The Answer for Depression and Anxiety - Purity 801

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 a path through the woods comes to us from a friend who made a few wrong turns on the Blue Trail at Garnsey Park in Rexford, New York, but got lost in its beauty and vows to absolutely go back again. And just like our friend, if we make a few wrong turns in life, we should remember the beauty we experience in the Lord's presence and that— and vow to follow him again. Well, it's Thursday again, and I share a photo of a pathway, as is my habit, because Thursdays are the days that I encourage people to get on the path of Christian discipleship, as I will be leading a men's group through, uh, Freedom in Christ Ministries' The Grace Course on Zoom this evening. As much as I experience the joy that comes from walking in the Spirit on the path of Christian discipleship, I have to admit that the joy comes with a considerable amount of pain in the terms of the compassion I have for the friends, family, and old acquaintances that I see as they struggle through life without the Lord. A good deal of my morning this morning was spent sending a reply to a text that I had received from an old friend who who was reporting that his son was depressed and feeling anxious. His son had reached out to me in the past, and I had done my best to encourage him to seek the Lord and to find the peace that comes from following the Lord. But the son failed to do what I suggested and never contacted me again. Now, months later, things have deteriorated to the point where the father is thinking about referring his son to a psychiatrist and putting him on medication. While there is certainly need for doctors and medications in certain situations, um, my familiarity with this case would lead me to state that the overwhelming problem here is that this young man does not know who he is in Christ, and because of that, he does not know his self-worth or the purpose that the Lord has for his life. Instead, he isolated himself by doing things his way. He surrounded himself with the things of this world. Instead of going the way he should go, as according to the Word of God, he has gone his own way and is suffering because of it. As someone who was lost in the darkness for years and years and years, I can tell you that when you isolate and surround yourself with the things of this world, you will eventually have reasons to be depressed and to feel anxious. The world doesn't offer any answers. It just offers temporary relief, and when that relief is gone, you are left feeling empty. They say the prophet's curse is that you know the truth and no one listens to you. Well, I don't claim to be a prophet, but I think I have a small idea about their pain, and I can tell you I do know what it— what happens when you decide to follow the Lord. As much as I can encourage others Um, I also understand the need for personal revelations of the Lord's goodness, which only comes from seeking him. Our faith has to be more than just an intellectual belief or a theological understanding. Our faith has to be a deep trust in the Lord, meaning we turn to him, talk to him, read his word, and try to align our lives with his wisdom. When we fail to do that, we can easily doubt that God is even real. Reading the Bible, going to church, and praying can seem like cold and empty things unless we really believe that God is with us and we reach out to him in faith to establish that connection, that personal relationship with God. So my heart bleeds for this man, his son, and for other people who have left me or who I've left behind simply by walking forward on the path of Christian discipleship. We say we want peace, but some of us don't want to pay the cost. If we want the peace of the Lord, we have to surrender to him. That's what Lord means. He's the boss. We are bondservants, slaves, and God is our good and holy master who loves us. We follow him because he is powerful. We follow him because he is wise. We follow him because he knows what's best. So we have to exchange our control of our lives for His. Don't get me wrong, we still have free will. We can do whatever we want. But when we decide to follow the Lord and do what He suggests in His Word, which is contrary to everything we learned from the world, our families, and society, we discover that God is real and that God is with us. And although it might not always be easy, we discover that His way is the only way. The best way to live. Our faith has to be more than theological understanding. Our faith needs to be a relationship. In a relationship, we talk to the other person. We also listen. So in our relationship with God, we have to talk to him, literally with our voices, but also through the study of his word and through the practices of the Christian faith, such as going to church and praying. We also need to make ourselves open to his suggestions to do good works. After we follow the Lord for a while, we'll get intuition— intuitions to do good things. We'll get intuitions to serve at church or serve in our communities, to help with family and friends. These invitations to do good works are another part of our relationship with the Lord. When we answer the invitation and actually help people which we wouldn't do on our own normally, we enter in deeper to our relationship with God. Our relationship with the Lord is really shown in the fact that we are shaping our lives to live the way he suggests. When we don't do that or step off his path, we suffer. Ask me how I know. Even though I pray and read the Bible every day, I recently wasn't diligent in terms of what I put before my eyes and in terms of what I was putting in my mouth in terms of food. And I suffered the consequences. But the good news is that I saw what I was doing and I repented. Over the last several days, I've made a concerted effort to adjust my eating habits and to be discerning in terms of what I spent my time watching or focusing on. I decided to turn back to the Lord in a deeper way, and I've benefited greatly already. From last week to today, I've lost 3 pounds, and I feel spiritually regenerated because I am being self-aware about my physical and spiritual health. My focus hasn't gone to the silly things that I, I was watching before. I found my rest and my peace in the Lord instead of the things of the world and realize now my mistake, uh, that it was— I, that I shouldn't necessarily go back to the world when I want to quote unquote take a break and relax. I get it though, life is hard. But God is good, so all I can do is encourage others to do the same as I have done. Seek the Lord is my one piece of advice that will never change. But it is not my advice that will help you. The only one who— that will help you is the Lord. And the only thing that will help you is your making the daily decision to follow Him. So let me share Psalm 138. Because if you get nothing else out of this blog or podcast today, at least I would have proven faithful by sharing the Word of God. Psalm 38 says, I will praise you with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing your praises— sing praises to you. I will worship toward your holy temple and praise your name for your loving kindness and your truth, for you have magnified your word above all. All your name. In the day when I cried out, you answered me and made me bold with strength in my soul. All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, when they hear the words of your mouth. Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. Though the Lord is on high, yet he regards the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me. You will stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand will save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerns me. Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the works of your hands. So praise the Lord, worship him, and he will answer you when you cry out. And he will make you bold with his strength. Keep walking and talking with God, and you can overcome all that ails you. And regardless of the difficulties or troubles of this life, when you follow him, you will have the peace that goes beyond all understanding, the peace that only comes from God when you have peace with God through faith in Christ alone. Today's Bible verse, uh, comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is Luke 18:27, and it says, "He replied, 'What is impossible for people is possible with God.'" Today's verse are the words of Jesus, who encourages us to trust the Lord for, for the impossible. In Neil Anderson and Timothy Warner's book, The Beginner's Guide to Spiritual Warfare, the authors state that the biggest lie the enemy tells the Christian is that something something is impossible. As we can see from today's verse, the belief that something is impossible goes directly against the words of Jesus. But let's be clear here. Jesus does not say that nothing is impossible. He says that what is possible— impossible for people is possible with God. The key here is "with God." So if you're not walking with God, you will discover that there are many things that are impossible. But let's keep it real here too. Even if you do walk with the Lord, and we know that the Lord can do the impossible, it doesn't necessarily mean that the Lord will grant all your impossible wishes. Remember, Lord means that God is the boss. He has infinitely more knowledge and wisdom than we have, and that he, he has his own purposes too. One of the most faithful Christians was the Apostle Paul. And he confesses in one of his epistles to an affliction that he associated with the devil, a thorn in the flesh, and he prayed to have it taken away. But the Lord let it stay and advised Paul that his grace was sufficient, saying in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness." To which Paul responds by saying, "Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Although he didn't get what he was hoping for, Paul did pray for the impossible healing. So we should pray and work to overcome the impossible things in our lives too. The Lord may choose to do the impossible in our lives, or he will give you the strength to endure impossible situations. And be strengthened through them. But either way, we can rejoice that the Lord is with us and the power of Christ rests upon us. As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org, where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from Clinton Arnold's Powers of Darkness, and today we begin chapter 11. Which is titled Spiritual Warfare. So I couldn't think of a, you know, a better topic to come up on a Thursday, as Thursdays have been traditionally the day I did Christian recovery ministry and discipleship ministry. And on Thursdays, time and time again, we would see evidence for difficulties arising in people's lives as they try to turn their lives over to God. The world, the flesh, and the devil would have you stop, you know, stop following the Lord. So don't be discouraged. And if, you know, when you get resistance when you follow the Lord, it's, it's not the Lord that's trying to stop you, it's the enemy. So if you want to dive into the beginning of the spiritual warfare chapter, go to mt4christ.org to find that resource. As always, I encourage people to buy the resources I share to support the authors and their work. Basically, it's worth the cost, and you should have them. You know, have these— the things I share, I've found personally rewarding. And, you know, there's great wisdom that are in the books that I shared from these Christian counselors and theologians. Why are the authors so great? No, the authors aren't so great. But then, you know, they studied the Word and drew out, you know, understanding from the Word, and they share what they've learned. You know, that's what this blog and this podcast is all about. I'm trying to share what I've learned from the Word of God and from my experience of following Him. And as I said, lately, it's just I'm overcome with such pain for my friends and family and people I used to know that, you know, have walked away from the Lord or, or just suffering in general and don't necessarily have the faith or, you know, the trust in the Lord to, to go to him in prayer, and they're just sort of muddling through their lives, especially where it's a situation that's preventable. The one thing I've learned through my master's program in Christian counseling is that, you know, the Lord calls us to trust in him, but he also calls us to take on the challenges that face us through the application of our faith. So that means we work on problems and we surrender our will to follow his ways. And when we do that, we discover solutions and we discover peace You know, we can be steadfast and, and, you know, our self-worth, because God declared us, you know, very worthy in terms of the fact that Christ died for us. You know, we have an, you know, an incredible value that cost us the life of God's Son. He died for us. You know, think about that. You know, recently I was, you know, worshiping the Lord and The song basically I was listening to said something along, you know, reminded me of the fact that the Lord actually died for me and for the sins that I had personally done. He died to save me personally, and it reminded me of a scene from an action movie where a man lost his friend to the enemy. And he was mourning his friend, and he was— I'm getting shook up— he declared his deep love for his friend and his deep desire to get revenge on the people that killed his friend. And, you know, basically he said he was going to cut his friend's name in his enemies. Um, you know, now it's— I don't condone personal revenge, obviously it goes against the word of the Lord, but that passion to make people know the name of his friend who died, you know, for him basically, you know, um, was a passion that sort of was reflected in my, my my will to glorify the Lord. Um, Christ died for me, so my life's mission is just like that, you know, friend, a person in that movie lost his friend who declared his, his deep desire to get revenge, um, because he said, you know, he's going to write his name in him. And, um, you know, for me, I'm going to declare the name of Christ for the rest of my life. Because I appreciate the fact that the Lord died for me and set me free from everything that had held me down and, you know, basically kept me in the shadows of darkness, of depression, anxiety, fear. So, you know, I hope that my advice and my teaching is never taken as some, you know, some Christian who thinks he's better than anyone else. It's only through my experience that I've learned the value of our relationship with the Lord. And so I'm— sometimes I guess what I say might seem harsh, but it is through Christ alone. And so when anyone else suggests another pathway to God other than Christ, I have to be adamant and let them know that they're being led astray. And as much compassion as I have for people, the Word of God and my experience compels me to confront them and to tell them that they're not living right. You're missing the mark and you're going your own way rather than the Lord's. And, you know, I don't blame them because they don't know the Lord. They don't think God's real. You know, not really. Because if you did, if you really believe God is real, you would align your life to represent him and to follow him. You know, if we really believe that people are going to hell without Jesus, we would tell them about Christ. We would try to reflect it in everything we do. So, now we don't, you know, I don't claim to do that perfectly at all, but If anyone asks, I'll tell you. It's Christ alone. Follow him. Surrender your world. You know, everything in this world is going to fall away and your life will come to an end. What are you going to do then? You know, deathbed confession might not do it. In fact, Adrian Rogers, a pastor who's no longer with us, basically stated that, you know, he spent most of his pastorate talking to this old man who just wouldn't come to Christ, wouldn't come to Christ, and, uh, you know, as much as he tried to convince him and everything. And then the old man was basically on his deathbed, and, you know, Adrian Rogers basically pleaded with this old man to come to Christ before he died and went to hell. And you would think, you know, that he would do that, right? Well, no, that hardness of heart, you know, basically, um, the old man basically refused. And, you know, it broke Adrian Rogers' heart, breaks my heart, that people would walk through this life without God and choose willfully or unknowingly, um, to go to hell. So That's what we're here to do, encourage people to be secure in their faith in Christ. And the way you seek out your salvation with fear and trembling is by living it. You know, there's no doubts when you follow the Lord with everything you do. Like, you know, some people are like, well, you don't know you have a relationship with God. Like, yeah, I think I do. Um, you know, I don't want to sound arrogant or anything, but You know, I follow the Lord. If you want the fruit in my life, you can look around and there's evidence that this guy— wow, this guy might actually believe in Jesus Christ. So I encourage you to actually believe in Jesus Christ and to actually read the word of God and actually apply it to your life. There's great personal benefits to it, but really it's the best way we can go. And it gives honor to the one who died for us. So remember that today as you go about your day. And let's pray, because that's what we do, we talk to the Lord in prayer. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we pray for our friend's son, uh, that he would turn, uh, turn to the Lord to find help. Uh, we pray for all the people listening today, Lord, that you would help them as well. We pray for, pray for all the situations in their lives that undoubtedly cause them pain, and we pray for you to help them do the impossible in their lives, Lord, or give them the strength to deal with the impossible situations they face. Lord, we thank you, and we, we pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to all that is good and all that is holy, and most importantly, all the things you would like us to see and realize. Lord, we pray for you to go before us and, uh, and to guide us into the good things you want us to do today. Help us to, to represent you the best by doing the best we can with our jobs and our relationships. Um, and Lord, just give us the wisdom to know what to say and what not to say and what to do and what not to do when, when the time comes. And, uh, because Lord, we're probably not going to get it right, and that's why we need you so much. And, uh, so Lord, we pray all these things, and, and we thank you, we love you, and we pray— praise you. In Jesus' name, amen.