The Paralysis of Depression- (Doug Batchelor) AmazingFacts©

talk about a serious subject but it's a very important one as you've gathered from the sermon title the paralysis of depression we're talking about depression we hear a lot these days if you just scan the radio dial or even on the TV magazines clinical depression a lot of people struggle with suicidal tendencies despair discouragement there are courses that you can take there's medication you can take probably of all of the tools in the devil's workshop one of the most often used and most efficient is the tool of depression now depression doesn't mean having ups and downs because everybody here has ups and downs I'm talking about when you get down and you stay down and you keep getting down there and you can't get up that's depression don't be embarrassed if you are at times very depressed some folks are good at hiding it when you look through history you'll find some of the most talented creative brilliant people struggle with depression I struggle with depression which is one of the reasons and now I'm very serious though I am is you know you look at some of the William Cowper who wrote come thou fount of every blessing a brilliant talented poetic man struggled with fits of depression that would last for years he ultimately took his own life because of depression and so this a serious thing and and this is one of those days where I'm going to open my soul I'll be talking to myself and allowing you to listen in because I've discovered that most of us are pretty much like and that what I struggle with you probably struggle with in one way or another and maybe you can gather strength from some of the answers I've found first of all maybe we will begin with a definition depression there's a lot of definitions first of all we're not talking about financial depressions but that sometimes leads to the other kind an area that is sunk below its surroundings is called a depression a person who is lower than its surroundings is depressed now if you go to a funeral and you're crying but everyone around you is crying - that does not mean you're depressed but when you're unnaturally lower than those around you that's depression it's condition of feeling sad or despondent a psychotic or neurotic condition characterized by an inability to concentrate insomnia feelings of extreme sadness dejection and here's the catch hopelessness when people lose hope and they get seriously depressed they cannot fight and they cannot flee if you throw them in the water they don't even swim for the surface there's the point of despair depression it's strange some people can become depressed when they are surrounded with very positive circumstances that's because depression is not always controlled by circumstances now there are four main reasons that a person becomes depressed please notice mental social physical and material these four things can affect a person's being depressed and sometimes a combination of them can bring discouragement and depression well what are some of the things that cause depression more specifically what happens in your head has an awful lot to do with it in other words your attitude what you look at and what you listen to can affect how you feel some people are depressed because of their mental diet if you are surrounded with negative people you can start feeling pretty depressed if you're listening to negative things like country music for instance are you really listen to the lyrics and some of that you thik picked a fine time to leave me in the crops in the fields and I'm getting drunk and she done me wrong and that stuff can really be depressing that time not all of it but I mean what you listen to what you look at some of the deviant programming they have in the middle of the day is just mind-boggling these talk shows where they interview all these really kinky people that would be depressing if I watched that every day so what you choose to look at listen to who you associate with in other words the mental food you take in can depress you and the opposite would be true as well now the Bible tells a story about how King Saul would have terrible fits of depression you read in 1st Samuel chapter 16 verse 23 Saul would get into these moody despondent bounce where they could not cheer him and they would bring King David in before he was the king shepherd boy who would compose these songs with optimistic lyrics and he would sing and the Bible says David would take his harp and play then relief would come to Saul and he would feel better and the evil spirit would leave him if listening to the wrong thing can bring depression and invite evil spirits then it's good to know listening to the right thing can dispel evil spirits amen some people say well I didn't come to church because I was pretty depressed well that was the solution sometimes you need to be placed in an environment where you will hear and see the right things and through the positive mental input you can start feeling more positive so some depression comes because of what's happening in our mind what's taken in the Bible tells us that if we would avoid that kind of depression we need to focus on the right things and I'll say more about that in just a minute I told you some depression comes as a result of material Bible tells a story about King Ahab selfish King first Kings chapter 21 verse 4 King Ahab wanted a vineyard next door to his vineyard he didn't figure his big vineyard was good enough and big enough so he wanted his neighbor's vineyard he started to covet it Namath they went to Namath and offered him money for his vineyard who tried to trade and Namath would not go for it he said no this is our family inheritance even though you're the king were commanded by the Lord not to get rid of our family inheritance Bible says Abraham was so depressed that he couldn't get what he wanted the Bible says that he went out to his house sullen and displeased because the word that Namath the jezreelite had spoken to him for he said I'll not give you the inheritance of my father's and he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food that's pretty good description of depression right why was he depressed things went wrong materially if your treasures on earth then there's a good chance you're gonna get depressed because of things you know you buy the new car you park it in your driveway and you just look at it for a while you wait until the sun's going out down you go out look at it again because it looks real good and the lingering light first day you take it to the market to try it out and you come out just in time to see a shopping cart careening down the slope of the parking lot and smashing into the side of your car and how do you feel after that depressed because you haven't called him for assurance yet here things can make you depress and that's a very selfish petty kind of depression but we all suffer with that right how many of you get discouraged when you experienced financial reverse or you don't have enough money to pay your bills that can be depressing or when everyone around you answer nice things and you feel like you're living in squalor you don't have the essentials of life so we can be depressed because of things that aren't in us it's not physiological there's things around us that we lose so what happened to Ahab now I wouldn't have felt sorry for him I think he was spoiled but it still holds true sometimes we can become depressed when we lose things the Bible says there was a rich man he asked what must I do to have everlasting life she said give what you have to the poor and you'll have treasure in heaven he left the presence of Christ rich and depressed because he wanted to keep his things and still have Jesus and you cannot have both your heart in two different places can you you cannot serve two masters and he was serving money so he went away sad and rich depressed and he still had all those things you know one of the things that depresses me is waste that's connected with material depression I hate waste I hate wasted energy I hate wasted investment I hate people wasting their lives and when you see things being wasted am I the only one or does that sometimes discourage you it's like drilling a dry well spend all that time and that energy and you have nothing but dust to show for it that can be depressing sometimes we've experienced that then I told you that another cause for depression is physical now I'm going to spend a moment talking about this well let's use some Bible examples 2nd Kings chapter 20 verse 1 and those days was Hezekiah the King's sick and near death notice I'm talking about Kings got the word from Isaiah that he was going to die evidently he had this boil that had become infected caused a fever all over his body and and looked like it was terminal the Bible says he turned his face to the wall and he prayed to the Lord saying remember now O Lord I pray I walk before you in truth little oil heart haven't I done what is good in your side and he wept bitterly discouraged to the sick heard he was gonna die I'd be depressed why don't you you know I've often thought about the attitude that Simeon had in the temple rember when Jesus was brought to the temple as a baby and he took up Christ in his arms the little baby and he said now let your servant depart in peace I can die now Lord coz I've seen your salvation I haven't had heard too many Christians say that we all kind of go kicking and screaming Hezekiah didn't want to go we all loved life he was sick why did what a job feel when he was smitten from the crown of his head to his foot with boils now he was a godly man but did he get depressed have you read that before he says there in the Bible job chapter 3 verse 11 why did I not perish at birth and die as I came from the room you can go to verse 16 why was it not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child like an infant who never saw the light he began to curse the day he was born discouraged and depressed why well if you were covered with boils from the crown of your head to the sole of your foot you'd probably feel a little depressed - what made matters worse his friends weren't very good counselors told you sometimes it's a combination now a lot of people I think that this is probably one of the areas where folks especially in North America unwittingly go through unnecessary depression because of bad health you know if you have a bad diet you can find that you're in a state of depression a lot you don't know what the problem is the doctors got you on buckets of medication to deal with the depression and a lot of it's simply because you're spending all your time eating a high sugar diet now I'm not a physician but it's true that if if you're going through a lot of ups and downs physiologically because of an imbalance your sugar level in your body how many of you have had a low blood sugar and you get cranky raise your hand dear now we're different we get depressed over different things I can go I and eat breakfast yesterday until like 3 o'clock you know I can go a long time than food it's just my metabolism that was pretty level but if I get sleepy stay out of my way I get real ugly after I get tired yeah Karen she gets hungry how she stays up all night with a baby without getting cranky I don't know but don't let her get hungry and but some people are and you know another thing sometimes causes depression not regular monthly cycle only but they have something called post partum blues have you heard of that now she doesn't have that they used to have it a lot more about fifty years ago before they had disposable diapers so yeah I'd be pretty blue too but chemical changes in the body and it's not just ladies it's with men too chemical changes that take place in the body can depress you even if you have a good diet now I'm not a doctor and I'm not suggesting people start throwing away their medication you need to talk to a doctor but you need to know that there is a connection between what's happening to your body physiologically and how you feel sometimes when I get depressed I don't try and think about it too much and I say just get a good night's sleep I told you what bothers me is when I get tired and everything all of a sudden I can deal with almost anything when I wake up I can I can fight Giants when I wake up but when I get a little bit sleepy I think the world is coming to an end even though everything around me might be fine and I know better take a nap better get some rest so sometimes you can fight depression by taking care of your body getting enough good nutrition getting enough rest you have enough diapers things like that can make a world of difference friends I want to pause just a moment and tell you about an exciting free Bible study offer for all of our viewers it's the amazing facts Bible study course this is one of 27 beautifully illustrated full-color lessons designed for the whole family and they're fun to do as well and they're free and it's a free phone call here's the phone number there's operator standing by it's eight hundred eight three five six nine zero six and when you call be sure to ask for the free amazing facts resource catalog we carry hundreds of booklets videotapes audiotapes all designed to help you enrich your life in your relationship with Jesus that phone number again do you have a pencil it's eight hundred eight three five six nine oh six and why you've got your pencil would you write us a note we'd love to hear from you our address is amazing fax p.o box 909 Roseville California nine five six seven eight and when you write we appreciate so much each of your comments your prayer requests your Bible questions we read each one of them and we pray over your needs at our worship in our office now back for the conclusion of today's message not only can it be material and mental and physical but social you ever been depressed because of the way someone treats you or mistreats you have you ever been persecuted have you had an enemy out there it's very disconcerting when you know there's somebody out there that's wishing you're ill the Bible tells us about Hannah godly woman back in the days where a man would have more than one wife and her adversary you know what that word Satan means the word Satan means adversary her adversary who was called Penina provoked her every day why was she provoked because Hannah had no children she was not bearing fruit and her adversary was provoking her and saying and mocking her you read here in 1st Samuel chapter 1 verse 6 her rival also provoked her severely to make her miserable because the Lord had closed her womb and so it was year by year she went up to the house of the Lord and she was in bitterness of soul and she prayed to the Lord and wept in anger now hannah has a good example for you and me what did she do when she was persecuted she went to the house of the Lord what else did she do she prayed and then eventually she bore fruit when you depressed when you discouraged when you're persecuted don't retaliate with your persecutor take it to the Lord in prayer that's the answer how about King David was he attacked was someone hunting his life yeah the Bible says King Saul was trying to kill him on one occasion in the Bible when Jonathan brought word that Saul his father was trying to assassinate David the Bible says they both spent a long time weeping very discouraging he hadn't done anything wrong and someone's trying to kill him the Prince tried to plead in his behalf with no avail and the Bible says that David wept sore kinda can depress you when someone's out to get you you haven't done anything wrong you know what David did he went from that experience with Jonathan to the temple of the Lord where do we go when we're depressed Hannah when you're persecuted by someone else Hannah David and many others in the Bible when they were depressed they went to God why is that I meet people all the time I said where have you been we missed you in church all I've been discouraged lately well that makes things worse I don't feel worthy you know one reason some people get depressed is because of their sins they feel guilty whether it's imagined or whether it's genuine they stay away from God because they feel like they're not worthy the very best place to go when you're feeling depressed or guilty is to God not from God because God's in the business of taking our guilt away and while we're on the subject guilt is not the enemy you hear a lot of psychobabble in our society today and they keep talking about the evil of guilt and guilt as bad and we're just supposed to ignore guilt and don't acknowledge guilt guilt is real sometimes we deserve guilt sometimes we just bring it on ourselves we let the devil put it on us but guilt is not really the issue the issue is what are you gonna do about the guilt Jesus came to take our guilt away sometimes we need to repent and acknowledge when we are truly guilty and ask him to forgive us and that's when the relief comes sometimes we're not guilty but the devil wants to make you feel guilty in other words God forgives us but we don't forgive ourselves some people are depressed because they think they're a better judge than God is God says I forgive you and they say oh you don't know what you're doing I can't forgive myself what right do you have to spend all your time dwelling on sins that God has forgotten for both of those reasons we need to come to church don't we God wants to take our guilt away if you don't believe it then look at the cross sometimes we are socially depressed because we are spurned by people that we care about you know I was just listening yesterday to Paul Harvey give the rest of the story he was talking about this young man and a community that showed more promise than any other young man they called him Honest John Johnny well in his youth he proposed to a beautiful girl who turned him down and he was told by her uncle never to visit her again and he became so despondent by that experience of rejection his spurned proposal that he went to Chicago and began to hang around with a low-life there and prostitutes in a few years later he was public enemy number one John Dillinger heartbroken because he was rejected bible tells about what happened to Potiphar's wife when she felt that she was spurned she got depressed and wanted to retaliate some of us get depressed when we feel like we are slighted or ignored you ever been discouraged because you don't think you're appreciated whatever the situation might be Oh incidentally let me read you a scripture for that someone read it for me look up proverbs chapter 13 verse 12 who wants to read that for me proverbs 13 verse 12 hold your hand out right about now during the message I like to get some involvement people wake up when they think the camera might turn on them Carolyn proverbs 13 verse 12 one of my favorites Hope deferred makes the heart sick but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life Hope deferred makes the heart sick spend your time dreaming about something maybe planning on proposing and hearing no an investment that falls down you plan a vacation you get sick Hope deferred makes the heart sick you ever been discouraged and depressed because something you'd longed for and hope for falls on the ground and doesn't happen that's one thing but the Bible says when the desire comes it is a tree of life very important we hope for the right things if we're hoping for the wrong things we're setting ourselves up for depression aren't we so depression can come from these four categories and I think if you're evaluating your life now first of all I'm gonna take a survey here am I the only one that struggles with a little bouts of depression let me see your hands that's right I'm putting you on the spot good I feel much better I knew I wasn't the only one I did notice something the depressed who raise their hands are all sitting in the front of the church does that mean next week everyone will be in the back or does it mean those up front just participate you can come from mental social physical and material things that affect our being depressed now how do you heal depression well if it's mental depression a lot of it has to do with as I said just focusing on the right thing if there is an event in your circumstance that's bothering you do not spend your time focusing on that in some respects let me just make an announcement here I do not have all the gifts that are good pass their knees if you want a pastor that has all the gifts I've got news for you I haven't met him yet one of the things I'm not good at is counseling and from time to time people call me up and ask for counseling I defer them to different elders and different pastors sometimes I do it but I'm telling you I'm not very good at it sometimes I get irritated when people come in for counseling I just want to tell them quit whining like a baby you're a spoiled brat someone comes in and tells me they're discouraged they're thinking of killing themselves I say what a dumb idea no I get depressed but I'm not stupid think about it for a second when a person is thinking about killing themselves especially a Christian the idea of killing yourself is because you're unhappy you don't feel good you're hoping that you can stop feeling bad and so you think if I kill myself I'll feel better now if I read my Bible right if you are killing yourself it's usually a result of a hopeless faithless condition am i right where there's no faith there's usually no salvation because they just live by faith if you die in a hopeless faithless condition what is your next conscious thought a resurrection surrounded by a sea of lost people talk about depressing you think you're gonna feel better by suicide doesn't work that way so just thought I'd share that with if you want to be counseling my door is open you feel better already don't say another thing you can do and my mother taught me this have a sense of humor you know you can diffuse a lot of very discouraging things by laughing I don't know if I told you all this stop me if I already told you this right after we brought the baby home I heard someone say one time an infant is a small creature with a loud noise at one end and no responsibility at the other and Karen was changing little Nathan she's wearing this white shirt and you know after you changed an older child has a little more timing but the little ones like that well actually their timings pretty good and why she had the diaper off he just exploded and oh I'm not supposed to talk about this in church I guess anyway Micah came running out of the living room and all the blood had drained from his face to see such a thing and I said what happened and and I went in the living room and Karen's standing there and her white t-shirt is it wasn't white anymore and she didn't look too happy and I said pardon me I said would you have any Grey Poupon no she was Karen was already laughing but you know it could have been really depressing I'm so we'll have to edit this out of the tape I'm sure the censors probably will never go for that and while I'm on the subject friends you know every now and then I get a letter from our viewers and they say you spend too much time laughing in your service and I usually respond by telling them you're right we need that gospel is serious business and I don't want to be frivolous and the Bible says to avoid foolish jesting and crude jesting is the word that's used but I go on to say what Spurgeon said if you knew how often I thought about saying something I don't say it you would commend me instead of condemning me a lot of funny things come through my mind why I stand before you and I control myself have a sense of humor stay busy some people get depressed because they're not doing anything now I talked a little about women men will be depressed if they have nothing to do men are task-oriented creatures if a man is unemployed there's a chance he's a little depressed a man has to feel like he's accomplished something at the end of the day or he starts getting discouraged we're task oriented creatures we want to feel like we are conquering battles we're getting things done and so and it's not just true of men women - if you're not doing anything you can get depressed and so one thing you can do to fight depression is do something now listen carefully one of the best ways to fight depression if you don't have a job is do something for someone else because while you're doing something for someone else you start to feel better instantly because you're taking your focus off yourself a lot of times we're depressed cuz we keep thinking me oh my things aren't going right help somebody else and you instantly redirect the attention to someone else Jesus said it's more blessed to give than receive you'll feel better say an encouraging word to someone else when you're discouraged you'll start feeling better you know Henry Ford when he was working on his design for the internal combustion engine he was still a young man when he was developing that electric cars were the rage when he started working on that and he was at a science convention at a table trying to explain it to a number of other famous scientists and they were mocking him and waving them off and saying that will not work now Thomas Edison was there and he didn't hear very good but he read lips and he heard a little bit he kept getting closer and closer until he was leaning real close and he looked at the plans that Henry Ford had on the table pretty soon when everyone left and Ford looked just completely dejected he noticed that Edison was declaring at his plans and his eyebrows were knit together and pretty soon he took his destiny pounded the table he looked up at Ford he said that's the thing it's gonna work and he said that he was so encouraged by the words of Edison that he went on with his design and of course today you and I are driving internal combustion engines one word of encouragement changed the course of history say an encouraging word incidentally the church ought to be a place where never is heard a discouraging word we should be careful to tell people how glad we are to see them don't say where have you been if someone's missing say positive things because we're already hurting all through the week we're all fighting battles through the week we come here to gain strength from one another amen hold each other up pray when you're discouraged you know in that song what a friend we have in Jesus how many burdens we bear unnecessarily if because we simply do not take it to the Lord in prayer not only should you pray because you feel like it especially when a person is depressed the last thing in the world they feel like doing is praying have you noticed that or is that just like me when you depress is like I don't want to pray I don't feel good that's when you need to pray the most how would you like to pray inside the belly of a great fish that seemed like it'd be very commodious to prayer but Jonah prayed there and God could answer the prayer there now God can answer talk about being down I mean Jonah was you know he went down into the fish and then the fish went down to the bottom of the mountains the Bible says and he's wrapped with seaweed and decomposing seafood and that's pretty discouraging amen he prayed in that dark hopeless situation he prayed and God was able to lift him up out of that back into the sunlight again right I don't think he felt like praying but that sometimes when you need to pray the most don't just pray when you feel like praying that's a secret to climbing out of depression continue to believe that even all those dark clouds are surrounding you the Sun has been a shining again which brings me to the fourth point when you depress remind yourself it will not always be this way you can bear a lot of things if you know it's not gonna last when you depressed go on just keep going on one day at a time push on and you'll find out that either circumstances or physiology or friends or something will change and it'll get better and you know you could you can feel better during a depressed bout just by knowing it's not gonna last forever God is good you know the Bible says he sends the rain on the just and the unjust that means that we'll all have sunny days and we'll all have cloudy days just know that if you're in a cloudy day or a cloudy week the Sun is gonna shine again we had a hot week this week amen I was able to bear because I know it won't always be this way the Bible tells us that sometimes you can deal with depression by using it as an opportunity to witness when you're being depressed probably the last thing you're thinking about is how can I use this to witness I remember missing a plane one time I was on what you call standby and I found out that means sometimes you stand by and watch the plane take off and I was stuck down there in San Francisco living in covilhã four and a half hours home the next plane was leaving in about six hours I had to spend the whole night walking around the San Francisco Airport that's depressing you'd be surprised how creative people come when they get tired enough folks lose all dignity these men wearing suits that had also missed their planes they sleep in the most peculiar positions in places when you get tired enough and all through that night I'm walking around the airport I'm thinking Lord this happened because you want me to witness to somebody I don't know why but I'm gonna look for an opportunity to witness I walked the airport all night and didn't find anybody then I flew the New York City the next day still look on the airplane for someone to witness to thought it was the man next to me started talking to him found out he was an attorney and tried to strike up a conversation and he found out I was a preacher and he lifted his paper and it's turned away I thought I had the plague so I guess this is not the man eventually I got picked up by a Jewish cab driver who was in taking me to my destination there in New York City and I started talking him in he had immigrated from Russia and was interested in religion had not been allowed to practice it and started talking about God told him I was half Jewish and we had a very interesting discussion about the Bible I told him what his name meant even though we got stuck in traffic in the meter kept on ringing I knew God had set up that appointment I missed my plane so I could talk to this fellow named Michael about God the Bible tells us that Paul and Silas went through some pretty discouraging circumstances they were cast into a top-security cell Acts chapter 16 beaten put in the stocks no windows the stench of rotting hay and filth in the cell everything was calculated to depress and discourage dark foreboding didn't know if they'd ever get paroled and the Bible says but at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing what's another thing you can do when you're depressed sing yeah I was struggling the last few weeks with a little bit of depression that's why I'm preaching this sermon I told you I get to press sometimes and I kept thinking of songs I could sing that would cheer me up and I kept trying to sing those songs and you know it would help I keep singing those songs why'd why does the ocean just anything that was positive that was uplifting that made a difference yeah the cradle roll songs are the best incidentally Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them others were listening to them sing through that depressing time suddenly there was a great earthquake so the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were open and everyone's chains were loosed because Paul and Silas could be positive during a discouraging circumstance everybody was set free when are you the best witness when you've got everything you want the sun is shining or when you're going through a trial and you're still positive when is a Christian the best witness when they have their way or when they're happy even when they don't have their way God's people down through the ages had always been the greatest witness through trial not when God saves us from trial the story of Noah's in the Bible because God saved Noah through the flood story of Daniel through the Lions Den through the fiery furnace Joseph is a great example why because he was a spoiled boy that got everything he wanted no because he was a slave and a prisoner and God delivered him through that do you know why you've got rubber tires on your car because a man named Goodyear was in prison for contempt of court he decided not to pine and feel sorry for himself he got a job in the kitchen and while in the kitchen of this prison he started experimenting with ways to vulcanize rubber I don't even think that was his original idea but he ended up discovering a way to vulcanized rubber got out a millionaire and you and I are benefitting today from his attitude in prison do not be discouraged friends I want to pause just a moment and tell you about an exciting free Bible study offer for all of our viewers it's the amazing facts Bible study course this is one of 27 beautifully illustrated full-color lessons designed for the whole family and they're fun to do as well and they're free and it's a free phone call here's the phone number there's operator standing by it's eight hundred eight three five six nine oh six and when you call be sure to ask for the free amazing facts resource catalog we carry hundreds of booklets videotapes audiotapes all designed to help you enrich your life in your relationship with Jesus that phone number again do you have a pencil it's eight hundred eight three five six 906 and why you've got your pencil would you write us a note we'd love to hear from you our address is amazing fax p.o box 909 Roseville California nine five six seven eight and when you write we appreciate so much each of your comments your prayer requests your vital questions we read each one of them and we pray over your needs at our worship in our office now back for the conclusion of today's message listen to what Paul says someone read this for me flip Ian's chapter 4 verse 11 and 12 Philippians 4 or 11 or 12 we'll read that something we can learn to avoid depression and discouragement right back there Kevin not that I speak in respect of want for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content I know both how to be abased and how and I know how to abound everywhere in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need before you leave reading verse read Philippians 4 verse 8 finally brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are good report in there be any virtue and if there be any praise think on these things why do you think Paul commanded us to do that did Paul know what it was like to be persecuted did he did Paul know what it was like to be sick you had a thorn in his side that was tormenting him did Paul know what it was like to be rejected socially Paul understood all these conditions of depression and he learned how to conquer them through Christ that's why he said through Christ I can do all things now who is the example for the Christian Jesus when Jesus hung on the cross all four categories of depression were dumped on him in immeasurable amounts Jesus when he hung on the cross he had social depression was he rejected by his own people he had mental depression the weight of the sins of the world was upon him when Jesus hung upon the cross he experienced not only physical Demento but all the demons of Hell were trying to discourage him some depression is demonic harassment when Jesus hung upon the cross he not only had the physical the social material you know when you only have a few things they're very precious to you when you lose them all that he had was his clothes and they took it away at the cross the devil did everything he could to break Jesus what were the last words from the lips of Christ and Jesus when he cried out with a loud voice he said father into your hands I commit my spirit and having said this he breathed his last when you don't know why it's happening and you're going through those dark valleys the shadow of death sometimes you just got to say Lord I'm gonna trust you into your hands I commit my spirit into your hands I commit myself I don't know why this is happening it probably won't always be this way I don't understand but I'm gonna trust you that's I think the lesson for each of us I'd like you to listen as Ralph sinks [Music] the Lord with all your heart unto your own understanding in all your ways technology and he will tie rate your [Music] search for the hold with all of your heart for when you seek you will find [Music] call upon him in your hour of despair he'll give you peace of mind invite everyone to stand for a moment we're pretty good at shielding what's going on in our lives sometimes it's not socially desirable to go around tell everybody how depressed you are but we all fight with discouragement and depression sometimes people who even get to the point of taking their own life those around them said I have no idea how they were feeling before ralph sings the second verse of this song we want to give you an opportunity to come to Jesus to come for prayer some of us might be battling discouragement might feel okay now but we know that it's a pattern in our life and we want to ask God for his help if you'd like special prayer that God can lift you up and help you to be on level ground then we invite you to come as Ralph sings this next verse [Music] and when your life is filled with his joy don't turn evil heart away but walk in his grades surrender your way and keep your heart open we must have faith in the high of the stone trusting that he will be there follow without faith we may never ever learn just how much he truly cares he truly cared a who struggle with spells of discouragement and oppression and they threatened your relationship with Jesus because it's diametrically opposed to faith the devil is trying to get us to lose faith and if there are some here and you feel a battle going on in your heart we're just gonna pray together don't be embarrassed come now as Ralph closes this trust [Music] we follow your heart and lean not unto your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he will tie read your and he will tie right your father we want to thank you for the words of encouragement and the stories and examples we find in your word that though we might walk through the valley of the shadow of death we need not fear any evil because you are with us lord help us to learn the lessons we find in Scripture so practical things that we might do to keep the clouds and darkness from crushing us when we go through those valleys help us ever keep Jesus before us is our example of being positive and when we're going through mental physical social emotional discouragement help us to pray that prayer Lord we don't understand but into your hands we commit our spirit we will not lose faith we will not lose hope be with those who have responded the Lord I pray that you will fill their hearts with peace help them know that they can be among the ones that will endure unto the end and not lose heart or faith fill each member in this church with your spirit and your joy we ask in Christ's name

Channel: 11:11 Ministries

Views: 50,124

Rating: 4.768374 out of 5

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Id: MWQUCxCbVs0

Length: 47min 43sec (2863 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 07 2017