From The Pee Dee Baptist Association—Featured this week is Rev. Jim Warren, the pastor of Fork Baptist Church, Fork.

Discouragement-Depression
Are you discouraged or depressed? Has your situation in life been such that your mood or attitude has been brought low? Maybe someone (a family member, your boss or co-worker, a neighbor, or even a friend) has said or done something against you. Have you worked your way into some sort of problem (financial, health, or relational problem)? There has been a death, sickness or job loss that you feel you cannot overcome.  Whether you are a Christian or a Non-Christian, life presents is with many challenges every day that appear to be insurmountable. In truth, many of these challenges are out of our hands, our abilities as human beings to deal with them. So, what are we to do?
 We are told in (Genesis 1:27), “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” This means God made human beings like Himself, with the ability to reason and with intellect, will and emotion. God gave each of us the ability to think for ourselves and to choose what we would think about.
 The Apostle Paul gives is a list of his troubles, in (II Corinthians 11:22-29). He was frequently in prison, faced death, beaten with rods, hungry, stoned and shipwrecked, to name a few of his problems. Prior to this, he spoke in (II Corinthians 4:16-18), about seeing the Invisible, saying, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Here Paul is simply saying, we can allow our minds to dwell on the things God has promised for our future, if we are Christians, instead dwelling on our present, temporary troubles.
 In order to dwell on the future things which God has promised, a person must first become a child of God’s kingdom by accepting God’s truth found in (John 3:10-17). A person who sees their need for God in their life; accepts God’s solution, His Son Jesus Christ, and turns their life over to Him, can begin right now living eternally.
 As a Christian, these future things become a current reality. Having accepted God’s truth about His Son Jesus Christ, a person now has a personal relationship with God and can claim the promises of God found His book, the Bible.
 Paul, having learned how to think as a Christian; how to look past those things which often discourage and depress us, gives us a formula for Christian thinking in (Philippians 4:4-9). Fill your mind, your thought with these things:  (1) rejoice at all times in the Lord; (2) be generous towards others with the Love that God puts into your hearts; (3) be anxious for nothing, but take everything to God by prayer and supplications, with gratitude to God, letting your requests be made known to God. In verse 7, Paul says, if you follow these steps, then you will have the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guarding your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. He closes his statement on Christian thinking in verses 8 and 9, saying, think on the things of life which are true from God’s word; those that are noble, just, pure, lovely and of good report. If we think on the good things, the blessing we have from God, instead of the bad,
temporary things of this present world, we will not live in discouragement and depression.
 All Scripture comes out of the NKJV Bible. This article was written by:  Jim H. Warren on February 13, 2013.