God Healed Me Of Depression

When our daughter, Kaitlyn, was a baby, I went through a season of depression. I had made some decisions with work that wasn’t working out & I was struggling to find my footing. I even thought God wasn’t pleased with me. I became very low in spirit & critical of myself & everyone else. 

I struggled to even go to church. It’s like I had no joy in anything that I was doing, even though God had blessed me with a wonderful wife & a beautiful daughter.  

One thing was constant though...my wife’s determination to love me through it & hold my feet to the fire in leading our family forward in faith...after all, I was a “preacher.” 

I hear people today talk a big talk about “I need to step up my game with my kids’ spiritual life. I need to be the spiritual head of my family & lead better.” And yet, those same people, who make such declarations, seem to forget the vows they made & the words that came out of their mouth...once the “feeling” passes. 

They tend to let their children run their house. If the kids don’t want to go to church…they give them the option not to. Somehow they’re always sick on Wednesday night. 

I don’t think we realize just how much God is going to hold us accountable for the way we’ve led our home spiritually. I don’t think we realize how much ground we lose by making slothful decisions concerning spiritual posterity. 

For me, I had a moment where I snapped out of it & recovered myself after months of battling with the depression. 

My wife made sure that even if I wasn’t in church with her...she was at church with our daughter every time the doors were open. She wouldn’t let me quit. She kept up her consistency & prayed for God to get ahold of my mind...she prayed me through it!

I don’t know what I would have done if she would have fallen into the same funk I was in. I guarantee you that we wouldn’t be in the ministry today...let alone pastoring for the past 20 years. 

I’ve never seen such a time like today, where people let the least little things keep them from the elementary principles of the Christian life like...attendance, tithe & serving, etc.  They wonder why they have so many problems. I’m certainly not pointing my finger at anyone, having received grace to get up again myself, but what’s good for me is good for them too.

I believe our daughter is serving God today, with fervor, because her parents made sure to position her in the house of The Lord & made The Lord our number one priority...before anything else in this world. Our parents instilled the same thing in us & the blessing of The Lord has increased in every generation. I pray for a triple anointing to be upon our grandson. 

I would say to anyone that’s going through a rough time spiritually or mentally...staying out of church is not the solution. Your solution comes when you press past the place of give up! 

Stop with the excuses. (I’ve used them all myself.) Get up. Do what you know you’re supposed to be doing. 

If your spouse won’t go to church...you go to church!! Don’t you let anyone talk you into one more excuse! Stop that mess. You’re going to give an account to God for keeping your kids out of church. You may not see it now...but rest assured you will wake up one day & realize it. Especially when you see them repeating the same pattern. 

Sanctify your house with your lifestyle of righteous living. 

My help came faster because I had a woman of God in my corner who wouldn’t let me stop! Today, I give honor to her. 

I challenge you today to be that kind of person for someone you know who is going through. Yes...empathize with them but don’t give into a mindset of self-pity. 

Jesus is the answer.

Jesus is the only way. 

Jesus will break the back of depression off of you!

Much love!

Your Slip Is Showing

When we stay in continual prayer, bible study, fasting, praise/worship & Christian fellowship...we can bust out of any "funk" that is trying to ensnare us. Your pastor can't do it for you (i.e., spouse, boss, etc.) YOU have to made a decision to RESET your thoughts.

Philippians 4:8 "And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."

Philippians 4:9 "Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you."

When you RENEW your MIND, you'll RENEW your PASSION for Jesus. However, if you stay focused on everything except HIM...you'll DRIFT further away from your FIRST LOVE all together & be AIMLESS & ENERGYLESS.

STAY FOCUSED so you don't SLIP! Good TEACHING will KEEP you!

Hebrews 2:1 "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip."

Geography can't fix you.A new this or that can't fix you.Only JESUS can fix you.But you have to let Him.

Drawing From The Well Within

God has already given us everything.  

• There's a well of living water on the inside of every born-again believer. 
• It's not the Lord's fault if we're hungry and thirsty.  
• It's not time to ask Him to come and touch us.  
• It's time for us to start taking, eating and drinking of what He's already given!

I'm not saying there's no place for a Christian to ever have problems or discouragement, or that we should always be perfect and just deny reality.  

• Believers do experience hunger in the sense that they feel empty and God seems like a million miles away.  
• But when we experience that, it's bad taste to approach Him saying, "Oh Lord, I just don't feel Your love.  Please love me.  Do something to show me You care!"  
• We might as well have said, "God, You haven't done anything," because we're blaming Him for our feelings of emptiness and hunger.

We've learned through the Scriptures that God loves us infinitely more than we can ever comprehend or need.  

• He can't love me more or give me any more love than what I already have.  
• Knowing this will keep me out of depression and discouragement!

There have been times when such feelings are tempting.  

• I've had issues and terrible things happen, just like anybody else.  
• I've even had thoughts like, "Man, just get in your truck and drive.  Don't ever come back!  I can't stand it anymore.  Just walk away!"  
• Although I've had these thoughts, I don't give in to them, because I also have a revelation that God loves me and has already provided everything I need.

So instead of giving in to hunger, discouragement and despair, I remind myself of God's Word.  

• I don't say, "Lord, that's the way it is.  Now You must do something brand new to touch me.  I'm looking for something else from You!"  
• That would be an insult against what He's already done.

Instead, I pray, 

• "Father, this is absolutely wrong.  John 6:35 says that I should never hunger or thirst again.  I know that on the inside of me there is so much love, joy and peace - all the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)  Everything I need is already there.  So, Father, I know that You have done Your part.  It's not Your fault if I'm tempted with depression, discouragement, giving up and quitting.  It's my fault.  I'm not focused on You.  I've let my eyes be taken off of You and put on the problems of this world."  

I'll just separate myself and spend a day or so fasting, praying and seeking God.  

• What I'm doing is MINING what the Lord has already placed within me.  
• Instead of asking Him to give me something new, I draw out the life that He's already given.

That's why depression has no hold on us!  

• I've been tempted with depression.  
• I've had feelings of depression start to hit me.  
• But within ten or fifteen minutes, I just decide that I don't like depression and refuse to have it.  
• God has given me such joy inside that I can choose to rejoice at all times.  (Philippians 4:4)