Tag: christian

Getting Free of Anxiety

From Warren Mueller

Do you often deal with anxiety? Are you consumed with worry? You can learn to manage these emotions by understanding what the Bible says about them. In this excerpt from his book, “Truth Seeker – Straight Talk From The Bible”, Warren Mueller studies the keys in God’s Word to overcoming your struggles with anxiety and worry.

Anxiety (Worry)

Life is full of many concerns stemming from the absence of certainty and control over our future. While we can never be completely free from worry, the Bible shows us how to minimize worry and anxiety in our lives. Philippians 4:6-7 says do not worry about anything, but with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving make your requests known to God and then the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Pray About Life’s Worries

Believers are commanded to pray about life’s worries. These prayers are to be more than requests for favorable answers. They are to include thanksgiving and praise along with the needs. Praying in this way reminds us of the many blessings God continually gives us whether we ask or not. This reminds us of God’s great love for us and that He knows and does what is best for us.

A Sense of Security in Jesus

Worry is proportional to our sense of security. When life is going as planned and we feel safe in our life routines, then worries subside. Likewise, worry increases when we feel threatened, insecure or are overly focused on and committed to some result. 1 Peter 5:7 says cast your cares upon Jesus because He cares for you. The practice of believers is to take our worries to Jesus in prayer and leave them with Him. This reinforces our dependence on, and faith in Jesus.

Recognize a Wrong Focus

Worries increase when we become focused on the things of this world. Jesus said the treasures of this world are subject to decay and can be taken away but heavenly treasures are secure (Matthew 6:19). Therefore, set your priorities on God and not on money (Matthew 6:24). Man worries about such things as having food and clothes but is given life by God. God provides life, without which the concerns of life are meaningless.

Worry can cause ulcers and mental problems that can have destructive health effects that shorten life. No amount of worry will add even one hour to one’s life (Matthew 6:27). Therefore, why worry? The Bible teaches that we should deal with each day’s problems when they occur and not be obsessed with future concerns that may not happen (Matthew 6:34).

Focus on Jesus

In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus visits the house of the sisters Martha and Mary. Martha was busy with many details regarding making Jesus and his disciples comfortable. Mary, on the other hand, was sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to what he said. Martha complained to Jesus that Mary should be busy helping but Jesus told Martha that “…you are worried and anxious about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)

What is this one thing that freed Mary from the business and worries experienced by her sister? Mary chose to focus on Jesus, listen to Him and ignore the immediate demands of hospitality. I do not believe that Mary was being irresponsible, rather she wanted to experience and learn from Jesus first and later, when He was done speaking, she would fulfill her duties. Mary had her priorities straight. Put God first and He will free us from worries and take care of the rest of our concerns.

From an article posted at about.com by Warren Mueller

http://christianity.about.com/od/topicalbiblestudies/a/anxiety.htm

His bio at: http://christianity.about.com/od/topicalbiblestudies/p/biowarrenmuelle.htm

BB Thoughts for Saturday, 11-14-09

crossred“The Lord afflicts us at times; but it is always a thousand times less than we deserve, and much less than many of our fellow-creatures are suffering around us. Let us therefore pray for grace to be humble, thankful, and patient.”    John Newton (1725-1807)

Rambling thoughts…. 

For the person who believes, this can be a real thorny issue. Can a God who will and can afflict us for our good, can he be trusted?  There are some who suggest that God is intentionally malicious; like a young boy pulling the  wings off of flies in bored amusement, to watch them scramble about.  I am certain this is not the case.

Those of us with mental illnesses who are believers will face this issue fairly often.  I get terribly depressed, to the point of despairing and even suicide.  One of the inner dialogues that happen, is “Why?”  “Does God know?”  “Does he care? ” “Why is this happening to me?”  You know what?  Only God knows, and he is not telling.  Sometimes we just have to live with questions.

The believer must accept this at face value.  It really doesn’t matter.  You face the fiery furnace, and that is a fearful thing.  But whatever transpires, our trials teach us about love, especially when we find a fellow-sufferer.  I have found that mentally ill people are almost always good, gentle people.  They have finally learned how to love, they generally have the scars to prove it.

To get stable, a prayer life should be established in our lives.  (If you have tried and tried, I would recommend getting prayer beads.)  Praying will clarify things and settle things.  Luther once said that just like “a cobbler’s task was to make shoes, so a Christian’s is to pray”.  Prayer is real-life for the believer.  It is a shot of adrenaline into the heart of a dying man.  I take my meds and I regard prayer as one of my other medications.  Prayer for me is both an anti-depressant and a mood-stablizer.  It is that significant.

My Book List

This is a list of books that I can recommend to people who have a need, or just want to be informed.  The majority of these on the list are for Christians who have a mental illness.

  1. Grace for the Afflicted- Matthew S. Stanford, PHD*
  2. Manic, A Memoir- Terri Cheney
  3. Exuberance, The Passion for Life- Kay Redfield Jamison
  4. When the Darkness Will Not Lift- John Piper*
  5. Darkness is My Only Companion- Kathryn Greene-McCreight*
  6. The Noonday Demon- Andrew Solomon

*denotes Christian emphasis

All of these books can be ordered online at www.amazon.com.

B.B. Thoughts for Saturday, “Zombie-ification”

Don't stop the car
Don't stop the car

by Bryan Lowe

It’s amusing to see how thing get started.  I’ve been hearing a lot about “zombies”.  It’s crazy, but zombies are now suddenly vogue, and I’m sure they appreciate the publicity, having stalked the landscape for so long without any recognition at all.

But seriously, this new social focal point nails down a real issue: Passivity.  I know its a leap, but it seems that that is a real issue in our society.  The dictionary defines the word for us, as “the trait of remaining inactive; a lack of initiative.”  We are often led to a place where we are to accept the status quo, and even see that as a healthy characteristic.

I see two areas of conflict we have with zombie-fication.  One is spiritual, the other mental.  Passivity in our Christian walk is quite dangerous.  We begin to interpret life as something that acts on us, rather than acting boldly and with assurance, we let everything just roll over us.  I’m thinking of Caleb, who in Scriptures is an old man (Joshua 14:11-12).  Yet he “demands” to be given the top of a mountain which is under the control of fierce giants.

Such an attitude is not normal.  I see Caleb as a florescent marker of the Spirit.  You look through  history and he sticks out, you can’t hide him.  He doesn’t blend in and he certainly doesn’t drift into the cold dark night quietly.  He shows up in Numbers 14:24, “But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.”

Having a mood disorder like bipolar,  passivity is brought to you on a platter.  The meds are quite enough to mellow and control all your actions.  (I believe in meds, btw).  Spiritually, we suffer. It is hard for me to believe in God and worship Him if I have no initiative.  I personally find a ferocious battle with myself when ever I try to move closer.

I want to close this out.  I just want to point out this “zombie-ifcation syndrome” is real and that it often haunts us as mentally ill people.  As a fellow believer in Jesus Christ I must resist and stand for Him.  I need to be more aware of these issues, and not become part of the walking dead.  Whatever it takes, I want to be alive.   Being real, not sedated into a mindless stupor.

For more “Zombie fun” see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie