GOD’S WORD IS THE ANSWER

June 2, 2023

For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within. But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus.
2 Corinthians 7:5-6

RELY ON GOD. I appreciate the honesty of the Scriptures. The Apostle Paul was candid about the challenges he faced. He was hassled while he was fulfilling the Great Commission for the same reason you and I are hassled when we try to step up and be productive and fruitful – because the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). Whatever mind-numbing challenge you are facing—when no one can understand how you feel and even when you don’t know how you feel—God understands. He is a present help in time of need (Psalm 46:1): the Redeemer who saves, the Healer who heals, and the compassionate God who comforts the depressed.

Why are you in despair, O my soul? and why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence. Psalm 42:5

REPLACE NEGATIVE SELF-DIALOGUE. Life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). We must battle to interrupt negative self-dialogue and replace it with constant, meaningful vocalizing of God’s promises from His Word. Instead of allowing imaginations to seize you, remind yourself who God is and what Jesus accomplished on Calvary. Remember the help God sent when He poured out the Holy Spirit in the upper room. Get up in the morning and speak God’s Word over your day.

DAILY CONFESSION:
I stand on the truth and the conviction of the promises of God. Heaven and earth will pass away, but God’s Word is permanent (Matthew 24:35). This hope is the anchor for my soul (Hebrews 6:19). It’s the protection of my thought life, the healer of my body (Psalm 107:20), the wisdom for my finances, and the answer for this generation.

“I say that we must talk to ourselves instead of allowing ‘ourselves’ to talk to us! Do you realize what that means? I suggest that the main trouble in this whole matter of spiritual depression in a sense is this, that we allow our self to talk to us instead of talking to our self.” – D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Press on,
Pastor Jeff Perry

^{Copyright © 2023 St. Louis Family Church, All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Lloyd-Jones, David Martyn. Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1965. Print.}