A Right to be Depressed?

Jeremiah probably felt he had a right to be depressed. Read with me the following scripture that shows what he was going through during his ministry.

O Lord, You [b]induced me, and I was persuaded.

You are stronger than I and have prevailed.

I am [c]in derision daily.

Everyone mocks me.

8 

For when I spoke, I cried out.

I shouted, “Violence and plunder!”

Because the word of the Lord was made to me

A reproach and a derision daily.

9 

Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him,

Nor speak anymore in His name.”

But His word was in my heart like a burning fire

Shut up in my bones.

I was weary of holding it back,

And I could not.

10 

For I heard many [d]mocking:

“Fear on every side!”

“Report,” they say, “and we will report it!”

All my acquaintances watched for my stumbling, saying,

“Perhaps he can be induced.

Then we will prevail against him,

Jeremiah 20:7-10

He is known as the weeping prophet by some. He was constantly under attack by those he loved He didn't marry and have children because God had forbidden him to do this. He was lonely and felt defeated during his life. And yet, read what the next few verses say in that passage:

But the Lord is with me as a mighty, awesome One.

Therefore, my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail.

They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper.

Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten.

You who test the righteous,

And see the [e]mind and heart,

Let me see Your vengeance on them.

For I have pleaded my cause before You.

 

Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!

For He has delivered the life of the poor

From the hand of evildoers.

Jeremiah 20:11-13

Isn't just like us as believers in Christ Jesus, to complain, feel sorry for ourselves and to be sad when things aren't going the way we want them too. 

I think Jeremiah was struggling much the same as we do in our lives today. We go from being thankful to God, to asking him why he is letting hard things happen to us. It can be so bad, that we can often let the sadness take over our lives. 

And we might wish that we had never been born.

And let the man be like the cities

Which the Lord overthrew and did not relent.

Let him hear the cry in the morning!

And the shouting at noon,

 

Because he did not kill me from the womb,

That my mother might have been my grave,

And her womb always enlarged with me.

 

Why did I come forth from the womb to see [f]labor and sorrow,

That my days should be consumed with shame.

Jeremiah 20:14-18

God doesn't want us to live like that. To be depressed and sad. And yet he knows us inside and out. What we are and are not. Because of course, he created us in our mother's womb. Psalm 139:13. And not only that, but he gave us his Word. To study, to understand what he wants for us. And to know that He loves us. That should be the most wonderful thing of all to mediate on in the darkest of moments. 

Jesus loves us. And he wants to spend eternity with us! Wow, what a thought! To be able to live with Him someday! Because Friend, not everyone will be able to say that. Because it will be their choice. Not God's. 

Thanks for coming by today. I won't be here tomorrow but hope to on Tuesday. And I don't know yet if I will continue on the same line because I have covered these subjects before. So as always feel free to roam around my posts and read what looks interesting but also important to your life. God bless you and yours!

What Do We Choose Every day? Gladness or Sadness?

 

How can we possibly be happy with all that is going around us. Not only in our own world but also in the world around us. As much as we love our families, many moms struggle with depression due to the everyday problems that seem to go on forever and no end in sight. Put that with the world or even local news, and what happens? We might decide to escape through alcohol or smoking pot. Or even getting addicted to other drugs. Or worse.

Some of you might disagree but, in my opinion, we as believers must sometimes choose to be happy by starting each day with deciding that as we get up each morning, As I usually will say, it starts can start by reading God's Word. 

God created joy. In fact, it is one of the fruits of the Spirit:

Galatians 5:22 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith

Do you know that a happy heart is good medicine? It's true. That scripture is found in Proverbs 17:22. But notice with me the rest of that verse. 

But a broken spirit dries up the bones.

If we could just make people understand that how they let feelings of rejection, low self-worth, sadness and all like emotions of that kind, really helps kill us. We get defeated sometimes as soon as we get up or perhaps even during the night as we toss and turn, that things will never get better, or life is too much to take.

And if we could just learn to be joyful ourselves. For I believe most of us do struggle with those things that want to take us down. And possibly kill us.

 

However, we are not alone. Some of God's own people in days gone by suffered from depression. 

You may want to look them up to check them out for yourself. Here are a few.

• Jonah (Jonah 4)
• Job (Book of Job)
• Elijah (1 Kings 19) 
• King Saul (I Samuel 16:14-23, etc.)u

Others include Moses, Naomi, Hagar, David, Nehemiah, Hannah, Job, Judas, Paul, and John the Baptist.

And I wonder how many pastors actually preach sermons on any of these people to show that God's own people in the Bible struggled with depression and how they were able to deal with it. Because after all, God did want this subject to be in the Bible which over all is to teach us how to live. Right.?  It had to an important subject to Him.

I don't believe that we have to walk around all the time like there is nothing wrong in our lives. We are not meant to be a person that lies to people to make them think that we have no problems. But I do believe we can be a joyful person in the midst of our suffering, knowing that our God gives us good things. And more importantly what Jesus did for us on Calvary. Just His love alone should cross out all negative feelings. At least most of the time.  But I don't think we should let those things that are so heavy to carry, to weight us down all the time and take away our happiness. 

 

I am going to do a dive into the lives of the people mentioned above and see what we can find out just what their problems were and how they handled them. Please come back tomorrow and we will begin with Jonah. You may want to get a head start on him in Chapter 4.

Thanks for coming by. May God bless your coming and goings today and every day. Deuteronomy 28:

About Faith

How can we have faith in God not only through the rest of the year, but through 2024 and beyond? I mean, we need it now in these uncertain times. Right?

And like I said in yesterday's post, we all have a bit of faith. The thing is, what kind of faith do we have? It could be in our job, our family or maybe in ourselves. But God wants us to have faith in Him. 

The thing is, if we are believers, we already have a bit of faith that can grow. For Jesus said this

• Matthew 17:20 KJV: "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."

And I believe that grain of faith is born in us when we accept Christ as our personal Savior. It takes faith to believe that Jesus lived, died, was resurrected and died for our sin. Or maybe for some that was the easy part. If you as a child was raised in a Christian home that taught you these things, it may have been easy to believe that. It was for me. 

But those years have passed. As time went along, I grew up and faced some difficult challenges in my life. But like I said, with each trail that I faced, it helped me develop a strong faith that I now have. 

For Christmas last year, my daughter gave me a hoodie. And it has the word Faith embroidered on it. Surely the past 14 months of my life had left me with a challenge that I didn't see coming when my husband had passed away. And thankfully, and because I had learned what faith was and had let it grow, it got even stronger now that I had become a widow. 

But don't be fooled by my testimony. I am not perfect. Or better than anyone else. But along paths way, God had been preparing me for the year of 2022 when suddenly my husband would be gone. It wasn't easy, or fun many times when I was faced with a trial. But these events had changed me. 

And it had directed my life on to the path that God wanted for me to travel.

Many people look at the news every day and see what horrible things are going on around the world. They have no hope if they have not trusted God. But he says that we will have troubles in our life. Look at what he tells us.

 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33

But there can't be much peace in what He was saying unless we have faith that this was not just something that He felt like saying. No, he meant it and when we see the crazy things happening, if we ask Him, he will add to our faith. 

I think faith is something that some people get a little at a t time. With every step forward it is added by God to our situations. Perhaps to prepare us for a far away journey in life that we will need to really be strong in it.

I will add one more scripture to this because it is important to know that God really wants us to grow in faith. 

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews11:6

We must believe that He exists to please Him. It is a must if we want to please God. And then He will reward us when we seek Him. 

Faith the size of a mustard seed. We have that much at least when we accept Him. But how much more can we please God when as we grow, we know that when we go through the hard times of life, that His grace has been what has taught us to know He is with us getting us through them.

Thanks for coming by this evening, Friends. I won't be posting tomorrow, November 8. But I plan to on the 9th so I hope you will join me that day. I will most likely be posting in the evenings and be online line with them by 10 pm ext.

God bless you, And may He be with you and yours

What is Faith? Do you have any?

What is faith anyway? Do you, have any? 

We all have it to some degree. Or we wouldn't leave our homes to jump into an automobile and go where we need to go.

I know of a friend who is with Jesus now, she would not go anywhere in her car until she prayed for God to protect her. I think she had a true sense of what it was because she walked it out in her everyday life and in more than just that way. 

But what about the big things that come along? Those things that bogs us down with worry and uncertainty.

The bible says that we will have troubles in our lives. (John 16:33)

 But why? Aren't we as Christians supposed to live happy and carefree lives?

I accepted Jesus into my heart a long time ago at the very tender age of 8. And I remember thinking about that concept soon afterwards. That life was really going to be good and I wouldn't have any problems. I am not sure why I was thinking that way. I was just a child. Maybe I had heard something about it from the adults in my life or at church. I don't know.

What I was to find out, was just how completely wrong it was. And completely unbiblical.

At some time during that year, my mother. ended up in the hospital that year for the first time that I knew of, because of mental problems. And from there, my life went downhill in so many ways.

But as time went on, and once I really got serious with God, I have learned that each trial I got through, I would be encouraged by a little more faith than the trial before.

But its 2023 now. What has faith got to do with the here and now.

Come back tomorrow. Maybe we can figure it out. Or maybe we just know because we have lived it in our own lives. 

Thanks for coming friends. I am amazed that I am still getting traffic here after being gone for the time that I have. And so, I am trying to get back. Please use this site as a way to minister to others when you find a post that will help someone else. God's Word is not meant for us to hide it for ourselves. It is meant to be proclaimed around the world. To a hurting people. This blog has been my way to try to do that.

Til tomorrow....

 

Apology

 I had planned on having a post today for you. However, I have to apologize. Today has been a bit different and I am not going to be able to have one for you. 

But I will include a couple scriptures on faith for you to mediate on this evening.

• Romans 10:17 - So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
• Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Remember that it is impossible to please God with out of Fath. When we go through the hard times in our lives, we know that God allows those times as opportunities to grow our faith. And he brings all things to the good of those that love Him.

I will try to be back tomorrow or Sunday. Thanks for stopping by. God bless you!

God Will

 

Faith is not hoping God can. It is knowing He will. 

But just what is it that God can do?

Well, let's find out. Faith in God can...

1 Gives us strength Isaiah 12:2 

2 Gives us a song Isaiah 12:2

3 Gives rewards to those that seek him Hebrews 11:6

4 Gives us hope Hebrews 11:1

5 It saves us through God because it is his gift to us Ephesians 2:8

6 It can move our mountains 2 Corinthians5:7

These are just a sprinkling of bible verses that are about faith. Did you know there are 82 verses about faith and the word "faith' appears 514 times in the bible. 

You would think that faith is a very important subject to God. wouldn't you?

Well, we know that because of this next verse: 

 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6

It is necessary for us as believers, to live by faith. And if it's not in our lives, it should be if we want God's rewards and favor.

When my husband passed, it was a shock. I didn't know how things would go for me financially as well as emotionally. I determined into my heart though, that I was going to have faith in my God, no matter what. 

Those weeks after his death were hard. But it presented me with a chance to prove that God was not leaving me or forsaking me just because death had taken my husband. And. not only has God not done that, but he is also blessing me.

Today it is amazing that almost a year later, how my life has changed and how God has and is taking care of me. 

Sad? Yes. That doesn't just stop when you love someone, and they pass on. But God has been here for me every second of everyday and i rejoice that my husband is safe in the arms of Jesus, and I will be there one day too.

My question is: How is your faith today? I pray it is where it needs to be in God. If not, make that a determined action and belief in your life. That no matter what comes, you know that you know that God is with you and will take care of you.

Finally, just know that I do not consider myself so good that faith comes easy for me. I have no bragging rights to that theory believe me. But I do know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.  2 Timothy 1:12.

Amen and Amen!!!!

Thanks for sticking around all these months, my friends. I will be back probably on Friday with some more words on faith. I hope you will come back that day. 

God bless!!!!

Starting up again

 I happened to come by here today and see that even though I have not been posting, someone is still visiting here and its almost unbelievable to me that God is still using these posts for his Glory. I feels its almost a sign that I am to continue. I plan to start back tomorrow and do want you to know that it I will post a couple (but not limited to) or maybe three posts per week. My life has been very overwhelming since the death of my husband passed away almost a year ago. I am hanging on to God with every ounce of strength I have and it has not been easy. But He is helping me as I try to depend on him. My scripture for today is as follows:

... said unto them, Occupy till I come. Luke 19:13

This was from a parable that Jesus told and I would have to study it to be able to say more about what it means. But the above part of it reminds me that we are to live life until he comes back. And also until that happens, we must do that as well.  

At any rate, I am so glad that those that are still coming, have not given up on me. And I happily have you come. I will be back tomorrow. Have a very blessed rest of your day.