My apologies for the terrible font and formatting. Will try to resolve issues as soon as possible. About two weeks ago, I opened my bible to Psalm 18 and I started reading it, the words of David were poignant but yet Joyful. It was a catalogue of a particular storm in his life and how God brought about an end to it. Simply told, it's the testimony of how God rescued David from the hand of King Saul. These words of David can also be found in 2 Samuel 22 titled as "David's Song of Praise".
I will encourage you to read and meditate on Psalm 18, it's a booster for a weary soul.
JESUS - HELP ME!
By: William Donaldson
I spent the better part of my life sick with depression, sadness, loneliness, and drug and alcohol addictions. As with most of the people like me, I felt alone. It turns out the national and worldwide numbers are staggering, and fewer than 25% of the people have access to suitable help.
Growing up as an 80's child, in my teens and early 20's, I was part of a transformational culture, between the 60's and 70's drug generation and the 90's and 2000 educational generation, due to internet access.
During my high school years, in the early 80's, I began using drugs and alcohol. After heavy peer pressure, I finally gave in and began marijuana and alcohol use - the gateway products - which then led to a serious and most dangerous drug called methamphetamine (meth, crank, crystal) in the mid 80's and early 90's.
After years of abusing this drug, I overdosed. As a result I had paranoid experiences, depression, sadness, and indescribable FEAR. After several episodes, in 1993, I had the last one I could stand. I remember looking into the mirror at a skeleton wrapped in flesh and speaking the words, "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH". That was the last time I ever touched meth. I never sought counseling or any type of programs whatsoever. However, I continued abusing alcohol and marijuana.
In an attempt to rejoin the population, I went to Trade school and earned a Master Electricians certificate. As it became inconvenient, due to drug screenings, I tailored off the marijuana use. But then the alcohol took center stage, as it was considered legal and socially accepted. After years of nearly fatal vehicle accidents, driving while intoxicated, somehow without much social detection, also many very embarrassing drunken moments (you know what I mean, if you've also abused alcohol). An estimated 2.5 million people lose their lives annually to this sickness. In the mid 2000's I slowed down and eventually stopped drinking and marijuana usage was at a minimum, again somehow without any type of known help.
In late 2008 I was injured at work by a loud deafening medical condition called Tinnitus, which became worse after a popular anti-depressant medication side-affect caused further damage, leaving me with a loud ringing noise in my head 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Then the pharmaceutical medications started, and once again I found myself addicted. Now I was unable to continue working in the field of Electrical construction, which was my saving grace, or so I thought. By doctors orders I was considered disabled and promptly medicated to prevent insanity.
Then one day in 2011, after giving up and waiting to die from an incurable illness, thick depression, and mind altering medications, I was touched - or I had a feeling - some type of awaken ing. It was someone from my past, way before all the alcohol and drug usage, I believe it was Jesus Christ, The Son of God. I grew up with Him in my home. We lost touch, as the world and its ways took control of my young and impressionable life. I remember praying the Lord's prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) in my near coma, pleading for help, as the world had thrown me away, on disability, waiting for any kind of help, uninsured and going broke mentally and physically!
Christ began restoring my health, educating and counseling me. He also provided good company, so as to soothe my loneliness and depression. He got me into a Spirit filled, bible teaching church, as to help with my social anxiety issues, and educating me on why the addictions happened and how they stopped (Romans 4:17) … calling things that are not, as though they were. Like looking into a mirror and speaking a 12 year meth addiction away, immediately! Or an even longer alcohol addiction just from seeing the affects it had on people. Yes, I worked security at a nightclub and just by watching peoples actions and thought, wow, that's me.
Or just stopping a 30 year addiction of marijuana abuse, completely for understandings sake: It's only masking the issues you have and when it wears off, so will the fake happiness it brought you.
You see, Christ is all about the truth (John 8:32) and the truth will set you free, not covered up, but a true free! Depression and addiction are just plain bondage, like having chains wrapped around you. Believing the lies of the world are how you get chained. Believing Christ's truths will set you free, not a masked free, but a real free. In a sense He was like reintroducing me to my adult self, which I hadn't seen since I was a teen.
As I write this, I am still afflicted with chronic Tinnitus, and medicated, but I now have hope. Physicians can't fix my condition, but the Great Physician assures me that Tinnitus' days are numbered along with meds and their harmful side affects.
Don't waste time with blame, anger, or finger pointing, because the fingers being pointed may end up being at you. God says "I make peace, I create evil". (Isaiah 45:7). I never understood that until I grew as a Christian. We were created with freewill, so we also have the ability to make peace, or create evil. There is always an opposite to everything, like the 10 commandments. Did you know they were given to us so we would know right from wrong, until Christ came and liberated us from sin or wrong. When He was sent to the cross, He made us right.
So I've found that Christianity is pretty much a lifestyle based on our belief. Also, a quality of life as opposed to the worldly quality of life that often leads to alcohol and drug addiction, which in turn causes the sicknesses we live in. The main reason Christ came into this world is so all God's children should be saved and reunited with Him in Heaven, for eternity, by repenting your sins, proclaiming that Christ is the Son of God ,and you can begin your newly reborn, refreshed life, simply by saying "JESUS HELP ME." (See: Romans 10:13
Jesus Did It!
Jesus Did It!
David’s Song of Praise
David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said:
4 “I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and have been saved from my enemies.
5 The waves of death swirled about me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
6 The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
and have been saved from my enemies.
5 The waves of death swirled about me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
6 The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
7 “In my distress I called to the Lord;
I called out to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came to his ears.
8 The earth trembled and quaked,
the foundations of the heavens[c] shook;
they trembled because he was angry.
9 Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.
10 He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
11 He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared[d] on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness his canopy around him—
the dark[e] rain clouds of the sky.
13 Out of the brightness of his presence
bolts of lightning blazed forth.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
15 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
16 The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at the rebuke of the Lord,
at the blast of breath from his nostrils.
I called out to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came to his ears.
8 The earth trembled and quaked,
the foundations of the heavens[c] shook;
they trembled because he was angry.
9 Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.
10 He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
11 He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared[d] on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness his canopy around him—
the dark[e] rain clouds of the sky.
13 Out of the brightness of his presence
bolts of lightning blazed forth.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
15 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
16 The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at the rebuke of the Lord,
at the blast of breath from his nostrils.
17 “He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
19 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.
20 He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
he drew me out of deep waters.
18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
19 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.
20 He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
21 “The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord;
I am not guilty of turning from my God.
23 All his laws are before me;
I have not turned away from his decrees.
24 I have been blameless before him
and have kept myself from sin.
25 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness[f] in his sight.
according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord;
I am not guilty of turning from my God.
23 All his laws are before me;
I have not turned away from his decrees.
24 I have been blameless before him
and have kept myself from sin.
25 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness[f] in his sight.
26 “To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
27 to the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.
28 You save the humble,
but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.
29 You, Lord, are my lamp;
the Lord turns my darkness into light.
30 With your help I can advance against a troop[g];
with my God I can scale a wall.
to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
27 to the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.
28 You save the humble,
but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.
29 You, Lord, are my lamp;
the Lord turns my darkness into light.
30 With your help I can advance against a troop[g];
with my God I can scale a wall.
31 “As for God, his way is perfect:
The Lord’s word is flawless;
he shields all who take refuge in him.
32 For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is the Rock except our God?
33 It is God who arms me with strength[h]
and keeps my way secure.
34 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he causes me to stand on the heights.
35 He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
36 You make your saving help my shield;
your help has made[i] me great.
37 You provide a broad path for my feet,
so that my ankles do not give way.
The Lord’s word is flawless;
he shields all who take refuge in him.
32 For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is the Rock except our God?
33 It is God who arms me with strength[h]
and keeps my way secure.
34 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he causes me to stand on the heights.
35 He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
36 You make your saving help my shield;
your help has made[i] me great.
37 You provide a broad path for my feet,
so that my ankles do not give way.
38 “I pursued my enemies and crushed them;
I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
39 I crushed them completely, and they could not rise;
they fell beneath my feet.
40 You armed me with strength for battle;
you humbled my adversaries before me.
41 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
and I destroyed my foes.
42 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—
to the Lord, but he did not answer.
43 I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth;
I pounded and trampled them like mud in the streets.
I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
39 I crushed them completely, and they could not rise;
they fell beneath my feet.
40 You armed me with strength for battle;
you humbled my adversaries before me.
41 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
and I destroyed my foes.
42 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—
to the Lord, but he did not answer.
43 I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth;
I pounded and trampled them like mud in the streets.
44 “You have delivered me from the attacks of the peoples;
you have preserved me as the head of nations.
People I did not know now serve me,
45 foreigners cower before me;
as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.
46 They all lose heart;
they come trembling[j] from their strongholds.
you have preserved me as the head of nations.
People I did not know now serve me,
45 foreigners cower before me;
as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.
46 They all lose heart;
they come trembling[j] from their strongholds.
47 “The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!
Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior!
48 He is the God who avenges me,
who puts the nations under me,
49 who sets me free from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes;
from a violent man you rescued me.
50 Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing the praises of your name.
Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior!
48 He is the God who avenges me,
who puts the nations under me,
49 who sets me free from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes;
from a violent man you rescued me.
50 Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing the praises of your name.
51 “He gives his king great victories;
he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.”
he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.”
