Victory Over Depression | Peter Tan-Chi

[Music] greetings in the wonderful name of our lord and savior jesus christ we started a new series last week called life detox why is it important because toxic emotions affect our loved ones it affects our family members it affects our relationships and more importantly it affects our testimony our walk with the lord emotions are barometers they reflect the health of our spiritual life what do i mean spiritual maturity as i mentioned last week and emotional maturity go hand in hand emotional maturity reflects our relationship with god reflects our spiritual maturity today i want to talk about depression because depression is related to anxiety anxiety is connected with fear what you're afraid of eventually results in anxiety you begin to think ahead this may happen to me that may happen to me and if you are not able to control it it leads to depression what do we mean by depression depression is an emotional feeling of sadness you're overwhelmed you feel out of control you feel helpless you feel hopeless you feel like giving up eventually if you're not careful depression can lead to suicide the issue of depression suicide is very relevant more people are depressed today because of this lockdown because of this pandemic and i was surprised to learn that from ages 15 to 29 young people the second leading cause of death is what can you guess suicide how do we overcome depression how do we gain victory over depression some of you may be struggling with depression or anxiety or fear i pray that this message will help you if you are not struggling with this kind of problem this will help you help others to overcome depression let us have a quick review based on last sunday's message on the four hours to overcome negative toxic emotions what do we mean by the four hours number one you have to realize that we all do struggle with stress with negative emotions admit it the second r is go to the root problem you cannot solve your problem unless you go to the root and number three you will discover most of our root problem is about the way we think so you need to recalibrate your mind recalibrate your thinking and lastly wrong thinking many times is because of failure to recognize who god is a proper view of god is indispensable to be thinking properly today i want to focus more on the last two the importance of recalibrating your thinking and the importance of recognizing god let's look at first kings chapter 19. this is an amazing story and there are many lessons we can learn let's begin first kings chapter 19 let me read for you verse 1 to 3 ahab told jezebel all that elijah done how he had killed all the prophets with the sword then jezebel sent a messenger to elijah saying so may the gods do to me and even more if i do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time and the bible tells us elijah became afraid he arose and ran for his life and came to boshiba which belongs to judah and left his servant there who is jezebel jezebel was the wife of king ahab if you read the bible jezebel was very wicked she was the woman behind the evils of king ahab she was a great influence not for good but for evil in first kings 19 the bible tells us king ahab told jezebel all that elijah had done now what did elijah accomplish you won't believe this in 1st kings chapter 18 one of the most amazing spiritual victory was accomplished by elijah you have to understand elijah was a man of faith elijah was very courageous look at what he did the bible tells us in first kings chapter 18 elijah gathered all the false prophets of israel in mount carmel let me read for you now then sent gathered to me all israel at mount carmel together with 450 prophets of baal 400 prophets of asura who eat adjustable stable so you have the worship of a false god by the name of baal and the worship of a lady goddess called asera this were financed by jezebel it is a state-sponsored religion horrible now the challenge was this very important elijah came near to all the people and said how long will you hesitate between two opinions if the lord is god follow him but if baal follow him but the people did not answer him a word in other words elijah full of faith and courage challenged the entire nation of israel and he said make up your mind if there is god worship him if the lord is god worship him i believe this is so crucial today you have to decide for yourself who is the god of your life now put yourself in that situation all the false prophets in one corner and you have one person elijah alone and what was the challenge he said you bring one ox offer it to your god but don't put fire underneath the altar on my part i will have one ox i will display it on the altar but we will not put any fire underneath the altar and the god who answered our prayer by sending fire from heaven is the god that we will worship my goodness the people like the challenge everybody got so excited then the bible tells us the prophets of baal they prayed and prayed they did all the rituals nothing happened and then it was time for elijah to pray and this is what elijah did he prayed to the lord his prayer was god-centered he simply said lord let the people know that you are the true god let the people know sort of their hearts will be turned to you and after praying the bible tells us in first kings chapter 18 the fire of the lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust and lick up the water that was in the trench when all the people saw they fell on their faces and they said the lord he is god the lord he is god and you know what happened the bible tells us elijah told all the people kill all the false prophets 850 false prophets died do you think that was a tremendous victory for god and for elijah of course elijah demonstrated god's power god vindicated elijah god demonstrated his power through fire and you would think elijah would be so excited yes he was excited but notice what happened verse 2 jezebel sent a messenger to elijah saying may the gods do to me and even more if i do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time what did jezebel do just about threatened the life of elijah what did elijah do verse 3 he was afraid he arose and run for his life and came to boshiba if you look at the map of israel you will notice mount carmel is in the northern part of israel and 100 kilometers downward you have bersiba the southern part of israel elijah ran from jezebel he was so scared after running for over 100 kilometers the bible tells us he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness came to and sat down under juniper tree and he requested for himself that he might die and said it is enough oh lord take my life i am not better than my fathers elijah became depressed elijah became suicidal he wanted to die in fact because he knew the bible that he cannot commit suicide he asked god to just kill him lord it is better you take my life now i am not better than my father's what does that mean i'm not better than my father's you know what elijah is saying i'm a failure my ministry is useless let me tell you why he felt that way elijah was expecting a spiritual revival elijah was thinking with all the demonstration of god's power king ahab would have been transformed jezebel would have been converted that was his expectations and it did not happen on the contrary they threatened his life and that's why he felt so depressed he felt like i'm a failure lord take my life you see my friend how you think what you think will impact your emotions for elijah he was a failure depression can happen to anybody including elijah a man of god so what can we learn remember to deal with negative emotions it is important that you remember the 4r principle you realize it can happen to anybody you got the root problem for elijah you will notice the root problem is not jezebel the root problem is where is god in the midst of all of these threats and i want to focus on the importance of recalibrating your mind and recognizing god you will see what god did in order to recalibrate the mind of elijah in order for elijah to recognize who god is god took the initiative the bible tells us elijah was so discouraged he was so down he fell asleep he lay down and slept under a juniper tree and behold there was an angel touching him and he said to him arise then he look and behold there was at this head a bread cake bake on hot stones and a jar of water he ate and drunk and laid down again the angel of the lord came again a second time touch him and said arise it because the journey is too great for you he arose ate and drunk he went in the strength of that food 40 days and 40 nights to horeb the mountain of god you will notice god wanted elijah to know he really loves him god cared for elijah god cares how do you know look at how god took care of the physical needs of elijah god's approach when it comes to solving our depression is holistic for example in this case god provided elijah rest allowed him to sleep god provided food because sometimes diet affects our emotions god provided water but what is the root problem let's find out then he came to a cave and lodged there and behold the word of the lord came to him and said to him what are you doing here elijah do you notice god wanted to go to the root problem god is now talking to elijah's heart god wanted elijah to ask his own heart what are you doing here elijah and notice the answer of elijah had been very zealous for the lord the god of hosts for the sons of israel have forsaken your covenant torn down your altars killed your prophet with the sword and i alone am left and they seek my life to take it away god was helping elijah go to the root problem this question was repeated again in the same chapter god asked elijah what are you doing here why is that important because to solve any emotional problem you got to go to the root and to solve the root problem god wanted elijah to recalibrate his thinking what do we mean elijah was demonstrating a victim mindset look at what he said i alone am left they seek my life to take it away in tagalog elijah is lord i am the only one left they seek my life they want to take it away elijah somehow has forgotten that god is more powerful than jezebel so what is a cure well let me describe to you first the importance of calibrating your mind in the case of elijah he developed a victim mindset you blame others i've seen people every time there's a problem they focus on others it's his fault it's her fault you blame your past you blame circumstances you don't assume responsibility what you mean by biblical mindset a biblical mindset you assume responsibility you realize you're responsible for your response for your reaction you are proactive remember last sunday you do your best with what you can what's within your control what is outside your control you surrender to the lord that's a basic biblical mindset gives excuses i know people they don't assume responsibility they just keep giving excuses and they feel helpless you know why that's how you become depressed you feel you cannot do anything a biblical mindset is dependent on the holy spirit you know for a fact the reality remember in philippians 4 the bible says i can do all things through christ who strengtheneth me your mindset is not one of helplessness because you know you can do all things through christ look at the victim mindset you focus on yourself always feeling sorry for yourself you see yourself as a victim a biblical mindset is you focus on god you realize god is bigger god is able it's not dependent on our strength it's not about us it's about him a victim mindset is always negative it focuses on the problems it's critical it's always complaining for example when you look at this glass of water how do you describe this a negative mindset will always say that glass of water is half empty a positive mindset will say the glass is half full half empty half full talking about the same thing but different emphasis a biblical mindset focuses on the positive thankful grateful it reminds me of the hummingbird and the vultures what's the difference between a hummingbird and a vulture if you go to the desert and you ask the hummingbird what do you see the hummingbird will see flowers you know why because it's always looking for flowers a vulture will see what it focuses on dead animals so a vulture will see what it wants to see dead things christians followers of jesus what kind of mindset do you have in order to recalibrate the mind of elijah so that he will learn to recognize who god is i like you to remember the acronym cast c a s t this is taken from the book of first peter when the bible tells us cass all your anxiety upon him because he cares for you in order to really recognize who god is to have a renewed recalibrated mind the application is cast all your anxiety upon him because he cares for you notice god wants us to know he cares for us so c-a-s-t cass has the following letters c think of the word care god cares for you a almighty god is almighty nothing is impossible with you yes god is not only almighty he is sovereign he is in control he determines your future he determines the destiny of nations no accidents god is in absolute control t god is trustworthy you can trust him but in order to accomplish the idea of recalibrating your mind and to respond properly to recognize god god did the following you will notice in the life of elijah god wanted elijah to have a fresh encounter with him so what did you notice god took the initiative to send an angel to provide food to provide water why because god wanted elijah to know i love you i care for you let me ask you a question do you believe that god cares for you that god has your best interest at heart why did god ask elijah to go to this mountain look at verse 11 he said go forth and stand on the mountain before the lord behold the lord was passing by god wanted elijah to have a real encounter a fresh encounter and look at the next verse the bible tells us the lord was passing by a great and strong wind the wind was so strong it was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks imagine breaking the rocks breaking the mountains what kind of wind has such power he did not stop there the bible tells us but the lord was not in the wind and after the wind an earthquake but the lord was not in the earthquake can you imagine the power of an earthquake what can move the earth tremendous power but the bible says god was not in the earthquake after the earthquake a fire but the lord was not in the fire can you imagine what elijah was experiencing the wind the earthquake and the fire but what's amazing was this the bible says and the lord was not in the earthquake not in the fire not in the wind where was the lord and after the fire a sound of a blowing the gentleness of god it is now talking about the grace of god god appeared in the most unusual way don't put god in a box and that's why it is important to overcome depression we need a fresh encounter of who goddess and when god spoke to elijah the bible tells us elijah heard god's voice he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave and behold the voice came to him what are you doing here elijah do you notice that repetition god wanted to recalibrate the mind of elijah and god asked him the same question what are you doing here i like to believe god is always wanting to talk to you and many times he talks to us not in always dramatic fashion strong wind earthquake fire but many times in the quietness of your heart god speaks to us and god is asking you right now some of you what are you doing with your life where are you headed you see elijah was not in the right place he was the prophet of god god has works for him but he was retiring hiding in a game then elijah answered the same thing i've been very zealous for the lord the god of hosts for the sons of israel have forsaken your covenant turn down your altars killed your prophets with the sword i alone am left they seek my life to take it away here was elijah again with the martyr complex feeling sorry for himself he repeats lord i alone am left which is not true they seek my life yes partly true only one person wanted to seek his life jezebel can anybody take away the life of elijah without god's permission you see god has to recalibrate his thinking and the bible tells us to sort that god showed up to show him that he's almighty god wanted elijah to know he's not only almighty god is sovereign he's in control what do we mean look at the next verse first kings chapter 19 verse 15 the lord said to him go return on your way to the wilderness of damascus and when you have arrived you shall anoint hazel king of adam jehu the sound of nimsi you shall anoint king over israel and elijah the son of shaphat of abel mahola you shall anoint as prophet in your place now elijah was running away from ahab he was running away from jezebel he was running away from his mission and god is saying go back go return you need to do the following you see my friend many times we fail to realize the obedience is also empowering what do i mean do you wait until you feel like obeying before you obey i have discovered that it is better to obey and then feeling will come remember the principle motion before emotion if you wait for emotion to come before you obey it will not come forever you'll be giving excuses why you should not obey the word of god but if you want to have victory over depression i'm not telling you right now follow god's way obedience first emotion will follow god tells elijah justice will eventually be served how verse 17 it shall come about the one who escapes from the sword of israel jehu shall put to death the one who escapes from the sword of jehu elijah shall put to death yet i will leave seven thousand in israel all the knees that have not bowed to bear and every mouth that has not kissed him in other words god wanted elijah to know elijah your perspective your thinking is wrong you need to correct your thinking i am the god of history i am in control the ministry of elijah did not end in chapter 18 when he brought a tremendous victory over the false prophets in fact first kings chapter 20 21 as you continue reading you will notice how god used elijah to confront ahab and to confront jezebel the bible tells us elijah delivered a solemn warning for ahab and his wife jezebel elijah was no longer afraid elijah was no longer depressed what changed him an encounter with god after this encounter elijah was a changed man success is not always seeing the results success is being faithful to god it's being obedient and that's what elijah did elijah did not see the eradication of bear worship in his lifetime guess what happened in the lifetime of elijah his successor the bible tells us the worship of baal was totally eradicated elijah's life was not over god told him you now develop elijah the latter years of elijah was so impactful but he could not see it in his own lifetime he did not realize that what god will accomplish through his ministry in the life of elijah you will notice how god help elijah get out of depression he is telling elijah go out of your own little world stop feeling sorry for yourself i have a purpose for you think of others serve others go anoint elijah the key in overcoming depression many times is when we think of others when we begin to serve others that's what elijah did he served others you have to correct your thinking how do you believe that god loves you that god cares for you do you really believe that god is almighty nothing is impossible with god are you willing to cast your problem upon the lord do you really believe that god is in control including your past failures do you really believe that god has everything in control including the future destiny of nations many times we fail to relax we fail to be rested you know why we do not know god but god is saying rest upon me i am in control psalm 56 tells us the importance of trust because god wants us to trust him when i am afraid from time to time we can become fearful what must you do assume responsibility so what must you do i will put my trust in you that's our responsibility everything i will put my trust in you in god whose word i praise in god i put my trust so to trust god includes trusting his word elijah heard the word of god elijah heard god telling him what to do in god whose word i pray you cannot separate trusting god with trusting his word in short there is no shortcut to studying god's word and learning to trust him they go together in god i put my trust i shall not be afraid what can mere man do to me do you notice what happens first when i'm afraid i will trust god now as you grow spiritually this is what will happen in god i put my trust i shall not be afraid you can go through life fearful trusting god fearful trusting god or you can go through life trusting god and no longer being fearful so look at the next verse of psalm 56 how he progressed this is how he progressed this i know god is for me do you see knowing god that god loves you god cares for you do you know that god is for you god is for me god is on our side in god whose word i praise you need to trust god's word they go together in the lord whose word i praise a repetition can i separate knowing god and knowing his word trusting god trusting his word in god i put my trust i shall not be afraid what can man do to me in short eventually life is a choice you can choose to be a victim or you can be victorious and the key to victory is trusting god recognize god and how do you recognize god realize that god cares for us realize that god is almighty realize that god is in absolute control in a ball to trust god you have to really make a choice he is trustworthy surrender everything to him it is like entrusting to him the good the bad whatever is in your life it's like cooking chicken adobo how do you cook chicken adobo garlic garlic by itself does not taste good it's awful paper oh black paper by itself does not taste good vinegar my goodness vinegar by itself does not taste good soy sauce you put garlic soy sauce all of this together paper and boom adobo it becomes good the same thing with your life and my life are you willing to surrender your past they may not be pleasant perhaps you have been abused perhaps people have cheated you it's not good are you willing to surrender that to the lord you surrender your past present and your future my friend you will never know what god can do and will do in your life but if you get stuck by being depressed and you don't move forward you will miss everything you and i are basically immortal here on earth until god calls us home god's plan is always better than ours if you read the experience of elijah after his first encounter with god after his mind was changed after his understanding of god became so real you know what experience elijah who wanted to die physically did not die look at verse 11 as they were going along talking here was elijah and elisha talking the bible tells us there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them and elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven elijah was brought to the presence of god without dying my friend to overcome depression you must realize the reality of who god is god loves us god is almighty and god is in control and above all god has amazing plan for your life are we listening to the voice of jezebels jezebel many times are ideas inspired by satan inspired by the world they are not from god for example jezebel threatened to kill elijah if she really wanted to kill elijah she could have done it but sometimes threatening is more powerful because you paralyze the victim another voice you may hear is your own voice for elijah he's saying he's useless for elijah is saying i'm done i'm a failure many christians if they're not careful will describe themselves as failure i'm no good nobody can use me god will not use me i give up don't listen your own voice don't listen to the voice of jezebel's don't listen to the world you must learn to listen to one voice the voice of the lord through his word that means you need to study the bible because the bible is god's word and god's truth to us no shortcut to overcome depression to overcome negative emotions you need to practice the discipline of not only studying god's word obeying god's word which is to study and not to obey is very dangerous you know why it will develop carlos and pretty soon you don't hear the word of god anymore because you have developed callousness so what's my point learn to listen to the lord by studying his word obeying his word and above all you can only obey when you trust him learn to trust the lord claim his promises understand his power believe in his character that he wants what's best for you i suggest today you'll learn to listen to the voice of god to listen to the voice of god you have to spend time you have to be intentional amid this pandemic amidst your lockdown spend time learn to listen to the lord and perhaps some of you are saying you know peter i've been depressed i've been hiding my depression well the good news is this don't have to be embarrassed even the best among us including elijah experience depression i've asked my wife to share with us how she got out of depression let's welcome diana peter asked me to share my experience with depression the reality is that i have been through depression in the past when i was depressed i had thoughts like how can i be like this i know i'm not supposed to be like this but the more i struggled to get out of depression the more i felt like i was in quicksand and being sucked down under there were times that i would just cry and feel so down i thought that i was losing my mind i thought that i was demon possessed and i'd lost my salvation but i remember one day i fell down on my knees and i said jesus i can't do this i can't get myself out but you have promised that you would keep my faith so i ask you pull me out that night i went to sleep and the next day i was pulled out so that was a depression before i got married and went into the first year of my marriage but the reality is that there are other times when i begin to feel down and thoughts have come to my mind i'm being i'm getting depressed again but what do i do i recalibrate my thinking i renounce that thought in jesus name because i know that when i'm filled with the spirit that the joy of the lord is my strength so what would i do i'd renounce that thought and then i would turn to god and i'd say lord jesus take control of me right now i claim the power of your holy spirit in my life and i claim joy i turn on god's word i have an audio bible so i will go through the bible i'll lay down in the bed so i'm resting i listen to all the whole book of galatians ephesians philippians colossians and i start claiming god's promises and by the time i finished it i'm revived and i'm worshiping god so that's what peter said we need to recalibrate our mind with god's word we need to go to god with our problem don't hide in shame but be transparent with him because the lord said he is near to the brokenhearted and he restores those who are broken in spirit so jesus is the answer to our depression on the practical side every day i exercise in the sunlight because i know i'm prone to depression so i exercise in sunlight every day i sleep seven to eight hours every day i watch my diet you have to avoid things like too much sugar are things that are going to inflame you so we have a part to play and i take omega-3 fish oil because that is a brain food and it's a mood regulator so i do that on a daily basis but ultimately those things are just peripheral what is central is that god is the strength of my life and my portion forever praise god for my wife sharing the reality negative emotions depression can happen to anybody but learn to deal with it god's way the bible tells us our god loves us so much he died on the cross for your sins and for my sins he loves you so much that he's saying i will take care of you not into fear i'm bigger than your fear the thief comes to kill steal and destroy but jesus said i came that you might have life that you might have it abundantly my friends come to know the lord recognize his presence trust him because he came to give you life not to live a life of defeat a life of depression but a life fullness of joy a healthy christian will have healthy emotions and healthy emotions is the fruit of the holy spirit the fruit of the holy spirit is amazing love wow joy peace patience kindness goodness these are all positive emotions but negative emotions anger bitterness depression this is not from god and that's why i like you to make emotions your friend negative emotions is a warning light telling you something is not right between you and the lord something is wrong you need to take action don't deny it don't stuff it in don't blame others take action if you want to surrender your depression your worry your anxiety please pray with me let's pray lord jesus [Music] i realize that many times you allow us to be disappointed you allow us to go through negative emotions to open our eyes to show us what's wrong with us so we can become better and i pray that because of today's message your people will learn to recalibrate their thinking to want to experience you more to know you more so that we can learn to trust you to those of you who don't know jesus you have never entrusted your life to jesus why don't you pray this prayer right now lord jesus i need you i've never entrusted my life to you i've never entrusted my past today i surrender to you everything help me to be rested upon you i invite you as my master as my lord come into my life [Music] transform my heart help me to trust you completely jesus name we pray amen and amen if this has been meaningful to you and if you have friends who are struggling with depression or you are personally struggling with depression we would love to chat with you remember god cares and we care for you too contact us we'll be happy to connect you with people that can help you hello ccf family welcome to another edition of ccf sunday fast track we are here with our senior pastor dr peter tanchi to answer the following questions pastor peter for our first question you mentioned earlier that we should not listen to the voice of jezebel or the voice of satan and that we should instead listen to the voice of god in our world today where there are many distractions and influences how can we know and how can we focus on the voice of god alone i remember the verse that was taught by jesus when he said you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free the only way to counteract the lies of the other voices is to know the truth and in that chapter jesus talks about his word jesus said if you abide in my word you are truly my disciples so there's no shortcut paul you need to study god's word and jesus says if you abide in my word then you will know the truth you see knowing the truth would require not just study obeying for the second question for those people who have overcome depression how can they stay victorious this is what i call the principle of daily discipline you see many times we like the idea of i take a pill and forever i'm okay that's a lazy approach but you don't find that in this world nothing even your body you're a swimmer you want to be a good swimmer you need to continue practicing in any sports the same thing in the christian life you need to constantly practice spiritual discipline because the reality is what christianity is daily daily practice daily time with the lord so to answer your question no shortcut to continue being victorious you need to continue walking with the lord abiding with the lord listening to the lord obeying the lord and if you make a mistake confess it repent and move forward remember the principles of the bible you need to be part of a community the bible says forsake not the assembling of yourselves together that's why it is imperative you are part of a small group it's imperative you have accountability in a bible preaching church you have leaders to help guide and protect us so all of this is crucial thank you pastor peter and now for our third last and most controversial question for today pastor peter some of our netizens are asking is taking your life suicide a sin against god number one you have to realize god owns everything including your life therefore you have no right to take it number two god commands us thou shalt not murder thou shalt not kill it's a command from god and lastly it is satan who wants you to kill yourself because the only way he can destroy you is to plant those thoughts in your mind so please every time you are tempted to take your own life you got to run away it is totally not from god so when that thoughts enter your mind you must rebuke it you must renounce it take every thought captive beautiful reminder pastor peter and for those of you who are thinking but the bible bible characters that i follow got depressed and they wanted to die excuse me they did not take their lives they prayed and they got corrected that's it for sunday fast track thank you once again and see you next sunday [Music] as a family as a small group my prayer is you will take this time to discuss among yourselves the following question number one what fears do you have that make you want to run or give up ask yourself what are you afraid of today instead running away you need to face them question number two what can you do to have a biblical mindset how do you develop a correct mindset and lastly how can you become more sensitive to the prompting to the voice of god in your heart what are some disciplines you can practice so you can become more sensitive to the voice of the lord [Music] have a blessed discussion time thanks for watching we would like to invite you to be a christ-committed follower by being part of the movement as we honor god and obey his great commission to find out if there's a ccf satellite near you log on to www.ccf.org.ph satellites we also want to encourage you to join a small discipleship group where you can deepen your knowledge and love for jesus and others to sign up log on to www.ccf.org.ph slash discipleship group all of csf's video resources are available free of charge and are constantly being improved by our team would you consider supporting ccf through prayer in giving so more people can be blessed you can give securely through our website at www.ccf.org.ph give for more videos like this please subscribe to our channel thanks and god bless

Channel: Christ’s Commission Fellowship

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Length: 54min 31sec (3271 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 11 2021