WHEN WE KEEP OUR EYES ON JESUS, FEAR AND ANXIETY WILL SLIP AWAY, ENABLING US TO MAKE IT TO THE OTHER SIDE. GOD IS ALWAYS NEAR, IN EVER CIRCUMSTANCE, "REST IN THE STRENGTH AND LOVE HE SHOWS US.
WHATEVER DIFFICULTIES YOU MAY CONFRONT TODAY, YOU CAN BE CONFIDENT THAT IT IS GOD WHO HOLDS YOU IN HIS HANDS.HIS STRENGTH HOLDS YOU UP SO YOU CAN FACE ANYTHING THAT COMES YOUR WAY.

Psalm 23 - The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want ...also: He restores your soul ..
I went through a very difficult time at work a few years back due to an abusive monster who became my boss. I was in such fear of getting up every day and going to work. Anyway, I started reciting this Psalm over and over in my mind so that there would not be room for thoughts of fear. It is one of the first Psalms we learned as children and it is still one of my favorite parts in the Bible. I have also chosen it as the text for my sons tombstone. Hope this helps you too.

This one helps me:

Philippians 4:6&7
Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be known to God. 7. and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Mandy, you must realize that we all are sick in one form of another. When you are experiencing this separation remember this. Pray for them, forgive them and know that we have no real control over anyone. Forgive and serve and yo will find peace in service, this is God's will. We can only control ourselves and know that love casts out all fear.

Look for the good, keep looking until you find something. It is only by our example that others will see the goodness we have to offer. Over look and don't take personal the disagreements your family is dealingwith. Every one is their own person at heart, know this and work off of it.

Our kindness and patience is all we need to show the love of God.

Bless you.

vince

During a time when I was ready to give up on life altogether the following poem was given to me. I can't tell you how much it helped me. I hope it can give you some encouragement too!

Don't Quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing, you're down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer, with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a faliure turns about,
When he might have won, had he not struck out?

Don't give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is faliure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.

And you never can tell how close you are;
It may be near when it seems so far.
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,
It's when things seem worse that you must not quit.

There's a little song you may have heard, slightly paraphrashed:
"Whenever I feel or depressed, I hold myself erect and whistle a happy tune so nobody will know I'm depressed...The result of this deception, is very strange to tell, for when I fool the people my gosh! I fool myself as well!"

It really works. Put on some inspirational music, or any music you love. Get some bubble stuff and a bubble wand and blow bubbles--trust one who knows, it is very hard to be depressed while blowing bubbles. Look through favorite old photographs. Watch funy TV shows and movies. Get any kind of box and fill it with things that make you smile: mementos from people you love; little books and sheets of inspirational and silly sayings; play-do (very important, the smell takes you back to fun times); photos you love, greeting cards you cherish, small toys, a neat feather or rock you found, a piece of jewelry you love but rarely if every wear (a tiara works best, get one at the dollar store ;). What you are doing is building a safety box. Whever you are felling undone, go to the box, look at the things you've collected, look around the house for more things. My box started as a pencil box and ended up a hat box! I was taught how to make it during a period in which I was so depressed I had to be hospitalized. It was part of a training course there in the nut house that taught you how to deal with your bad feelings.
My prayers are with you!

What seems to be bitter trials are often blessings in disguise. Oscar Wilde


God will not permit any troubles to come upon us unless He has a specific plan by which great blessings can come out of the difficulties. Peter Marshall

O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. Psalm 98:1

When your up against a wall and your mountain seems so tall, and you realize lifes not always far. You can run away and hide or you can change your cicumstances with a prayer. When everything falls apart - Praise His Name When you have a broken heart - Raise your hands and say, Lord your all I need, Your everything to me and you'll take the pain away!!
When it seems your all alone - PRAISE HIS NAME When you feel you can't go on - Just raise your hands and say, Greater is HE that's with in me and you can praise the HURT away. If you'll just Praise his name! You can over come by the Blood of the Lamb - You'll see the darkness go as your faith begins to Grow...you not alone...so how can you be lonely!! PRAISE THE HURT AWAY.

This song is by Jeff and Sherrie Ester called Praise HIS Name!
A awesome song. I put this in all the time and just worship and praise him..when I'm done, I feel so much better.

praise the confusion and depression away.. Greater is He that's in YOU... Have a wonderfully Blessed Day!! Remember Jesus LOVES YOU!

i can't remember where I read it at in the Bible, but when I start feeling something bad coming upon me, I always remember "Satan, get thee behind me."

Hi Mandy,

I know I post this at risk of others disagreeing, but I just want to share my experience. I think there are 2 kinds of depression. One you can choose to run from, and the other you can't.
Just this past month, I've had that same feeling of the depression looming and taunting me. I've been running from it for a while now and Christ has been my victor. Sometimes I think the looming/choice type is satan taunting us. I think it's interesting how you chose the words laughing and taunting, both indicative of satan.
pray for protection daily from him and read read read the bible. it helped me so very much.
I used to put my hands in the air and say "Lord, you are Lord over my mind. You are bigger than this looming depression. I chose YOU!"

He died for our trangression and was wounded for our iniquity... Mandy, declare the Devil a liar and rebuke him. The bible says if we resist him he will flee. Say this out loud.

I rebuke you satan in the name of Jesus.

And then P. U. S. H!! Praise until something happens.... The same God that brought you to it will bring you though it... Only trust Him.

Thank the Lord for these scriptures, and for their manifestation in your life which IS according to His will. And remember that Jesus told us that whatever we pray in accord with the Will of the Father, in believing we receive, we will have. The faith precedes the manifestation, so believe that you are what the bible says you are, and so it shall be.

2 Tim 1:7 "For God has not given (me) a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

Pray according to Isaiah 61:3... God, thank You for consoling me when I hurt - You give me beauty for ashes and the oil of joy when I mourn. You put a garment of praise around me and heal the spirit of heaviness. Like a tree planted by You, I am Your righteous child and the healling of my heart will bring glory to You!

Keep His praise continually in your mouth! Every time you feel the flesh inspiring you to speak the circumstance, bless and praise His name instead of giving energy to the one who wants to rob you and strip you of His joy. What you speak you shall have, so don't speak depression, speak liberty and joy. Speak His words, and believe in His word above your circumstances.

Tune in regularly to good ministers of the word. Joyce Meyer is a great one for keeping my head aligned with Gods will for not only my life, but for my thought life.

When you identify yourself as His child, you can take what His word says about you and declare it as your identity. There is no cause for low self esteem when we realize that Christ died and rose again as an expression of Gods perfect love for us! When we realize and meditate on just how precious God holds us to be, how can we continue to feel badly about ourselves. (Don't answer that, lol...) Of course, we are prone to go back to thinking the way that the world thinks, and the way they have trained us to think. But we are called to be in the world not of the world, and to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. God will renew your mind to think of yourself as He does. But you have to do your part to choose those thoughts over your own. At any moment you can choose which thoughts you are going to believe. Even if your base instincts tell you that you are what the world has told you that you are, you still have the option of declaring the truth of Gods word, which says you are so much more than a product of this world. The key really is in choosing.

I don't disagree that there are sometimes manifestations of depression which we cannot will ourselves out of, and no matter how much we may try to pray our way out, the very nature of the depressive state is that it strangles our effectiveness in believing that we are and can do what the bible says we are and can do. If you feel as though you might be getting to the point where you are not going to be able to hold this off, don't let it suck you into a spiralling vaccuum. Be honest about where you are at, so that you can get to where you are going. If you have questions about medication (which I DO NOT believe should be used as a crutch, but can and should be used as a tool), and have question about whether it is an indicator of some failing of faith or is against Gods will... let me know. I would be happy to share with you some scripture which I believe supports the use of medicine in conjunction with faith and prayer.

I just want to say that I am not pushing toward or away from the use of medicine. Its impossible for me to know what is right for someone else. I just feel strongly that satan sometimes discourages people from taking needed meds under the guise that to do so would indicate a lack of faith, and then these folks get stuck without relief, just as would please satan, they often blame God for not delivering them out of depression.

On the other hand, I believe that satan also lies to some people who DO take meds, and essentially leads them to believe that the meds are the solution, and that they have no need to do any further work which might alleviate the long term need for drugs. (some people may legitimately need them long term, I don't assume to know, I just believe that some people are decieved into using them as a crutch or a cure when they might be sufficient as a temporary tool for coming out of the slump while also learning life skills and new coping strategies.

I believe that God gave us the ability to create medicine, and that when used properly and in the right spirit, can be one avenue through which God can heal. No matter what avenue we use to receive our healing, the glory is His. He gave us the ability to create the pills, and He gave the body the wisdom to know what to do with those pills.

That said, I make no assumption that you need pills. I just don't want you to let pride come between you and your cure, whatever that cure may be.