Depression Is Not a Weakness; It's Because You Are Too Strong!

Oswald Chambers said:

“We should battle through our moods, feelings, and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus. We must break out of our own little world of experience into abandoned devotion to Him.”

There is a secular quote that I noticed even Christians out there are finding comfort in saying, it is something like – “depression is not a weakness; it’s because you are too strong.” For a Christian, this quote is pure incoherence on a spiritual level.

The quote comes from a secular book filled with words to comfort the unbelievers who know nothing about Christ. Listen, because we are Christians does not mean we will not experience depression. On the contrary, depression will be all around us and we will be constantly tempted to give into it. But, before you get yourself sedated with chemicals you need to go to Him first. After all, He is our healer, our comforter and our deliverer. Most great Christians who know God intimately will tell you how easy it is to be depressed in our service to Him. In fact, several of our forefathers have been there. People like Paul, and David have gone through it too, but, they always strengthen themselves in the Lord.

Because I have gone through depression when I was a Christian with “religion and traditions” instead of having Christ as my life and light. Today, as a genuine Christian I also have to deal with my moods regularly so that I can remain totally devoted to Him in abandonment, so, I know both sides. The best pills I needed for the first kind of depression, was to get out of myself and my own world in my mind and my heart and start centering my life on Him. I needed to look to Jesus as my savior and the master of my life. In short, I needed to lose my life so that I could find it. The second kind of depression comes to us as genuine Christians and we have to fight our moods because of lack of concentration on Him to remain strong, alive and powerful in Him. There are many reasons that lead us to a place where we have to constantly deal with our moods. For me, it is almost something that I would call impatience, because God has me on a waiting mode for so many years, and it is hard to cope with the daily life while waiting patiently for Him. 

I can tell you, the secular quote I mentioned above, is wrong on all sides. Don’t get me wrong, it is a good quote for unbelievers. It gives them excuses, something to hang onto for comfort and something to believe in.  But, as Christians if you are too strong to the point it causes you to be depressed, chances are “doctrines is an end in itself for you,” God cannot make a dent in you and you are living in disobedience where the Holy Spirit has been quenched. I do not mean to hurt your feelings, but in His agape love, I want to get you thinking twice about your view of the kind of Christian life you made the choice to embrace.

 I am proud in the Lord to say, in this world I appear to be weak. Not because I am a weak person, but because I am able to love others who do not deserve it. I am able to live a humble life where some think that I am afraid of them, but really when dealing with them, I exercise godly humility. Some think I am weak because I do not go suing people to make money, instead I follow the word of God, knowing that vengeance is His alone. I have a whole list of reasons why people find me weak. Yet I know I am amongst the strongest Christians you will ever know in the twenty first century, because genuine Christians, living in complete abandonment to Christ, will always appear weak and unless you too have been there with Him, you will not recognize my strength in Him.

Please do not go off your meds and say that M.J said you did not need them. Especially if your intent is to remain the master of your life instead of keeping your gaze on the crucified Christ, while going forward to find life in Him as your living water. I mean by that, going beyond word and apply it to your life through faith, grace and the Holy Spirit as the changing agent. I also mean by that, taking the responsibility for what you believe in and what enters your mind.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to forsake all that cause my heart to wander away from you. Help me to accept the pain and inconvenience to serve you, my living God. Teach me how to be so desperate for you that I would become incurable. Make me one of your remnant and keep me there, broken and humble at your feet. I Love you my Lord and Savior!

Here is a link of Oswald Chambers devotional for today.

More Reading on discouragement and self-pity by Arthur Pink

Oswald Chambers

THE TRIUMPHS OF HOPE By D.L. Moody

In the fifteenth chapter of Romans, thirteenth verse, the Apostle says: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.” The next thing then is hope.

Did you ever notice this, that no man or woman is ever used by God to build up His kingdom who has lost hope? Now, I have been observing this throughout different parts of the country, and wherever I have found a worker in God’s vineyard who has lost hope, I have found a man or woman not very useful. Now, just look at these workers. Let your mind go over the past for a moment. Can you think of a man or woman whom God has used to build His kingdom who has lost hope? I don’t know of any; I never heard of such an one. It is very important to have hope in the Church; and it is the work of the Holy Ghost to impart hope. Let Him come into some of the churches where there have not been any conversions for a few years, and let Him convert a score of people, and see how hopeful the Church becomes at once. He imparts hope; a man filled with the Spirit of God will be very hopeful. He will be looking out into the future, and he knows that it is all bright, because the God of all grace is able to do great things. So it is very important that we have hope.

If a man has lost hope, he is out of communion with God; he has not the Spirit of God resting upon him for service; he may be a son of God, and disheartened so that he can not be used of God. Do you know there is no place in the Scriptures where it is recorded that God ever used even a discouraged man. Some years ago, in my work I was quite discouraged, and I was ready to hang my harp on the willow. I was very much cast down and depressed. I had been for weeks in that state, when one Monday morning a friend, who had a very large Bible class, came into my study. I used to examine the notes of his Sunday-school lessons, which were equal to a sermon, and he came to me this morning and said, “Well, what did you preach about yesterday?” and I told him. I said, “What did you preach about?” and he said that he preached about Noah. “Did you ever preach about Noah?” “No, I never preached about Noah.” “Did you ever study his character?” “No, I never studied his life particularly.” “Well,” says he, “he is a most wonderful character. It will do you good. You ought to study up that character.” When he went out, I took down my Bible, and read about Noah; and then it came over me that Noah worked 120 years and never had a convert, and yet he did not get discouraged; and I said, “Well, I ought not to be discouraged,” and I closed my Bible, got up and walked down town, and the cloud had gone. 

I went down to the noon prayer-meeting, and heard of a little town in the country where they had taken into the church 100 young converts; and I said to myself, I wonder what Noah would have given if he could have heard that; and yet he worked 120 years and didn’t get discouraged. And then a man right across the aisle got up and said, “My friends, I wish you to pray for me; I think I’m lost;” and I thought to myself, “I wonder what Noah would have given to hear that.” He never heard a man say, “I wish you to pray for me; I think I am lost,” and yet he didn’t get discouraged! Oh, children of God, let us not get discouraged; let us ask God to forgive us, if we have been discouraged and cast down; let us ask God to give us hope, that we may be ever hopeful. It does me good sometimes to meet some people and take hold of their hands; they are so hopeful, while other people throw a gloom over me because they are all the time cast down, and looking at the dark side, and looking at the obstacles and difficulties that are in the way.

The Hiding Place

By James Smith 

"A MAN will be as a hiding place from the wind,And a refuge from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shade of a massive rock in an arid land!" Isaiah 32:2

The present world is like a bleak and cheerless desert; the climate is very changeable, and we are exposed to piercing, cutting winds.

Sometimes dangerous errors,
sometimes deep afflictions,
sometimes soul-distressing trials,
like violent winds, blow upon us and fill us with alarm and dread!
At such times—a hiding place is necessary.

Jesus is our hiding place!

He will hide us from . . .
the wrath of God,
the rage of Hell, and
the injurious effects of trials and troubles!

Beloved, are you in this hiding place? If so, abide in it, for nowhere else will you find such safety, or enjoy such repose!

Hail, sovereign love which first began,
The scheme to rescue fallen man!
Hail, matchless, free, eternal grace,
Which gave my soul a hiding place!

Against the God who rules the sky,
I fought with hand uplifted high!
Despised the notion of His grace,
Too proud to seek a hiding place!

Enwrapt in thick Egyptian night,
And fond of darkness more than light!
Madly I ran the sinful race,
Secure without a hiding place!

But thus the eternal counsel ran:
"Almighty love—arrest that man!"
I felt the arrows of distress,
And found I had no hiding place!

Indignant Justice stood in view;
To Sinai's fiery mount I flew!
But Justice cried, with frowning face,
"This mountain is no hiding place!"

E'er long, a heavenly voice I heard,
And Mercy's angel soon appeared;
He led me on with gentle pace,
To Jesus as my hiding place!

Should sevenfold storms of thunder roll,
And shake the earth from pole to pole;
No thunder bolt could daunt my face,
For Jesus is my hiding place!

On Him almighty vengeance fell,
That would have sunk a world to hell!
He bore it for the chosen race,
And thus became their hiding place!

A few more rolling suns at most,
Shall land me on fair Canaan's coast;
Where I shall sing the song of grace,
And see my glorious Hiding Place!

Why are you cast down, O my soul? - Puritan Philpot

Why are you cast down, O my soul?
"Why are you cast down, O my soul?


Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for
I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God."
Psalm 42:11


Do you forget, O soul, that the way to heaven
is a very strait and narrow path; too narrow for
you to carry your sins in it with you?


God sees it good that you should be cast down.
You were getting very proud, O soul.
The world had gotten hold of your heart.
You were seeking great things for yourself.
You were secretly roving away from the Lord.
You were too much lifted up in SELF.


The Lord has sent you these trials and difficulties
and allowed these temptations to fall upon you,
to bring you down from your state of false security.
There is reason therefore, even to praise God
for being cast down, and for being so disturbed.
How this opens up parts of God's Word which
you never read before with any feeling.


How it gives you sympathy and communion
with the tried and troubled children of God.
How it weans and separates you from dead professors.
How it brings you in heart and affection,
out of the world that lies in wickedness.


And how it engages your thoughts, time after time,
upon the solemn matters of eternity; instead of being
a prey to every idle thought and imagination; and
tossed up and down upon a sea of vanity and folly.


But, above all, when there is a sweet response from
the Lord, and the power of divine things is inwardly
felt, in enabling us to hope in God, and to praise His
blessed name; then we see the benefit of being cast
down and so repeatedly and continually disturbed.


"Why are you cast down, O my soul?


 Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for
I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God."
Psalm 42:11

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Pause to ponder on the word of God

Psalm 23:4  “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me”

2 Corinthians 7:5-6 “For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn-fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,”

Jeremiah. 8:21"Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me.”

Jeremiah 9:1 “If only my head were a pool of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night for all my people who have been slaughtered.”

Psalm 121:1-2  “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

Stop and read

John T. Cacioppo, Professor at the University of Chicago explains why loneliness is bad for you.
“Loneliness not only increases wear and tear, by keeping the body in alert mode, but also may prevent people from recharging their batteries with rest and relaxation… His work has convinced Cacioppo that loneliness is a health risk on its own, apart from conditions such as depression or stress that are common fellow travellers. More specifically, it seems to be the subjective experience of loneliness that’s important for people’s well-being, rather than any objective measure of social connectivity (the number of close contacts someone has, for example). It’s an important distinction that most previous studies had ignored, says Daniel Russell, a psychologist at Iowa State University in Ames. “Some people are socially isolated and they’re not lonely,” Russell says. “By contrast, some people are lonely even if they have a lot of social contacts.”

Because loneliness is a negative feeling, it, of course, affects us physically and mentally. In fact, studies have shown that life can become so distorted through loneliness that some people want to commit suicide. Some people would do anything to get attention, others become drug addicts, and some drink heavily, all to escape their own world. Some people gain weight, some become irritated and irrational, there is also sleep deprivation, and some exhibit various levels of anger. 

Here is a partial list associated with the effect of loneliness in our lives.
1.      Lead to depression
2.      Depression and suicide
3.      Antisocial behaviour
4.      Sleeplessness
5.      May trigger substance abuse for those in addiction recovery
6.      Altered brain function
7.      Poor decision-making
8.      It affects your spiritual life with God
9.      Causes drastic decrease of memory
10.    Cardiovascular disease and stroke

It does not matter which study you look into, they will all tell you that loneliness can be overcome. After you go through all the psychobabble, you find that the bottom line is helping those who are affected by loneliness and depression to shift their attention and interpretation of their situation in a more positive direction.  This brings me to ask you a question about your loneliness. Have you thought about making the God that you serve, your all and all? I have one verse from Revelation 12:11 “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”

Pray to God  

Oh my dear Savior, I no longer want to live a fragmented and unhealthy life. Restore my life in you and make me whole. I need your light to shine within me today and take the darkness away.  Come and take my burden away and let me experience your peace. Teach me how to delight in you. Teach me how to make you my God. Teach me how to learn to focus on you and yearn for you. Unchangeable God, right now I feel like a hypocrite because the self has never decreased. Help me trust myself to your care. Help me to stop serving my own ends and let you deal with me. Fear, doubt and self-centeredness are all I know. Help me live a life of trust in you alone. A life completely subdued and overpowered by you. Above all else, help me to live out my identity in you. Shed your love in my heart and help me walk in fellowship with you. Give me wisdom to see clearly and understand your mighty sacrifice for me. Teach my heart how to trust you. Make me willing to be willing to do your will, make me willing to walk the walk and die to self so that I can leave behind loneliness, depression, fear, paranoia,  anxiety and everything else that comes with not trusting you to care for my life. Help me to experience life lived in you.

How To Pray through Depression & Loneliness! - Free Kindle on August 2, 3, & 4

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When you feel lonely and/or depressed, you are not alone in your struggle, and there is no reason to feel shame or fear talking about it. Being a Christian doesn't make you immune from feelings of hopelessness, depression and loneliness. As a result, whether you are struggling with depression; or you are feeling a deep sadness and completely empty inside, with a loss of interest in activities; or you are feeling lonely because of the loss of a loved one or lonely because you are a single parent, there is hope.

Those unhealthy, negative, and painful emotions that have hijacked your life and keep you in bondage do not have to be covered up, nor do you need to find excuses for them. They can be dealt with as you move to acknowledge them and understand them better.

The Bible has a lot to say about depression and loneliness to help us in our journey. This devotion book is meant to be a companion to help you pray, pause and ponder on the word of God, when you are at a loss for words, and you feel you are being swallowed up by this relentless black cloud. God defines us by our love for Him, our commitment and willingness to trust and obey Him, along with our attitude and honesty before Him. All these things reveal our true walk with Him. Therefore, even though we stumble, we sin, we fail Him over and over again, He does not define us by our failures. As you go through your illness, remember His love for you, and go to Him; don’t hold anything back from Him.

This depression and loneliness prayer book offers personal tried-and-true guidelines to help you overcome these feelings. It outlines Christ-centred guidelines to help you out in overcoming through God’s strength. Plenty of prayers and verses of the Bible have been included for you to gain insight in your spiritual battle. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, who knows us better than we know ourselves, all things are possible.

 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21 )

In His Agape Love,

M.J. Andre

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Depression & Bible Verses

Oswald Chambers

Taking the Initiative Against Depression

"Arise and eat"

—1 Kings 19:5

The angel in this passage did not give Elijah a vision, or explain the Scriptures to him, or do anything remarkable. He simply told Elijah to do a very ordinary thing, that is, to get up and eat. If we were never depressed, we would not be alive—only material things don’t suffer depression. If human beings were not capable of depression, we would have no capacity for happiness and exaltation. There are things in life that are designed to depress us; for example, things that are associated with death. Whenever you examine yourself, always take into account your capacity for depression.

When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable. Depression tends to turn us away from the everyday things of God’s creation. But whenever God steps in, His inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things-things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there. The inspiration that comes to us in this way is an initiative against depression. But we must take the first step and do it in the inspiration of God. If, however, we do something simply to overcome our depression, we will only deepen it. But when the Spirit of God leads us instinctively to do something, the moment we do it the depression is gone. As soon as we arise and obey, we enter a higher plane of life.

BIBLE VERSES & DEPRESSION

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. (Deuteronomy 31:8)

You are my lamp O Lord; the Lord turns my darkness into light. (2 Samuel 22:29)

Anyone who is among the living has hope. (Ecclesiastes 9:4)

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. (Psalms 9:9)

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee, be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." (Isaiah 41:10)

Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. (Psalm 27:14)

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all. (Psalm 34:18-19)

Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. (Psalm 107:13-16)

If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumbles, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. (Psalm 37:23-34)

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God. (Psalm 43:5)

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. (Psalm 55:22)

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. (Psalm 62: 5)

Nevertheless God, that comforts, those that are depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus;  And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more. (2 Corinthians 7:6-7

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

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