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[Kat]

Hi Stego,

Depression seems to be very common.
I too have had my bouts with it, but I have not had any depression for awhile now  
What do I attribute this lack of depression to, quite simply God.
But it's not that simple either, because I must stay constantly with Him,
either in the Word or prayer.  
Now of course there are times when I go do things,
that are not directly connected to Him, but He's not far from my mind, and I get back to it asap.
This Truth has become for me a life consuming thing, and there is no room for depression.
It is when I was allowing the things of the world to overwhem me, that I was depressed.
To really put your faith and trust in Him completely, is the answer.

Mar 4:19  and the anxieties of this age, and the deceitfulness of the riches, and the desires concerning the other things, entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

Mat 6:34  Don't worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today.

Joh 8:36  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

This is my own personal experience, I say it to give others hope.

mercy, peace, and love
Kat

[Deborah-Leigh]

Hello everyone

For doubts.....Psalm 16:11.....in Your presence is fullness of joy.....

For anguish.....Matt 5:6....Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled....

Arcturus

[chuckusa]

Hi Sean

I agree with you...depression can seem like a bad thing. But the longer I live, the more I realize that depression comes from within. No external manipulationn can remove that if it is Gods will for us to have it in our lives. I truly believe that depression comes from unresolved sin. Certainly we can look at the biological standpoint and examine decreased norepinephrine and serotonin levels, or the psychological standpoint and examine all of the emotional illness definitions...but it all comes down to this. We were created the way we are, we were given these things to deal with, this is our burden to carry.

I'm not saying that I like being depressed, but it sure has motivated me at times. I also realize that if someones brain function is severly disrupted for whatever cause, they may need some type of help...but this is all for a purpose. I guess what I'm trying to say is that my depression is an integral part of my being, a cause for effect, and that I have given this too, to God.

Joe, you are SO RIGHT. It is a fierce, bloody war...with us being caught in the middle, or so it seems. I know this for a fact, as I've got the battle scars to prove it...   I AM weary, but I expect any time to have to strap on my boots and my armor and go at it again...only upon my death will it stop.

Kat, Mark 4:19 is so awesome and true. I often think of verse 39...where Jesus speaks to the sea... " Peace, be still."

I know that all my times of quiet and peace are from God, that he knows I grow weary...that he is giving me rest before the next battle to come.

Love,Chuck

[MG]

John 15
10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

Hebrews 12:2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

James 1
 2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Romans 5
 1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

2 Thessalonians 1
 3We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. 4Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
 5All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.

Hebrews 12:1
[ God Disciplines His Sons ] Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

James 5
 10Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

[stego]

I'll tell you one quote i really liked that Joe posted previously:

"Beloved, think it NOT STRANGE concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some STRANGE thing happened unto you" (I Pet. 4:12).

This is telling me I'm not crazy to feel the way i do, i like being not crazy lol. 

Kat, i am happy that you are happy, and that the truth is making you happy!  You must know more truth than me now, for if i knew and believed the truth that you do i would surely not be depressed.  Maybe for me to put my faith in him completely IS the answer, the solution to my depression, but it is not easy for me now, for whatever reason.   

Arcturus you said "For anguish.....Matt 5:6....Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.... "

I can hardly wait, fill me up!

Chuck you said "But the longer I live, the more I realize that depression comes from within." 

Absolutely i agree with this.

Then you say "No external manipulationn can remove that if it is Gods will for us to have it in our lives."

Surely if it is God's will for me to be depressed then i will be depressed!  But although i know that it was God's will for me to be depressed yesterday, because i was depressed yesterday, what is his will for me today?  If i assume that it is God's will for me to be depressed, how depressing is that!!??  Thinking that God wants me to be depressed actually causes me to be depressed!!   It makes me view God as a mean God, one who just wants me to be sad all the time.  Now, is this true??  This is the lie i have been having trouble not believing.  But since God is good, the truth MUST BE that he does NOT want us to be depressed, just as he would not want for us any other bad thing.   See how confusing this can be?  God's will is always being done, and it is perfectly good, but how can you convince me that feeling like absolute crap was actually GOOD?  Are you kidding me?  That was bad!  But i guess, it must have been for a good reason.  Frustration, confusion, depression.  To get happy i must believe with all my heart that God is good, and the problem has been that i reflect on the bad feelings i have experienced for so long and then said to myself "God caused that" which is true of course but, I guess i just need more faith in his goodness.   i'm terrible for thinking these terrible things about God!  How can i not think myself terrible for this?  jeeeeeeeesh. 

Chuck, you then say "I truly believe that depression comes from unresolved sin"

Ya, for me the sin is not believing God is good despite the fact that he has made me feel bad.  It's hard!   Sometimes i can see God as good more clearly, but then i find
myself having the negative thought i just described and i fall back down to depression.  It's brutal!  I hoping hanging out on the forum can help me increase my faith in God's goodness, that's why i'm here.  Thanks for talking with me guys.  Talk to yall later.

Sean

[chuckusa]

Hey Sean,


Bobby brought up some good points. I also want to clearify what I said because I didn't mean to confuse you. I often assume that other people know what direction I am headed with something and then I leave out too much information.

When I say that I believe that depression comes from unresolved sin, this is more what I meant. Our conscience, which acts a s a "liaison" between the conscious and unconscious mind, does a good job of constantly reminding us of things that we need to know, or face, or understand. I'm sure you have had times where you might say " my conscience is bothering me", and so you go and attempt to resolve that issue. When things are just nagging at us, we tend to feel depressed. At this level, I do feel that our feelings of depression are from unresolved issues (sin) But there is another side to that as Bobby explained.

He mentioned that he takes Paxil. I take a drug called Buspar, which is very similar. When you get to a point where normal functioning is difficult, then that is clearly a different issue. As far as it being unresolved sin, my standpoint was taken from the entire human issue of disease as a whole, and not from a personal level of accountibility. I certainly don't mean that if someone gets cancer or had clinical depression or whetever, that they must have committed a sin and just won't confess it or anything of that nature. I realize that some people may say things like that and I want to make sure you don't think that is what I meant. Mankind is sin, everything bad or evil or harmful is from sin. I was getting way too deep into that subject without explaining myself clearly, so I apologize fot that.

When I said that my depression motivates me, I meant that I do work hard to "clear" my conscience, that those nagging issues do motivate me to an "act" of resolution to the best of my ability. So at that level depression often works in my favor.

A clinical depression, as Bobby mentioned is a very difficult and serious thing. This type can permeate your entire life and can be extremely debilitating. That is when you must seek help. God gave us the art of medicine, and I believe that we should utilize it when ever possible.

You are NOT crazy my friend, we all have moments of depression, especially during times that we are being cleansed by the spirit. I too love that verse that Joe quoted. Things can truly seem "strange" at times during our walk. It is true, it can be brutal, but you are going through the same things that we all go through, I assure you. We all doubt or question God at times, but that doesn't mean that it will always be that way. These things do take time.

Anyway, this is way too long, but I regret when I don't explain myself very well, just wanted to clearify what I said.

Sean, you have come to the right place for understanding. Put all your trust in God, and in time it will truly all come together as God intended.

Your Brother,
Chuck

[stego]

Hey again Chuck and Bobby,
    I empathize with both of you.  Don't worry Chuck, you didn't cause my confusion, you just brought to mind a subject that confused me.  After many years of feeling terrible, i too went to the doctor and tried a couple different medications.  They didn't do much, but i also went to see a pyschologist, and that helped more.  I have realized since then that my depression is caused by the bad things i often believe to be true, which are really not.  But i know that different people have different kinds of depression so different treatments work.  Bobby, i know what you mean about it being tough to get out of bed.   I think you give a very good possible explanation for why God has caused us to bear this kind of burden.  We know there must be a good reason, and being able to help/comfort and understand others who feel the same could be part of it.    I am very thankful to meet you guys!   It's good to know there are people out there that can realate that i can talk to.   Bobby you are way too loving to be at all depressed lol.  God bless you both Chuck and Bobby!  To bed i go.

Sean

[chuckusa]

Bobby,

You are so right about that. Trying to show the love of Christ to most people often ends up in disaster. It can most certainly turn into a "fleeting moment of Joy". It is sad, but it only illustrates the differences in peoples hearts. Someone can be nice, happy, sucessful, moral, helpful, giving...on and on, and yet...they have no love in their hearts whatsoever.

Try showing them love, or giving them a hug, or doing something for them out of our "Christ Like attitude"...and they freak out! It can be very depressing, but it also shows me how I used to be, and that is very sobering and uplifting. Like they say, you don't know what you had until its GONE.

Sean..thanks for that note, I'm glad I didn't confuse you I just wanted to be sure. Brother we seem to have a lot of common ailments, but thank God that we both know the cure. I'm thankful for meeting you as well, thanks for the good words. Talk to you later.

Love,
Chuck

[Kat]

Hi Bobby and Chuck,

I have been following your discussion and
I understand what you mean about people misunderstanding
your motives in a act of kindness.
But I have also had a different experience,
when dealing with someone who is frustrated and becoming angry.
If they are becoming curt, instead of escalating the situation,
keeping your voice low and speak kindly.
This can turn the situation totally around.
I have used this technique a no. of times
and usually the other person will apology for being abrupt.
Meekness is a difficult fruit to show sometimes.

Pro 15:1  A soft answer turneth away wrath; But a grievous word stirreth up anger.

mercy, peace, and love
Kat

[Deborah-Leigh]

That is beautiful Bobby

How much faith will Christ find when He returns?...He observed for us to contemplate.  I think the less we see of His Spirit the more we forget Him and fall into a dark sleep of forgetfulness or amnesia....I think that is where most of the worlds population are right now....in a deep sleep...and that is not to condemn them or judge them in a superior way...It just makes me shudder! that the darkness of the world is so intense right now.

.It is wonderful to see the mind-of Christ exibit the Spirit of Christ to assist the followers of Christ through the teachings we are getting via Ray. There for the Grace of God go we!....I am so grateful for the mercy of God to give us light in our darkness and hope through our fellowship in His presence and love for all ...


Arcturus

[chuckusa]

Hey Kat,

I know exactly what you mean, and I have over time, become much less confrontational towards others. I have learned that everyones actions are indicative of their relative position to the mind of God, and that it is not my place to judge. I now lean more towards playing my part, and not so much in rewriting the script...

When I read your post last night, a thought came into my mind..."speak softly and carry a big stick"

I was laughing so hard because for a second or two I was trying to remember what scripture that came from, and then realized it wasn't God... but Teddy Roosevelt.

Sometimes I amaze even myself, but I got a good laugh out of that.

Thanks for your good words Kat, I agree with you and always try to do just as you described.

Love,
Chuck

[Kat]

Hi Bobby,

Oh I wasn't referring to what you said exactly.
I was just giving in little input, from a different angle.

We deal with all kinds of people,
and there are different ways we and they react.

That saying that was around a few years back 'WWJD',
is actually a good way to look at things.
I kinda feel like Jesus is looking over my shoulder a lot of the time.
For Jesus to live in us, we actually do begin to do what He would do, are He does in us.
Just some thoughts.

mercy, peace, and love
Kat

[bobbys43]

Kat my friend I see what you meant and I apologize if I sounded out of sorts. It is great how we all have different perspectives but still are of like mind.

Love to Kat,

bobby

[Deborah-Leigh]

Yes Bobby

we all have different perspectives...."we all see in part"   but when the parts fit together...BOOM who do we see but Jesus Christ, His Spirit, His smile and His favor!.....It's like hide and seek!...and we get to see HIM when we love one another and mirror HIS FACE....seeking HIS countenance....seeking ever seeking...and finding....ever finding...HIM the LOVE of our lives...

Arcturus