Today is a new day to start fresh!
Tag: Depression
When you think God isn’t showing up for you.
Everywhere I look, I’m starting to realize that God is all around us. If we look closely, we will see He is in the smallest of things. Such as taking a walk and seeing these fantastic flowers. Instead of seeing just beautiful flowers, I started seeing God. I thanked Him for making me smile, making me feel refreshed by the spring air, and just letting me know He’s all around me. As I walked and begged God to show up for me, He did. Start looking around you at the minor things, and you will see God all around you. I hope you have a blessed day!
A miracle – good people with kind hearts.
Good Monday morning!!! Have a wonderful day.
“You never know what someone is going through. A few nice words can help a person a lot more than you think. Sometimes miracles are just good people with kind hearts.”
Have a blessed day!
I see Him all over this picture.
Dee Haywood
Father, let me be an example of Jesus.
Father in Heaven, You are the great teacher. You know all and You teach others Your truths. Help me to grow and mature into a good teacher of Your truth. Instill wisdom in me so that as I age others benefit from knowing me. Help me to have character that is worthy of Your calling and reflects Your holiness. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Insanity – doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. Walking though the first step.
No one gets to start in the middle – we’re all beginners in one area of our lives or another. But for most of us, we need a new beginning, a fresh start, a walking journey from chaos to wholeness that is accomplished one step at a time.
Our first step is a big one. We are finally ready to admit that we are powerless to control an addiction or a behavior. The harder we try, the more unmanageable it becomes. Our lives have descended into chaos. When we take that first big step – giving up control – we step away from denial and acknowledge our own needs.
There is hope in that first step, for we can’t be helped until we admit that we need help. We are trying to be God in our own lives, and really, we aren’t up to the task. We are powerless to control much of anything by our own power. If we do this, we find freedom from ourselves.
Father God, today I take that fi4rst important step toward healing and wholeness. I admit to you that I am powerless over the strongholds that have taken over my life. I desperately need your help. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Christie
@JBaker
Struggling is an opportunity, to draw closer to Him.
Happy Friday sweet friends! Today, be the best you, you can be. If your down today or struggling with something going on in your life, you do have Hope! Hope is an amazing thing, without it where would we all be. He wants us to rejoice even in our struggles. He wants us to love Him, trust Him, and get so close to Him, and sometimes struggling is the way that happens. So, use this opportunity to draw closer to Him. Always reach out to someone when you need to talk, don’t suffer alone. That is what my ministry Hope Knows Your Name is all about. Reach out to us anytime we are doing life together!
Hope, in the midst of the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Hey sweet friends, ever since this coronavirus pandemic has happened, all I have heard is so many people looking for hope. So, here is a snippet out of the second book I am writing—the only place you will ever find hope is in Him. I am praying for all my blogging friends that you to will find some comfort here today. Please feel free to share with others, Christie.
H – in hope stands for a Higher power. Jesus desires a hands-on day to day moment by moment, intimacy with us.
Romans 11:36 Living Bible (TLB)
36 For everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by his power, and everything is for his glory. To him be glory evermore.
He can do what we are not able to do on our own. For us to change, we need a smidgen of faith.
Matthew 17:20 New Living Translation (NLT)
20 “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible. We would have change that would be able to move mountains of our hurts. We can find the courage to take hold of Christ’s hand so that we can face the present with confidence and the future with realistic expectancy.
O – in hope, stands for openness to change. Sometimes we’re afraid to change even if our past was painful. We may resist change because of our fear of the unknown. Or, in our despair, we may think we don’t deserve anything better than what we are currently experiencing. Hope opens the doors that despair has slammed shut. Hope discovers what can be done instead of grumbling about what can’t. Throughout our lives, we will continue to encounter hurts and trials that we are powerless by ourselves to change. But with God’s help, we can be open enough to allow those right circumstances to change us, making us better, not bitter. Our attitudes must always be changing for the better, and hope enables us to do just that.
Ephesians 4:22-23 New Living Translation (NLT)
22 Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.
Psalm 25:5New Living Translation (NLT)
5 Lead me to your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All-day long, I put my hope in you.
P – In hope, which stands for the power to change. We are not able to change ourselves, but God’s power can change us and our situation. The ability to change comes from God’s grace. Hope draws its power from a deep trust in God. Once we tap into that power, right actions and Christ-like actions will follow naturally.
Hebrews 11:6 New Living Translation (NLT)
6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
E – Expectation to change. Don’t quit before your miracle happens. With God’s help, the changes we have longed for are just steps away. With God’s help, the changes we have wanted are only a few steps away. It is essential to keep the following in the forefront of our minds as we proceed. Life without Christ is a hopeless end, but with him, it’s an endless hope.
Copyright@2019
Life – Changes in an instant, how do you cope with it?
Wow, so much has happened in our lives these last six months. We were living in Chattanooga, TN where we both had great jobs. I was fired from my job while I was out for my back surgery and in rehab. Then, my husband took a job offer, in Texas which he thought would be better for our family in the long run. Trust me; I went kicking and screaming the whole way. After my back surgery and neck surgery, in Chattanooga, the surgery with my back did not go as well as planned. I was out of work from the time we moved to Texas until now. We had only been in Texas for six months when my husband’s boss announced to him that they were closing down the radio station on Friday, and he was told this on a Tuesday, leaving him with no time (3 days) to find a job. Now, we’re stuck out there alone and with no family or friends. That moment when Ronnie told me what had happened I was so angry, and I had just a panic of fear. Security has always been the one thing I need since my childhood. Now, that was gone, who was I going to trust, who would pay our bills, how would we get groceries? All these fears consumed me for months; we have both felt hopeless. I kept thinking, how could someone wreck someone’s life that bad? How could someone move us 12 hours from home knowing their business was on the verge of closing down? Ok, where are you, God? For the first time in our lives we seriously did not know what we were going to do. Long story short, we ended up moving back to Birmingham, AL and moved in with my mother, which has had to be our lowest point ever. I have sat and watched my husband feel less and less of a man because he has had so much trouble finding a job. I have watched him crying just out of sheer despair. I have watched him first-hand being torn down, and kicked in the mouth by other people, even by our family. All the while continuing to trust God, knowing He will provide, and knowing God has just the right job and people that he will cross paths with all in God’s timing. We are now going on four months that he has been without a job; it has been grueling. To have a stack of bills you cannot pay, you don’t have your own place to live anymore; you can’t go out and do the things you once could do. You know who you thought you were the closest to, acting like they never knew you when we needed a place to live. Being in the place where we are right now has made us cling only to God and not other people. We are trusting Him to get us out of our situation. Now, we are hanging on to the promises in His word, that is all we have. We have learned not to take anything for granted anymore, such as having a home, a kitchen to cook in, a bed to sleep in, your own bathroom, and just the comfort of knowing you are in your own home. I will always appreciate having an apartment or a home now. When we can get a place of our own, I will thank God every day for the blessing of having a roof over our heads we call our own. We are letting go of all of those people who let us down in one of the hardest times of our life, and trusting God to bring us new friends, those who stick closer than a brother. I am just so proud to see how my husband has witnessed to me through this time in staying so faithful, never losing hope, and his true dignity and respect he has shown to those who have just beat him down. He still showed them Jesus. I have to say my best friend since childhood has been here for both of us. Her belief in us and her encouragement is just amazing. I realize it is better to have one true friend like her than 20 who turn you away when you’re in trouble. She has always been a light to me in some very dark places I have been. Even though some of our fights throughout our lives, I always knew if I needed her she was there. What a comforting feeling, a true friend who is as genuine as nothing I have ever seen in my life. Her name is Jenny, so please pray for her and her family, thank God for putting her in my life, thank Him for giving me the comfort of knowing and seeing what a true friend should look like, ask Him to bless her beyond measure. I know pretty soon Ronnie will get a job offer, I know we will once again live out on our own. I know God is going to bless him abundantly just due to watching how He has just clung to the Lord through all this. Please continue to pray God will direct him to the job He wants him to have, where he can minister to others who are going through life and have so many issues just as we have had. We have a precious friend in ministry, and his logo is “God Did It” and that is one thing we are going to say on the other side of this trial, GOD DID IT! If you too are going through something in your life that is way beyond your control and you to don’t see a ray of hope, hang in there. Just ask God what it is He wants you to learn as you’re walking through your trial. Hang on to the fact, things cannot get any worse, so they have to get better. You’re not stuck. God has the answers He is just wanting us to be still and know He is God in these moments. Thank you all for continuing to pray for Ronnie and me, and we would love to hear from you how we can pray for you. We want to do this thing called life with you and continue doing life together.
Ronnie and Christie Bruce
hopeknowsyourname@gmail.com
To book Christie for your next event, please go to hopeknowsyourname.com and you will find a part of my story and how to contact us.
Christie Musso Bruce 700 Club Testimony
Christie is the Founder of Hope Knows Your Name Ministries along with her blog Hopeforeveryday.com
Make sure and check out more of her story and book her as your Keynote Speaker at your next event. What an amazing story of Gods Grace!
We cannot cover depression with a bandage or pretend like there are not tangible physical reasons for it. But, what we can do is use the resources we have wisely and share the hope we find in scripture.
Depression is not something that magically disappears when you slap a band-aid on it. Sometimes the last thing you want to hear is another Bible verse or an encouraging word from someone who has not walked in your shoes. We all have moments when we need someone to grab our hand and help pull us up out of the depths of despair. It’s the moments when we cannot even reach back for the extended hand that is hardest to get through. No matter what you are facing today or tomorrow, or what you went through yesterday, there is hope for you. Psalms put words to the hardest seasons of life when it’s hard to find words to pray.
I’ve been there in the dark season of depression. I know what it’s like to wonder if this thick cloud that seems to surround me will ever lift. I’ve sat in the waiting rooms, read the articles, and attempted to talk about the moments that made me question if I was ever going to be ok again.
There are a few Psalms that helped me through some of the darkest moments, and I want to share them with you. The Psalmist conveys my feelings in ways I could never verbalize on my own. I have prayed these Psalms many times while asking God to deliver me from the struggle at hand. Every time I read them, I am reminded again of how amazing and alive God’s Word is. While I love the entire chapter of each of these Psalms, I included the highlights that speak directly to my heart. For more in-depth study, read the whole chapter.
If you are encouraged by one of these, it’s your turn to hold out your hand to a friend and pull her up. Be an encourager and pass this on!
A Psalm for the fearful heart
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall, I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” Psalm 27:1,14
Fear is gripping. It’s the feeling that starts small but grows and seems to take us down faster than we want to go. But God gives us big truths to cling to from this psalm. He is our light! He is our strength! When fear grips us, we know where to go to find light in the dark and strength when we feel depleted. It’s not that we immediately jump for joy and have miraculous physical power, but remember where the light comes from, helps lead us in the right direction when we are in the depths of the dark.
A Psalm for the waiting heart
“I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.” Psalm 40:1-3
Seasons of depression go by slower than other seasons of life. The days linger and the nights seem never to end. But the psalmist here reminds us that God pulls us up out of that terrible place and gives us steady ground to stand on. When we feel like the night will never end, this gives us fresh hope to rise with a new song for a new day.
A Psalm for the discouraged heart
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation, and my God.” Psalm 43:5
The question why is one that is hard to answer in seasons of depression. Sometimes there is no right answer. But we can always find a solution for where to find hope. This psalm spells it out for us and walks us toward God with praise and thanks for salvation.
A Psalm for the grieving heart
“I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.” Psalm 6:6-9
Grief changes us. It forces us to stop and acknowledge the pain of the world around us. Loss ushers us into an emotional cycle that we can try to ignore only to be hit harder when the next wave of grief overcomes us. Tears are not a sign of weakness, and they prove a person is letting him or herself come face to face with something difficult. The hope we hold is that God hears the cries of His children and He gives us words to help express the deep ache of a heart in grief.
A Psalm for the overwhelmed heart
“God is our refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains are moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah. Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:1-3,10
Life is paralyzing when struggles surround us. There is no shame in being still, and this psalm gives us the very tangible value to slowing down the soul and letting the season of struggle be a gift rather than a curse. Being still and allowing God into the depths of the overwhelm is perhaps a key to finding the help we need to make it through another day.
A Psalm for the terrified heart
“Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” Psalm 56:1-4
Life is complicated when people let us down or hurt us on purpose. But there is one person who is always steady, faithful, and true. If you are worried about what might happen next or afraid of what people will do or say, know that God is gracious, merciful, loving, and kind. He wants to hear you pray the words of the psalms.
A Psalm for the desperate heart
“Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth, I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalm 61:1-2
Walking through depression isn’t something I want to do, but I am thankful for the season when my heart is faint because I experience God’s presence like never before. These Psalms give me prayers to pray when I have no words. Wounds of life run deep, and sometimes, my mind is filled with fear and despair.
No matter what you are going through or how hard life may be, speak these simple psalms to the Lord today and let Him meet you right where you are. May God bless you and begin to give you a glimpse of hope.
M.M
Email us questions you may have, subjects you would like us to talk about, or, what it is you are struggling with. We want to hear from you!
Love, Ronnie and Christie Bruce
Doing Life Together Everyday 