Low “Causeless” Depression and Praising God Always – A Mindful of Christ Encouragement - Purity 1211

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of the silhouettes of trees on the edge of farmland on Waite Road with the light of sunrise on the horizon comes to us from yours truly as I captured this haunting sunrise scene while on— while out walking the dog this past Sunday morning. Well, it's Thursday, and I share this pathway photo that is mostly off-road as a visual encouragement to get on or to stay on the path of Christian discipleship, and to remind us of all— remind us all that no matter how dark things may get, there is always hope when we have faith in Jesus, the light of the world. Sometimes I wonder if I really— if it is really necessary to continue sharing the same messages that encourage people to know who they are in Christ Christ and to make their lives an ongoing spiritual practice where their hearts and minds are directed toward the things of God and where they literally walk and talk with God in their daily lives. Keep on walking and talking with God isn't just some quaint phrase of genuine general encouragement. It's an exhortation to be taken quite literally. I know I say that quite often, and in the— and, uh, the reason I do Uh, is because a deep personal relationship with God is what can help you to overcome the pains and difficulties that we face with life here on earth. And I keep saying that because I see what happens when Christians don't do it. They make foolish choices, they fall into sin, and sometimes they just become incredibly depressed under the quote-unquote unbearable lightness of being. Now, mentioning that phrase is not a recommendation of the movie or book with that title, by the way. I don't recall the story or plot, but I'm pretty sure the people in it were not trying to be the people God created them to be by living as followers of Jesus Christ. That sentiment, the unbearable lightness of being, comes from an atheistic worldview. That whimsically appreciates the beauty in the world amongst the tragedy, but subtly sells the lie that there is no ultimate meaning to life, so you might as well live it up and give in to whatever sensual desires you have, even if they are sin. It's a lie, but with the mundanity of life and the suffering in the world, it's easy to get drawn into it. Laments like, "Why do things have to be this way?" or "Why am I not happy?" or "Oh, what's the point?" can subtly erode our peace and cause us to just feel low and make us experience what we may think of as a, as a causeless depression where we just feel down, where nothing is wrong, but where we are incredibly sad or just low. The Christian Disciples' remedy By the way, uh, for depression is the affirmation and appreciation of who we are in Christ and the realization that God has a plan and that life has meaning. If we are depressed, we need to remind ourselves of God in our life and draw into his presence. Our thoughts impact our emotions, so we need to think about and talk to the Lord. We, we can take our depression to him and our edits, um, and come away with joy. However, we may have to do more than hope and pray and meditate on the truth. We may have to do something drastic and proclaim the truth in song. We need to praise the Lord despite the storm, the tragedy, or just that seeming seemingly unbearable lightness of being. Right after Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, a pretty low time in which he had victory— why? Because he combated the enemy with the truth of God's word. Hello. Anyway, after that, he was filled with the Holy Spirit's power and went into the synagogue in Nazareth and read from Isaiah 61, which said The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Jesus then said in Luke 4:21, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. We don't have to feel oppressed or depressed. We who have placed our faith in Jesus can experience the freedom, the liberty Christ has given us every day. And the scriptures that Jesus read from give us a clue of how we can experience it. After the, the part that says the acceptable year of the Lord, Isaiah 61:2-3 3 goes on to say, in the day of vengeance of our God— that refers to Christ's second coming, where we— where he will make everything right and exact vengeance on the wicked. But then the text says, to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning. The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. So this text indicates that we can take off the spirit of heaviness with the garment of praise. To receive our beauty for ashes and the oil of joy for mourning, we are subtly directed to praise the Lord. We are forgiven, free, and have eternal life in Christ. The big old bad world isn't so bad in the light of that truth. But we have to resist the devil and fight the world by speaking the word of God and proclaiming it in song. Paul tells us to do this in Ephesians 5:18-20, where he said, "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and—" spiritual songs, singing and giving melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father, all things to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's how we live in the Spirit and take off the spirit of heaviness. We praise. I was inspired to write this because I, I encountered a Christian who has been who has been suffering from a seemingly causeless depression, and they experienced some relief through praise. In their case, uh, I, I commend them for their efforts, but they admitted to not, uh, being out of the woods yet and still felt low. So I recommended they go through the Steps to Freedom in Christ to proclaim their faith and to confess and renounce any and everything that in their life that may be giving the enemy a foothold in their life. You know, that spirit of heaviness could be demonically oppressed, uh, a demonic oppression. So we remove the ground, we take— we got the permission, you know, basically. And then what do we do? Although, you know, well, I'll continue with what I wrote. Although I gave them a copy of the Steps to Freedom in Christ months ago, they've never prayed through them. So I recommended doing that and to continue meditating on who they are in Christ and to praise the Lord in song. So yeah, um, you know, we go through the steps, and but we continue to think about and talk to God and praise the Lord. I, I was also encouraged, uh, that other Christians who are in the encouragement business agree with me. And, and, and I am sharing Mindful of Christ's Word from Wednesday this week, where Lauren Ross Killey encourages us to always praise God. Referencing Job 1:20, which says, 'Then Job arose and tore his robes and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.' And anyway, Lauren writes, 'Praise God always. Job is a man who went through all kinds of trouble and trials. He had his family, livelihood, and much more taken away from him. He was what some may deem at rock bottom.' Imagine if you went through everything Job did. How would you— how would that make you feel? Angry? Depressed? Grief? Sad? Lonely? Anxious? Hurt? Rejected? And I wouldn't blame you. Job felt most of those— well, most of these too. Well, he is human as well. But despite all of this and how he felt about his situation, he still knew the Lord. Job fell to the ground and worshiped. But remember, he wants us to worship him at all times and through all things, the good and the bad. Life is full of ups and downs, so it's helpful to remember that trials and problems are to be expected. We are on a sinful earth after all. But the one thing in this world that is consistent, good, perfect, and awesome is God the Father, the Creator, and His Son Jesus our Savior, and He is worthy to be praised. So next time you're feeling what we might deem to be negative emotions or are going through particular trials, I challenge you to throw on the worship music and praise the Lord. And, um, here's a playlist I prepared earlier, Mood Boosting Worship Songs. I am including the link to it from Lauren's website. And she says, enjoy and blessings from Lauren. Thank you, Lauren. Ross Kelly of mindfulofchrist.net: Praising the Lord is the proper response to negative emotions and negative circumstances, even with serious hardships like the ones Job experienced. When we place our focus on God and follow him Praise will come spontaneously sometimes, but we may have to really put forth an effort to do it. So do it. Praise the Lord. I just lost my place, if you couldn't guess. So do it. Praise the Lord and worship the let's see, so do it. Praise and worshiping the Lord is the appropriate response for knowing the Lord. So always remember that God is bigger than all the situations in the world, or even the causeless depression. And when we draw close to him, we— he will lift us up and give us beauty for ashes and joy where there was only pain. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Truist. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on the church, our communion of the saints. And today our resource tells us to look at Ezekiel 34:1-16. And the word of the Lord says, the word of the Lord came to me, Son of Man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to them, even to the shepherds, thus says the Lord God, ah, shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding yourselves. Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed— Alexa, stop that— the strayed you have not brought back. The lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered because they— there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered. They wandered over all the mountains on and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. And I, as I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves and have not fed my sheep, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them. For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out, as a shepherd seeks out his a flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so I will seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the people and gather them from the countries and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed. And I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice. Wow. Today's verses fall under the 14th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on the church and communion of the saints, and that 14th point is: God condemns and warns unfaithful shepherds. Today's verses are a warning to false teachers and a reminder to us that God came to save the lost by sending the Good Shepherd in Jesus Christ. This passage tells us that God sees everything, that he will repay those who don't follow him and abuse his sheep. It tells us of his great love to leave the 99 and save the one lost sheep that Jesus talked about in the Gospels. Um, some people wrongly think that the God was that God was different in the Old Testament than he, he was in the New Testament. But passages like this really show that God has always been the same. He is holy, just, and loving. And while he will condemn and warn the wicked, and will judge and punish them who die in their sins, he also calls all of us to repentance and seeks to save us when his save us because of his love for his sheep. And that language, you know, just throughout here with the shepherds and, you know, running after— I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. Can you say Jesus? And I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost and I'll bring back the strayed, and I'll bind up the injured and I'll strengthen the weak. You know, that's, that's the Lord, you know, and That's what he's done for us. He's rescued us. He's, he's, he sought us and he's found us and he saved us with the Good Shepherd called Jesus. Anyway, as always, uh, if you couldn't guess, my alarm went off and, uh, that means we're running late. But the good thing is I'm not really running late, and I don't think I would have written as much today, um, if I didn't have today off from work. Um, I get to work on Saturday today, so today I have the gave me a little extra time, and so I used it up. But we are— we continue to share, you know, we always encourage people with insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. And today we're going to continue sharing from God is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. As I As I stated previously, it's not Advent yet. It starts on Sunday, December 3rd this year, but our resource gives us enough— gives us enough, um, everything's going off— um, it gives us enough, uh, material basically for 28 days. Sometimes Advent's longer for some reason. I don't know how the church calendar works, but you know our devotional, uh, accounted for that, and we're going to use all of them because I wanted to read Bonhoeffer's work in regards to Advent to prepare my heart for Christmas. So even though we're not there yet, we've been sharing for 6 days and today's day 7. So today we're sharing from God Is in the Manger by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Advent week 1 called Waiting, uh, day 7, and today's message is called God's holy present. And Bonhoeffer writes, Serve the opportune time. The most profound matter will be revealed to us only when we consider that not only does the world have its time and its hours, but also that our own life has its time and its hour of God, and that behind these times of our lives traces of God become visible. That under our paths are the deepest shafts of eternity. Every step brings back a quiet echo from eternity. It is only a matter of understanding the deep, pure form of these times and representing them in our conduct of life. Then, in the middle of our time, we will also encounter God's holy present. My times are in your hands. Says Psalms 31:15. Serve your times. God's present in your life. God has sanctified your time. Every time, rightly understood, is immediate to God, and God wants us to be fully what we are. Only those who stand with both feet on the earth, who are and remain totally children of earth, who undertake no hopeless attempts at flight to unreachable heights, who are content with what they have and hold onto it thankfully, only they have the full power of the humanity that serves the opportune time and thus eternity. The Lord of Ages is God. The Turning Point of the Ages is Christ. The Right Spirit of the Ages is the Holy Spirit. The following is from a letter to Bonhoeffer's parents written from Tegel Prison on December 17, 1943. Bonhoeffer writes: Dear parents, I don't need to tell you how much I long for freedom and for you all. But over the decades you have provided for us such incomparably beautiful Christmases that my thankful remembrance of them is strong enough to to light up one dark Christmas. Only such times can really reveal what it means to have a past and an inner heritage that is independent of chance and the changing of the times. The awareness of a spiritual tradition that reaches through the centuries gives one a certain feeling of security in the face of all transitory difficulties. I believe that those who know they possess such reserves of strength do not need to be ashamed even of softer feelings, which in my opinion are still among the better and nobler feelings of humankind. When remembrance of a good and rich past calls them forth, such feelings will not overwhelm those who hold fast to the values that no one can take from them. That was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Writing from prison, about the incomparable beauty of Christmases in his past and how he was thankful for the remembrance of them while he was in prison. You know, that was December 17th, 1943, and, you know, it's 7 days before Christmas Eve, and he was reflecting on, you know, in prison, guys, reflecting on the good in his life that he experienced in and he was, and he was, and he was, uh, warmed by the remembrance. So let that be a lesson to us, um, you know, the opportune time is now to praise the Lord. Anyway, uh, Bonhoeffer continues, uh, well, the devotional continues to share by sharing Psalm 31:13-16. And the word of God says, for I hear the whispering of many, terror all around. As they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life. But I trust in you, O Lord. I say, you are my God, my times are in your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. Let your face shine upon your servant. Save me in your steadfast love. That's the, the end of the sharing from God Is in the Manger by Dietrich Bonhoeffer for day 7. God's holy presence. And we're very thankful for faithful saints like Dietrich Bonhoeffer for sharing their lives and their thoughts about the Lord that we get to, you know, experience so many years later and be encouraged by them. So we hope our message wasn't too long today. We hope we encouraged, encouraged you in it, even when you face a seemingly causeless depression, there's hope to be found in your relationship with the Lord. And the remedy just might be raising his name, uh, in song and remembering the good even when you're in a tough place like Bonhoeffer. All right, that's it for today. I got a lot of work to do as I need to prepare the upcoming lessons for Celebrate Freedom as all my my spare time has been used up. So I got ahead of the game, but now I have to prepare the lessons for the remainder of this— well, of December. We'll be good to go, but we need to press into that. So it's a day off, but it'll be working day here at River House as I will sit at my laptop and try to stay awake. But I might take a nap too. But we've got to accomplish something today, and, uh, you know, we're going to be doing a, uh, just reviewing the lesson on the enemy, um, you know, to be able to teach about how, how he can oppress us, but we can fight him with the truth. Anyway, that's for today. Um, as for all of you, let's pray. Uh, let's pray for all of us. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in Kingdom. We thank you so much for all that you do for us. Um, we thank you for who you made us in Christ and how we can be rescued from even the causeless depression when we remember you and praise your name. Lord, we pray for anyone who's listening today that you come alongside them and their prayer request and their walk of faith. We got a lot of friends going through a lot of things today, Lord, so we're thinking of them when we say that. So you know who they are, and we pray for you to bless them. Um, and, um, and keep them and guide them and heal them in every way you can. Um, and Lord, we just pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to the things we need to see, help us accomplish what we need to accomplish, and do what you would have us do. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.