Six Ways Jesus Fought Depression

 

And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. (Matthew 26:37)

The Bible gives us an amazing glimpse into the soul of Jesus the night before he was crucified. Watch and learn from the way Jesus fought his strategic battle against despondency or depression.

He chose some close friends to be with him. “Taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee” (Matthew 26:37).

He opened his soul to them. He said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death” (Matthew 26:38).

He asked for their intercession and partnership in the battle. “Remain here, and watch with me” (Matthew 26:38).

He poured out his heart to his Father in prayer. “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39).

He rested his soul in the sovereign wisdom of God. “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39).

He fixed his eye on the glorious future grace that awaited him on the other side of the cross. “For the joy that was set before him [he] endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

When something drops into your life that seems to threaten your future, remember this: The first shock waves of the bomb in your heart, like the ones Jesus felt in Gethsemane, are not sin. The real danger is yielding to them. Giving in. Putting up no spiritual fight. And the root of that sinful surrender is unbelief — a failure to fight for faith in future grace. A failure to cherish all that God promises to be for us in Jesus.

In Gethsemane Jesus shows us another way. Not painless, and not passive. Follow him. Find your trusted spiritual friends. Open your soul to them. Ask them to watch with you and pray. Pour out your soul to the Father. Rest in the sovereign wisdom of God. And fix your eyes on the joy set before you in the precious and magnificent promises of God.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU FEEL PURPOSELESS IN LIFE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY JULY 09, 2022.

SUBJECT : WHAT TO DO IF YOU FEEL PURPOSELESS IN LIFE! 

Memory verse: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him."  (James 1 vs 5.)

READ: Second Corinthians 13 vs 5: 

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.

INTIMATION: 

Sometimes life’s circumstances make one feel as nothing is working rightly in his life. Consequently, he feels that his life has no purpose. Even though you feel like you are wandering without any true purpose, that doesn’t mean you are lost. You can regain your sense of purpose and discover what God has for your life. As a Christian, once you are not living a life centered on Christ, you are not leading a purpose driven life for God. Here are 6 ways to discover God’s purpose for your life.

(1) GO TO GOD IN PRAYER.

In God all things consist. He created you and predetermined the purpose(s) you are to serve. If you feel purposeless, ask God to give you wisdom and direction. If you don’t know what you are doing, pray to God. He loves to help. You will get His help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought, and you will have what you have asked.

That is incredibly good news. God wants to give you a purpose. He wants to bestow divine wisdom on you. It’s not like God is holding out on you to make you miserable. He desires you to have a joyful, ambitious, purposeful life. Ask God for purpose and expect Him to give it to you.

(2) MEDITATE ON GOD’S WORD.

The primary way God speaks to us is through the Bible. This means that one of the first things you should do in your search for God’s purpose is to start digging into scripture. Now, you won’t find any verses that tell you to become a doctor or painter, but you will begin to understand the heart of God. Psalm 119 vs 105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” God’s word brings light to paths that otherwise seem dark. In the Bible you learn how to live wisely in God’s world, which is the first step toward finding your purpose.

(3) DETERMINE YOUR GIFTS AND STRENGTHS.

God has given you very specific gifts and strengths. Maybe you’mare an exceptional dancer or a wise counselor. Maybe you have a mind for electronics or business. Maybe you’re great at organizing people and getting things done. God’s purpose for you probably involves the things you are already good at. This is where education can be particularly valuable. Going to college or going back to college allows you to discover your gifts and then determine how you are going to use them. It also connects you with people who want to help you find your purpose.

(4) DETERMINE YOUR PASSIONS.

What is one thing or those things you are particularly passionate about? Really, this can be anything. Business, art, economics, alleviating poverty, whatever. If money wasn’t an issue, what would you love to do?

Determining your passions often helps you figure out what God has called you to do. It is often said that God works at the intersection of our gifts and our passions. Where do your gifts meet your passions? That may be God’s purpose for you.

(5) BRING OTHERS INTO YOUR LIFE.

There is security in the counsel of many. Two heads of counsel are always better than one. One person’s perspective and understanding is severely limited; he or she may not have all the facts or may be blinded by bias, emotions, or wrong impressions. Proverbs 11 vs 14 says, “Where there is no counsel, the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” In other words, one of the main ways God will help you find your purpose is through others. A caveat needs to be made here. Your counselors should be people you trust. Whether this is your professors, parents or friends, it needs to be people who have your back and want the best for you. You want wise counselors to help you find God’s purpose for you.

(6) TAKE A SOLITUDE RETREAT.

Sometimes it can be incredibly helpful to get away from it all and take some unhurried time to think, pray and journal. You don’t have to spend a week in the woods for this to be effective. Even just a day away from the hustle and bustle can be hugely rewarding.

During these retreats, allow yourself to simply be still. To ponder. To ask God for direction and listen for His voice. This doesn’t need to be complicated and doesn’t require any elaborate rituals. Hebrews 11 vs 6 is a reminder that God always rewards those who diligently seek him. He is not hiding in the dark, trying to keep His will hidden from you. He wants to guide you.

(7) ABOVE ALL, PUT YOUR TRUST IN GOD.

Trying to discover your life purpose can be a stressful, overwhelming thing. It can seem like such a big, confusing, frustrating subject. You want to move forward, but you are not sure how. You want to find your purpose, but you feel like you’re aimlessly wandering. But you can trust God to lead you where He wants you to go. As Psalm 23 vs 2 - 3 says, “He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” As you go about your daily tasks, God is working in your life in ways you may not know or even notice. We must not close the door on what God can do. Events do not occur by luck or coincidence. We should have faith that God is directing our lives for His purpose. 

Prayer: Abba Father, I know that the ways of a man is not in himself, and by strength shall no man prevail. Without You I can do nothing. Determine my steps that I may walk according to Your predetermined purposes for my life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Saving Faith Loves Forgiveness

 

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)

Saving faith is not merely believing that you are forgiven. Saving faith looks at the horror of sin, and then looks at the holiness of God, and apprehends spiritually that God’s forgiveness is unspeakably glorious, beautiful. We don’t just receive it; we admire it. We are satisfied with our new friendship with such a great, forgiving God.

Faith in God’s forgiveness does not merely mean a persuasion that I am off the hook. It means savoring the truth that a forgiving God is the most precious reality in the universe. Saving faith cherishes being forgiven by God, and from there rises to cherishing the God who forgives — and all that he is for us in Jesus. This experience has a tremendous effect on our becoming forgiving people.

The great act of purchasing our forgiveness is past — the cross of Christ. By this backward look, we learn of the grace in which we will ever stand (Romans 5:2). We learn that we are now, and always will be, loved and accepted. We learn that the living God is a forgiving God.

But the great act of experiencing our forgiveness goes on forever into the future. Our joyful fellowship with the great God who forgives lasts forever. Therefore, freedom for forgiveness, flowing from this all-satisfying fellowship with the forgiving God, lasts as long as we do.

I have learned that it is possible to go on holding a grudge if your faith simply means you have looked back to the cross and concluded that you are off the hook. That’s why I have been forced to go deeper into what true faith is — not just a relief that I’m off the hook, but also a profound satisfaction with all that God is for me in Jesus. This faith looks back not merely to discover that we are off the hook, but also to see and savor the kind of God who offers us a future of endless reconciled tomorrows in fellowship with him. Satisfied fellowship with such a forgiving God is crucial for our being forgiving people.

SIGNS OF NOT LIVING IN GOD-GIVEN PURPOSE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY JULY 08, 2022.

SUBJECT : SIGNS OF NOT LIVING IN GOD-GIVEN PURPOSE! 

Memory verse: "You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."  (Psalm 16 vs 11.)

READ: Psalms 17 vs 5: 

17:5: Uphold my steps in Your paths, that my footsteps may not slip. 

INTIMATION: 

We have known that everything got started in God, and finds its purpose in Him. God has His reasons for creating the world. He has a purpose for creating all that are in the world, and determines the purpose to be served by all He created. All these are tailored to the form and nature of our Creator—our God is a God of purpose. To live purposefully in this life, we need to understand why we are created, and brought into this world by the Creator. Discovering that purpose makes life worth living, and you make the best of life here on earth.

There some key signs that you may not be living in the fullness of God’s purpose for you. 

As a Christian, once you are not living a life centered on Christ, you are not leading a purpose driven life for God. then we will understand how we can glorify God in all things. In this way, we can lead a purpose driven life for God. We will discuss here six signs that you don’t have much purpose in your life.

(1) YOU ARE BLATANTLY LIVING IN SIN.

Sin is a reproach, it is a revolution against God. If you’re blatantly disobeying the Bible, you’re not living in God’s purpose and you will certainly experience a sense of aimlessness in your life. This sign is quite straightforward so we don’t need to spend too much time here.

(2) YOU FEEL UNFULFILLED IN LIFE.

If you go about your days experiencing little fulfillment, you may be wandering from your God-given purpose. Fulfillment comes from doing rewarding, meaningful, purposeful things. From a job that taps into your skills and passions. From a relationship that involves giving and receiving. From hobbies that are invigorating instead of mind-numbing. Yes, you’ll have to do certain things that are boring and unfulfilling, but if you’re entire life is gray, you probably need a change.

(3) YOU LACK JOY AND EXCITEMENT.

If you wake up every day filled with apathy or dread or total boredom, you are probably not doing what you were meant to do. God has created you uniquely, has really good things planned for you and one of the fruits of the Spirit is joy (Galatians 5 vs 22). Undoubtedly, there will be difficult things you encounter that require patience and persistence, but overall you should have a sense of joy and excitement that fills your days, your work and your relationships.

(4) YOU ARE NOT COMMITTED TO WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

You are not committed to what you are doing.  You always have the feeling of pointless work. You go to the office, clock in, do your job, then go home and collapse in front of the television. You work for the weekends and for retirement. All true joy you experience comes from things outside of work, from hobbies or friends or side jobs. If this kind commitment is what you feel at what you are doing, you may need to rethink where you are headed.

(5) YOU FEEL TRAPPED.

When you have the feeling that you are stuck in you life’s pursuit, then there is a problem. You earnestly desire a change but also feel totally stuck in your life, that is s almost certainly a sign that you are not walking according to God’s purpose. Those who are stuck want to go in a particular direction but don’t know how to get there. So they spin their wheels, feeling endlessly frustrated but unsure of how to make the frustration end. Do you feel trapped?

(6) YOU HAVE NO DIRECTION.

If you don’t know God’s purpose for your life, you constantly feel a sense of aimlessness. You feel as though you are wandering from thing to thing without any forward progress. Nothing excites you and you don’t have any specific goals you are working toward. Unlike the Israelites, who wandered for 40 years yet still had a goal (the Promised Land), you don’t even have a goal in front of you. That is an obvious sign you are not living in accordance with your God’s given purpose.

Prayer: Abba Father, I know that the ways of a man is not in himself, determine my steps that I may walk according to Your predetermined purposes for my life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

When Another Christian Hurts You

 

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24)

What is the basis of our not holding grudges against Christian brothers and sisters who repent?

Our moral indignation because of a terrible offense done against us does not evaporate just because the offender is a Christian. In fact, we may feel even more betrayed. And a simple, “I’m sorry” will often seem utterly disproportionate to the painfulness and ugliness of the offense.

But in this case we are dealing with fellow Christians and the promise of God’s wrath against our offender does not apply, because there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). “God has not destined [Christians] for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:9). It looks like they are going to get away with it!

Where shall we turn to assure ourselves that justice will be done — that Christianity is not a mockery of the seriousness of sin?

The answer is that we look to the cross of Christ. All the wrongs that have been done against us by genuine believers were avenged in the death of Jesus. This is implied in the simple but staggering fact that all the sins of all God’s people were laid on Jesus. “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6; 1 Peter 2:24).

The suffering of Christ was the real punishment and recompense of God on every hurt you have ever received from a fellow Christian. Therefore, Christianity does not make light of sin. It does not add insult to our injury.

On the contrary, it takes the sins against us so seriously that, to make them right, God gave his own Son to suffer more than we could ever make anyone suffer for what they have done to us. If we go on holding a grudge against a fellow believer, we are saying in effect that the cross of Christ was not a sufficient recompense for the sins of God’s people. This is an insult to Christ and his cross you do not want to give.

DISCOVERING YOUR GOD-GIVEN PURPOSE! - PART 2.

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY JULY 07, 2022.

SUBJECT : DISCOVERING YOUR GOD-GIVEN PURPOSE! - PART 2.

Memory verse: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you, I ordained you a prophet to the nations."  (Jeremiah 1 vs 5.)

READ: Psalms 139 vs 13 - 17: 

139:13: For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.

139:14: I will praise You; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Your works; and that my soul knows very well.

139:15: My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

139:16: Your eyes saw my substance, being yet informed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.

139:17: How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

INTIMATION: 

As earlier stated yesterday, the major purpose of God creating us is to give Him glory. All the purposes we are to serve must bring glory to God. It is a right thing to bring glory to God because there is no one greater who is worthy of trust, adoration, and worship. Therefore, for the Christian, we are to live to bring glory to God, and how we do that is through prayer and study of His Word, the Bible, so that we might better know what He has for us. Continuing from yesterday, I will be discussing more ways to glorify God in your everyday life.

5. Leading A Christlike Life

Once we learn to lead a life that is Christ-centered, then we will understand how we can glorify God in all things. In this way, we can lead a purpose driven life for God. Any lifestyle devoid of lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life is a Christlike lifestyle. When you are engulfed in pursuing worldly things like money, power, women, and status without realizing how temporary they are, you are leading a purposeless life because this world and therein will one day pass away. Therefore, live in this world with eternity consciousness, and your life will be pleasing to the Lord and God will direct your steps to be in conformity with His predetermined purposes you are created to serve. 

6: Examine your gifts

The gifts God gave you are also road signs to where God is directing you to. Have you ever considered your talents and gifts? Do you get a kick out of soccer? Are you a strategic thinker? A great listener? Can you motivate others to action with your words? Are you skilled at building things? I suggest making a list of the things and activities that interest you in which you excel. You can also ask yourself, “What’s the one thing that I do better than others?” This can also clue you in to your God-given purpose.

The gifts God gives us are like little seeds planted inside us, but for them to grow we have to use them. This means that if you can’t identify which “Gift Seeds” God has given you, try doing new things that interest you. Through these new experiences, God will reveal more to you about who you are and how He has called you to serve Him.

7: Examine your passions

Identify the things and/or circumstances that emotionally revive you. If you could ask yourself what makes you angry, joyful, excited or passionate, what would you say? Take note of when your emotions are moved; these times can be a sign of your God-given purpose. For instance, I am always very deeply perturbed when I see fellow human beings suffering and in deep want. When I hear about little children being abused, I get angry. When someone tells me a story about loyal love, I am deeply moved. Talking about Christ stirs me up. 

When coupled with my talents, these passions point in the direction of my purpose of written and spoken communication about things that deeply impact people on a spiritual and emotional level. Pray. Ask God to show you the things that move you and make a list. And remember, He wants you to discover His purpose for you more than you do.

8: Listen to others

Listening to what others say about your gifts can be a road sign from God to show you your purpose; so when someone notices or comments on one of your talents, take note. God may be trying to tell you something through His people. There are times, however, when we shouldn’t listen to what others say. But when what they say about us agrees with our passions, internal convictions, gifting and what God has already revealed to us, it can be a solid indication of our God-given purpose.

Prayer: Abba Father, I know You have wired me with special talents, and abilities for the purposes You intend I will serve You and others in line with the glorious destiny You have bestowed on me. Give me the grace to identify these things that I may serve You and others acceptably so as to achieve the purpose(s) You created me to serve, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

How Christ Conquered Bitterness

 

When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. (1 Peter 2:23)

No one was more grievously sinned against than Jesus. Every ounce of animosity against him was completely undeserved.

No one has ever lived who was more worthy of honor than Jesus; and no one has been dishonored more.

If anyone had a right to get angry and be bitter and vengeful, it was Jesus. How did he control himself when scoundrels, whose very existence he sustained, spit in his face? First Peter 2:23 gives the answer: “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

What this verse means is that Jesus had faith in the future grace of God’s righteous judgment. He did not need to avenge himself for all the indignities he suffered, because he entrusted his cause to God. He left vengeance in God’s hands and prayed for his enemies: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

Peter gives us this glimpse into Jesus’s faith so that we would learn how to live this way ourselves. He said, “You have been called [to endure harsh treatment patiently] . . . because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21).

If Christ conquered bitterness and vengeance by faith in what God, the good Judge, had promised to do, how much more should we, since we have far less right to murmur for being mistreated than he did?