In a Strait Betwixt Two: To Die or To Live!

For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

– Philippians 1:23-24

Life as it is often presents various challenges that for some people are difficult to cope with. For persons struggling with anxiety and depression it is almost impossible to survive being imprisoned in their minds. Thus, the continuous challenges of life cause such persons to be so tired that they dream of a way of escape, just to disappear from it all.

Have life’s perpetual challenges cause you to experience great pain that seems to speak louder than the Word of God, of which you are so tired that you constantly thought of dying and going to be with the Lord so you even asked Him to take you? You imagined what it would be like to be in a place where there would be no more sorrow, pain, crying, instead there would be rejoicing, worship, peace. Who wouldn’t want to be in such a place?

There was a battle in the Apostle Paul’s soul when he was in prison in Rome. He was in the midst of two forces like a tug-of-war contesting for his life, pressured by the opponents as they pulled on his heart in two different directions. One force pulled him “…to depart and be with Christ…” and the other force pulled him “…to abide in the flesh…”. However, the choice was his to make. Paul was so consumed by the thought of death so that he could be in a far better place with Christ. Therefore, he was passionate and excited about being like a ship that was loosed from its moorings in order to be free to sail at last. Nevertheless, he chose to abide in the flesh because he realized that his God given purpose on earth had not yet been accomplished. He still had from God other assignments to finish.

Maybe today you are in a strait betwixt two, pressured by the endless challenges of life to die and be with Christ and to live and fulfil your purpose in the earth. However, before you make your choice examine yourself to see if you have already accomplished all that God has created you for in the earth. If you realize that you have unfinished tasks, then it’s not yet your time to depart. Ask God to help you muster all the strength you have in Him to carry on living for His glory.

God bless you!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Abba, I worship and adore You always. Thank you for breathing Your breath into me today. I am grateful to be alive today so that I can finish the work You have sent me here to do, even though I would rather be with You. Please help me to be strong in You and in the power of Your might when life challenges are overwhelming. I declare that I am passionate and excited about living just as I am about dying. Therefore, I live an abundant life in Christ. I pray this by faith in Jesus’ precious name with thanksgiving. Amen!

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Alive by the Breath of Life from God

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

– Genesis 2:7

God created man a breathing creature or an inner being with thoughts and emotions. Then He breathed into man’s nostrils His very essence, that is, His breath, Spirit or wind, His inspiration and His intellect. God’s breath causes man to be a living thing, alive, fresh, strong and vitalized.

However, anxiety and depression have a way of choking its victims, obstructing the air flow and the breath of life passing to their lungs. Hence, they are unable to breathe. They are hopeless and irrational. Often times this experience is so painful that persons suffering with these conditions give up the breath of life via suicide.

God is still breathing His breath of life in the earth today. Killing everything that is causing death to his children’s lives and circumstances as well as making them alive, fresh, strong and vitalized again regardless to how long death had occurred.

You are suffering with anxiety and depression for many years now and they are sucking the breath of life out of you. The doctors said that you need to be on medications for the rest of your life because you are susceptible to triggers in your environment. Know today that there is hope. God, Who is the Breath of Life is breathing His very essence into you, causing you to be alive and transformed as your mind is renewed by the inspiration and intellect of your Heavenly Father. You only need to exhale all the toxic from anxiety and depression and inhale God’s breath of life. Would you?

Shalom!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Abba, I worship and honour You right now because You are the Breath of Life. Thank you for breathing into me Your very essence that makes me alive, fresh, strong and vitalized again. I declare that no longer will anxiety and depression choke Your breath of life out of me because you are in every breath I breathe. Therefore, I shall live to declare You works in the earth. I pray this by faith in Jesus’ precious name with thanksgiving. Amen!

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Hope in the God of Hope!

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

– Romans 15:13

To experience anxiety and depression is to feel like one is forever sinking in a vast, deep, dark abyss with no end in sight that takes one’s breath away. The deeper one sinks the darker it gets until light seems too far to reach. It is also like drowning in the depths of an ocean where one is caught by huge waves that wouldn’t let one go. No matter how one tries to keep his or her head above the water as water replaces the oxygen in one’s lungs one becomes weaker and hopeless, making it impossible for one to reach out for help. These are really awful lonely places to be as one is often misunderstood by other people. Hope is the lifeline and oxygen that one needs to survive. The good news is this hope is Jesus.

Even during these times of struggling with anxiety and depression, the God of hope fills you with all joy to replace depression and peace to replace anxiety. The reason is for you to entrust or commit your wellbeing to, or have faith in Him, whom you can have confident expectation of good or anticipate with pleasure His goodness. This He does through the force or miraculous power or ability or strength of the Holy Ghost.

Therefore, to experience this exchange of joy for depression and peace for anxiety and be empowered with hope, you need to reach out to Jesus. This does not need much effort or energy so even in your weak state only believe in and call on the name of Jesus. He will come and save you.

Shalom!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Abba, I worship and honour You right now because You are the God of hope. Thank You for filling me with joy to replace depression and peace to replace anxiety. I entrust all my wellbeing to you with confident expectation of the manifestation of Your goodness in my life. I declare that because I only believe in and call on the name of Jesus He comes to my rescue. I pray this by faith in Jesus’ precious name with thanksgiving. Amen!

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God collects Your Tears!

Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?

– Psalm 56:8

Are you known for crying easily for every and anything? Tearfulness is often associated with anxiety and depression. People struggling with these conditions cry a lot. Sometimes, they are unable to explain why but the tears just well up and fall.

Tears are not wasted or cried in vain. Interestingly, tests carried out on tears revealed that tears have different composition dependent on what tears are being cried for. Crying is your body’s way of giving you relief from things that are too heavy for you to hold inside. It is purging a lot of the stuff that cannot come out by any other means. Tears are prayers to God. He collects all your tears in His bottle, I believe so that He can measure them and tell you the purpose each drop is shed. Thus, crying is healing. Perhaps you are tired of crying and you want it to stop but you seem unable to. Allow yourself to empty, it is apt to cry, when there is nothing left to cry, it will stop.

However, if after there is nothing left to cry and you are still crying them that is a cause for concern. It means then that crying is not only healing for you but also an expression of hopelessness. This kind of excess crying only has the potential to make and keep you ill.

When I read the Psalms, I realize that David struggled with depression. He expressed that during the night or times of adversity or the darkest seasons in his life, he was worn out with his groaning as his tears flooded his bed and drenched his couch (see Psalm 6:6). That sounds to me like a whole lot of crying for a very long time!

I certainly can identify with David. Can you? Nevertheless, God knows and is touched by every drop of tear you cry. Know assuredly that there is coming a day when you will be with Him in a place where He will wipe away all tears from your eyes (see Revelation 21:4). Until then, if you let Him, He will help you to be healed by your tears today.   

Shalom!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Abba, I worship You because I love You. Thank You for collecting all my tears in your bottle. Sometimes I don’t even know why I cry but you know the reason for every tear I shed. I declare that my tears are healing me. I am hopeful that there is coming a time when I will be with Abba in a place where He will wipe away all tears from my eyes. I pray this by faith in Jesus’ precious name with thanksgiving. Amen!

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God Does Not Condemn You!

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

– Romans 8:1

Breaking News – Christians suffer with anxiety and depression too. Not because of any fault of theirs but because they are in a real spiritual warfare with a real enemy of their souls who is out to steal, kill and destroy their lives at all cost. Some people believe that mental illness is as a result of the sins of either the persons suffering with the mental illness or their parents or foreparents. Therefore, Christians struggling with anxiety and depression are often condemned or judged by other Christians as doing something wrong and not living a life of faith and prayer. Hence, there are many Christians who secretly and silently suffer with ill mental health because they are afraid that if they talk about it, they will be issued harsh condemnation. For this reason, they are unable to receive the help they need to recover. How sad!    

Nevertheless, it is very heart-warming to know the Word of God reports that condemnation or judgement or an adverse sentence or verdict as a result of sin (specifically Adam’s fall) is expressed as being entirely absent from the believer in Christ Jesus who walks after the Spirit.

Therefore, since God does not condemn believers in Christ Jesus for any form of sin, neither should people condemn one another. Instead, the Church should be God’s agent of healing and change for all who seek it. Christians are expected by God to be their brother’s keeper and not their brother’s condemner.

Interestingly, love does not condemn. When Christians truly grasp what it really means to love as God intends for His Church to love and begin to demonstrate God’s agape love in its purest sense, then there will be the manifestation of more healing and deliverance in the lives of not only believers but unbelievers alike, leading to victorious living in Christ Jesus.      

God bless you!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Abba, I worship and praise You with my whole heart. Thank You for not condemning or judging me for any sin that I commit since there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ. Help me to be ever mindful not to be a condemner but an encourager to others. I declare that I am delivered from every negative effect of condemnation that I have experienced from other believers. Therefore, I live a victorious life in Christ Jesus. I pray this by faith in Jesus’ precious name with thanksgiving. Amen!

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Abiding in Jesus!

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

– John 15:7

People who struggle with anxiety and depression are usually unstable and easily moved by situations in life. Often times they don’t ask for help, not because they don’t want to be helped but because they don’t know how too. What if when help is sought it is not given? The question of who and where to ask for help is sometimes an issue. Furthermore, persons suffering with anxiety and depression are often timid and this also contributes to the reluctance to ask for help.

However, there is One in whom you can boldly turn too in prayer at any time for anything and have all your requests answered. This One is Jesus. In His very own words, He proposes, “If you stay, remain, continue, permanently or unwaveringly and constantly abide in Me, that is, you are rooted, unmoving and stable in Me, and My words stay, remain, continue, permanently or unwaveringly and constantly abide in you, that is, My words are rooted, unmoving and stable in you, you shall demand or insist, that is, be adamant in requesting and demanding assistance to meet tangible needs, such as food, shelter, money, et cetera, with a humble, respectful and honourable attitude, and it shall be done unto you.” Wow! What a proposal?

This proposal is an invitation from God Himself to you because He desires to abide with you continuously. It is for this reason He created you in the first place, to have fellowship with you. When you are unwaveringly and constantly in His presence, you can be sure that all your prayers would be answered and all your needs met. Would you accept His proposal and invite to abide in Him and let His words abide in you today?

God bless you!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Abba, I worship You. Thank You for Your proposal and invitation to abide in You. I declare today that I will unwaveringly and constantly abide in Jesus and allow His words to unwaveringly and constantly abide in me. Therefore, God answers all my prayers and supplies all my needs. I pray this by faith in Jesus’ precious name with thanksgiving. Amen!

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God Can!

Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:

– Jeremiah 32:17

Life often presents us with various situations. Some more challenging than others. There are times when the situations are so overwhelming that anxiety and depression take over the emotions. Nevertheless, there isn’t anything in life that you can possibly encounter which seems impossible that is too hard for the Lord. It really doesn’t matter what the situation is, God can fix anything.

The question is asked in Genesis 18:14, “Is any thing, that is, any word, any matter, any cause, any concern too hard for the Lord?” Jeremiah 32:17 answers this question by expressing God’s wondrous works as prove that nothing is too hard, that is, wonderful, extraordinary or difficult for the Lord. God can by His wondrous works of His deliverance perfect ALL that concern you (see Psalm 138:8). I encourage you to cast those difficulties on Jesus because God can and He will take care of them for you and deliver you from the emotional weight that you have been carrying.

God bless you!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Abba, I worship You. Thank You for being my Deliverer. I declare that there is nothing too hard for the Lord and He can deliver me from every difficult situation I encounter. Therefore, I free to live an emotionally healthy life. I pray this by faith in Jesus’ precious name with thanksgiving. Amen!

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Only Believe!

As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.

– Mark 5:36

Are you in a crisis situation where one of your most treasured possessions was at the point of death for which you sought God to restore it but God took too long and death occurred, so your loved ones told you it is pointless to continue to pursue God on the matter because it is dead and there is no hope of saving it anymore?

The reaction of your loved ones to your supposedly dead situation is their way of trying to help you overcome the pain sooner than later because they themselves are afraid. They feel helpless since they can’t fix it for you or take away your pain. Therefore, they think that the sooner you let go of it the better it would be not just for you but for everyone.

Sometimes in life there are situations like this which often contributes to anxiety and depression. Usually, in such situation, one’s first response is that of fear followed by disappointment and anger, even at God for not showing up on time. However, does God really take too long to come to your situation? It may appear this was to you when you are experiencing a crisis situation and hoping for a solution but right before your very eyes day after day you watch it get worst. It often seems as though the situation isn’t coming to an end and the pain of it is unbearable, then suddenly it dies.

Nevertheless, beloved regardless to what you are hearing from your loved ones I could hear Jesus saying to you “My child, do not be frightened and alarmed, only believe, have faith in Me, entrust your dead situation to Me”. Jesus is also saying to you “My child, if you can have faith in Me and entrust your dead situation to Me, I want you to know that ALL things are possible to you who believe” (see Mark 9:23).

Beloved, I encourage you today with the very words of Jesus, “…only believe”. Do you believe?

God bless you!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Abba, I worship You for You are good. Thank You for being my Trusted and Faithful Father. I declare that I have faith in Jesus and I entrust my dead situation to His loving care because I believe He is able to bring life back to every dead situation in my life. I pray this by faith in Jesus’ precious name with thanksgiving. Amen!

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Am I my Brother’s Keeper?

And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?

– Genesis 4:9

God created man as social beings, hence the reason for the establishment of institutions such as the family, church, school, et cetera. I believe that it is God’s intention that in communities humans take responsibility for one another. What does being responsible for one another looks like? It involves protecting or guarding or taking care of one another. However, man’s desire to win at all cost in the cruel competition of life encouraged in almost everything that mankind does has caused man to be callous.

I believe God’s question to Cain, “Where is…thy brother?” Is a question that we too must answer today. Beloved, where is thy brother? What have you done to your brother in your endeavours to be triumphant? Is your response to this question like Cain’s the cold-hearted question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Or can you sincerely say that you are indeed your brother’s protector, or guard or care-taker?  

To be the victor having vanquished your fellow man at all cost in the cruel competition of life is to lack godly moral. Such victories may provide you with pleasures that only last but for a fleeting moment then fade away. Therefore, you are never satisfied nor at peace and your brother is ruined by your selfish actions. Such attitudes and behaviours often encourage anxiety and depression.

I have come to realize that sometimes you hurt one another unintentionally in your pursuit of conquests. Hence, it is necessary to examine yourselves from time to time and be honest with yourselves and others. Let your lives be characterized by godliness and contentment, which is great gain (1 Timothy 6:6) as you be your brother’s keeper.       

God bless you!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Abba, I worship and adore You. Thank You for placing me in a community with others. Please help me to understand and carry out my responsibility to the others as we take care of and protect one another. I declare that I will be sensitive to and considerate of the people with whom you allow in my life and not take them for granted nor seek to get ahead of them by destroying their lives. Therefore, my actions please the Lord. I pray this by faith in Jesus’ precious name with thanksgiving. Amen!

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The Power of the Tongue!

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

– Proverbs 18:21

To be able to utter words is a precious gift from God. Everyone desires the ability to speak and feels sad when one isn’t able to. The ability to speak enhances communication by enabling persons to express themselves using words of various shades. Solomon the wisest man ever lived stated that there is power in the tongue in which are death and life, and the fruit of which those who love it will eat.

This Proverb is literally saying that the words you speak are creative force and are able to both ruin or kill persons or things or situations as well as make persons or things or situations come alive or strong, this is the power of the tongue. Also, those who have affection for the power of the tongue will eat its fruit. This is because your spoken words are seeds sowed in the soil of the universe that germinate and bear fruits after their kind. Hence, you will reap what you sow (see Galatians 6:7).

You are reminded by this Proverb that your words are powerful. Therefore, it is very significant to always pay attention to the words that proceed out of your mouth because you have a tongue that is able, or with a force to both kill and make alive, which is the proverbial double-edged sword. You can speak words of death and words of life. You can speak words of curses and words of blessings. You can speak words of negativity and words of positivity. You can speak words of discouragement and words of encouragement. You can speak words of hate and words of love. Whatever the words you speak, you will eat the fruit thereof. Spoken words are like spent arrows, once uttered they cannot come back. Hope you get the picture!

I believe this is why Job confidently declared, “Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee…” (Job 22:28). Job understood the power of the tongue.

What kind of words have you been speaking? May you only sow seeds, reap, eat of and enjoy the fruit of words of life.

God bless you!     

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Abba, I love and I worship You, for You are worthy to be praised. Thank You for reminding me that death and life are in the power of the tongue. I declare that I will only sow seeds, reap, eat and enjoy the fruit of words of life. I pray this by faith in Jesus’ precious name with thanksgiving. Amen!

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