“And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.” Genesis 7:5My closest friend is in Week 10 of withdrawing from a 15-year drug dependency. I’m so proud of her and I believe in her. For almost two decades she has swallowed a lie and relied on a chemical to balance her chemicals. I hate what has happened to her but I love what God is doing in her life.
The world has multiple options available to the seeking woman. There are numerous books to read, programs to join, and conferences to attend. During the course of my life I have read, joined, and attended multiple self-improvement seminars. No one thing I tried gave me lasting joy or peace. No combination of what I did gave me a testimony of self-worth and satisfaction. Nothing I read, listened to, or tried provided the solution to joy and fulfillment in my life – nothing!
Can you honesty answer this question? Who has the answers - to life, to happiness, and to your future?
Have you ever considered; what the world has to offer us in the way of furthering our knowledge and meaningful existence, will eventually give rise to doubt and disappointment? The world does not have the answers!
"And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." John 6:35
God is Creator and it is He who has the answers to life and a meaningful, fruitful existence.
My preacher made this statement - “Smart people learn from their mistakes.” That’s good isn’t it? Then he went on to say, “Wise people learn from the mistakes of others.” That great isn’t it? Dumb, dumb Deborah just got a whole lot wiser.
I desire to transfer knowledge that I have learned through the mistakes I have made. Don’t wait for smart. Get wise and listen to older women who have lived the talk and walked the talk. God and God alone is all knowledge, all power, and altogether perfect. Nothing you try in this world is perfect so why would you choose something less-than-perfect? Wow…dumb just got dumber!
As a woman who has tried much, had much, and experienced much, I would like to roll the blinds up on your deluded minds and say “Wake Up!” You can have joy and your future is guaranteed.
I am passionate about my walk with God. With the wisdom God has taught me I am reaching out to women from all walks of life who are taking anti-depressants as a solution for happiness. The pain in our lives will not go away with a pill! Whatever your Doctor or Psychiatrist recommends is not the solution and will be addictive! The pill they prescribe will open your mind to far worse than you expect.
It’s my experience that the root causes of specific problems are insurmountably worsened on anti-depressants. In addition, there are multiple side effects from these drugs.
Joy comes through living right.
“For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Romans 14:17
This verse refers to the personal happiness produced in the mind by the influence of the Gospel. You will experience joy; one-step-at-a-time, get your life back on track and choose what is right by God’s yardstick! Peace and joy follow righteousness.
Get off the drugs and stay in the boat!
The 1st Step - Salvation
If you are recovering from a dependency on anti-depressants, I encourage you to secure your Salvation. When you were married, there was an exchange of words and you took the ring. Your specific wedding day was documented and celebrated. Your marriage is a day you will never forget! Our Salvation is a day we should never forget! We surrendered our life to Jesus Christ; we focused on the cross; we confessed we were a sinner in need of a Saviour; we acknowledged there was a penalty on our sin; we affirmed that Christ paid this penalty by nailing our sins to the cross; we made a decision to trust Christ as our Saviour. There is no room for doubt in our Salvation and I am 100% sure that when I die I will go to Heaven - are you?
Perhaps you need reminding of this or you doubt you were ever saved. The first step in turning our life around is securing our Salvation. Everything else will follow after this Eternal step.
The 2nd Step – Security
- Good Reflex - run to God first and allow Him to be your life-coach. Don’t be Mrs. Lot and keep looking over your shoulder of regret.
- Good Christian Character - develop and maintain a daily walk with God; how we treat our husbands, our children, and others is important to God. Do right!
- Good Reading – primarily use Scripture to sustain and strengthen. There will always be a “you should read this” book. Reading our Bibles and praying each day are the greatest combination for personal development. As you learn, be teaching and training your children and the younger women you have influence on; marriage, child rearing, and creating a home.
- Good Mind-Keeping - being honest, sincere, and merciful. Whatever tempts us the most - we must stop making excuses to do wrong. Say "No" to wrong!
- Good Sense – trusting in the promises of God. If you use His wisdom learned through reading your Bible each day, listening to the spiritual leader of your home, and embracing good preaching - you will overcome the strongholds in your life.
We develop an emotional hammer in our pattern of thinking. We contradict our faith by the way we live and then we beat ourselves up afterwards. Every time you fail you hit yourself over the head with your emotional hammer. Don’t justify behavior you know offends! We disrespect in the way we behave and this manifests itself into self-condemnation. This complicated mix of emotion becomes a heaping pile of blame. Everyone else is the problem and the problem is me!
Draw a circle around yourself and do business with God. I'm so busy doing business with God I don't have time to point fingers.
A Christian woman is righteous; our characteristic is to lead a holy life; our great aim is to do the will of God; our purpose is to discharge with fidelity all our duties to God and man. It is then we are renewed. The devil loves our lack of understanding and our foolishness. He uses it to convince us that everyone else is the reason we are sad and no one understands! That’s a lie from hell!
Trauma, tragedy, and turmoil have all played their scene on the stage of my theatre. There have been many times I have jumped the ship and paid the consequences of such a decision. Sin has consequences! I did everything else but place my trust in Christ. I sought comfort from other women whose lives were imbalanced and backsliding. Our tendency is to foster flesh not faith.
If you are struggling, choose wise friends who have a strong walk with God. Being smart about whom we hang around with will make all the difference between deepening the distresses in our lives and addressing the problems with wisdom, courage, and good Christianity.
“He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” Proverbs 13:20
Age has everything to do with maturing in the Christian life. Noah was 600-years old when he boarded the boat with his family. The older I get the more encouraged I feel. I am very useful and usable at 50 and you are most useful and usable to God.
“…as God had commanded…” became Noah’s mission statement. He listened to instruction and then acted in obedience. If he had cut himself slack and made any excuse he would have become a flood casualty. Instead, Noah lived to make it to shore and to shine the light of hope onto those of us shut up in an ark.
Noah never mouthed-off, complained, or insistently talked about his problems. He was given a job, he got to work, and he built his vessel. Not a day was wasted on regret…he listened to God and he followed instructions to the finish.
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:” 2 Timothy 4:7
This verse typifies my life. Fight a good fight my friend and don’t give up! Transfer all the energy you use through worrying - and aim for the goal. Tough it out – you can do it! We must finish what we start. If you gave your hand in marriage---keep going. Don’t be a casualty and spend years making up time.
The 3rd Step – Vision
When we jump off the boat in our Christian life it takes multiple years to recover and get back to where we were. There’s not enough time! Stay in the boat and listen to God. Keep your faith and don’t doubt God’s promises. Every day is an opportunity to get closer to God. Embrace your Salvation and live a life renewed and refreshed today.
"For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." 2 Corinthians 1:20 - God never vacillates, He is not fickle, and He never abandons His gracious intention.
Have you lost the freshness of your faith? Does your life truly magnify Christ? To draw from Christian doctrine in our lives is regarded as fanaticism today. The early church was all about testifying that Jesus Christ is the only way and is the truth. Unfortunately, most women live a life that clearly and convincingly demonstrates the world not the Bible.
The 4th Step – Victory
Build your boat and stay in it. Your ark may represent your marriage; it may represent your mind, and possibly your health. If the flood waters are rising in your own life – stay in the boat and start claiming victory.
Every time you think of a past hurt, write in on a piece of paper and bury it in your yard. It’s over! Our past does not equate to our future. Past hurts are just that – past history. When you bury the hurt, don’t let the devil dig it up again. If your mind rehashes it, affirm this aloud – “It’s buried Satan."
The 5th Step – Heavenly not Humanistic Thinking
“Dear Father…your Word tells me that "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." I need to understand this now Lord...please will you allow me to? Your Word teaches me to "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Oh, how I need rest from my tumultuous soul!
I ask for grace today...in my life and in the lives of all my friends. Please teach me how to take your yolk upon my life and help my friends to duplicate this. There are times I am truly lowly in heart and spirit...you promise I will find rest in my soul. I'm claiming your promise as I lift my burden and place it at your feet. As I take this step of obedience may I experience a peace that surpasses all understanding?
Bless my obedience as I seek to understand you more. Please give me the necessary grace to accept the things I cannot change in my life. May your mercy be evident as you transfer your knowledge and develop the courage for me to continue on the right path. I need your strength to move forward even when I don’t understand.
Place a hedge around my home today and bind Satan. Secure my Salvation once and for all. Refresh and renew my spirit today. I need you!
Please continue to shine truth on and throughout my life. For too long I have justified my wrong thoughts. I have swallowed the devil’s lies – please forgive me? Develop a desire for me to plead for the souls of my loved ones who are lost and headed for hell. Open my eyes and give me a vision of a greater purpose for living than just for self.
I give you all my requests now and I love you.” Amen
Christian lady – these are good steps to start with. As you change the way you do things and move toward a path of trust and obedience, you are one step closer to the finish line and one step away from a dead-end.
I love you and I believe in you,
Deborah
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