Msg #1753 Down But Not Out

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

As one steps into a new year it is not unusual, even for the Believer, to leave the celebration and step into depression. Clinical depression, called manic, or bi-polar, by psychiatrists, is all to common in our world, but the Apostle Paul writes that it should never be present in the Believer. The darkness of depression leaves one so dismayed that they cease to function. The Born-Again always have a light that can pierce that darkness, “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2Cor 3:6). This treasure is in “earthen vessels” (we are only human), so God clarifies, “that the excellency of the power (i.e. the light of the knowledge of His glory) may be of God, and not of us” (vr. 7). Be very careful here, the counsel of the ungodly is to use the power of pharmaceuticals to treat depression (and everything else). The Light shining in the face of Jesus Christ is the genuine cure. Ergo, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body” (vr.8-10). For a Believer there is a line drawn that we dare not cross. To stay on this side of the line, read your KJ Bible, and pray everyday, memorize to meditate, journal your thoughts to cogitate, and rub shoulders with Believers thrice weekly for edification and accountability. Those incidentally, are the five RU Recovery (.com) principles which have rescued innumerable lives from addictions.

An Essay for week #53 Dec 31, 2017

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A weekly 300 word essay- The Penny Pulpit

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