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A while ago one of the major news networks reported that according to their polls, six out of 10 Americans are suffering from depression. Some people would say that's understandable. They would say it's normal.

It's to be expected in times like these when danger and uncertainty surround us.

But I want you to know something today. If you have made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, depression is not normal for you. It is not to be expected.

You've been redeemed from it.

Just as surely as you've been set free from sin, sickness, poverty and defeat, you have also been freed from depression. Jesus paid the price for you on the cross so you could be at peace—spirit, soul and body.

Isaiah 53:4-5 says:
Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains....He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.
(vv. 4-5 AMP)
The New Testament confirms that. It says in Galatians 3:13 that "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." Depression is a part of the curse (read Deut. 28:65-67).

But, glory to God, because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, you and I have been redeemed from it!

I'll be straight with you though. If you don't take a stand against it, especially in these times, the devil will push depression on you anyway. He'll put pressure on your mind. He'll bring negative thoughts to you. He'll tempt you to say those negative thoughts out loud.

If you yield to him, you will end up with a spirit of depression on you that will rob you of your joy, steal your health and strip you of your productivity for the kingdom of God.

Maybe that's already happened to you. If it has, there is a way out. It is the way of faith.

Faith always overcomes anxiety and depression. If you will begin to cultivate the spirit of faith, depression will lose its grip on you.

See Yourself Crowned
What is the spirit of faith?

Second Corinthians 4:13 describes it this way: "We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak."

The spirit of faith believes what is written in the Word of God. It believes what God says more than it believes external evidence to the contrary. If you want to develop the spirit of faith, that's what you must do.

For example, when you see in Psalm 103 that God "crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies," you must agree with that verse. Choose to believe it.

Don't argue with it. Don't think, "Well, I'm certainly not crowned with the goodness and mercy of God. My life is a mess. I'm a failure. I have a terrible past and the future doesn't hold much hope for me."

Most likely, if you're struggling with depression, that's the way you've been thinking. So you must use the Word of God to change how you think. Don't think of yourself as mistreated or pitiful. Think about yourself in God.

Think about the fact that the Almighty God dwells on the inside of you. When you're tempted to feel sorry for yourself, refuse to do it and begin to think about the fact that you are crowned with lovingkindness and tender mercies instead.

Create a picture of yourself in your mind that's a Bible picture. Stop thinking those same old thoughts about yourself. Instead go to the Word and get some new ones.

Maybe all of your life you've heard things like, "You're never going to amount to anything. You're not smart. You're a failure." Maybe those thoughts go around in your head like a broken record.

If that's the case, make a new record. Start spending every moment you can reading, studying and meditating on the Word of God. Listen to tapes. Pray the Word and fellowship with the Father over it. Get so full of what He says that you don't hear that old talk in your mind anymore.

Instead, you hear "God talk" in there.

God talk says, "Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world." How can you be pitiful with the Greater One living in you?

God talk says, "I'm crowned with lovingkindness and tender mercies. I'm healed. I'm prosperous. I have abundant life. God has a good plan for me. He has a good path for me and as I seek Him He is showing me the next step."

Then start purposely expecting what God says to come to pass in your life. Ken has developed a habit of doing that every morning. He purposely gets up expecting every day to be a good day.

He gets up saying things like, "Praise God, this is my receiving day! This is the day I see the goodness of God working in my life!"

Many times when you're under pressure, the devil will hit you with unbelief the first thing in the morning. You'll open your eyes and he'll be there with some thought of doubt or discouragement. Get the jump on him. Go to bed meditating on a promise of God.

Put His Word in your heart and in your mind the last thing at night. Then in the morning, if the devil comes after you, you're ready. You can just open your mouth and hit him right back with the Word of God!


Excerpt permission granted by
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka:  Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Author Biography

Gloria Copeland
Web site: Kenneth Copeland Ministries
 
For the last 50 years Kenneth and Gloria Copeland have been passionately teaching Christians all over the world how to apply the principles of faith found in God's WORD to their lives.
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