There is a CURE

Hey everyone!
Wow. I have been learning so much.
If you haven't read Managing your Emotions by Joyce Meyer...you HAVE to! It is absolutely an amazing book. Probably one of the best that I have ever read.
I have learned so much about myself and God's forgiveness, and what I'm capable of doing in the past five days than I have in the past two years. It is truly a life changing adventure.

Recently the Lord has been speaking to me.
And I don't mean a light word here and there.
I mean like sermons!
I have five pages of notes from His talks with me.
It's is truly amazing how much God will tell you if you will just take the time to stop and listen.
God wants to speak to you.
You just have to willing.

Lately He been dealing with me on my depression and gaining eternal peace..
I am not going to confess that I am depressed... but it's true.
And in Joyce Meyer's book she has a whole chapter on "Understanding and Overcoming Depression."
That chapter broke me down. I realized that depression is a choice. We don't have to give into it. We can combat it with the word. We don't have to go down.

Colossians 3:15 says "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful"
This verse is so important because in it we realize something, we are called to peace. We are of a peaceful nature. God has called us to in perfect peace. Not constant discord.
My new favorite verse is Isaiah 26: 3-4
"You will keep in perfect peace his whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord,  the Lord, is the Rock Eternal."
When I read this verse I stopped. I prayed. And I meditated on it.
This verse has become alive inside of me.

Jesus is called the Rock because He has always been solid and stable- always the same, never changing.
Our circumstances may change, people come and go, we ourselves change, but God will never change!

We can have peace and we can live lives that are happy and not depressing.
When the devil sees that his tactics are not working, we realizes he is failing and will be utterly defeated.
The devil is not creative. He uses the same problems and tactics against everyone. If we can learn to combat them, then he will have to choice but to give up and move on to another victim.

When we are depressed, it often seems like we are riding an emotional roller coaster. We seem to go from one extreme to another. But we are to walk in the JOY OF THE LORD, which is defined as a calm delight.
When we think of joy a lot if times we think of it as a feeling. A loud expression. But the Bible defines the Joy of the Lord to be a calm delight. Soothing even.
We may not feel joyful, but we are.

Psalm 3:1-3
"Lord, how are they increases who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. Many are saying of me, there is no help for him... But you, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head."
In life it seems like when one bad thing happens, everything else too falls apart.
And a lot of times that is true, but a lot of times it is just exaggerated.
Our eyes and hearts are downcast because we are looking at the problem, rather than at the Lord.
When we are feeling depressed we need to recognize it, submit it to the Lord, call upon His for His help, then fight that depression in the strength and power of the Holy Spirit.
If the devil is going to fight against us then we need to fight back!
He may try to bring us down but I know that when he comes to me, I'm not going down easily. In fact, I'm not going down at all! I am going to fight with every fiber in my being.
Anytime that you feel your spirit start to sink down into depression. you need to take action immediately. Don't wait until you have been in the pit for days before you start to do something to lift your spirit.

Genesis 13:14
"...Lift up now your eyes and look from the place where you are, north and south, east and west."

Now is the time!
We must lift up our eyes and wake up!
Sooner or later the Lord will deliver us.
Our victory comes through recognizing that you are being assailed and in knowing what to do to defeat the enemy behind the attack.
THERE IS A CURE FOR DEPRESSION!
We don't have to stay like this forever.
I am not despairing or becoming depressed because my confidence is the Lord, the lifter of my head.

Psalm 143:8-12
"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord, for I hide myself in you. Teach me to do your will, for you are my god; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life, in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant."

David recognized his problem. Submitted it to the Lord. Then he cried out to the Lord, begged for His help. He then fought with his soul. The Holy Spirit gave him the strength to overcome.
That same power lives inside of you.
You can overcome. Just like David did.
Don't give in. Don't give up. Fight the good fight.
Life you life.
Depression isn't a life, it's a distraction from all the wonderful things God has in store for you.
God loves you.
Believe in that.
He loves you.
So much.

I hope that you take this to heart.
Miriam

Speak into Being

Only eight more days until Christmas! I can't believe it. It seems like it comes and goes faster year after year.

During this entire Christmas season I have been struggling.
And I mean really struggling.
I have slipped back into some old habits...not very productive ones I'm afraid to say.
But yesterday, as I was struggling with myself, I started talking to one of my friends.
He helped see things in a clearer perspective.
I was telling him what had happened the past few days and what was going on mentally and he had me do something that I've never done before.
I got out two pieces of paper and a pencil.
On the first piece of paper I wrote down ten things that I was thankful for. And on the other piece I wrote down ten things that I was struggling with. After I was done I pinned up the piece of paper with the ten things I was thankful for on my bulletin board. And then I prayed over my list of struggling things and tore it up and threw it away.
Now let me just tell you something, it wasn't a light little prayer saying "thank you Jesus for dieing for me and for loving me. I know that you are handling my life with care...etc."
No. I PRAYED! For fifteen minutes I cried, and beseeched, and sat in stillness, and begged, and declared, and listened.
And I was heard. I told the Lord what I was expecting in my life.
I declared that I was free. That I was whole. That I was loved. That I was worth something. That I was forgiven. That I can forgive. That I am full of joy. That I have power over my emotions.
And it was absolutely amazing.
I felt 100% genuinely better.

I want to ask you a question. When you are going through a hard time what do you do?
Did you know that you have power over your emotions?
God created emotions for a reason. But that reason wasn't so that you could be ruled by them. We were created to rule. And our emotions were not.
Right now I'm reading "Managing your Emotions Instead of Your Emotions Managing You" by Joyce Meyer. AMAZING!
It is by far the best book, besides the Bible, that I have ever read. I highly recommend that you read it.
I'm only on chapter four and I've already learned so much.
For example, today I decided to do something different.
I took out a piece of paper and wrote at the top "Who God is to Me:"
And I started to write out who He is to Me.
This is what it looked like:
"God is wonderful, beautiful, glorious. God is everlasting. He is merciful. He will always forgive me. God loves me. God redeems me. He picks me up when I have fallen. God is my savior, my deliverer. He is forever. He is magnificent and steadfast. God loves me. God died for me. God is my advocate. He is my healer. He will never leave me. He is my constant support. God is my father. He is my peace and my ever-present joy. God is my all in all. I love Him. God is my one true love. I am His. He holds me in His hands. He is my protector."

I could go on and on and on.
I filled up a whole page. And I am going to do this as often as I can.
I am going to speak this every day. I am going to remind myself, my spirit man, who God is to me.
It's good to remind ourselves of that every day.

Another great habit I'm learning is to write out who God is me, and then pray. Pray that over your life. Then wait. Listen for God's voice.
After I've done both those things I find a word. Today it was peace.
I have been in inner turmoil. But not anymore. Earlier this evening I was praying and that word came to my mind. I looked in the back of my Bible and found verses with the word peace in them. One popped out to me.
Isaiah 26:3-4
"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal."
I read that whole chapter. I was crying by the end of it.
God is our Rock.
He is our eternal.
Why must we always try to fix ourselves?
If we will just trust in him then we can rest in sweet sleep. For the Lord grants sleep to those He loves.
After I read those verses I wrote them out and put them on my wall next to my One Direction poster. Now the first thing I see is that I can have everlasting peace, and then the five faces of my beloveds ;)

I encourage you to try doing what I did today. I'm going to do it everyday. I have finally found a system that speaks to me, that works with my creativity. And God's word.
Find a verse to meditate on. For me right now, it's Isaiah 26:3-4
Whatever verse the Lord drops in your heart, don't lose it. Hold on to it with both hands; tightly! The devil will do whatever he can to try and pry those words away from you. But don't you let him! You are worth more than you think you are. Give yourself more credit than that. The Bible is God's love letter to you and me. Let it speak to you.

I pray that you have an amazing Christmas!!
Love,
Miriam