JayR
11-25-2007, 11:52 PM
"Then He said to His disciples: "Therefore I tell you, don't worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they don't sow or reap; they don't have a storeroom or a barn; yet God feeds them. Aren't you worthy much more than the birds? Can any of you add a cubit to his height by worrying? If then you're not able to do even a little thing, why worry about the rest?
Consider how the wildflowers grow; they don't labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! If that's how God clothes the grass, which is in the field today and is thrown into the furnace tommorrow, how much more will He do for you-you of little faith? Don't keep striving for what you should eat and what you should drink, and don't be anxious. For the Gentile world eagerly seeks all these things, and your Father knows that you need them.
But seek His kingdom, and these things will be provided for you. Don't be afraid little flock, because your Father delights to give you the kingdom."
I struggled with anxiety and depression all my life. Not only did I struggle with the inward anguish, but I also struggled in my attempt to find out the cause. I had been to phychatrists, who put me on drug after drug to no avail, so the chemical imbalance cause wasn't the explanation. I did recreational drug after recreational drug, and that surely wasn't the answer. I ended up in an in-patient stay at one of the mental units at a local hospital after a violent rage in my house towards my family.
I had been searching all my life for the cure to my problems, and I was searching in all the wrong places. My issue was an issue with who I was. I didn't like the person I was becoming. I was changing into somebody I didn't like, and I didn't know what was causing it. I sought in many different places to find the answer that would change me back to who I used to be, but nothing was able to do it. It seemed that I was soiled, never to become clean again. I was filled with wretched desires that I did not want, and that I could not get rid of no matter how hard I tried. I felt like scum. I eventually gave up and stopped caring about anything, I dropped out of high-school. I severed every relationship imaginable, and basically began to vegitate with no meaning, purpose, or direction in life; all alone, with nothing and no one. Then last summer, I began to read the Bible. It seemed very true to me. I was encountered by the Ten Commandments- God's moral Law, and I realized that I had broken all of them, in spirit if not in the letter of the Law. I hadn't committed adultery, but I wanted to, something that God considers to be adultery anyways (Matthew 5). I didn't kill anyone, but I had hated people, something that God considers to be, and punishes as severely as murder (Matthew 5). I had taken God's name in vain many times, which is blasphemy. I had broken every single one of the commandments many times, and the Bible warns that, "the soul that sins shall die." God has issued the death penalty upon mankind, and the further penalty of damnation to those who refuse to repent.
Well, I found what had been plagueing me all these years. It was SIN. Sin was plaguing me, and turning me into the wretch that I so did not want to be. The Bible says that, "whoever commits sin is the slave of sin." I had committed many sins, and I was the bondslave to the evil passions within me. I couldn't break the bonds by my own power, and my many failed attempts to do so were always done by means of some other sin- like drugs, or sex, or violence. I was attempting to free myself from my sin in vain, and in reality I was self destructing the entire time.
Then I found the answer I had been searching for, or, to put it correctly, the answer found me. Jesus Christ is the only one who can cleanse us of our sin. He is the one who bore our sins on the cross, as He opened His heart and mind in the midst of the physical agony, and endured wave after wave of the sin which was committed by mankind from the beginning of time. Christ bore them all, and He paid for them all. His blood was shed for the sin of mankind. God Himself, Jesus Christ, who is part of the Godhead, endured your sin and mine, on the cross. "In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things and through whom He made the universe." (Hebrews 1:2) Jesus Christ, our Creator, the one who could have justly thrown us all into hell for the lawless sinners that we are, chose instead to love us to such a degree that He suffered in our place. He alone can cleanse us of our sin.
After learning the extent of my own sin by examining my own heart in comparison to God's Law (Exodus 20, Matthew 5,6,7) I realized that I was in need of Jesus cleansing. I then began to do what the Bible commands. I turned from my sins, and believed the gospel- that Jesus Christ can save all of those who repent and trust in Him. When I did so, the answer that I had been looking for all of my life was finally found, and it was realized. God took away those desires within me that I did not want, and He cleansed me of all sin, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I was changed to such a drastic degree, that it would be hard to describe in words. God continues to change me as life goes on, by His Spirit working within me. Jesus Christ can deliver you from the worst plague of all, the plague of sin, if you will repent, and put your trust in Him. Feed your soul on His word daily, and pray for His Holy Spirit, and He will give it to you. He will live within you, and He will grant you eternal life. You will know Him, and He will know you, and you will have no reason to fear death. You will know that upon death you will join Him, and you will join Him, forever. God bless you all richly.
Consider how the wildflowers grow; they don't labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! If that's how God clothes the grass, which is in the field today and is thrown into the furnace tommorrow, how much more will He do for you-you of little faith? Don't keep striving for what you should eat and what you should drink, and don't be anxious. For the Gentile world eagerly seeks all these things, and your Father knows that you need them.
But seek His kingdom, and these things will be provided for you. Don't be afraid little flock, because your Father delights to give you the kingdom."
I struggled with anxiety and depression all my life. Not only did I struggle with the inward anguish, but I also struggled in my attempt to find out the cause. I had been to phychatrists, who put me on drug after drug to no avail, so the chemical imbalance cause wasn't the explanation. I did recreational drug after recreational drug, and that surely wasn't the answer. I ended up in an in-patient stay at one of the mental units at a local hospital after a violent rage in my house towards my family.
I had been searching all my life for the cure to my problems, and I was searching in all the wrong places. My issue was an issue with who I was. I didn't like the person I was becoming. I was changing into somebody I didn't like, and I didn't know what was causing it. I sought in many different places to find the answer that would change me back to who I used to be, but nothing was able to do it. It seemed that I was soiled, never to become clean again. I was filled with wretched desires that I did not want, and that I could not get rid of no matter how hard I tried. I felt like scum. I eventually gave up and stopped caring about anything, I dropped out of high-school. I severed every relationship imaginable, and basically began to vegitate with no meaning, purpose, or direction in life; all alone, with nothing and no one. Then last summer, I began to read the Bible. It seemed very true to me. I was encountered by the Ten Commandments- God's moral Law, and I realized that I had broken all of them, in spirit if not in the letter of the Law. I hadn't committed adultery, but I wanted to, something that God considers to be adultery anyways (Matthew 5). I didn't kill anyone, but I had hated people, something that God considers to be, and punishes as severely as murder (Matthew 5). I had taken God's name in vain many times, which is blasphemy. I had broken every single one of the commandments many times, and the Bible warns that, "the soul that sins shall die." God has issued the death penalty upon mankind, and the further penalty of damnation to those who refuse to repent.
Well, I found what had been plagueing me all these years. It was SIN. Sin was plaguing me, and turning me into the wretch that I so did not want to be. The Bible says that, "whoever commits sin is the slave of sin." I had committed many sins, and I was the bondslave to the evil passions within me. I couldn't break the bonds by my own power, and my many failed attempts to do so were always done by means of some other sin- like drugs, or sex, or violence. I was attempting to free myself from my sin in vain, and in reality I was self destructing the entire time.
Then I found the answer I had been searching for, or, to put it correctly, the answer found me. Jesus Christ is the only one who can cleanse us of our sin. He is the one who bore our sins on the cross, as He opened His heart and mind in the midst of the physical agony, and endured wave after wave of the sin which was committed by mankind from the beginning of time. Christ bore them all, and He paid for them all. His blood was shed for the sin of mankind. God Himself, Jesus Christ, who is part of the Godhead, endured your sin and mine, on the cross. "In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things and through whom He made the universe." (Hebrews 1:2) Jesus Christ, our Creator, the one who could have justly thrown us all into hell for the lawless sinners that we are, chose instead to love us to such a degree that He suffered in our place. He alone can cleanse us of our sin.
After learning the extent of my own sin by examining my own heart in comparison to God's Law (Exodus 20, Matthew 5,6,7) I realized that I was in need of Jesus cleansing. I then began to do what the Bible commands. I turned from my sins, and believed the gospel- that Jesus Christ can save all of those who repent and trust in Him. When I did so, the answer that I had been looking for all of my life was finally found, and it was realized. God took away those desires within me that I did not want, and He cleansed me of all sin, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I was changed to such a drastic degree, that it would be hard to describe in words. God continues to change me as life goes on, by His Spirit working within me. Jesus Christ can deliver you from the worst plague of all, the plague of sin, if you will repent, and put your trust in Him. Feed your soul on His word daily, and pray for His Holy Spirit, and He will give it to you. He will live within you, and He will grant you eternal life. You will know Him, and He will know you, and you will have no reason to fear death. You will know that upon death you will join Him, and you will join Him, forever. God bless you all richly.