Purity 273: Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

Purity 273    11/24/2020             

 Good morning!

Today’s photo was taken by a friend who was just taking a walk near their home in the San Diego area of California, capturing the beauty of the magnificence of the sun lighting up the clouds as it dips into its western trajectory.  

I share it as a reminder to keep your eyes open and heavenward because our friend could have just as easily had their focus on the ground beneath their feet or the details of the suburban neighborhood that they were walking through and completely missed this sight that God provided at this particular point in time and space. 

Some people deny God exists and I think, because I was an atheist for a time, that their perspective is consumed with their immediate surroundings.  I know when I was in that phase of my life, I was only interested in the things that would serve and please me. 

In terms of nature, it had little or no appeal with the exception of the times I would go swimming in the summer.  But even in those times where I basked in the glory of the sun and the blue skies of summer in the privacy of my swimming pool, it was still just in reference to me.  I thanked myself more than I thanked God because I was under the impression that I had created the environment in which I was able to enjoy it.

I cleaned the pool and mowed the lawn.  I worked for the money to get the house that had a pool. I really enjoyed those times and never got bored because I also got drunk every time I did it.   It was just a big celebration of me, myself and I. I would start early and by the time the sunset I would be functioning just enough to make sure the kids were in bed and I would carry on into the wee hours of the evening, all alone in the world I created, isolated in the basement man cave enjoying the darkness.  

But luckily, after years and years and years of this, God revealed Himself and the truth of Jesus Christ to me in a way that opened my eyes to reality that God was the creator and no matter how hard I worked to establish my own kingdom, one day I would have to answer to Him about all I have done with my life.

I was a desperately selfish and wicked man, and I knew it.  That’s why when I heard the message of forgiveness through just faith in Christ, I asked for it and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.  And you know what? The heavens opened up.  What was once meaningless, and for my personal use only, became full of meaning. The mystery of the heavens and life and death were solved. The answer was God and faith in Jesus Christ. The universe was made by God and its fate will be determined by Him. 

So don’t look into the skies and glory over your own accomplishments or the “uniqueness” of your appreciation for nature as much as thank the God who created it all and for sending Jesus Christ to make a way for you to be a part of His kingdom forever.  

Keep walking and talking with God. The more you do the further the darkness fades into the distance and the more you enjoy all that He is and all that He has done.

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This morning’s meditation verse was:

Psalm 100:2 (NLT): Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before Him, singing with joy.

Are you glad you know God? Are you glad you are saved? Do you have the joy of the Lord in your life so much that it makes you want to sing?

Believe me, I understand how the world is difficult and life can be hard… but God! Our hope lies in Him. He is with us. If you feel He is absent in your life, I assure you that He is not and any feelings of estrangement that you may be experiencing have more to do with you than they do with Him. 

Our life with God isn’t a religion. It’s a relationship.  We enjoy His presence in our lives when we recognize that there isn’t any portion of our lives that God isn’t a part of. We may keep Him out of our lives by focusing on the things before us and doing everything in our own strength, but He wants you to invite Him into all the aspects of your life. 

Our faith has to go beyond just knowing the facts of who God is and what His word says. Our faith has to be personal: how this applies to me.  If you asked Christ to be your Lord and Savior, you will never truly die. You have been given the power to overcome any hurt, habit, or hang-up that may have plagued you before coming to Christ but you have to believe in your heart that you have been changed and that God is working in your life. You have to know experientially that He is with you.

One way to open that gate into your new life in Christ and to change your heart of stone into a heart of flesh is to sing to the Lord with your whole being. He is worthy of praise. Our worshiping the Lord should be a reflection of our acknowledgement of His inherent worthiness and our recognition of His presence and work that He has done to bring us to Him. 

So, seek Him in the word, seek Him in prayer, and SING with joy that you have been rescued from death and darkness!  Christ won the victory, and He wants you to apply it to your life and share it with the world!  We are in God’s hands and He will never let us go. Rejoice and be glad!

Today we continue to share from Anderson & Baumchen’s Finding Hope Again, where the authors discuss how our faith and our thoughts can affect our physical healing. 

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Anderson’s books for your own private study and to support his work:

Biblical Faith Leads to Wholeness

Jesus asked the blind men, "'Do you believe that I am able to do this [to heal them]?'" They said to Him, 'Yes, Lord.' Then He touched their eyes, saying, 'Be it done to you according to your faith'" (Matthew 9:28, 29). The external power of Jesus was made effective by the blind men's choice to believe. In other words, the Lord chose to bring about a physical healing through the channel of their belief.

Is this not true in every other way God works in our lives? We are saved by faith (see Ephes. 2:8), sanctified by faith (see Galatians 3:3-5) and we walk or live by faith (see 2 Cor. 5:7). God never bypasses the mind. He makes possible the renewing of our minds by His very presence in our lives. We respond in faith by choosing to believe the truth, live by the power of the Holy Spirit and not carry out the desires of the flesh (see Galatians 5:16).

Jesus is "'the way [how we ought to live], and the truth [what we ought to believe], and the life [our spiritual union with God]" (John 14:6). Even the operation of spiritual gifts incorporates the use of our minds. Paul concludes, "I shall pray with the spirit and I shall pray with the mind also; I shall sing with the spirit and I shall sing with the mind also" (1 Cor. 14:15).

Truth and the Biological System

If truth sets us free and faith transforms our lives, how is our neurological system affected? Scientific studies shed light on the relationship between "learned helplessness" and neurochemical changes in the body. In one experiment, rats were "taught" helplessness by the use of shock. Scientists were able to measure neurological changes indicating depression at various beta receptor sites. The researchers commented on these secular studies as follows:

Dr. Henn and his colleagues induced depression in another group of rats, but treated them without medication. They made a behavioral intervention and "taught" the rats how to escape the shock. Actually, a medical student working in the lab knit the rats little sweaters with long sleeves over their front paws. Strings were attached to the sleeves and the researchers could pull the rats' paws up, marionette-like, and train them to push the lever that would stop the shock. With the rats no longer helpless, their symptoms of depression abated, and the beta receptor sites returned to their previous state. Dr. Henn and others have concluded from these studies that, just as neurochemistry affects behavior, changes in behavior affect neurochemistry.

Complementary findings have been found in the treatment of human depression. A brief psychotherapeutic treatment called cognitive therapy focuses on the thought processes of a depressed person, in particular the hopeless and helpless thinking, and by changing the negative thought patterns, has proved to be as effective as the antidepressant imipramine in treating the depression.

Research strongly suggests a link between brain chemistry and hope. Your body is affected when you think you are helpless, hopeless and out of control. Symptoms of depression such as sadness, despair, lethargy, loss of appetite and sleep problems increase. Once hope is restored, depression leaves.

This has tremendous implications both for those who are struggling with depression and those who are ministering to them. God established faith as the means by which we relate to Him and live our lives. Because He doesn't bypass our minds, then neither should we as we try to help others live whole and productive lives. If the way we perceive reality and choose to believe has an effect on our physiology and biochemistry, then treatment for depression should not be limited to medications.

Then What About Medications?

If God works through our faith, should a Christian ever take medications for emotional problems? Perhaps an analogy will help sort out an answer to that question. Suppose you are suffering regularly from acid indigestion because of your eating habits. Should you take medication to relieve the heartburn? I'm sure most people would, and there is nothing wrong with getting temporary relief; but the long-term answer is to change your eating habits. Your body is telling you something: "Stop feeding me this junk." You are (physically) what you eat, drink and breathe. There is also the possibility that you have a serious stomach illness such as an ulcer or cancer, or you could have a heart problem.

Taking medication to relieve pain is advisable, but the wise person will seek to know the original cause of the condition. In the vast majority of cases, a change in lifestyle will be necessary if you want to live a healthy life. Good health is a product of a balanced routine of rest, exercise and diet.

No matter how well you learn to take care of your physical body, it is still destined to deteriorate over the course of your natural life. But our hope doesn't lie in the preservation of our mortal bodies. Our hope lies in proven character (see Romans 5:4), and the final resurrection when we will receive resurrected, immortal bodies. "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day" (2 Cor. 4:16).

If negative thinking has affected a depressed person's neurochemistry, then taking antidepressants may be advisable to alleviate the depressed mood; but it is not the long-term solution in the vast majority of cases. The danger is to establish one's hope in medication for the cure of depression instead of establishing our hope in God and learning to live a balanced life according to what He says is true. However, we must also be open to the possibility that there really could be an organic brain problem such as encephalitis, some other viral infection or chemical imbalance that comes from a decaying body living in a fallen world.

There is also the possibility that some will have to live with the physical consequences of being depressed for long periods of time. Long-term depression may do lasting damage to their neurological systems. Certain medications may be necessary for the rest of their lives. That would be similar to the alcoholic who has done irreparable damage to his liver. The Lord may heal such a person in response to prayer, but Scripture gives no absolute assurance of that happening. There would be little incentive for us not to sin or believe incorrectly if all consequences were removed.

In the Western world, we have been programmed by our culture to search for every natural explanation first, and if none is found, then "there is nothing left to do but pray." But the Bible doesn't quite put it like that. In the context of explaining how faith in God is the answer for anxiety, Jesus concluded, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself" (Matthew 6:33, 34). When we struggle with emotional problems, go to God first, as He instructed us to do!

Finding Hope Again: Overcoming Depression.

------------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

 

God bless you all!

Purity 272: Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

Purity 272               

 Good morning!

Today’s photo was taken earlier this month by a friend who captured this stunning sunset scene on the shores of Lake Okeechobee in Florida.

I share it because it’s Monday again, there is rain in our local forecast, and we may be longing for some sunlight on what could be a less than pleasant day. I also share it because of its surreal beauty that challenges the mind, is it a painting or is this real? Either way, it can make us all appreciate the wonder of God’s creation even on a Monday.   

As we move into Thanksgiving week, I pray that all of my friends remain healthy and safe.

My plans for Thanksgiving changed this weekend as my perspective host announced they were sick but still wanted to host dinner.  Not surprisingly, the other guests canceled, and I followed suit.  In this day and age, its one thing to unwittingly pass on disease to others but its quite another to take a risk when symptoms are present.  As someone in ministry, no matter how humble it may be, I have an obligation to those I serve to remain healthy and avoid unnecessary risks.   Nobody’s cooking is worth interfering with my small role in serving the kingdom of God. 

So, I will be cooking dinner for my children (I was going to make a turkey anyway. You have to have leftovers, right?) for our inaugural Thanksgiving in my new home “down by The River.” 

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This morning’s meditation verse was:

Psalm 105:1 (NLT): Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim His greatness. Let the whole world know what He has done.

You know, when a bible verse about giving thanks to the Lord comes up on the Monday before Thanksgiving it tells me two things:

1. We are definitely “tracking with the Spirit”, a phenomenon that I describe as receiving indications from the Lord that He is with you and is communicating.
2. We need to give credit where credit is due.

Yesterday in the men’s bible study that I attend, the leader presented Psalm 136, which is a psalm absolutely filled with the sentiment of giving thanks to God and recognizing that “His mercy endures forever”.  The teacher presented PS 136 to drive the point home that when we give thanks there has to be “an object” to whom we give thanks to.

Generally, we make the object of our thanks people who perform some task for us.  While it is awesome to have someone do something for us or to be a continual support, we should recognize how subjective or fleeting this scenario could be.  You are thankful for “Sue” because of making such a fine dinner, for being so kind, or for her quirky personality that makes you laugh.  But what if Sue decides not to make dinner, be so kind, or becomes dull as life extends into the latter years?  The point is that our thanks are conditional on Sue pleasing us and if she doesn’t please us, we might not be so thankful. Situations like this can easy turn into co-dependency as two people place expectations on one another to make each other happy when only a life with the Lord at the center can truly satisfy. 

And then there are those who just give thanks for giving thanks sake… “I’m just thankful... for everything!” or, please forgive them, “Thank you, universe!”  In essence people like this have recognized that there is something about creation that is transcendent, but they refuse to recognize the person or work of Christ as meaningful.  They have rejected Him and not only Jesus, but they refuse to even recognize God in general.

With our localized thanks or our general ethereal thanks, we remain short sighted. The people we are thankful for were made by God. The goodness of the people that He made is a reflection of who He is as all men are made in His image. The universe, heavens, or nature were also created by God.  They reflect His beautiful mind as a creative genius. 

So, when you sit down to give thanks this week, make sure to thank God. If you know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, be sure to thank Him and the Holy Spirit as well.  

Today we continue to share from Anderson & Baumchen’s Finding Hope Again, where the authors discuss how our bodies react to stress. 

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Anderson’s books for your own private study and to support his work:

The Whole Picture

Now let's see how the rest of the outer self correlates with the inner self. The brain and the spinal cord make up the central nervous system, which splits off into a peripheral nervous system, as shown in the following diagram.

The peripheral nervous system has two channels—the autonomic and the somatic nervous system. The somatic nervous system regulates our muscular and skeletal movements such as speech, gestures, etc.—functions over which we have volitional control. This channel obviously correlates to our will. Except for functions of our autonomic nervous systems, as discussed in the following material, we normally do nothing without first thinking it. The thought-response sequence is so rapid that we are hardly aware of the sequence, but it is always there. Of course, involuntary muscular movements can occur when the system breaks down, as is the case with Parkinson's disease (shaking palsy), a progressive degeneration of nerve cells in one part of the brain that controls muscle movements.

The autonomic nervous system regulates our internal organs. We do not have direct volitional control over our glands. We don't consciously say to our hearts, "beat, beat, beat," or to our adrenal glands, "adren, adren, adren," or to our thyroid, "thy, thy, thy." All these organs function automatically.

The autonomic nervous system correlates to our emotions. In a general sense, we don't have direct volitional control over feelings. We cannot will ourselves to feel good or like somebody we hate. We can, however, exert indirect control of our emotions by what we think and believe.

Just as our glands are regulated by our central nervous system, so our emotions are primarily a product of our thoughts. The circumstances of life do not determine how we feel. Negative external events do not cause depression. Between the external stimulus and the emotional response is the brain (receiver) and the mind (interpreter). So how we feel is primarily determined by how we interpret life events (i.e., what we choose to think and believe), and secondarily by how we choose to behave. We can become depressed by interpreting circumstances with something less than a biblical worldview, or failing to believe what God has said.

When Stress Becomes Distress

Let's apply this to the problem of stress. When external pressures put demands on our physical system, our adrenal glands respond by secreting cortisone like hormones into our physical bodies. This means that our bodies automatically respond to external pressures—as in the natural "fight" or "flight" responses. If the pressures persist too long, our adrenal glands can't keep up, and stress becomes distress. The result can be physical illness, or we may become irritated about things that, in less stressful times, wouldn't bother us physically or emotionally.

Why, then, do two people respond differently to the same stressful situation? Some actually seize the opportunity and thrive under the pressure, while others fall apart. What makes the difference? Does one have superior adrenal glands? We don't think so. Although we may differ considerably in our physical conditions, the major difference lies in the "software." It isn't just the superior glands or external factors such as deadlines, schedules, trauma and temptations that determine the degree of stress. The major difference is how we mentally interpret the external world and process the data our brain is receiving.

The mind can choose to respond by trusting God with the assurance of victory, or to see ourselves as the helpless victims of circumstances. The Israelites saw Goliath in reference to themselves, and stressed out. David saw the same giant in reference to God, and triumphed in the same situation that left the others in defeat. Faith in God (i.e., what we believe) greatly affects how we interpret and respond to the pressures of this world.

The Spirit Can Affect the Flesh

It is critically important to understand that the adrenal glands do not initiate the release of adrenaline. They are the responders, not the initiators. The hormone is released into the bloodstream after the brain has recorded the external inputs and the mind has interpreted them. The brain itself can only function according to how it has been programmed.

God obviously created us with some natural programming for survival, such as the sucking instinct in a newborn baby and other necessary bodily functions that sustain life. This would be similar to how the animal kingdom operates through divine instincts. Applying the same logic, a natural or normal production of neurotransmitters also allows the brain to function, or else no physical life could be sustained in infancy. In other words, we are preprogrammed from birth to physically exist. There is a natural will to live, to seek food, clothing, shelter and safety.

Could the programming of our minds, or how we choose to think, affect how the brain operates? If the secretion of adrenaline from our adrenal glands is triggered by how we think or perceive reality, could serotonin or other neurotransmitters be affected by how we think and what we choose to believe?

Does the presence of the "Wonderful Counselor" transform the outer self or the inner self? In other words, what physically changed in our lives at the moment we were born again? Nothing changed that was observable to the naked eye. In a similar fashion, we might ask what physical changes you observed in your computer when you slipped in a new program. Even though the same number of hardware components existed in the computer, the screen began to show a different output. The electronic flow through the computer changed.

Would we begin to live differently if a new program were loaded into the "computer" that is our brain? We should have the potential to do so because our eyes have been opened to the truth, and the power of the Holy Spirit enables us to live by faith. The flow of neurotransmitters would certainly change, even though the number of brain cells would remain the same.

The presence of God in our lives will slowly affect even our physical being. According to the words of Paul, "He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you" (Romans 8:11). This is evident when we walk by the Spirit because "the fruit of the Spirit is love [the character of God], joy [the antithesis of depression], peace [the antithesis of anxiety], patience [the antithesis of anger], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22, 23). The connection between the initiating cause, which is the Spirit of truth working in our lives, and the end result, which is self-control, is the mind. The mind directs the brain, which in turn regulates all our glands and muscular movements.

Finding Hope Again: Overcoming Depression.

 

 

------------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

 

God bless you all!

 

 

Purity 271: Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

 Purity 271  11/21/2020              

 Good morning!

Today’s photo was taken earlier this summer by yours truly just a few minutes from where I live “down by The River”.   

I share it because since moving down by The River, I am continually reminded of how the Lord has blessed me and brought me here. No matter how my days go I have two instances where I am reminded of how good God is: when I leave for work the Hudson is there to welcome me to a new day and when I return, or when I am out digging a trench for my generator’s propane feed like I was last night, the Hudson is there to welcome me Home.  Not only is the scenic view stunning at times but I am nearly knocked off of my feet when the realization that God, the creator of the universe,  led me here, that in essence He said “This is for you.”  

Looking out at that River tells me that I have been rescued. It tells me that I am home. And it tells me I am loved. 

We made it to another weekend friends and I continue to get troubling reports from friends in my circle about sickness and other struggles.  So it is my prayer that you use some time this weekend to remind yourselves of all the Lord has brought you through and that you have been rescued and you are loved. And no matter what the current struggles are in your life, remember that when you walk with Him, you never walk alone.

(There is More at the restricted blog). Follow me on Twitter, MeWe, or Parler for easy access.  Blog M T 4 Christ dot org – This is where the Facebook post ends.)

This morning’s meditation verse was:

Psalm 107:13 (NLT): “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble and He saved them from their distress.

Yup, this is the verse that came up today. For many of my friends that are in the midst of troubles, this verse may be really close to home.

 Having been through my fair share of traumas in life I have come to know one thing: having a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ will be an ever present comfort and will bring you through the worst storms in this life.  Your relationship of faith in Christ is life itself.

I want to be clear about this verse though.

It doesn’t say that the Lord took them out of the circumstances they were in. It doesn’t say that the Lord made everything better instantly.  It says He saved them from their distress. 

Distress is defined as extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain.  

We are only human, and we need to grieve our losses. We will feel anxiety, sorrow, and pain as we go through life in this world that has been broken by sin but when we bring the Lord into our experience through prayer and talking to Him we are comforted and strengthened by His presence.

The still quiet moments of grief and the absolute chaos that we face can be shared with the Lord. It may feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, but you were never meant to carry it by yourself. The word says if we come to Christ, He will give us rest. Christ took the burden of the world’s sin and pain upon Himself on the cross and He will take your distress away too.  You will still suffer at times, but He is the healer and if you keep walking with Him the burden becomes light.

Today we continue to share from Anderson & Baumchen’s Finding Hope Again, where we begin Chapter 3 where the authors discuss the need to change our thinking when dealing with depression

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Anderson’s books for your own private study and to support his work:

The Agony of the Soul

And by a strange alchemy of brain

His pleasure always turn'd to pain

His naiveté to wild desire

His wit to love—His wine to fire

And so, being young and dipt in folly

I fell in love with melancholy.

Edgar Allan Poe

Have your heart right with Christ, and He will visit you often, and so turn weekdays into Sundays, meals into sacraments, homes into temples, and earth into heaven.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

For as he thinks within himself, so he is.

Proverbs 23:7

Jim walked into my office physically shaking and totally defeated. For the past six months, he had been hospitalized in a Veterans Administration (VA) hospital for severe depression. He was nearing retirement from a good civil service job, and the government was generously holding his position open for his return. The grace period was soon coming to an end, however, and the knowledge of that only contributed to his depression.

Jim would have good retirement benefits if he completed his career in the next two years, and his present financial status was well above average. Six months earlier he had made a substantial financial investment in a housing project that went broke. At the time, he wasn't sure if he would lose some or all of his investment, but there was little doubt in his own mind that hearing the bad news is what precipitated his depression.

I asked Jim if he could recall any dominant thoughts that entered his mind at that time. He said, "I was sitting alone in my study considering what to do when the thought came to me, You're going down." And he believed it—even though it was untrue. As we mentioned, his financial picture was far better than most.

I asked him if he would like to resolve these issues, and he agreed to go through the Steps to Freedom in Christ (see appendix). We dealt with many issues and renounced the lie that he was "going down." Three hours later Jim was sitting calmly before me with peace of mind and a sense of hope for the first time in months.

How does one explain such an abrupt change? And can it last? To answer such questions, we need to explain further how our body (material or outer self), soul and spirit (immaterial or inner self) function in relationship with the external world and our Creator.

In the preceding chapter, we pointed out the correlation between the brain and the mind. The brain records input from the external world through our five senses. It enables us to taste, smell, see, hear and feel. Every external input is recorded in the brain and processed by the mind. The mind is the compiler, interpreter and programmer in our computer analogy (i.e., the software). One cannot operate without the other.

How Our Computer Got Programmed

Before we came to Christ, we were spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins (see Ephes. 2:1). In other words, we were born physically alive, but were spiritually dead. We had neither the presence of God in our lives nor the knowledge of His ways. Consequently, we all learned to live our lives independent of God. From our earliest days, our minds were programmed from the external world. That is why the heart of an unregenerate person is deceitful and desperately sick (see Jeremiah 17:9).

Our worldview and attitudes about life are assimilated from the environment in which we are raised. This occurs first through prevailing experiences in settings such as our home, the neighborhood we played in, the friends we had and the church we attended—or didn't attend. Second, we assimilate attitudes from traumatic experiences such as the death of a family member, our parents' divorce, and emotional, sexual or physical abuse. These lasting impressions are burned into our minds over time through repetition, or by the intensity of powerful experiences, both good and bad.

We also live our lives according to what we have chosen to believe about ourselves and the world around us. We aren't always aware that we are continuously gathering information that forms, alters or intensifies our beliefs. Many cruise through life having a carefree attitude, and are unaware of how they are being influenced by the world they live in.

These external sources of information vary greatly from one culture to another. There is no value-neutral culture. All of us have some safe and healthy inputs from our surroundings, but contaminated and unhealthy external stimuli also affect our worldview and our perception of ourselves. Our belief system is always changing as we process positive and negative information and experiences. Unfortunately, not every piece of information we receive comes clearly marked as productive or unproductive, good or evil, true or false!

The Necessity of Reprogramming Our Minds

Without the gospel, we would all be nothing more than a product of our past. But Ezekiel prophesied that God would put a new heart and a new spirit within us (see Ezekiel 36:26). That actually happened when we were born again. We became a new creation in Christ (see 2 Cor. 5:17), and we now have the mind of Christ (see 1 Cor. 2:16) in the very center of our being (inner self).

Then why don't we always think differently and feel better? Because everything that has been previously programmed into our computers from the external world is still there, and subject to recall. Nobody pushed the "clear" button, because there isn't one. Because the computer that is our mind has no delete button, it needs to be reprogrammed. The lies of this world must be replaced by the truth of God's Word. That is why Paul wrote, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2).

Before we came to Christ, we were all conformed to this world—and we will continue to be if we allow ourselves to be influenced by it. In Christ, however, although messages from this world are still being received by our brains and interpreted by our minds, we now have a totally new internal input, "Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). The Spirit of truth will lead us into all truth, and that truth will set us free (see John 8:32).

Finding Hope Again: Overcoming Depression.

 

 

------------------------------more on Monday-------------------------

Have a great weekend and God bless you all!

 

 

 

 

Purity 270: Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

 Purity 270  11/20/2020                

 Good morning and Thank God It’s Friday!

Today’s photo comes from a friend’s hike at Letchworth State Park.  The “Grand Canyon of the East” has some stunning sights, and I will simply have to see it for myself sometime, possibly in the spring or summer of 2021. 

I chose this pic because it’s the weekend and I encourage you all to get out there and see or do something that will bring you moments of peace and joy.  I also chose this pic because this ravine reminds me of the continuation of a project at my house that will necessitate digging a trench and this stream’s cutting a path through the rocks gives me inspiration to move the earth!     

God’s word tells us that by the sweat of our brow we will have to toil and work to provide for our needs.  Working is a reality that most of us can not get around and if we are not careful we can get into a negative mindset about the very jobs that provide us with the means to live and to support our families. So, as we approach the weekend, let’s be thankful for the time off but also recognize the value of our jobs.

We work to provide for our needs, but we also work for the things we want.  We could find employment that could provide the bare necessities, but we want better for our families.

I want a generator, so I have to dig a one-foot ditch for the propane feed.  We make decisions about the way we want to live and have to work to make that possible. 

If you are dissatisfied with work, you do have options.

1. You can stay and keep doing what you are doing, and constantly be stressed over the circumstance where you have chosen to stay and complain to anyone who will listen.
2. You can quit.  I know lots of friends who are currently retiring or have walked away from employment environments that were toxic or hostile to their mental health.   The money and benefits weren’t worth their sanity.  It never is.
3. You can patiently endure and make a plan to leave. Developing skills or education to go onto better things may be hard work but if it one day sets you free, the hard work will seem like nothing when you are finally liberated.
4. You can change your perspective, appreciate what the job provides over what it costs, and stay.  Focusing on the positive aspects of life and being grateful for where the Lord has brought you is a pathway to peace.

Three of the options require change. Sometimes we don’t realize that our reluctance to change keeps us locked into situations that are untenable when other options for work and life are out there waiting to be pursued and enjoyed.  Freedom isn’t being free of change. Real freedom is endeavoring to be all that God has planned for you.  He wants you to cultivate the fruit of the spirit (Peace, love, joy, kindness, patience, goodness, gentleness and self-control) and being miserable with the life you have made for yourself is not what He wants for you. 

So, if your less than content, make a change. Trust in the Lord to provide for you and follow where He leads you.    

(There is More at the restricted blog). Follow me on Twitter, MeWe, or Parler for easy access.  Blog M T 4 Christ dot org – This is where the Facebook post ends.)

This mornings meditation verse was:

Psalm 118:28 (NLT): You are my God, and I will praise You! You are my God, and I will exalt You! 

I love this verse because it really points out our relationship to God and what our appropriate response to knowing Him should be. 

Have you made the Lord “my God”? That’s personal. He knows you and He wants you to know Him.  So, pray and read His word to get to know God better and to know who you are “in Christ”.  We can only apply the promises of God that we know from God’s word, so read it and apply it to your life.

As for praising and exalting the Lord, it is the most appropriate thing we can do. He made everything, including us, and not only that but He has revealed the truth of Jesus Christ to us and gave us eternal life and the means to live an entirely new life. He is mighty and worthy of our praise and exaltation. So be sure to regularly praise and exalt “your God” for who He is and for what He has done.

Today we continue to share from Anderson & Baumchen’s Finding Hope Again, where I will share the conclusion of Chapter 2 where they discuss the problem of one sided perspectives and advocate for “focusing on the Software” when treating depression.

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Anderson’s books for your own private study and to support his work:

One-Sided Perspectives

One Christian said, "My problem is neurological and my psychiatrist says I shouldn't let anyone tell me differently." She did admit that she hasn't yet found the right combination of drugs, but she had all the hope in the world that they eventually would.

In the same church, another Christian said, "Taking drugs shows only a lack of faith." Of course he had never experienced depression!

How could two people in the same church draw such diverse opinions? We have observed the following four perspectives in our churches that do not reflect a balanced Christian approach to helping those who are depressed:

1.    "Taking medications is not trusting God."

2.    "Depression is a physical illness that can only be resolved simply by taking medications."

3.    "Depression is a spiritual attack and deliverance from demons is the only answer."

4.    "Depression is the guilt we feel which is the result of unconfessed sin."

Such views are incomplete, inadequate and therefore less than helpful for those who suffer from depression. We believe that God relates to us as whole people (body, soul and spirit), people who live in a physical as well as a spiritual world.

Focusing on the "Software"

We close this chapter by looking again at our computer analogy. If our brain represents the hardware, then our mind represents the software. The tendency of our Western world is to assume that mental or emotional problems are primarily caused by faulty hardware. There is no question that organic brain syndrome, Alzheimer's disease or lesser organic problems such as chemical and/or hormonal imbalances can impede our ability to function. The best program won't work if the computer is turned off or in disrepair.

It would be a tragedy for a godly pastor or Christ-centered counselor to try helping a person who is physically sick without suggesting some medical attention. On the other hand, for a doctor to think that he or she can cure the whole person with medication is equally tragic. Taking a pill to cure the body is commendable, but taking a pill to cure the soul is deplorable. Fortunately, most doctors know that the medical model can take you only so far. Many in the medical profession acknowledge that a majority of their patients are suffering for emotional and spiritual reasons.

Our perspective, however, is that in dealing with mental or emotional disorders the hardware is not the primary problem. We believe it is the software—the mental, emotional and spiritual components of the whole person.

Other than submitting our bodies to God as a living sacrifice and taking care of ourselves physically, we can't do a whole lot to change the hardware; but we can totally change the software. How we think and what we choose to believe can actually change our biochemistry. In the next chapter, we will explore how this software, the mind, functions in relation to the rest of the body and the external world in which we live.

 Finding Hope Again: Overcoming Depression.

------------------------------more on tomorrow-------------------------

God bless you all!

 

 

 

 

Purity 269: Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

Purity 269  11/19/2020               

 Good morning!

Today’s photo comes from the people at SUNY Oswego who recently shared some autumn scenes around campus.  This shot was taken on the road to the college’s main entrance. 

I share it because of the amazing pink and blue sky and because it is Thursday and I love to share photos with a trail, a path, a bridge, or in this case a road to represent progress. 

We have progressed through much of the week and the weekend is just “Eddie Murphy time” (48 hours) away and as it stands, we are a week a way from Thanksgiving.

As God’s timing is sovereign over us all, tonight’s lesson at Celebrate Freedom just happens to be “Gratitude”.  Regardless of whether you are in recovery or not, I invite all who see this to come out to tonight’s meeting to prepare your mind, hearts, and spirits for next week’s feasting day.  For info on Celebrate Freedom go to: http://info.celebratefreedomrocksolidchurch.org/

The holidays are not always easy, and this year’s season will be especially difficult for some as COVID-19 is changing the way many will celebrate. Also, I have many friends who are going through tough times due to medical issues, financial troubles, and sudden heartbreaking tragic losses, or are still adjusting to the trauma of losses that are not so recent but will come to surface as the holidays may make us feel particularly lonely.   

So regardless of whether you come to our meeting or not, I want to encourage you to go to God and make Him a part of your everyday experience. He will never leave you or forsake you and He provides meaning, strength and love that can help us walk through the troubles of this and every season.

(There is MUCH More at the restricted blog). Follow me on Twitter, MeWe, or Parler for easy access.  Blog M T 4 Christ dot org – This is where the Facebook post ends.)

I meditate everyday now that I have the time. I pray prayers of thanksgiving and petition the Lord for those in my circle, mentioning specific needs as they arise. Then I rest and try to listen to hear if the Lord has anything to say. I also grab a Bible verse from a stack of index cards I have filled out with scriptures that I have found to be meaningful over the years, to reflect on and to give the Lord the opportunity to  “give me a word for the day”. This “random draw” can allow for my Sovereign God to communicate in meaningful and sometimes unexpected ways.  Whether or not the verses are particularly meaningful to my personal situation doesn’t matter, as reading scripture is always beneficial.  And now that I’m passing it along, it could be meaningful to you. There are no coincidences with God.

Today’s meditation verse was:

PS 37:30-31 (NLT): The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong.

They have made God’s law their own, so they will never slip from His path.

In the original Hebrew, “law” is rightly understood to be “instruction” or “teaching”. Those of us with problems with the “law” in the past should not take offense but understand God’s law as God’s way. The context of this verse bears this out as to follow a certain “path” is to go a certain “way”.

Endeavor to live your life according to God’s way because even though it may not be an easy path it is without a doubt the best path and a path that comes with no regrets.

Today we continue to share from Anderson & Baumchen’s Finding Hope Again, where I will share where the authors discuss a complete solution for depression.

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Anderson’s books for your own private study and to support his work:

Toward a Complete Solution

If you have read only this far, you could easily conclude that depression can be cured simply by taking the right medications. That kind of thinking would be unfortunate, and very inaccurate. We have helped many resolve their conflicts and find their freedom in Christ without medication, but we have seen few if any find total resolution of personal and interpersonal conflicts by using medications only.

Only truth can set us free. Medications cannot change your circumstances, or cause you to resolve personal and spiritual conflicts, but they can fix the computer so the proper program can run. Similarly, it is hard to pray and read our Bibles when we have the flu.

Dr. David Antonuccio, a psychologist, and his colleagues at the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Reno found in their research that "despite the conventional wisdom, the data suggest that there is no stronger medicine than psychotherapy in the treatment of depression, even if severe." 

Consumer Reports recently reached similar conclusions. After 4,000 of its subscribers responded to the largest-ever survey on the use of therapy and/or drugs to treat depression, researchers at the Consumers Union determined that "psychotherapy alone worked as well as psychotherapy combined with medication, like Prozac and Xanax. Most people who took the drugs did feel they were helpful, but many reported side effects." 

Of course, conclusions drawn from surveys filled out by the general population can easily be skewed. Take, for example, the critical question of causation. Which came first in the cases reported—external negative circumstances, poor mental evaluation of life, lack of faith in God or chemical imbalance?

A depressed mood will likely accompany biochemistry changes in the body, but to say that changed biochemistry caused depression is as incomplete as saying a dead battery caused the car not to start. We would have to ask, What caused the battery to fail? Are there other possible reasons the car wouldn't start? Was it out of gas? A faulty alternator or a broken belt? Were the lights left on? Is the battery old and worn out? You can jump-start the car by using booster cables, which would work if you had just left the lights on. A good mechanic would consider many possible causes to ensure that the car would continue to run.

The fact that antidepressant medications help depressed people feel better is not even arguable. They do. On the other hand, taking medications every time you have a symptom of depression is like getting a jump start every time your car won't start. The car is designed to function as a whole unit; and so are we. After having been on an antidepressant medication for almost three weeks, one woman declared, "I didn't know the promises in the Bible were true for me until now." That is, a proper use of medication enabled her to assume a responsible course of action. Martin Seligman, a noted researcher on depression, reflected on its causes:

I have spent the last twenty years trying to learn what causes depression. Here is what I think. Bipolar depression (manic-depression) is an illness of the body, biological in origin and containable by drugs. Some unipolar depressions, too, are partly biological, particularly the fiercest ones. Some unipolar depression is inherited. If one of two identical twins is depressed, the other is somewhat more likely to be depressed than if they'd been fraternal twins. This kind of unipolar depression can often be contained with drugs, although not nearly as successfully as bipolar depression can be, and its symptoms can often be relieved by Electroconvulsive therapy.

But inherited unipolar depressions are in the minority. This raises the question of where the great number of depressions making up the epidemic in this country come from. I ask myself if human beings have undergone physical changes over the century that have made them more vulnerable to depression. Probably not. It is very doubtful that our brain chemistry or our genes have changed radically over the last two generations. So a tenfold increase in depression is not likely to be explained on biological grounds.

I suspect that the epidemic depression so familiar to all of us is best viewed as psychological. My guess is that most depression starts with problems in living and with specific ways of thinking about these problems.

We generally agree with Seligman, but we disagree that all severe unipolar and bipolar depressions are only illnesses of the body. It certainly can be the primary problem, and physical and chemical imbalances should definitely be considered in severe cases. But we have found that many severe depressions have a definite spiritual component that is totally overlooked in the secular world, and often in our churches. We will discuss that possibility in following chapters, but to illustrate this point listen to the following testimony:

I am writing in regards to your seminar in Minnesota. The day it was to start, I was to be admitted to a hospital for the fifth time for manic depression. I have been dealing with this for almost two years. We had gone to several doctors and tried about every drug they could think of. I also had shock treatments. I attempted suicide twice. Unable to work any longer, I spent most of my days downstairs wishing I were dead or planning my next attempt. Also, it was a good place to protect myself from people and the world around me. I had a history of self-abuse. I have spent 30 odd years in jail or prisons. I was a drug addict and an alcoholic. I have been in drug and alcohol treatment 28 times.

I became a Christian several years ago but always lived a defeated life. Now I was going back to the hospital to try new medications or more shock treatments. My wife and friends convinced me your seminar would be of more value. The hospital was concerned because they believed I needed medical help. As the four days of the conference progressed my head started to clear up! The word of God was ministering to me, even though I was confused and in pain. I told one of your staff that I was in my 11th hour. He set up an appointment for me.

The session lasted seven hours. They didn't leave one stone uncovered. The session was going great until I came to bitterness and unforgiveness. The three things that motivated my life were low self-esteem, anger, and bitterness which were the result of being molested by a priest and suffering from many years of physical and verbal abuse in my childhood. I can honestly say I forgave them and God moved right in, lifting my depression. My eyes were now open to God's truth. I felt lighter than ever before.

I did go to the hospital, but after two days they said I didn't need to be there. My doctors said I was a different person. They had never seen a person change so fast. They said, "Whatever you are doing, don't stop." I have been growing in the Lord daily. There is so much before Christ and after Christ that I could go on forever.

Secular counselors seldom if ever see that kind of resolution. Too many people continue in their depression because professionals they have consulted have considered only one possible cause and therefore only one possible cure.

 Finding Hope Again: Overcoming Depression.

------------------------------more on tomorrow-------------------------

God bless you all!