Good morning.
It’s Thursday and I
couldn’t resist sharing another pathway to encourage my friends to get out there
to discover moments of peace and beauty and to travel the disciple’s path of
life that acknowledges and integrates God’s presence every step of the
way.
I just received word
that my local church is going to be closed for another week and I won’t be
teaching my current series of discipleship classes until May 27th!
I miss teaching and
have decided that until my classes resume I am going to present a lesson from
the Celebrate Freedom Discipleship Course (CFDC), on the mt4christ dot org blog
and on the mt4christ247 podcast today and next week.
Although I have a corporate
job that pays the bills, I feel my purpose is to encourage others to pursue a
spiritual life that applies the truths from the Christian faith to all life’s
problems and to radically increase one’s quality of life. The impact that my faith in Christ has had on
my life and all the things I have learned in the past ten years from walking,
stumbling, and crawling on the path of discipleship simply demands that I speak
up.
The Christian faith
isn’t supposed to be just a ticket to heaven. The new life we have in Christ is
supposed to bring a little piece of heaven to earth. As we apply God’s word to
our walk, we discover how to navigate through this world of changing
circumstances and heart ache with a constancy of purpose and joy that goes
beyond all understanding.
So keep walking and
talking with God. Your purpose and the joy of the Lord are waiting for you. Reach
out and take His hand and follow where He leads.
This morning’s meditation verse is:
Ephesians
5:20 (NKJV)
20 giving thanks always for all
things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Today’s verse is a piece of God’s practical advice for living that is integral to the disciple’s path of freedom and victory.
As those given a new life, that includes eternal security, forgiveness of sins, and the power to overcome, we have a lot to be thankful for. As the old Catholic liturgical response alluded to it is right to give Him thanks and praise.
The practice of giving thanks on a daily and continuous basis is the foundation from which we can build a balanced and harmonious life of peace and joy. Intentionally directing our thoughts toward the blessings that we have received, and continue to experience, and verbally expressing our thanks for them to the Lord is the basis for quality communication with God.
The Lord knows better than we do what He has given us. So we don’t thank the Lord for His benefit. We thank the Lord because it is the appropriate thing to do, and it reminds us of how good we have it even when times are bad. It also opens the door for us to grow and mature as a thankful continuous dialog with the Lord allows the Holy Spirit to reveal to us other aspects of our faith.
Imagine God saying: “Oh you like that do ya’, well dig on this!” – as the Holy Spirit reveals another truth from the mystery of faith.
Our maturation comes from revelation. I don’t know about you but when someone is thanking me, occasionally I will be hit the inspiration to give them something else. How much more will God give to those who thank Him.
So thank the Lord always for all things because we have received more than enough but don’t be surprised if in the process of giving thanks you discover and receive even more to be thankful for.
I invite all to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today, in continuing recognition of mental health awareness month, we continue
to share from Dr. June Hunt’s “Suicide Prevention: Hope When Life Seems Hopeless
“.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes
and encourage all to purchase Dr. Hunt’s books for your own private study and
to support her work. If you need this title you can find it online at several
sites for less than $5.00:
D. What Characterizes Suicidal Teens?
Every creation of God is unique—a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. That’s one
reason most people are shocked to learn that suicide is the 6th leading cause
of death among children who are 5–14 years old.
Tragically, suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for 15–24-year-olds.
Teenagers who are emotionally vulnerable to suicide react excessively to mild
stress and react longer than usual after the stress has lessened. They feel
more deeply than other teens and then hold on to those feelings for a longer
period of time. This means any negative thoughts of low self-worth or
self-hatred become an explosive powder keg for destructive behavior.
The wisdom and compassion of Ecclesiastes 7:17
can be shared with teenagers: “Do not be a fool—why die before your time?”
The following list characterizes teens who are more vulnerable to suicide
than the average teen, although all teens are vulnerable to fleeting thoughts
of suicide. ...
- Behaviors
- — Impulsive
(using drugs or alcohol, acting out sexually, going on gambling or
spending sprees, binge eating or not eating, engaging in other
risk-taking behaviors on a dare or without weighing the consequences)
- — Self-injury
(transferring unmanageable emotional pain into manageable physical pain,
using physical pain to displace emotional numbness, or incurring bodily
injury to cause the brain to naturally release mood elevating endorphins
in order to feel better)
- Emotions
- — Moody
(switching rapidly between feeling angry, sad, calm, fearful, or happy
with little provocation)
- — Reactive
(having little control over lengthy extreme emotional responses of anger,
agitation, frustration, sadness, hopelessness, or happiness)
- Relationships
- — Unpredictable
(switching from being loving to loathsome, smothering to snubbing,
clinging to caustic, distant to demanding, hospitable to hostile,
responsive to rejecting, and sensitive to stoic)
- — Unstable
(continually feeling misunderstood, emotionally empty, needlessly
anxious, and either fearful of abandonment or scared of enmeshment)
- Thoughts
- — Illogical
(forming beliefs about God, people, and situations not based on reality;
the imagined fear of being alone, unloved, or abandoned; and dissociating
under extreme stress)
- — Distrustful
(questioning the truthfulness of others, espousing black and white
thinking, expecting to be betrayed, deserted, and left all alone)
- Spirituality
- — Legalistic
(trying to earn God’s approval, viewing Him as uninvolved and removed
emotionally, spiritually, and physically)
- — Conflicted
(perceiving God as either friend or foe, judge or just, vacillating
between loving Him and fearing Him or accepting Him and rejecting Him)
- Self
- — Poor
Self-image (having no clear sense of self apart from others, taking
on the values and characteristics of companions, emulating a peer group,
comparing all aspects of self to others, and being highly sensitive to
others)
- — Low
Self-esteem (feeling lost and lonely when not around others; having
self-doubt and self-hatred; being indecisive and insecure, unable to
identify or express personal feelings, wants, desires, goals, likes, and
dislikes, but highly aware of others feelings, etc.)
Vulnerable adolescents are highly emotional, and unless they learn to manage
their impulsive overreactions, they are likely to be controlled by them. The
challenge these adolescents face is formidable ... but definitely not
impossible.
The One who created every part of them longs that they totally rely on Him
... so that He can pour His peace into them. Only the God of hope can fill the
heart with such inner peace that it will naturally overflow with lasting hope.
The Bible says to us all ...
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace
as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the
Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
Self-Injury and Suicide
Question:
“Are ‘cutters’—those who intentionally and repeatedly cut themselves—trying to
commit suicide?”
Answer: Usually not. Typically, those who practice repeated
self-harming behaviors—cutting, burning, biting, scratching, reopening barely
healed wounds, etc.—have no intention of dying. Instead, they are seeking
relief from their overwhelming emotional pain. They temporarily feel a release
of tension and/ or shame when they self-injure.
- Many
strugglers engage in self-harm for additional reasons, such as to
self-punish, to stop dissociation (DID), to receive special attention, or
to experience euphoria when endorphins are released during self-injury.
- Strugglers
who harm themselves may become suicidal if the self-injury no
longer provides short-term relief from their pain. Since self-injury can
be a prelude to suicide, a professional should determine the degree of
risk.
These strugglers need to know on a very deep level that they don’t have to
shed their blood to relieve their emotional pain ... because Jesus has already
given his life for them. The Bible says ...
“You were redeemed ... with the precious blood of
Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” (1 Peter
1:18–19)
Biblical Counseling Keys - Biblical Counseling Keys – Biblical Counseling Keys:
Suicide Prevention: Hope When Life Seems Hopeless.
----------------------------more
tomorrow------------------------
God bless
you all!
Join our
Victory over the Darkness Discipleship Class via the mt4christ247 podcast!
at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154) and Google podcasts (https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL210NGNocmlzdDI0Ny9mZWVkLnhtbA%3D%3D
Email me
at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be
encouraged.
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