelites just before His birth! They were very religious, all about doing the right thing, but not about having a relationship with God. They passed harsh judgement on those who could not keep up, yet did nothing to lift them up. This harsh judgement and the guilt that goes along with it, is just one more thing that makes Christians mentally ill!
Where is the redemptive spirit of Christ Jesus in today's church? That redemptive spirit can certainly take away a great deal of depression and anxiety! Forgiving and being forgiven are the first steps to being mentally sound (rooted and grounded).
Where is the spirit that heals the broken hearted in today's church? The cleansing, healing presence of the Holy Spirit is a natural remedy for anything and everything that the Christian can possibly suffer from! Where is it?
Where is the spirit of wisdom in today's church? Every Christian must have spiritual food in order to develop from "spiritual babe" to "mature Christian". Any pastor, preacher or teacher should certainly know how the Christian is impacted by lack of spiritual growth! In worldy terms, the impact could be called mental illness!
Now, having said all of that about the church, let me point out that each individual is responsible for their own relationship with God. Each Christian that has accepted Christ, but failed to accept and follow His word, experiences a conflict inside of them. It is the same type of feeling a person gets, when they have a pile of bills to pay, yet they spend their money on something else. Then at the end of the month, the pile gets bigger. Just looking at that pile causes stress. This is the experience of the Christian who is leading a double life OR one who is simply practicing religion. The bigger the pile - the bigger the stress. As a Christian, I lived this. I had a pretty big "pile" before I figured it out. It was the "pile" that made me mentally ill! It was NOT the church that took that illness away. It was and is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Gal 5:17
17 For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the [Holy] Spirit, and the [desires of the] Spirit are opposed to the flesh (godless human nature); for these are antagonistic to each other [continually withstanding and in conflict with each other], so that you are not free but are prevented from doing what you desire to do.
AMP
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