Blessings & Encouragement

The following verses are courtesy my friend Felis (what an unexpected encouragement!):

I Peter 1:6 "So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while." (NLT)

Psalm 62:5 "My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him." (NASB)

I have good days and I have bad days. I seem to be okay if allowed to just float along, but when forced to make a decision, I panic and crumble. My counselor said this is a sure sign of depression and thinks an antidepressant will help immensely. Tomorrow I see the doctor so hopefully that will be accomplished soon. I long for a time for my mind to be still so I can think clearly.

I keep reminding myself of the things that I have learned that I have written here. I think I need to go back to reading that book. I put it aside to read another one I found by Joyce Meyer, but I don't like it as well. I can't seem to find the HOW to what she writes about. All she writes is true and sounds good, but HOW do you do it? How do you put it into practice?

I feel like I should list the ways that God has personally showed me love in recent days (sort of counting my blessings):
* delivered some things I needed right to my door when I didn't have the money to buy them (I have meant to share this story on my blog, but I will do it at a later time)
* allowed me to find and get in touch with two of my dear friends that I haven't been in touch with in years
* Felis' Bible verses on her Facebook page which were exactly what I needed at the time
* the lady in the YMCA singing "I Need Thee Every Hour"
* in the midst of my weeping over a situation, God speaking the word "trust" to my heart which stopped me in my tracks
* the mail piece I was keying on which was written the words to a verse of the song "Trust & Obey"
* the other night (I will share more about this later as well) when I felt God personally encouraging me and lifting me up
* my best friend calling me out of the blue (we don't get much time to talk on the phone these days, so it had been a while) at the exact moment I had been thinking about her

...and countless other things, I am sure, that have happened that I am likely not even aware of. I know that God is there and He is personally concerned with me. That is such an awesome thought. With all that goes on in the world and the universe, with all the billions of people on this planet, yet God knows me and my life and my details and cares about them and shows His love. I am humbled.

Matthew 7:7-11 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

Romans 8:31-32 "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"

In the words of one of my favorite songs (MercyMe's God With Us), "Who are we that You would be mindful of us? "What do You see that's worth looking our way?"

Psalm 8:3-4 "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?"

More musings on the book I am reading (& my Bible reading)

I was reading about how useless worry is. I knew that in my head, but gained new insight with some comments from the book In Pursuit of Peace. Worry won't change anything. Duh...but seriously! If it won't help and likely will hurt, why bother wasting time and energy on it? And if God will take care of you, why worry? Trust Him! And worrying about other people? You can't change people. You can barely control the outcome of your life, let alone anyone else's. Why worry about what anyone else does or says or thinks? They will do what they will do and you can't change it. Galatians 1:10 "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."

II Corinthians 5:7 says, "For we walk by faith, not by sight." Our feelings do not always convey truth. Our feelings change. We cannot trust our feelings. Satan can use our feelings against us. He can change our feelings.

I know I quoted this one yesterday, but it is well worth repeating. Matthew 7:7-11 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" Matthew 9:20-22 "And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour." Matthew 17:18-21 "And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Isaiah 26:3 "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." I have been trying to focus on God as much as possible (through prayer, Bible reading, my books I am reading, and music) to try to keep the negative thoughts at bay. When I do, I am okay. When I don't, the depression creeps in. Today while I was at the YMCA, I was getting sad and depressed while in the showers. It really gets me when I am totally alone, showering or driving to work, etc. When I got out and was at my locker, getting dressed, a woman walked by and was singing "I Need Thee Every Hour." So you can see what an unexpected blessing that was (and so I can see it whenever I need it), I will put the lyrics here:

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
Oh, bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their pow’r when Thou art nigh.

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
Oh, bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
Oh, bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.

What the Devil...?

I have been reading a book by Joyce Meyer called In Pursuit of Peace. I don't know that I accept everything that Joyce Meyer says and stands for, but I sometimes find some good things in her books. She has written much about your mind and depression and broken hearts and peace and joy, so I have started reading some of these.

In the section I was reading last night she was talking about Satan stealing your peace. I found this interesting because I had been thinking recently that a lot of the problems and obstacles in our lives and marriage have always seemed to be to be almost Satanic attacks, by nature. I don't know how to explain that, but it seemed like things have always been coming out of the blue, so to speak. We could be on track and then something blindsides us and derails everything. But, I couldn't figure that out. We're nobody! Satan doesn't fool with those who aren't a threat to him. He messes with those that can make a difference and are strong in their faith because they can do the most damage.

She mentioned the verse in Ephesians 6:12 "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." I guess I had misunderstood that verse all these years or at least not looked at it critically. She said that the enemy is Satan, not people. We blame people and circumstances for our trouble (and I have!), but it is Satan that is the real enemy. She pointed out that Satan is a liar and not to believe his lies. God will bless your faithfulness and wants us to prosper and will bless us if we follow Him. Satan wants to keep us hopeless, he sets us up to be upset. The Bible says in Daniel that Satan wants to wear out the saints of God. Joyce Meyer said that that indicates that it will be continual trouble, not just a single attack. And she said that if Satan can't get to you directly, he will try to get at you through the people close to you.

Satan has made me hopeless. He showed me my situation and convinced me that it will never change and made me fearful, so I gave up trying. Romans 8:15 says, "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father'." Matthew 7:7-11 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" I Peter 5:7-9a "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith...." James 4:7 "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

But, how do you resist the devil? I am still pondering that, but here is a good start: Ephesians 6:10-18 "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

I know this is kind of a strange blog, but it has been on my mind and I wanted to get all the bits down in coherent thought so I can cement the truth in my mind. And refer back to this later when the fear tries to come back.