|
6b3add4
|
I have a new philosophy. I only dread one day at a time. --Charlie Brown
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
d8bf777
|
9:10). Since the fear of the Lord is the great treasure of life, Proverbs tries to woo us to it. It tries to make the fear of the Lord as attractive as possible. Those who fear the Lord will fear nothing else (19:23). The fear of the Lord adds length to life (10:27), it is a secure fortress for the one who fears and for his or her children (14:26). It is a fountain of life (15:16), it brings honor (22:4), and it should be praised when we se..
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
4027176
|
One reason Christians respond positively to a needs psychology is that it takes people's pain seriously. However, this perspective can actually make pain worse. It compounds pain by suggesting that not did the sins of others hurt deeply, but they also deprived you of something--a right, something you were owed--that is necessary for life. Being deeply hurt by others is hard enough, but when we believe that their sin was a near-lethal blow t..
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
adb4c37
|
Scripture is about suffering. It has given comfort to millions. It has spawned hundreds of wonderful books that highlight God's gentle care and Scripture's probing insights. You can be assured of this: God really does speak in our suffering, and we have good reason to believe that the words he says are good and powerful enough to lighten our pain.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
8d1ae5d
|
Have you ever thought about Jesus' physical appearance? If you think about the paintings, he was a relatively handsome Dutchman. But if you think about a prophetic description, "he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him" (Isaiah 53:2). To put it diplomatically, he didn't look like much, and sleepless nights filled with prayer vigils probably didn't help."
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
7193e06
|
Imagine the presence of one who deeply loves you and is powerful enough to deal with the things you fear. It turns fear into confidence. But, like all spiritual growth, this change only comes with practice. It comes when you say, "Amen--I believe" when you hear or read the promises of God. It comes through meditation on God's words. It comes when the cross of Jesus Christ assures you that God is faithful. These words to the fearful are so i..
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
2720d66
|
You will either fear God or other people. There are no other alternatives.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
d51e0e3
|
Your future includes manna. It will come. There is no sense devising future scenarios now because God will do more than you anticipate.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
894757a
|
Therefore, to fight against hopelessness is to take action in the present. You think that checking off a to-do list is unspiritual? When done by faith, it is heroic. There are paradoxes in depression; there are also apparent paradoxes in the way God works in us. For example, if you want vitality in the present, entrust your future to the Lord. If you want to have glimpses of hope for tomorrow, trust God now. What are your dashed hopes? What..
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
db48b90
|
Yet weakness--or neediness--is a valuable asset in God's community. Jesus introduced a new era in which weakness is the new strength. Anything that reminds us that we are dependent on God and other people is a good thing. Otherwise, we trick ourselves into thinking that we are self-sufficient, and arrogance is sure to follow. We need help, and God has given us his Spirit and each other to provide it.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
683076f
|
The fear of man is the sinful exaggeration of a normal experience.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
7ff6dc1
|
The ordinary is not good enough for us; our hubris wants something grandiose. But the ordinary done in obedience to Christ is beautiful, inspired, and oftentimes heroic.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
f06c265
|
People who have experienced war have learned to accept the trials and sufferings of life. Among many wise, older citizens in American society, there is no desperate flight from suffering. Instead, there is a recognition that it is a part of life that can have some benefit. Yet among those in the post-World War II generation, a wisp of happiness is the goal, and suffering must be avoided at all costs. If there are hardships in a relationship..
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
0a23566
|
in view of God's sovereign control, God will accomplish his purposes in our lives even when we make decisions we later regret.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
f5b8b5f
|
with this? Do you live as if this is true? Let's keep going. The Bible isn't just about heaven and only for the by-and-by. It is gritty and real. It is about messed-up people and the way God pursues them. The Bible describes real life--with its ups and downs and our stubborn quests for independence--better than anything
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
1e8a01a
|
When happy, we possess something we love; when anxious, something we love is at risk; when despondent, something we love has been lost; when angry, something we love is being stolen or kept from us.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
064e6bb
|
It is as if we want to believe the lie. Perhaps we blame ourselves because in a strange way it helps us feel as if we have more control. If we are responsible for whatever went wrong, for whatever hurt us, we might be able to figure out how to keep it from happening again.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
e3a6ab8
|
Shame is life-dominating and stubborn. Once entrenched in your heart and mind, it is a squatter that refuses to leave.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
13186cc
|
Some hopeless people who anticipate only death cite Scripture that says "I desire to depart and be with Christ" (Phil. 1:23). But Christ is not what hopeless people really want. The God-talk is misleading. The goal of hopelessness is to end the suffering, and if God happens to be there when it happens, fine. But God's presence is not essential."
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
6383e0e
|
You don't really know who you are until you have gone through suffering.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
1781220
|
Many depressed people have been hurt and rejected by others. They feel as though basic relational needs have not been met, and they will be stuck in depression until they are. Rejection from parents, spouses, or friends has left a profound emptiness that feels like an emotional handicap. What does this have to do with the heart? Consider first the example of Jesus. He is God, but he was truly human. If anything is clear from his life, he di..
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
d37dba6
|
The details of how faith works in spiritual warfare are well known but easily forgotten.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
3ee3d72
|
When psychological needs, rather than sin, are seen as our primary problem, not only is our self-understanding affected, but the gospel itself is changed.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
63fb503
|
Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness makes for pride. Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God makes for despair. Knowing Jesus Christ strikes the balance because he shows us both God and our own wretchedness.3 What do you see in your own heart?
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
93c00a4
|
Now listen more carefully to depression. Like all feelings, it is a kind of language. Guilt says, "I am wrong." Anger says, "You are wrong." Fear says, "I am in danger." Depression, too, has a message, but the message is usually not that simple. "Whereas some emotions are clear and unambiguous, depression's language is more heavily encrypted. It might take some decoding before it is understandable, but it is worth the effort. RECONSTRUCTING..
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
3c9cbc2
|
You never expected that God himself would, by his representatives, actually come close to unclean people and touch them. The Holy One is not human. The triune God is not human. Don't limit God's character by your expectations of what a decent human king might do. You expect God to reject; he accepts. You expect him to turn away; he turns toward.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
21f1f92
|
Put a dozen relatively like-minded people into the same crisis and you will see a dozen different responses. Some are heroes; others are cowards. Some are leaders; others are followers. Some are optimistic; others despair. Some shake their fist at God; others quietly submit. You don't really know who you are until you have gone through suffering. We can measure our spiritual growth by the way we behave under pressure. Throughout
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
bf1fa86
|
On earth, however, God doesn't prescribe a happy life. Look at some of the Psalms. They are written by people of great faith, yet they run the emotional gamut. One even ends with "darkness is my closest friend" (Ps. 88:18). When your emotions feel muted or always low, when you are unable to experience the highs and lows you once did, the important question is not "How can I figure out what I have done wrong?" but it is, "Where do I turn--or..
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
9f5aebe
|
God says that he will give you grace to handle the disappointments that lie ahead; your task is to live for him in the present. At first, this feels reckless, as if you were enjoying the thrill of a speeding car when you are courting devastation at the next turn. But it isn't reckless to trust in God rather than yourself.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
e1dfd7d
|
Faith is not the presence of warm religious feeling. It's the knowledge that you walk before the God who hears.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
910763e
|
Joy is not the opposite of depression. It is deeper than depression. Therefore, you can experience both. Depression is the relentless rain. Joy is the rock. Whether depression is present or not, you can stand on joy. Does
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
8552873
|
When it comes to addictions, we tend to divide humanity into two groups: those who are prone toward addictions and those who aren't. The reality, of course, is very different. All human beings have already fallen into sin.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
7a268e3
|
Holy means God cannot be compared to anyone else. He certainly cannot be likened to the worst person you know. He cannot even be compared to the best. His love and faithfulness endure forever.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
6bc6ecc
|
Worriers are visionaries minus the optimism.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
d2da1e2
|
You feel like an outcast. You don't belong. You feel naked. While everyone else is walking around with their clothes on, you feel exposed and vulnerable. You are seen, and what others see is not pretty. You feel unclean. Something is wrong with you. You are dirty. Even worse, you are contaminated. There is a difference between being a bit muddy and harboring a deadly, contagious virus.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
3feb232
|
We crave autonomy. Autonomy is closely linked to arrogance. They are both expressions of human pride, but autonomy suggests that we want to be separate from more than over. We want to establish the rules rather than submit to the lordship of the living God. This was the essence of Adam's original sin. We want to interpret the world according to our system of thought. We want to establish our own parallel universe, separate from God's.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
3c191d4
|
In this classic reversal of reality, we do not stand before him, but the King stands before us. We question him; he doesn't question us. The irony of it all! While the name of the Lord was constantly blasphemed by men, Jesus is now accused of being a blasphemer (Matthew 26:65). Talk about a primitive form of defense--projecting your guilt onto another. Could it be any clearer that Jesus had come to the anti-kingdom, where everything was the..
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
1b05146
|
there is an important difference between embarrassment and shame. Whatever caused your embarrassment has been experienced by everyone else too, at one point or another. Your sense of social isolation was fleeting. Within the hour--or decade--you laugh about it. With shame, you never laugh at it. It feels like unending embarrassment, but it is more than that. Embarrassment doesn't afflict the core of the person's soul, but shame becomes your..
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
1eb4b16
|
The gospel is only available to people who know they are unclean.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
1bbd914
|
It is one thing to die. It is another thing for an innocent person to die for a guilty one. It is something much more that Jesus would take on himself all the curses the world deserved in concentrated form. This meant that his relationship with his Father, the one thing that had sustained him throughout all the previous insults and rejection, was about to be removed. Moses knew he could not lead the people through the wilderness unless God ..
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
55cc4e4
|
Watch them as they sit in the filth of their daily lives. Watch them as they hear rumors of someone who cares and has power. Watch them stand up when they receive news that Jesus is approaching. Watch their steps quicken when they hear the crowd. Watch them become an unstoppable force when they see him. Don't get in the way of someone who is both desperate and hopeful when the King is near. These are the men and women of faith. Join them. D..
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
2b1f44d
|
Depression: What depressed person doesn't think of himself or herself as a miserable, unredeemable failure? Anger: As in "STAY AWAY or you will see me, and what you see won't be pretty." Look for the paradoxical combination of self-loathing and arrogant judgment. Men are specialists at this. Anorexia: The deep logic of anorexia is that you are unworthy and deserve nothing, so you give yourself nothing. If you give yourself nothing, p..
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
89990c9
|
Jesus freely placed your interest above his own. His desire was to elevate your status; in the process he lowered his own. He gave you the royal treatment: he works, you benefit. And you must accept this treatment.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |
|
aee7cf2
|
Only people who know they have burdens can be delivered from them.
|
|
|
Edward T. Welch |