Category: Depression is an attack from Satan

Are you stuck in a rut?


Many of us get into a rut in life. We think that we can’t change…even that we will never be able to change, but that is not what God says. When you give your heart to Jesus and become a Christian the Holy Spirit comes in and changes your heart and you are made into a new creation in Christ. You are not the old person. You are not the person that you were before Jesus came into your life. If you meant it when you felt His touch and chose to give your heart to Him, repenting of your old ways of life, then you are a new creation…a new person in Christ.

There will be some days that Satan will try to make you believe that you are the same person that you were but you are not! Yes, the devil will try to trip you up and make you stumble back into old habits and sometimes he will succeed but Jesus is there with you and you can rise up into a new life with Him. It doesn’t matter how many times you fall, as long as you don’t stay down and believe the lies that Satan is telling you through your family or “friends”. God is stronger and able to bring your life into a better place than where it was.

Keep your eyes and your heart pointed toward Jesus and follow His example. You can’t be as perfectly holy as He was but you can strive toward that goal with the Holy Spirit’s help one step at a time. One day at a time. Thank God for today and move into it with confidence knowing that God loves you and that He will be with you regardless of what you hear around you from family or so-called “friends”. You don’t have to stay stuck in that rut of depression and despair. Take Jesus’ hand and get up and walk with Him into your new life every day and your way will become more sure and real than you ever thought possible.

Amen

Influence


Who has the most influence in your life? Is it your friend? Is it your parents? Is it your wife or your mother? For most of us, the answer is our wife or our mother, or both. We learn many things from our mothers while we are growing up. Whether we are home-schooled or not. We see how they handle situations. We hear their opinions and their advice, whether they intended for us to hear it or not. Some of us learn from our fathers and our grandfathers some important lessons. Sometimes they are good lessons and sometimes they are lessons that we would rather forget about, but they are learned nonetheless.

Occasionally, the lessons that we learn are from life itself. Schoolmates and friends teach us things. Some of which we shouldn’t have learned but in some ways, these “life lessons” help to make us who we become later in life. Then there are those lessons that we learn by trial and error. These lessons also teach us and make us into the people that we will ultimately become.

I’ve often wondered if God has a hand in all of these “teachable moments” and in the last decade I’ve come to realize that He does indeed have a hand in guiding us through them whether we know Him as our Savior…yet, or not. Especially when He has a plan and a purpose for your life that you may not know about yet. I mean, He does place kings and Presidents in their places because He is working through them to bring about His will for our planet and the people on it. So, why wouldn’t He have a hand in each of our lives even when we haven’t come to the place where He is our Savior and Lord?

Sometimes we go through some dark times in our life so He can show us the way out of the darkness. I went through a time of depression while I was a pastor of a small church. Brought on because I wasn’t sure that my message was making any difference. But God brought me through it and gave me a message to put out there so others could find it and hopefully find Him as well.

Jesus said, “Seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened, ask and it shall be given“. Don’t go through life without Him. When you feel that you need His help and you don’t know where to find Him, pray. Seeking Him through prayer will allow you to find Him and then ask Him for your salvation and your strength will be given to you as well. Will your life become easy and wonderful from that point on? No, because when you belong to Jesus, Satan will try to ruin your witness in front of your family and friends. So keep seeking Him every day and you can overcome those hard times that Satan is throwing your way.

Satan Will Strip Your Identity


I know of many young people who have been stuck in a wallowing cycle of not knowing their true identity. I pray that this powerful temimony will inspire someone to be assured of their identity as children of the Most High God.

You are all valuable and precious beings in the sight of God. It doesn’t matter how bad your past may have been. I believe the failure to come to a realization of our identity as children of God is why many Christians (and non-Christians) go down the road of deep depression and rebellion. Satan wants to steal the light that God has engraved within your soul. If he can get you to wallow around in a fictitious place of being like a superstar instead of the person God wants to be, he will do so. Satan will sow in a spirit of condemnation and self-hatred, telling you that you will never measure up until you come out on top. God wants to use you as a mighty influence to someone. The fact that you can make a difference to just one human on this Earth is a huge blessing. I encourage you to rest in the everlasting love that God continues to pour out to you, and the grace He offers for you to be a citizen of Heaven.

We are always available if you ever need someone to talk to. We would be more than willing to comfort you and encourage you every step of the way.

Let us continue to bring forth the message of and Gospel to the nations as we fight the good fight against Satan! 🙂

https://youtu.be/1QpDFeAB41M

A dark place


Satan brings me to this place more often than I would like. It is subtil, like he is, but depression sneaks up on you when you least expect it.

This is something that I’ve never really told anyone, not even my wife. Depression is an ugly feeling but it is also a disease as we know it today. It is one that claims lives and careers and families. It can make the strongest of us feel vulnerable and weak and insignificant and I have been walking around with it for years. I have tried to hide it until I can’t anymore. The only remedy that I have found for it is reading God’s Word, especially the book of Psalms. The Psalms don’t heal the depression but they do remind me that God is bigger than my fears and my depression. I need prayer from all of you and I pray that He will hear each and every one. Thank you.

What Are The ways To Find Light In The Darkness Of Depression? - Quora

Hello?


Most of the time I write here to bring God’s message to anyone who would enjoy reading it or maybe someone who was searching for His message. Right now however I am living with a conundrum of sorts: feeling alone even when I’m at home or at church. It doesn’t matter where I am really. This feeling hits in a way that most people don’t notice it which makes the feeling even worse because it is like I don’t exist.

So…what can I do about it? Other than read some chapters in Psalms and pray about my situation…my feelings, I really don’t see any possible cure or treatment because no one besides myself even notices that anything is bothering me. If I tell them how I feel, all I usually get is a look that says “So?”. To put anyone’s mind at ease who might actually care I am not considering suicide, even though it does cross my mind quite often.

I have had these feelings since high school so this isn’t an “age related” problem. This has been with me for over forty years. Although most people never notice it regardless of how close we might be. It isn’t anyone’s fault because the feeling will go away for a while and then some days it comes back so hard until I feel as if I’ve lost a close friend or family member and I begin to sob uncontrollably. I know…not like a man to admit something as insignificant as a feeling that can do such a thing. If you don’t want to know how I feel some days, then don’t read this.

Thankfully, this doesn’t happen every day but there are days that it comes and it won’t go away for a week or two. When that happens I just try to glaze over it and keep it to myself since I can’t afford to go to some “mind doctor”. I do want to take the time here to thank those of you who might have read this far. God is still in control regardless of our feelings or the outcome of an election or even a pandemic. All of us will get through this one way or another. I am still keeping my eyes glued to the sky each time I go outside just in case I see the sign of the cross or something that isn’t caused by natural weather.

Praise God for all of your gifts and your blessings because He does give graciously.

Darkness closing in…


Many people, it seems, have problems with depression and fear. You hear about suicides among Veterans and police and other service people like EMT’s and firefighters. Why does this happen? Is it because of the jobs that they have and the things which they see on a daily basis? In part, that is it. I worked as an EMT/Firefighter for a total of ten years. Not very long I know, but the things that I saw and the people that you come into contact with will bring you down. You can’t let it get to you while you are on the job so you learn to compartmentalize it and just push it away until the job is done. But…when the shift is over and you go home, that is when the enormity of your feelings about what you saw and had to deal with comes crashing down.

I’ve never really talked about this to anyone and it has been almost thirty years since I got out of being an EMT/Firefighter. But from what I understand the trauma and the stress that I experienced during those years never really goes away. For years I would still have dreams about my old job and wake up sweating in the night for no apparent reason. I could hear, in my mind, the siren from the ambulance or the fire truck even when there wasn’t one around. The different types of death from suicide and murder and car accidents and fire…you never forget them entirely. Some days it comes back so hard until I just feel like screaming at the top of my lungs. But even if I do, these images never go away.

The worst part of this is that you can’t sit and talk to someone about this. Nobody would understand unless you could sit and talk with another person who worked with you in the same type of service. Even then, they really don’t want to relive it either so usually you both just stop talking and change the subject or get a beer or something. Since I am a pastor now I have to shove these things away from my life and my work because nobody in the congregation would understand either. I have never talked about this with my family either just because it is something that they wouldn’t understand.

This is the reason that I am writing it here. As a bit of therapy for myself and to let others know that we feel deeply about what we have experienced. So deeply that even after thirty years it still comes back to haunt our minds and our feelings. Even now my heart is picking up speed just writing this.

I know that God can and will get me through this because He has done so in the past. I am asking all of you who read this to please sit with someone who works in a service job like I’ve mentioned. Just talk to them about anything or nothing. If they like to fish, take them fishing. But be there for them if you can. Because we have days which most people cannot understand and feelings which are hard to express. Please pray for me today and if you know anyone who was in the military or police or fire service, pray for them too. The suicide rate for them is much higher than for the rest of the population.

Psalm 51 is a good read for days like this.

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

(2 Samuel 12:1-12)

1{To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.} Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

2Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

4Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

5Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

9Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

12Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

13Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

15O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

16For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

18Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

19Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.King James Bible

What good can I do?


When you show up to bring a sermon that God has given you to preach and no one shows up…it’s time to go home. What good is telling someone the Good News of our Savior when there is no one to hear the message?

I have heard of missionaries who have worked and struggled for years and never got a single convert to Christianity in that time. How do you keep going like this? I have prayed about it and it seems that God is saying for me to keep preaching. The only people who seem to be reading or getting any of His messages that I put out here are you good people, those who read our blog. God loves you and He does care for all of you.

Sometimes it is very frustrating though. I know that it isn’t just me or my words, because God gives me the sermons and the words that I write here. But…I am asking for your prayers and your comments because I need the encouragement right now. Thank you in advance.

God cares for you!


There are many people in the world today who are considering suicide because of depression or PTSD or any number of other mental illnesses. Now, I’m not going to write anything here that will give you the idea that praying to God or giving your heart to Jesus is going to cure you of your illness because it may happen but then it may not happen. God can use that illness to bring you closer to Him and cause you to depend upon Him more or He could cure you of it so you can give someone else hope.

If I dashed your hopes here, I’m sorry. But it is the truth. Sometimes God does use our “thorns”, whatever they may be, to bring us closer to Him. Sometimes, He will bring you to the edge of your tolerance and then give you relief from the illness. If this sounds discouraging, I do apologize but David was often depressed and hurting when he was writing the Psalms. Some of the prophets were depressed and asked God to strike them dead, I have done this myself.

Why do I write such a depressing post today? Because, I don’t want you to think that God will miraculously cure you of your problem, whatever it may be, if you give your life to Him. He may do exactly that, but it is His prerogative whether He will or will not cure you just because you have given your life and heart to Jesus. God isn’t required to cure you. He is God after all and He doesn’t have to do anything that we ask of Him unless it is His will to do so and it would bring Him glory.

It sounds as if I am making God out out to be jealous and petty but He is not. He created the universe and everything in it, including us and our world, so that we would want to know Him. I think it is an awesome honor to be able to know Him because He has known you since before the universe was made! He loves each of us with such a deep and abiding love that we really can’t imagine it…but He does so for our benefit and for His glory! We have His grace and His mercy given to us for the sole purpose of being drawn to Him for our salvation. His Son died on the cross to pay for our sins so that we don’t have to. Your life doesn’t have to end when this “shell” that we live in dies IF you will give your heart to Jesus and repent of your sins and follow Him!

It is not rocket science or some kind of physical game that God plays with us. All that is truly required is that we realize that we need Jesus in our life, confess your sins and ask Him to come in and give you a new heart for Him. When that truly happens, your life will never be the same again.

Seek Him while there is life in your body today, because none of us are guaranteed tomorrow!

What has got you down?


OurGodisAbleMany people need to hear from someone today. Friends, family, pastors, spouses all need to hear from those that they care for. But what about those people that you don’t know? The people who are hurting but if you see them or talk to them they will tell you that they are doing fine. How can we touch their lives in a positive way? This is a hard question because most people who feel depressed don’t want to tell others. They consider this to be a burden that they alone can or should carry alone.

Depression is one of the weapons which Satan uses to discourage us before we become a believer, possibly enough to cause someone to take their own life. He also uses it to bring a Christian down so that their life gets out of control and feels hopeless. This is when we should be proactive about reading and meditating on God’s Word. Although, when depression hits you so hard that you feel overwhelmed its hard to think about much of anything except how you feel at the time.

Rest assured in the knowledge that God cares for you, even if you don’t know Him yet.

Psalm 42:11
11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Being depressed seems to be normal for prophets and preachers as well as any other Christians. Charles Spurgeon was depressed for much of his life and he was one of the most successful preachers of 19th century England. God gives each of us the strength to make it through our troubles although sometimes we may not feel that strong. Lean on God and seek His wisdom in helping you to get through your trials no matter what they might be!

Many things get people down in their spirit or just plain depressed and sometimes it gets to the point of darkness when you feel that nobody cares…but God cares more about your trials and your life than you could possibly know. He came down to Earth as a baby to be the Perfect Lamb for our sins but He knew the sorrows of humanity and all of the problems which go along with being human. He knew the pain, the heartache and the loneliness of humanity, which is why He can give you the strength to get through all of your troubles.

God loves you so deeply until we can’t understand it! We may be able to feel it when we are in Heaven with Him but while we are yet alive here, our understanding doesn’t go deep enough to comprehend the depth of God’s love for us. Seek Him in your good days so that He will be with you on those days when life doesn’t feel very good. Especially when it gets to the point of feeling like it is out of your control and it won’t get better.

4-ways-to-turn-weaknesses-into-strengthDon’t give up on yourself or on His Presence in your life. Seek Him through the Psalms and Proverbs when your life feels out of your control. He will come near to comfort you in the time of need that you have regardless of the depth of need or the darkness that it feels like.

Despair and depression


I know that many veterans and others go through this sometimes leading to suicide, but it doesn’t have to be this way. There are many support groups for us and there is always God’s Wisdom in the Psalms and Proverbs.

12804782_1044929828955942_1233315242139204553_nI went through a deep bout of depression a few years ago and it still tries to come back at times. I had many people praying for me and I read through the Psalms during this time, sometimes I re-read a Psalm or two and they spoke to my Spirit in an awesome way that I needed at the time.

Our entire planet is going through an attack of despair and other troubles brought on by Satan and his evil group of rebellious demons. Of course, we don’t see them doing all of the influences in our lives so most people don’t believe that they exist. Remember that Jesus spoke about them in the Bible so if God’s Word speaks about them, then they are real!

Like we can’t see God or Jesus in our world because they occupy a different realm or dimension than we do, so do angels and demons. There are times when we see them, but mostly in this life we don’t see their physical forms. Depression is one of the tools which Satan uses to screw up our lives and cause us to take our own lives or derail our mission on Earth. Depression causes all kinds of problems and sometimes those problems go much farther in your life than just how bad you feel.

It can cause diseases, it can also lead to drug addiction and other destructive behavior. It can also lead to the breakup of families, so this is a very powerful tool which Satan has in his arsenal. God can cure each of these problems in your life with His Presence in your heart if you will just seek Him out and ask Him to come into your heart and change your life. This is the prayer which God hears no matter what.

I pray that any of you who don’t know Jesus as your Savior will seek Him and learn about Him so that you will ask Him into your heart.