22-Biblical Anger Management-C Factors-9-Depresson

 

9    -DEPRESSION-

                        Disappointment, Hopelessness, Hurts, Failures, Rejection, Guilt, Health

       Some Biblical examples of various forms of depression are; Cain, Saul, Hannah, Ahab, Jonah, Peter, Judas.

      Cain ended up killing his brother in the rage of jealously, Saul also feeling sorry for himself, had an entire community murdered, hunted David for his life, and more. Hannah turned her sorrow, shame, and bitterness to the Lord in absolute surrender and the Lord granted her request and further blessed her and her people. Ahab was depressed because he could not have his way and allowed his wife to murder in order to have it. Jonah wanted to die when his hopes and expectations did not turn out  the way he wanted, but found life in God’s life-giving rebuke. Peter wept bitterly when he realized how he had failed his Master, yet attained a true conversion when he came to a genuine faith in the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ his Savior.  Judas on the other hand fell into despair when he realized what he had really done by betraying Jesus, and killed/murdered himself.

     Where there is depression there is a collapse of /breaking down of, or wearing down of the mind and

emotions. Physical health can be a contributing factor as well, although when the first two begin to spiral out of order and control, the physical will likely follow. We are a complex unit, 1Cor. 12, 1Thes. 5:23. This is a deadly foe and must be totally vanquished by faith in Jesus Christ, and in the light of God’s Word through His Holy Spirit. You must be ready to face some serious soul searching. The Bible says that, “a hope differed makes the heart sick.” Anxieties, fears, rejection, doubts/unbelief, guilt, hurts, discouragement, disappointment, and broken relationships, are major factors behind depression and these will be manifested by plagues of such feelings; shame, guilt, sense of failure, hopelessness, sorrow, grief, unhappiness, resentfulness, frustrations, confusions, fears, self-pity, self-doubt, regret,… . The problems or issue keeps going over and over in your mind till it seems to dominate your thoughts and feelings. You may even feel like you are going mad and you cannot even control these thoughts. You are angry, your nerves are shot, discouraged, your fears seem insurmountable, and may feel that you and or your situation are hopeless/unredeemable. You are moody and may lash out unpredictably, or you may feel like getting away from everyone. You feel that you cannot go on, that you want to give up, and may even be tempted with the sin of suicide (“Thou shalt not kill.”), “Hope differed makes the heart sick.” Proverbs 13:12.

Is Is this you? RUN TO GOD IMMEDIATELY!!! Confess to Him everything and ask Him to help you, and SURRENDER CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE TO HIM AFRESH!  “Come unto Me all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly of heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Matthew 11: 28-30. STOP! DO SO NOW!!!  “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved.” Romans 10:13

            2- REPENT IMMEDIATELY OF ANY THOUGHT OF VIOLENCE AND SUCIDE NOW!!!! ASK THE LORD TO HELP AND DELIVER YOU.

              SUICIDE IS: a. demonically inspired “He(devil) was a murderer from the beginning.” John 8:44             b. MURDER!!! “…and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” 1 John 3:15

                  THEREFORE KILLING YOURSELF IS A WORK OF THE DEVIL AND IS

                                                                 MURDER!!!

                                                 STOP-REPENT!!! DO SO NOW!

            3. Repent of any sinful indulgences that you may be attempting to comfort yourself with alcohol, drugs… STOP!!! DO SO NOW!

4.a. Tackle the source issue(s)! WHY ARE YOU DEPRESSED???

EXPOSE THE ISSUE(S) AND DEAL WITH THEM IN A BIBLICAL

MANNER! COMMON CAUSES: Guilt, Failure, Hurt, Disappointment.

Confess and repent before the Lord of your sin and guilt in the matter IF ANY. This may include ignoring godly and wise counsel, and are giving into dogged pride, defiance = rebellion, fears, unbelief, accusations, sinful behavior of any kind. You must bear your responsibility of the guilt before the Lord.

      b. But   remember, once you have genuinely repented, you are forgiven and cleansed. 1 John 1:9, 3:20-21. These two points alone help close the door to pride and guilt, both of which can be major contributing factors to certain forms of depression.

                                       STOP!!! DO SO NOW!

1.      Acknowledge your error(s). We all make mistakes and fail.

2.      Acknowledging and facing failure and error

         can relieve great stress and distress.

                                      STOP!!!. DO SO NOW!

3.      Forgive from the heart any that may have hurt or

          failed you. “Forgive, as God for Christ’s sake forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32.

4.      Forgive yourself. If God has forgiven you, who are

          you not to forgive yourself. Jesus paid for it. That is

          Enough! Pride and the devil want to beat you up.

          That is a trap, don’t give them place.

5.      Release/surrender you goals, projects, desires,

          ambitions to God. Let Him be the final Judge and

          Reward(er). This way failure, hurts, shame will not

           be able to harm you.  By God’s grace we must face and accept   failure, loss, consequences and correction,

          and be thankful to Him. He is so Good and Faithful.

         Walk them through with Jesus, and we win! He is our PRIZE!

6.      Contend with Pride. It refuses to let go or admit wrong, face failure,

it wallows in discouragement and

          and self- pity which are allies of the flesh. It is a tool of the devil and destructive.

7.      Sorrow and grief can be overwhelming. We must take them to the Throne of Grace as well for healing and deliverance. “Himself bore our grief and carried our sorrows.” Isaiah 53:4, Psalm 30.

8.      Repent of fears! Fears are contrary to faith - which believes God’s Word, trusts and waits for Him. Fear that brings anxiety is also a tool of the enemy and a work of the flesh. “For God has not given to us  the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 Consequently…

9.      WE MUST WAGE WAR FIERCELY against the thoughts that can constantly bombard our minds. Unhappiness can be a warning that something needs adjusting and or it may be the result of unhealthy thinking, perceptions, values. Philippians 4:8,

2      Corinthians 10:4-5, Nehemiah 8:9-10. Release your fears to God.

10- BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS -With all your heart using wisdom and good guidance, do all you can to rectify a broken situation as best as you can. Own what is your responsibility and make your payments full if that is what is what is required. Mat 5:23-26, 18:15-17 1 Peter 2:20 God can heal it, but for sure, you.

NOTE: If depression is a constant or regular struggle there are 2 things you must exercise yourself  in: 1- Casting your cares upon the Lord 1Peter 5:7. This is not a mere light solution it is an admonition from the Lord for our benefit, comfort and help. Psalm 46:1, Hebrews 4:16. This is a developed life style, trusting Him for all you cannot do yourself.

                   2: Look for patterns in your situation, thinking processes, behaviors, past hurts or

             experiences that seem to initiate the process of the sense of depression and apply the Word

             of God to that area. You must learn to close the door on your adversary. As soon as you

            accept or agree with anything he brings your way, the spiral begins. In flying, a spiral is a

            most dangerous attitude although usually easily rectified - level the wings and bring the nose up, and gently slow it down. If you do not succeed in these 2 areas you will likely need

         someone to use external measures wherein you will likely never see the victory on your own.

10.  CHECK FOR PHYSICAL PROBLEMS AND

UNHEALTHY BEHAVIORS.  These can often be behind some of our strongest problems escalating them to such seriously high proportions taking our feelings and nerves to their limit. Fatigue and poor nutrition can contribute greatly to depression. Complicating factors may include staying up late at nights and insomnia, then sleeping during the day when you should be working…etc. Living in a gloomy, dark atmosphere, spending a lot of time alone, being unoccupied, watching depressing programs…etc, and always thinking about yourself. These are strong breeding grounds for depression. Furthermore there may be a lack of Bible reading and prayer. CHANGES MUST BE MADE!

                                      STOP- CONSIDER- DECIDE- ACT

11.  Move on and forget! ‘Arise and depart, for this is not

your rest; because it is defiled, it shall destroy you, yes, with utter destruction.” Micah 2:10  “…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14.

         Learn from your mistakes, but don’t dwell there.

12.  STAY BUSY/GET OCCUPIED, idleness is a snare! Matthew 20

                                14.  ENJOY YOUR WALK WITH  JESUS!       

                                 15. Cease Fretting, and worrying about assumed things. Going over and over things that may not be true - thoughts against yourself your character, other’s attitudes about you, what will or may happen... These are demonically inspired, contrary to the Word of God, “ Love thinks no evil... bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, love never fails.”1Cor.13

This is the truth, all else is a lie and believing or indulging your thoughts on them will wear you down till they consume you. “Repent and believe the Gospel” Mark 1:15

                                                      16. Regroup! Isaiah 30:15 “For thus says the Lord God, ‘In returning and rest shall you be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength, and you would not.’”                                                      

                                             17. Find and Close the open door.  If the attacks are reoccurring you must

                                                   deal with the unresolved issue(s). Do you have attitudes or behaviors

                                                   that bring about opposition, resentment or failure that you have not

                                                   overcome, changed, or repented of? Expect your problems to keep

                                                   returning until you do.

                                                     b. The Blind Side. We all have blind sides that we are not aware of

                                                   which often are open doors for many of our problems. Regardless of

                                                   our ignorance it can be an open door for the devil to get a foothold on

                                                   on us and thereby bring torment in our lives whether by our own

                                                   thoughts and emotions, or others. “the prince of this world comes

                                                   and has nothing in Me.” John 14:30. 1. Take it to the Lord in Prayer.

                                                   Ask Him where you may be in error either in thought, attitude, or

                                                   behavior. Make sure that you can see it in Scripture because there

                                                   you will also find the remedy. People and the devil like to lay

                                                   things to our charge which will incapacitate us. Remember this step

                                                   is not for someone who is being unjustly treated and victimized lest

                                                      you try and assume guilt for that as well.

                                                           2. When you see it, repent of it before God. Ask the Lord to heal

                                                  you and help you change.

                                                           3. Determine where the open door for that attitude, mindset,

                                                  or behavior came in, and close it by breaking your agreement with it.

                                                           4. Begin to apply immediately your renewed understanding to

                                                  your life and persist in it. This may take a repetitive work of trial and

                                                  error. But keep repenting and persevering and you will find success.

                                            18. Untangle the web of defenses and reactions from past abuses and

                                                   hurtful experiences. Although they may have helped you hold it

                                                   together in the past, whether by resolve/vows, shut downs, stubborn

                                                   willpower, they may very well be what is hindering you from receiving

                                                   the help you need to make the changes you need to be free of the

                                                   attacks. For instance, if you had been hurt by an authority, which is

                                                   a common cause for depression and rejection, you may have made a

                                                   vow in your heart to never trust any authority. But that will also put

                                                   a wall between you and the Lord Who is the Supreme Authority.

                                                  Since He is our Shield and Buckler you will be lacking defense

                                                  when an attack comes. This will take serious

                                                  faith on your part because letting go will be required for you to make a

                                                  jump, at which point you will feel so defenseless and vulnerable. If

                                                  you do not make the change your problems will be reoccurring and

                                                  you may even give way to more dangerous comforts and safeguards

                                                  which the devil will gladly and easily provide for you, such as

                                                  alcohol, drugs, and violence. Furthermore, when help is offered

                                                  because of your insecurities and distorted perspectives you may

                                                  be rejecting the very thing or help you are longing for and needing.

                      STOP-CONSIDER EACH STEP- DECIDE- ACT ACCORDINGLY…NOW!!!

   Please, in everything, ENJOY JESUS AND WALK IN FAITH AND LOVE!!!