Ruth Marlene Friesen: Wishing You A Blest Christmas!

This site is like Ruthe, the heroine of my novel, Ruthe's Secret Roses

Ruthe is. . .
intimate with God,
prays a lot,
a bleeding heart for the hurting,
a big sister,
rescues friends,
has creative ideas,
likes to give surprise gifts,
loyal to friends,
dreams of love and marriage,
dreams of writing a book
goes the extra mile

So this site offers;
a good books to read!
help to become Friends with God,
The One Ideal Real Friend
a cure for loneliness
An Older Sister's Coping Secret
how to pray Panic Prayers,
& regularly/daily
devotionals,
how to grow in faith
Christian mentoring,
how to share your faith
character development
how to become a writer

This time let's focus on the spiritual factors that cause depression.

If we have discovered God's purpose for our life and have enthusiastically committed ourselves to carrying that purpose out, we've taken huge strides to keeping depression away.

The Apostle Paul is a great example. He could write, "Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not... We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;" Paul knew what he had been commissioned to do, and that kept him from going under even though he was stoned, left for dead, shipwrecked, imprisoned for years, and wrongfully accused.

Most people when asked for their goal in life, tell us what vocational career they want, assuming that to be successful in such a career will make them fulfilled. That's not what it means to have a life purpose worth dying for.

It is something bigger than yourself that God does in and through you to advance the cause of Christ. It is something of eternal value.

From God's perspective, depression is a torment allowed to happen to those who refuse to forgive offenders. It comes on like a natural consequence, slipping in so quietly we don't know we've become bitter until we see the results.

What can we do?

We must de-root, even de-forest ourselves of every instance of bitterness and secret sin. If we have let ourselves grow passive and full of self-pity because of our depression, this is going to be hard work. We'll need to ask for help.

If you want to strongly enough, it's possible to think back to every instance when you were hurt by someone, and to forgive them in your will. Then ask God to forgive your sin of bitterness, and believe the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses you from that sin. Finally, you must ask God to help you reclaim that area of your life for him. The lies you believed in that situation must be replaced with truth. This reprogramming of the mind has to be done deliberately.

Another clear cause of depression is secret sin. It is anarchy against God besides the specific wrong done. Choosing one's own way first and foremost is iniquity, even if it appears to be good, and leads to sin.

The self-will (iniquities), not the specific sins, of our ancestors can be passed on to us as weaknesses in our character. Yet it is possible to confess those to God as wrong too, and be set free of them.

Serious traumas, the anniversary of things like an abortion, or the death of a loved one, a great crash of anticipation, or a moral failure can give us annual depression periods at the same time of year. All the emotions of that crisis flood back. We re-experience them with great sorrow and confusion.

But hallelujah! The way out is still the same. Confess the wrong and ask God to build new strengths into you for those times of the year. Deliberately praise God and do new positive things at those times to turn the old ruts into rich hills of blessing.

Do not allow yourself the luxury of self-pity and discouragement. Never mind that human nature says you have a right to some sympathy. Do not believe those who say your emotions are out of your control, and don't think you can't smile when you don't feel happy.

Some studies have come out saying that if you smile anyway, after a while you will feel like smiling. One study in California showed that just moving the muscles into a smile affected the feelings of the subject. Forcing the muscles to frown made the subject feel sad. Try that for yourself and see if it works.

The joy of the Lord is the strength of a Christian. It depends on our spiritual fellowship with Him. If we start trusting in other things (idols) to accomplish what only God can do for us, we are going to lose that joy and end up depressed. It follows then, get rid of the things that interfere with or replace fellowship with Christ.

Recently I read of another idea that makes sense to me. It suggested that we lay our hands on the equipment we use, such as office machines, computers, or whatever we work with on a regular basis, and pronounce a blessing on the tools or equipment, or our co-workers, and our assignments. Stories are told of how this made projects go a whole lot smoother, and breakdowns or delays were eliminated. Now that should clear up a lot of little frustrations that can build up, shouldn't it? I did that with this computer when I first got it, and I'm starting to practice this more often as I remember.

I'm convinced gratefulness is a huge key to dispelling depression too. Try it. Try to write one thank you note, or to verbally express gratitude to at least one person a day for the help they have been to you. It is such a tonic!

Great personal loss or chronic pain can bring on blues, but if we see these as things to drive us to His bosom they will lose their power to depress us and become stepping stones to spiritual health and life and vitality. Make an effort to peek through God's lenses, or eyes, at loss and profit and pain, and we'll catch the sparkle of jewels in our eternal souls.

Most depressions have spiritual causes and have the cures and remedies given above. Next time we'll look at the physical causes and see if they can be solved too.


~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
Ruth Marlene Friesen makes friends wherever she goes!
Just like her heroine, Ruthe, in Ruthe's Secret Roses,
http://Ruthes-SecretRoses.com/RSR.html Her friends
become her rare roses. http://Ruthes-SecretRoses.com
Subscribe to RoseBouquet, her biweekly blog/ezine
http://Ruthes-SecretRoses.com/RoseBouquet/index.shtml
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`

[Article may be reprinted only with this resource box].

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