REMEMBER…
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."
—Philippians 4:6
Worrying reveals a lack of trust in God's wisdom, sovereignty, providence, presence, provision, and power.
Delighting in the Lord, meditating on His Word, and casting our cares upon Him are the great antidotes to anxiety.
All difficulties are within God's purposes and plans for His glory and the believer's good.
Gratitude to God ought to accompany all true prayer.
~Pastor S. Henry
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IN TIMES OF DEPRESSION
Edmond is at worship every time the church building doors are open. He arrives early to brew coffee before Sunday school. He stays late to clean the tables after Sunday meals. Then, suddenly, he misses several weeks in a row. When small group leaders reach out, Edmond admits that he feels worn down, but he doesn’t say much more. When Edmond does come back to worship and church activities, he seems indifferent and withdrawn. Then one Sunday evening, he tells his pastor, “I finally went to the doctor. I’ve been diagnosed with depression.” When someone like Edmond has a struggle with depression, he often feels isolated and alone, fearing others won’t understand or will even condemn him for his inability to simply “put a happy face.” Even in the church, a Christian struggling with depression may fear that his inability to overcome the darkness means he’s spiritually deficient.
Take courage, my struggling friend. Jesus is with His lowly, downcast, and hurting sheep. He does not, He will not, abandon us in our time of pain and sorrow. He is the One who carries us through the loneliest times of life and supports us in the hour of sorrow and depression. Press into the good Shepherd. Draw near to our Savior's bleeding side. Find warmth and comfort under the shadow of His strong arms even as a chick finds refuge under the shadow of a mother hen's wings. As Kathryn Butler writes, “Dear friend, if you’re among those who cry out to God and yearn for His comfort, know you are not alone. Jesus remains with you until the end of the age, and nothing—not your shame, your despair, or the agony of depression—can separate you from His love.”
—Pastor S. Henry
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ENCOURAGING AND CONTRIBUTING (2)
"…if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently."
—Romans 12:8
"A counselor is one who comes alongside us to advise us. Counselor is a synonym for “lawyer,” and it is worth noting that the precise Latin translation of parakletos is advocatus, which also means “one who is called alongside of,” and that advocate is also a synonym for lawyer. If we put this thought into our passage, we get something like: “Let the person who has the gift of getting alongside another person to help him or her, really do it. Let him stand by his friend and really help him.” What a tremendous need we have for those who are like that. Many people are hurting, but there are not many helping, because we are all so absorbed in ourselves and our own private matters. Exhortation was the gift of Barnabas, who traveled with Paul. In Acts 4:36 we are told that his real name was Joseph but that he was named Barnabas because Barnabas means “Son of Encouragement,” and that is what he was. We may remember how he stood by John Mark to help him, when Paul refused to take Mark along on one of his missionary journeys because he had deserted them earlier. Barnabas got alongside Mark, lifted him up and reestablished him as a useful servant of Christ, which Paul acknowledged later (2 Tim. 4:11)."
—James M. Boice
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REMEMBER…
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
—1 John 1:9
Continual confession of sin to the Lord is an indication of genuine salvation.
The term confess means to say the same thing about sin as God does in His Word.
Confession of sin characterizes genuine believers, and God continually cleanses those who are confessing their sin to Him (1 John 1:7).
John has especially in mind a settled recognition and acknowledgment that believers sin daily in thought, word, and deed, and are in need of cleansing and forgiveness.
And, praise the Lord, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin when we confess to Him.
~Pastor S. Henry
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ENCOURAGING AND CONTRIBUTING (1)
"…if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently."
—Romans 12:8
"Encouragement has become a rather weak word for us, usually meaning little more than giving someone a slap on the back and saying, “Good job” or “Well done.” When we study the use of this word in the Bible, we find it is much more than this. The Greek word appears 107 times in the New Testament, and it is translated by such additional, powerful verbs as “beseech,” “comfort,” “desire,” “pray,” “entreat” and “console.” Perhaps the best way of understanding what this gift is, is to recognize that this is the same word that is used of the Holy Spirit and His ministry in John 14-16. The New International Version translates it as “Counselor” (in John 14:15, 25; 15:26; 16:7), but the Greek is "parakletos", which literally means “one who is called in alongside another to help out.” That is why it is translated “counselor,” of course."
—James M. Boice
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“The Christian life is not lived in a comfort zone.”
~Alistair Begg
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