SUNDAY
DECEMBER 22
“My anxious thoughts multiply
within me.” Ps94:19 NAS
HELP FOR ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION (2)
Your
thought-life can be the incubator for anxiety and depression, so understand
this: (1) Your thoughts are yours! “My anxious thoughts multiply within me.”
You conceive, interpret, assign meaning to, accept or reject them. So be
decisive about which thoughts are, or aren’t helpful. (2) You become what your
thought-life makes you (See Pr23:7 NAS). It’s not your circumstances, it’s your
thoughts about your circumstances that produce your emotions. Your thoughts
trigger biochemistry that determines your feelings, their duration, and their
intensity. When you begin to think differently, you’ll feel differently. (3)
Your thoughts are prolific. The Psalmist said they “multiply” within you.
Random thoughts may be temporarily upsetting, but they don’t produce lasting
anxiety or depression. That is the work of persistent thought patterns—negative
thoughts that multiply, repeating themselves within you. You must ”take them
captive and “bring [them] into obedience” to Christ-like thinking in order to
control your feelings (See 2Co 1:4-5). (4) You must “Let the Spirit renew your
(individual) thoughts and attitudes (habitual mind-set)” (Eph 4:23 NLT).Submit
your thoughts to God’s Spirit, allowing Him to approve or renew (replace) them
with His thoughts. Anxiety and depression cannot continue to control you when
you give God control to your mind. (5) People cannot continue to control you
when you give God control over your mind.(5) People can contribute to your
anxiety and depression. They can make you want to live—or die! (See Pr 18:21).
They can reduce or increase your anxiety and depression. Avoid those who speak
discouraging words, and hang our with those who speak “a good word [that] makes
[your hear] glad”(Pr 12:25 NAS).
Taken from the Word for You Today
Devotional
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