TOPIC: DEPRESSION (DOWN CAST)

FOR THOSE WHO ARE DEPRESS, READ BELOW AND YOU CAN TEACH OTHERS TOO
INTRODUCTION
You won't find the term "depression" in the Bible, except in the New Living Translation. Instead, the Bible uses words such as downcast, sad, discouraged, downhearted, mourning, troubled, miserable, and brokenhearted.
Story of killing (a young was telling his friend that he call kill for money. That is the society we are living)
However, the Bible tell us some person that have the symptoms of this disease: Hagar, Moses, Naomi, Hannah, Saul, David, Solomon, Elijah, Nehemiah, Job, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Judas Iscariot, and Paul.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT DEPRESSION?
The Truths from God's Word is that, the word of God can bring re-assurance and that you are not alone in your struggle with depression.
NO ONE IS IMMUNE FROM DEPRESSION
The Bible shows that depression can strike anyone. Poor people like Naomi, the mother-in-law of Ruth, and very rich people, like King Solomon, suffered from depression. Young people, like David, and older people, like Job, were also afflicted.
Depression strikes both women, like Hannah, and men, like Jeremiah, the "weeping prophet." Understandably, depression can come after a defeat:
When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. (1 Samuel 30:3-4, NIV)
Oddly, an emotional letdown can also come after a great victory. Elijah the prophet defeated the false prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel in a stunning display of God's power (1 Kings 18:38). But instead of being encouraged, Elijah, fearing Jezebel's revenge, was weary and afraid: Elijah had a close relationship with God and was used powerfully by Him. Many people witnessed the greatness of God through the prophet.
Elijah encouraged many people. He helped a widow and her son who were down-and-out and had only enough food for one more meal. Elijah told the widow that God would provide, and He did. Later, when her son died, Elijah asked God to bring him back to life, and God did. This widow's hope was restored through Elijah.
Elijah did many other amazing works by the power of God, but the Bible shows that even great men of God can get tripped up by the trials and challenges of living God's way in a world under the sway of Satan. The story of Elijah's descent into depression is a classic.
Not only was Elijah hated and threatened with death by the evil Queen Jezebel, he also felt his work had been in vain and that no one else was supporting God. He felt totally alone, vulnerable and hopeless. Being human like you and me, all this started to get to him.
Elijah got overwhelmed and wanted to quit. No one knew Elijah was depressed. But God did.
God approached Elijah, and Elijah told God that he had been doing his best, but it was all for nothing. Elijah told God he was tired and just wanted to quit and die!
God then did something surprising. First He put on a display of His power. But immediately afterward, He comforted Elijah by talking with him in a gentle whisper. God also quietly told Elijah that He had more work for him to do and let him know he wasn't alone. God showed Elijah He was more than just a mighty God of power. He
GOD IS NOT ANGRY ABOUT OUR DEPRESSION
Discouragement and depression are normal parts of being human. They can be triggered by the death of a loved one, illness, loss of a job or status, divorce, leaving home, or many other traumatic events. The Bible does not show God punishing his people for their sadness. Rather, he acts as a loving Father:
David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God. (1 Samuel 30:6, NIV)
For when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn-conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him.
FIVE HOPE IN THE MIDST OF DEPRESSION
One of the great truths of the Bible is that God is our hope when we are in trouble, including depression. The message is clear. When depression hits, fix your eyes on God, his power, and his love for you:
What you need to know is that;
1. The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. (Deuteronomy 31:8, NIV)
2. Be strong and courageous. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9, NIV)
3. God is Close to the brokenhearted and saves them. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18, NIV)
4. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10, NIV)
5. God has a plan for you" For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you." (Jeremiah 29:11-12, NIV)
6. Ask for comforter. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; (John 14:16, KJV) story the Doctor
(Jesus said) "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20, NIV)
7. Don’t live by sight. For we live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians, 5:7, NIV)
8. Psalm 34:17-18 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
9. Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
10. 1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
11. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
12. Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
13. Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
God that cared. Elijah's hope was restored (1 Kings 19:1-18).
What else does the Bible say you can do to help overcome depression?
Proverbs 17:22
Have a merry heart. A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.
Philippians 4:8 say
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Joyfulness and cheerfulness are a type of medicine for our minds and bodies. It's good for us to smile and laugh! So when we are discouraged, we need to do something that cheers us up. Helping others also brings us a "merry heart."
Meditating on good things is also healthy for our minds, because it helps replace Satan's negative broadcasts with good thoughts. The Psalms remind us that meditating on God's law brings great peace (Psalm 119:97, 165).
Finally, what does God want your mind-set to be when you are in a difficult trial? (Gives bible passage)
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
1 Peter 5:10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.


God can help and if you put your trust on Him

Christian Okpe for you

No comment

Most Nigerians dont plan. an average Nigerian couple dont even know what it means

Planning is not spmething we like doing, why Plan when we can always make spiritual things responsible for our failures and Pastors responsible for our success?
Note: this applies to some Nigerians not all.

We don't plan for marriage, we marry because "Its time" "My mates are getting married" Mama wants grand children

We don't plan for kids, we have kids because "Kids are a blessing from God" "so many are looking for kids so if we produce every year its a blessin"

We don't plan for theur future "God will provide"

We don't plan for accidents and death because its not our portion

When it all goes wrong we can always blame goof old devil and witches and wizards.

Planning means taking responsibility and we don't like that.

The way madam debrief attributes everything about Nigerians to spirituality baffles me

Yes, we know Nigerians take religion a lil too far but not all their faults are caused by religion. Sometimes, it could just be plain ignorance and lack of knowledge/exposure and in this case, i'll say it's more of ignorance than spirituality.

Anyone who is responsible enough and who will always take responsibility for his actions and inaction will always plan for everything he/she want to embark on, be it marriage, childbearing, business, old age, etc.


Anyone who doesn't plan and just accept things just the way they come is showing the whole world the type of person he/she is.
May God help us all.

alutacontinua: The way madam debrief attributes everything about Nigerians to spirituality baffles me

Yes, we know Nigerians take religion a lil too far but not all their faults are caused by religion. Sometimes, it could just be plain ignorance and lack of knowledge/exposure and in this case, i'll say it's more of ignorance than spirituality.

Lol, I do that don't I?
Sadly, we groomed a form of worship where personal responsibility is removed from the individual which is in reality far from what religion really advocates, the issue is not really religion but how it has been twisted.

Like you said ignorance and lack of awareness plays a great part because if we actually take time to study our religious books ourselves as God directed we wouldn't be in such a mess.

True religion is beautiful, wonderful, teaches responsibility, social relationships ( Ist John 4, Hebrews 12, Romans 12), respect, love, charity and peace ( Matthews 25 31-46, Matthew 5 44_45, .attew 5 1- the end, 1st Corinthains 13, Ephesians chapter 5-6, Hebrews 12 5- 13). It also emphaisises discipline.
The version of religion we do here preaches hate, anger, greed, coverteousness, over dependence, lack of responsibility, fear, violence (die by fire), and so much emphasis on miracles not hard work.
That is my problem and not spirituality itself.

debrief08: Planning is not spmething we like doing, why Plan when we can always make spiritual things responsible for our failures and Pastors responsible for our success?
Note: this applies to some Nigerians not all.

We don't plan for marriage, we marry because "Its time" "My mates are getting married" Mama wants grand children

We don't plan for kids, we have kids because "Kids are a blessing from God" "so many are looking for kids so if we produce every year its a blessin"

We don't plan for theur future "God will provide"

We don't plan for accidents and death because its not our portion

When it all goes wrong we can always blame goof old devil and witches and wizards.

Planning means taking responsibility and we don't like that.

Ma,
I don't think its about religion, its about irresponsibility. The so-called people are just using religion to cover their irresponsibility.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^
I still disagree. I think it's what people choose to pick out of what they are being taught. I don't think there's any religious gathering where they outrightly preach all those things you mentioned above...even if there are, they should be few. The way we interprete these things bases on our own selfish intents is what makes us misbehave mostly. I think you should rather direct your messages to the people and not the religion. Attacking the pastors or the churches doesn't sound cool. Almost every pastor would still talk about love, peace and so on, it's left to the worshippers to practice it. Religion has contributed to our ignorance but we are the ones that allowed it, we could have choose to accept the religion in some other way.

greatgod2012:


Ma,
I don't think its about religion, its about irresponsibility. The so-called people are just using religion to cover their irresponsibility.

True, like I said ignorance further spread with Religious misinformation.

If people read Gods word for themselves they wouldn't be so misled.

We would take more responsibility plan more and not leave it all to God even things we should solve by ourselves.

We will marry when we are mentally and emotionally prepared.
We will plan for the number of children we can adequately cater for and not believe God will come and cater for them.
We will understand that God has clearly stated that a time to die will come, and challenges will come and plan for them not say "Its not my portion" and when it happens it meets us unprepared.

alutacontinua: ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
I still disagree. I think it's what people choose to pick out of what they are being taught. I don't think there's any religious gathering where they outrightly preach all those things you mentioned above...even if there are, they should be few. The way we interprete these things bases on our own selfish intents is what makes us misbehave mostly. I think you should rather direct your messages to the people and not the religion. Attacking the pastors or the churches doesn't sound cool. Almost every pastor would still talk about love, peace and so on, it's left to the worshippers to practice it. Religion has contributed to our ignorance but we are the ones that allowed it, we could have choose to accept the religion in some other way.

Jesus Calls it Shepard and Sheep, a sheep goes where its told to go by the shepard, so if shepard misdirects the sheep will follow.
Sounding cool is the least of my problems, if a bulk of the religious organisations had positive impact we will see the results in our society because churches and mosques are in every street every corner and filled to the brim yet when you look at the society you search endlessly for the fruits they produce.

A good tree should produce good fruits.
The fruits of the numerous worship centers should be evident.

We won't demand for accountability but we will call on God to save us from bad leaders.

We won't demand for good roads yet call on God to save us from accidents

We won't demand for power but we will pray for light

We won't demand for security but reject robbery and kidnapping.

We open and close every meeting with prayers yet the fruits are not evident.

Sorry if I am offending some people but I like facing the truth, the truth is in our faces.

We are meant to be the light of the world and salt of the earth, we clearly are not, instead of getting on me for pointing out the obvious it will be more productive to reflect on why we are not.

The above phases I raised are issues we hear constantly when we speak family planning.

It also also the same religious and. Cultural practices which results in refusal to get children vaccined against Polio in the North.
We know the kind of blackmail a lot of us faced from religious leaders down home, accusations of bringing "Christian and western" agenda to spoil the state just because we want to promote healthy children.

Religion I will keep saying is a huge problem and not religion itself but the hypocritical way we practice it here.

The challenge to us the religious should be to light up the world and be better keepers to our brothers and sisters and not just planting churches and mosque with little impact on the behaviour of the population.

Countries where religion is not recognized or practiced seem to be doing much better. So its a challenge for us to show that Bing one in God produces great results and not backwardness

Please madam Debrief, if you have a bad experience in your religion, don't come out here and begin to force it down everybody's throat. How does this topic have any relationship with Religion or the churches of today? Why don't you open a thread either here or in the religion section and air your views once and for all without looking for the slightest opportunity to rope it into every discuss.

You can even advocate that worship centers be closed and everyone connect to God personally from their homes.As if churches don't invite medical personnel to do immunizations and all other medical exam for their members. A team of medical practitioners came the other day to do cervical cancer test for the women in my church. Planning is taught in almost every area of life in church.

If your place of worship does not teach responsibility, social relationships, respect, love, charity and peace, by all means leave them and look for another because this is taught in so many churches.

The other day, a guy opened a thread to mourn his friend that died of sickness and instead of sympathising with him, you not knowing his friend's history went all out to talk about how churches don't teach people to carry on medical examination. your self righteousness is getting annoying

Ha!

Please madam Debrief, if you have a bad experience in your religion, don't come out here and begin to force it down everybody's throat. How does this topic have any relationship with Religion or the churches of today? Why don't you open a thread either here or in the religion section and air your views once and for all without looking for the slightest opportunity to rope it into every discuss.

You can even advocate that worship centers be closed and everyone connect to God personally from their homes.As if churches don't invite medical personnel to do immunizations and all other medical exam for their members. A team of medical practitioners came the other day to do cervical cancer test for the women in my church. Planning is taught in almost every area of life in church.

If your place of worship does not teach responsibility, social relationships, respect, love, charity and peace, by all means leave them and look for another because this is taught in so many churches.

The other day, a guy opened a thread to mourn his friend that died of sickness and instead of sympathising with him, you not knowing his friend's history went all out to talk about how churches don't teach people to carry on medical examination. your self righteousness is getting annoying

Ha!

Uche, shoot down the messenger all you want but till the fruits of all our religious zeals begin to show positively, you will continue to have veiws from "self righteous people" like me.

Somehow we can talk about the effects of bad Governance, Bad Policies, Bad Policing, but talk about the effects of bad religious practices wahala starts.

My Lady and I chose to wait for at least 2 years before having children. Then we ensured we purchased health insurance before even going foward. We've chosen to have no more than 2 children even if both are girls. Most of our friends and family think we are bats.

Uche, don't be offended. Debrief's tirade may be offensive to some but she is not far from the truth. Not far at all. We can all see the facts of people abandoning their responsibilities in favour of "night vigil" and "deliverance" and "pastor said" and "alfa told me to" and all that jazz.

Few Nigerians plan. Forgeting that even the Bible (the only Book I know) expects you to "work for the night is comming"

The truth is that most couples don't plan. A man replied after having a fifth child in the face of glaring economic crisis in his family that "it seemed the right thing to do at the time" Imagine!
The children will eventually suffer for their parents sins. .

I have just one child and she's a year and some months but people have been saying "is she not old enough to have an aburo and all?" But who cares?

Children are gifts from God and not a symbol of productivity. If As a parent your conscience is clear that you are giving your child the best and can cope, by all means keep having children.