Hope for Depression
The following verses from the Bible speak about God’s love, hope and acceptance in Christ for anyone experiencing the horrible cruelty and unbearable torment of clinical depression.
I hope and pray you will find comfort and new hope for your soul. That you would call upon Jesus who gave Himself for us upon the cross and rose again from the dead on our behalf, to bring us out of darkness into His marvelous light.
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Isaiah 61:1
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners”.
Psalm 50:15
“Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honour Me”.
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you”, says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope”.
Matthew 11:28-29
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls”.
Psalm 34:18
“The LORD is near to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit”.
John 16:33
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
Isaiah 40:29-31
“He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint”.
John 3:16-17
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Romans 10:9
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
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Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Hebrews 6:18-19
Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure...
1 Peter 5:6-7
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
2 Corinthians 1:34
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our suffering so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any suffering with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Psalm 34:7-9
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them. O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! O fear the LORD, you His saints; for to those who fear Him there is no want.
Philippians 4:5-9
The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and loving-kindness will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Psalm 107:8-15
Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving-kindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men! For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul He has filled with what is good. There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in misery and chains, because they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High. Therefore He humbled their heart with labour; they stumbled and there was none to help. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their bands apart. Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving-kindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men!
Psalm 40:1-3
I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and will trust in the LORD.
Spiritual Dimensions of Depression
The voices in the head of a person suffering from clinical depression originate from spiritual forces of darkness which attack the soul. The purpose is to destroy all joy, hope and vitally of a person’s life and cause unbearable emotional and psychological pain. The result, is the inability to perform the most basic tasks of normal life and to be imprisoned with chains of incredible sadness and anxious despair.
The voices masquerade as thoughts of the depressive and make them believe they are the depressives own thoughts - but they are not. The voices persuade the depressive they are hopeless and worthless, making them feel guilt and regret, and that they will never, ever be happy again.
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“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world” (1 Peter 5:6-9).
These voices are fundamentally lies and are not to be believed under any circumstances. To sincerely trust in Jesus, who brings hope to all who come to Him in humble faith, is the first step in conquering depression, along with an understanding that negative, depressive thoughts are demonic lies and are not the truth God wants you to know and the love He wants you to experience.
It is the spiritual forces of evil in this world which seek to ruin people by deceiving them into believing they are worthless, hopeless and their life is without meaning or purpose and without hope in the world. They do this because spiritual forces of evil hate God and hate people.
All people experience temporary depression at some stage in life but it is only when people trust the lies of demons instead of the truth of Jesus that clinical depression sets in. It is only by the power and love of God in Jesus that will set depressives free to escape from this evil darkness.
People with clinical depression cannot trust their own thoughts and feelings because they are not the thoughts of the depressive. This is why it is crucial to trust in someone outside of ourselves and to use this as an anchor for our soul.
The love and promises of Jesus speak directly to the heart of the causes of clinical depression. Hope, acceptance, purpose, joy and meaning are foundational teachings in the Bible. The inspired Word of God has guidance specifically designed to lift people out of darkness into God’s marvelous light through trusting in Jesus and not in ourselves.
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The salvation of God is primarily to save us from ourselves. Our selfishness, delusions and cruelty as human beings has always resulted in pain and dysfunction in every area of life. From broken relationships, injustice, cruelty to people, animals and the environment; it is all evidence that we need to be saved from ourselves.
The love of God is displayed in Jesus dying on the cross, so whoever places their trust in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life. This is about personal salvation, it is about trusting in someone outside of ourselves to help us do the things we cannot do for ourselves. We cannot save ourselves but Jesus can - for He is the Saviour of the world.
Even if we were to live for a thousand years, we still would not know as much about life and how to live it as our Creator and Saviour does.
God is eternal and has the key to all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He is good and wants only good for His creation but humanity continues, century after century to prove that not living as God has instructed us only leads to evil, pain and despair.
God has given us hope that He will create a new heaven and a new earth in which there will be no more sin and will be full of people who love God and have been transformed into the same character as Jesus.
Clinical depression comes along with horrible anxiety which is fuelled by uncertainty for the future. Trusting in the character of our loving heavenly Father is the best and ultimate cure for anxiety. God is all powerful, all knowing, all loving and He desires to do us good. He wants the best for us and works in those who trust in Jesus to create the character of Jesus in them. A character full of peace, hope and love.
All this comes through the simple act of placing our trust in who Jesus is and His precious and magnificent promises. Trusting with all our heart and actively believing in what God says about Himself and by faith we can receive the free gift of God’s grace, love and acceptance.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who is in Heaven
May Your Holy name be honored
Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us
And do not lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil
For Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory
Forever and ever
Amen
If you have found this helpful and need help or more information, please do not hesitate to contact us.