The Antidote for Depression

"Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again - My Saviour and My God."    Psalm 42:5   NLT

Depression, is a robber of hope. It can steal our joy and, at times it can completely take over a person's life, so much, that they feel there is no way out except death. Many of us suffer depression, it creeps up and grabs a hold of us; it grips us like a vice does a piece of wood and, it is difficult to find a way through. In fact, at the time we feel that there is no hope but there is, we just have to make a choice to find it.

Depression is one of the most common, emotional ailments. However, there is an antidote and that is meditating on the Word of God. Now, this is not easy, nothing is with depression but, it is a choice you can make. You don't need to get your bible out and plough through stuff that, at the time, makes no sense. You have memories and perhaps you can remember a special time when God showed His kindness to you. This is all you need, that memory can lift your spirit and put you back on the road again. This is what the Psalmist was saying, "Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again - My Saviour and My God." 

Why are you discouraged? Why so sad? Is there anyway that playing the video back in your mind, can help find a way to resolve these issues? Do you need to forgive somebody? Do you need to forgive yourself? Many times, there is very little we can do to make things better. But God can; He is brilliant at mending things, especially broken hearts. And this is why meditating on a memory He has given you, or reading through His word, rather like this Psalm today, can help so much. 

Notice that as we go through this meditation period, the Psalmist writes 'I will put my hope in God, I will praise Him.' What has happened here? As the Psalmist was working through the why's and where for's, he has come to the conclusion that, the only way forward is God so, he puts his hope in Him and begins to praise.

There's a lot of hurt in this world, but there is much more love in Jesus. There is a lot of sadness and discouragement but, Jesus can help take this away. How? By using the antidepressant that God provides by placing Him uppermost in your thoughts. Why think about bad stuff when Jesus can turn the bad into good? 

In closing this piece, you may ask, 'What about the people who don't know Jesus?' The answer to this is, God can find a way to introduce Himself to them. I wasn't looking for Him and I was very depressed but, He found me, He will them too. Just focus on yourself today and allow Him to mend your brokenness. You can help the others later.

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now:

'Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen'

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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The Breath of God

"And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit."    John 20:22   NKJV

We have often seen evangelists breathing on people when they have been praying for them. Some blow on the people and they go down in the Spirit. I remember Mahesh

Chavda, even waving an handkerchief  at people and them falling backwards. All anointing's are different but, the the results are the same - life. At the creation, man was formed but, they did not come alive until God breathed life into them (Genesis 2:7). Again in Ezekiel 37, we see a valley of very dry bones and God forming them back into beings again. But notice, nothing happened until He breathed life into them. Then they were alive!

We see tongues of fire coming upon the early church and the powerful, freedom of God's almighty power coming on all of them. This was powerful new life.

We need life - the life of God. It's no use being able to quote the bible from front to back pages, if nothing is going to happen of any lasting value. It's no use preaching the most wonderful sermon ever if, there is no life in it. They're just wasted words. God needs to ordain what is said. God needs to anoint and reinforce the person who is saying the words. God needs to breathe life into the speaker, teacher, preacher or evangelist, before there is any lasting power. This would explain why some ask Jesus into their lives but after a very short while they fall away again. There was no life in what they

accepted.

Each one of us needs to allow Jesus to breathe on us. We need the power, the life and the fire of the Holy Spirit. Look how things changed that day at Pentecost. It was spiritual mayhem, bigger than any Toronto Blessing or others. It was sheer life-giving power. Lives were changed, people healed and Peter preached a sermon and over 3000 people were saved. That really is something and the reason why having God breathe and anoint us, is a must.

'God's never done that for me.'  Well have you asked Him to? Notice that day, that the disciples were with Jesus before He breathed on them. They were in fellowship, even though they were a little fearful of the Jews seeing them with Jesus. He said to them 'Peace to you, as the Father has sent Me, I send you.' And when He had said this He breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.' 

And this is what you need to do. Ask Him to breathe on you and give you the Holy Spirit in power. He will do, but be careful, it is powerful and life-changing. But it is well worth it. Ask Him now, 'Jesus breathe your life-changing Holy Spirit upon me. Fill me and may I be changed forever. I receive it now. Amen'

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now:

'Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen'

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle  

Check it out

 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084G9S4FD/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2

Are you Irritable?

"(LOVE)  -  is not irritable"     1 Corinthians 13:5   CSB 

When we wear some type of clothing, it can tend to irritate our skin, and if we don't rectify this, our skin can be very sore. It's the same with some leather shoes or boots. Perhaps the leather is of good quality and very stiff. It needs breaking in before we can use them regularly. Maybe some parts of our car can begin to rub against some other component because a rubber washer or spacer has worn out. This can cause excessive damage. 

All three of these examples can rub against each other and this can cause wear and tear. When there is something in our lives that cause us irritability it can rub us up the wrong way and friction can be caused. This can lead to arguments and anger.

Paul says that love is not irritable. At times we become irritated by certain people but, we don't really know why. They just tend to rub us up the wrong way. We can become irritable with ourselves when things don't turn out the way we had hoped. We can be fixated on something and begin to have such a determination to achieve some task that we become like a perfectionist. We need to remember that there is only one who is perfect and that, is Jesus. 

Did you realise that a root of perfectionism is fear? It's true, the perfectionist strives to get everything done perfectly and may ignore other things in life to achieve this. It can become so intense that they are fearful that if they don't live up to their intentions,  others will think they are a failure. This in itself can lead to irritability.

In our relationships, especially our marriage, if we're not careful, we can leave people out of things because we are so wrapped up in what we are doing. This can mean that we treat them like, they don't exist. This again, can lead to irritability. We need to remember that we are all different. You may like something that someone else doesn't. This doesn't mean it is wrong, But it becomes that way if the other one causes a problem over it. It leads to being irritable. 

Irritability is akin to being grumpy, something we can all be at times - (ask my wife). So we need to target that area and train ourselves to not be this way. It will take practice but it is achievable. Write down in your bible, as a reminder, "I will not be irritable!"

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now:

'Lord Jesus, I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen'

Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle  

Check it out

 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084G9S4FD/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2