Setting healthy boundaries

"This far you may come, but no farther, and here your proud waves must stop!" Job 38:11. Just as God made boundaries for the natural world, He also made boundaries for our own personal space. These boundaries help you distinguish between your responsibilities and someone else's. Though we are to help bear other's burdens, each of us have to carry our own load (Galatians 6:2, 5). Each of us have certain responsibilities that nobody else can do for us. You are responsible for your own feelings, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, choices, values, limits, resources, talents, thoughts, and desires.

We're called to be "one" (John 17:11),  but like in any community, we need gates that let in the good and leave out the bad (Psalm 34:14, Romans 12:9). Poor boundaries lead to unhealthy relationships in which bad things going on are ignored and support from the outside is "walled off". No matter how much you talk to yourself, read, study, or practice, you can’t develop or set boundaries apart from supportive relationships with God and others. We need to be “rooted and established in love” (Eph. 3:17) and “rooted and built up in [Christ]” (Col. 2:7).

When we are not secure that we are loved, we are forced to choose between two bad options: 1. We set limits and risk losing a relationship... 2. We don’t set limits and remain a prisoner to the wishes of another. If someone you know is falling into the latter ditch, be the good friend who lets him or her know that this isn't healthy. Some people have been raised in dysfunctional families, or families where God’s ways of boundaries are not practiced, and have experiences similar to that of the alien. They find themselves transported into adult life where spiritual principles that have never been explained to them govern their relationships and well-being.

A common boundary problem is disowning our choices and trying to lay the responsibility for them on someone else... Making decisions based on others’ approval or on guilt breeds resentment, a product of our sinful nature. We have been so trained by others on what we “should” do that we think we are being loving when we do things out of compulsion. Setting boundaries inevitably involves taking responsibility for your choices. You are the one who makes them. You are the one who must live with their consequences. And you are the one who may be keeping yourself from making the choices you could be happy with.

Our hearts are deceptive, that's why we need to go to Jesus for ourselves and ask for the Holy Spirit to convict us of what's wrong (Jeremiah 17:9, John 7:37-39, John 16:7-8).  We need to know what we should say no to and mean it (Matthew 5:37). "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). If we have allowed evil to enter into our hearts, we need to give them up to God in prayer (1 John 1:9). Admitting when we're wrong and praying for one another brings healing to the soul (James 5:16). We need to let Jesus into our hearts (Revelation 3:20). As we abide in Christ, we can enjoy the fruit of "self-control" (John 15:5, Galatians 5:22-23).

God set a boundary for our first parents and our world is cursed by sin because this boundary was crossed  (Genesis 2:16-17, Genesis 3:17). God wasn't being restrictive when He said to them that they could eat of "every tree" except for one. The devil was the one who tried to insinuate that God was being unfair (notice how Eve began to focus that one tree and completely forget about all the other ones). The devil is a liar, God's word says ""For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly." Psalm 84:11.

Sin is destructive and leads to death, so when God tells us to repent and let go of sin, it's because He loves us and doesn't want us to perish (Ezekiel 18:4, 2 Peter 3:9).  If we love God, we will love the boundaries He has set for us, for they will be written in our hearts (John 14:15, Psalm 40:8).

The following passage tells us to recognize our limitations as mortals. "Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah. Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them." Psalm 39:4-6

We should to know our boundaries as mere mortals and understand our dependence on God. Nobody else can be God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit for you. You can't be God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit for somebody else. To place man where God should be is idolatrous and it's at the root of all unhealthy relationships.

How to get ready for the second coming

The following comes from a sermon...

Opening Prayer:Dear God, we just want to say thank you so much for your love and mercy to us, for giving Jesus who came all the way from heaven and spent years of life on Earth in an inconvenient and difficult position, then to die to pay the price for all our sin. We just want to thank you for His sacrifice, for His support from heaven, for the gift of the Holy Spirit who you said will guide us in all truth. But we know you don’t force yourselves on us and so we want you to know that you’re welcome here and we’re asking for your guidance. Speak to our hearts as we study from your word and give us strength in our hearts, give us love for you that will enable us to love the people around us and to prepare for your return. Thank you so much for your compassion. Amen.

God shows us in His Word how to get ready
God has told us in His word how to prepare for Christ's second coming. We will look at passages of scripture which will show us how to prepare. As we look over these passages of scripture, we need to ask ourselves "Am I getting ready for the second coming of Jesus? Am I following the instructions that God has given in His Word?"

Don't Trust Material Things, Trust in God!
People have come up with many interesting ideas on how to get ready for Jesus to come. Many suggest  moving to the country in order to avoid the temptations of the world. While there's validity to that, getting ready is more of a faith issue. There are many who even go to the extreme of stockpiling food, but it says in Isaiah 33:16 that bread will be given to us and our water will be sure. Now there is wisdom in having enough food before a big storm comes, but we don't need to worry about that in order to prepare for the second coming.

Some think they have to obtain gold or silver because they won't be able to buy or sell in the last days. This might actually be a bad financial investment (James 5:3) and the bible tells us we shouldn't place our trust in riches (Job 31:24-28, Proverbs 11:28, 1 Timothy 6:17). Some place their trust other material things, such as solar panels. The problem is, if you're putting your trust in things that are going to be destroyed anyway, you're going to be greatly disappointed when Jesus comes. We need to place our trust in God!

The bible provides spiritual preparation
With that in mind, we need to think about spiritual preparation. Jesus is coming, He's a spiritual person and if you want to connect with Him on a good basis when He comes, you have to cultivate spirituality. Throughout the bible we read about how to prepare spiritually for Jesus' second coming. There are 42 uses for the word "ready" in the English bible and 1 in 5 are talking about getting ready for the second coming. Of all the things to get ready for, every 5th one is the second coming.

Cultivating God's love in our families
There are various places in the bible which let us know if we're ready for the second coming. For example, Malachi 4:5-6 says God (through the message of Elijah) would "turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers" before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Here we see the importance of cultivating God's love in our families and this is part of our getting ready for the second coming of Jesus. The way you are at home is a better indicator of who you really are. If we want to cooperate with what God's spirit wants to do, then we need to look for opportunities to rebuild those bonds that may have become strained. We have to look for ways to cultivate the love of Christ in our families.

Righteousness by Faith
Revelation 19:6-9 describes the second coming of Jesus as a wedding and refers to God's people as a wife who has made herself ready for Him. She is "granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." To have this righteousness, we need to be right with God and we can only have it by faith in Jesus (Romans 3:22, Romans 5:1, Galatians 5:5). You need to be right with God and be at peace with God now to be at peace when Jesus comes back. Anyone who knows if they've been doing things shouldn't could tell you if they have peace with God. It's that simple.

Ask For God's Spirit
In Matthew 25, Jesus uses parables to describe how to prepare for His second coming. Here we will only cover one of them. Jesus said His second coming is like ten virgins who are waiting for the bridegroom to come. Although they had all fallen asleep, only half of them had enough oil for their lamps. The lesson from that is that in order to be ready for Jesus to come, you need to have oil, which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. If you ask God for the Holy Spirit, will He give it to you? Yes! Jesus said "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" Luke 11:13. God will give us the Holy Spirit if we ask.

Watch and Pray
In Mark 13:32-37, Jesus speaks of His second coming saying that we should watch and pray, lest He come and find us sleeping, spiritually speaking. Though we saw all the virgins sleep in Jesus' parable, we shouldn't be found sleeping. 1 Peter 4:7 says, "But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers." 1 Peter 5:8 says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." These verses say be ready, watchful, sober, and vigilant.

Now it's important to approach this topic in the right way and the right attitude, or else we're going to find ourselves frustrated and discouraged, which is exactly what Satan would want. God doesn't want that and He has given us guidance so that doesn't happen.

Sanctification by Faith
Notice the mission that Jesus gave Paul: "to open [people's] eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me [Jesus]" (Acts 26:18). Notice here that sanctification, or our growth in Christ and reflecting His character, is by faith. Naturally we seem to think we have to work really hard to be sanctified, but that's wrong because we're sanctified by faith.
We experience growth in character, become more like Christ, and prepare for the second coming by trusting God, in the same way you've first accepted Jesus by faith. Paul tells us in Colossians 2:6, "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him". In other words, the same way that Jesus came into your life is the way He's going to stay in your life, it's by trusting Him. It's by believing that God can be trusted. That's how you experience a change in character and that's how you'll be ready for Jesus to come (notice in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, God does the work of sanctifying us).

The Gift of Repentance
Also notice in Acts 26:20, there is a call to repent, which means to have a change of heart and mind. Repentance is a gift of God (Acts 5:31). God is the one who puts it our hearts to say "I've hurt other people, I've hurt God, and I don't want to live this way anymore". Repentance isn't about being sorry for getting caught. True repentance is when we recognize we did wrong and we don't want to do it anymore (notice King David's repentance in Psalm 51).

This is the first step for getting ready for the second coming. True repentance is when you're sorry in your heart that you did wrong, you know you can't change yourself, but you say, "I really don't want to do this anymore, God help me". When you've reached that point, then you're ready to put away what ever it is that you did wrong with God's help. Then you're putting yourself in a place where you're ready to grow in character because you've repented. Then you will "do works befitting repentance" Acts 26:20.

If you've lost your temper with a spouse, brother, or sister, repentance means you won't want to do it again, because you have a relationship with God and He helps you. Will you fall again perhaps? Possibly, yes, but the Lord helps you over time through a relationship with Him so that you don't. It's because you love God, you want to do His will and you want to be ready when Jesus comes. Love is a transforming power and people say that they love God, but they don't grasp that when you have a committed relationship, that it changes you. We'll look more into that later. You are sanctified by faith, it leads you to repent and do works befitting for repentance.

Be kept by God's power through faith
In 1 Peter 1:3-5, we see that God, in His abundant mercy, has begotten us a living hope through Christ's resurrection, an inheritance reserved for us in heaven. We are "kept by the power of God through faith" for Christ's second coming. We aren't to live trying to save ourselves, that's not how salvation works (Mark 8:35). God didn't purpose that we should live for ourselves, but rather for Him and for others (2 Corinthians 5:15, 1 Corinthians 10:24). When we live for ourselves, we are not answering the purpose that God made us for. Righteousness is a gift of God, we can't make ourselves good (Romans 5:17). We are to trust in God, not in self. We are "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." This "last time" is talking about the last days before Jesus comes.

Trials Strengthen Faith
Notice what it says in 1 Peter 1:6-9: "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls."

Examining your spiritual life
In order to prepare for Jesus to come, we need to be right with God through faith, repentance leads us to put away sins, and to trust God who will enable us to do right. We are to trust God, put away every known sin, trust Him that He will give us a new heart and right spirit, and cultivate that relationship. Examine yourselves, check if there's something that's not right, take some initiative (2 Corinthians 13:5).

Now don't beat yourself up, God doesn't want that. Don't take this the wrong way. To examine yourself simply means to be honest to God about your condition (much like a patient would with a physician) and then He can and will help you. Just as it is wise for us to examine our physical health, we should examine our spiritual life.

Trust in God's willingness and power to save you
Let's look at Jude 1:24

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy

You see, the Lord wants you to be saved. Is He going to present you with exceeding frustration? No! It's with exceeding joy! God really wants to save us and He is able to do it, do you believe what His word says?

There's a scam that says the devil is stronger than God. It says God forgives you, but you won't change that much. It says you just have to sin less and that God doesn't really expect you to put away all known sin. The reason we hear these things taught is not always because someone wants to be wicked, nor are they thinking "let me see what lies I can brew up for you." It comes from a genuine sense of frustration.

The Power of God's Love
We see ourselves and we see that we can't, of our own strength, do what's right. We try not to lose our temper, we try not to curse, we try not to do impure actions or think impure thoughts, we try not to waste our money, then we fail. We don't have to do that if we have a relationship with Jesus. Love is a powerful force. It often happens that if someone really loves someone else, they will learn to love what they do and do as they do in order to develop a closer relationship with that person.
Now there is a danger of falling out of love with God and yet still continue going through the motions. It's possible for people to look like Christians without the relationship, "having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof". Then once the slightest temptation comes, they fall over like a tree rotting on the inside. This is why we need to examine ourselves to make sure our hearts are right with God. We need to be careful not to let that happen, that's how church leaders fall. "Today, if you will hear His voice: Do not harden your hearts" Psalm 95:7-8. God has better plans for us that we have for ourselves. God wants us to be saved, but He can't force it on us.

Our Responsibility
"In simplicity and truth we would speak to the impenitent in regard to the way in which men destroy their own souls. You are not to say that God is to blame, that he has made a decree against you. No, he is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth, and to the haven of eternal bliss. No soul is ever finally deserted of God, given up to his own ways, so long as there is any hope of his salvation. God follows men with appeals and warnings and assurances of compassion until further opportunities and privileges would be wholly in vain. The responsibility rests upon the sinner". RH Feb. 17, 1891

If you're not saved, it's not because God didn't try hard enough. If you're not saved it will be because you didn't take advantage of the opportunities He's given you.

"Now some will tell you, and they will begin to reckon, and reckon, and reckon, when the latter rain is coming. I would rather that you would reckon right now whether you have brought eternity into your reckoning concerning your individual self. Consider whether you have brought eternity daily to view. If you are right with God today, you are ready if Christ should come today". Ms36-1891

The Publican's Prayer: Be merciful to me a sinner!
If you want to know if you're right with God, remember the prayer of the publican (a Roman tax collector) who said "God, be merciful to me a sinner!". This penitent sinner was "justified" or made right with God, "for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted". (Luke 18:14). So there's your answer: You want to be ready when Jesus comes back? You can say "God, be merciful to me a sinner!". You have to do this with humility. It's one thing to preach about it or hear about it, it's another thing to let it come into your heart and change your life.

"God be merciful to me a sinner". Do you want to tell that to the Lord now? Let's pray and do that, this is serious stuff. It's not a game. God loves us. He has given us life, a beautiful world to live in, guidance for health, and social relationships. He has predicted the future for us and promised to be with us until the end. He wants us to be at peace with Him when He comes. Are you getting ready for Jesus to come? Do you want to say that prayer that the publican prayed “God be merciful to me a sinner”? Let’s pray that now.

Closing Prayer
Dear God, we just want to say thank you that we can come to you and that you have been unreasonably merciful with us. You said you were pleased with the approach the publican took, he didn’t have a record of good things and we don’t have a record of good things, Lord. But we are just asking today that you would be merciful to us. We’ve messed up in a lot of ways. Please help us, God, to be ready when you come. Clean up my heart, clean up my friends’ hearts here and prepare us, Lord. Break through the fear and send away Satan and his voices of distrust. Enable us to walk in your ways, to love you and to love those around us. Put repentance in our hearts for the mistakes of the past. Help us to be ready when you come. Thank you, Amen.

Relevant song: Are you ready for Jesus to come?

What the bible says about soul winning

The divine command to win souls
Matthew 28:19-20
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Mark 16:15
 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
Matthew 10:7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Luke 14:23 Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
Matthew 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Acts 1:8
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
Acts 22:15 For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.
James 5:19-20 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
Jude 1:23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh
Ezekiel 3:18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.

When we receive souls, we're receiving Jesus
John 13:20 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.
Matthew 18:5 Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.
Matthew 25:40
And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Soul winning compared to agriculture
Matthew 9:35-38 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
John 4:34-38 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”
Luke 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
Luke 8:15 But the [seed] that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
Ecclesiastes 11:4-6 He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap.  As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything. In the morning sow your seed, And in the evening do not withhold your hand; For you do not know which will prosper, Either this or that, Or whether both alike will be good.
Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
Psalm 126:6 He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
John 15:7-8 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

Soul winning compared to shining light
Daniel 12:3 Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.
Matthew 5:14-16 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Isaiah 58:10 If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
Isaiah 60:1-2 Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.

What is Biblical Perfection?

If you read the context in which Jesus said to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect, you will find that He was talking about loving your enemies. (Matthew 5:43-48). If you read Luke's account, you find Jesus saying to be merciful as our Father in heaven is merciful (Luke 6:36). The Pharisees tried to be perfect in that they even tithed their mint, anise, and cummin. Yet Jesus called them hypocrites, for they "neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith" Matthew 23:23.

As we can see, perfection isn't something we do, it's about having God's character of love and mercy in our hearts. It doesn't matter how talented and smart you are, if you don't have love, everything you do will be pointless (1 Corinthians 13:2). "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:5. Yet this fruit of the Holy Spirit isn't something we can conjure up on our own, we can only have it as long as we abide in Christ. Jesus says: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." John 15:5

Character perfection isn't a destination, it's a growth process. When a plant grows, you can't tell that it's growing by looking at it, but over time you can eventually see the changes (Mark 4:27-28). As we grow in Christ (The Vine), God the Father prunes us so we may bear more fruit (John 15:2). God cuts away the thorns of sin from our hearts so that the seed of His word can grow (Matthew 13:22).

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:8. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14. "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Corinthians 3:18

When we behold the glory of God's character, we will say like Isaiah: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” Isaiah 6:5. Our prayers will be like that of the publican who said, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!" Luke 18:13. This doesn't mean living in fear of being judged, for "perfect love casts away fear" 1 John 4:18.

This growth process of perfection never ends, we will never claim to have arrived. We will keep going forward from perfection to perfection "The path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day" Proverbs 4:18

Notice what Paul says here: "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14

When we understand that we can only find perfection in Christ, we won't compare ourselves with others (2 Corinthians 10:12). We won't be so quick to judge others because we will see that we also fall short in the same things that others do (Romans 2:1-2). Rather than pointing out the speck in another's eyes, we will ask God to help us with the log in our eyes (Matthew 7:5, 2 Corinthians 13:5). Instead of putting others down, we will seek to restore them. "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted." Galatians 6:1.

Biblical perfection is about being united in Christ with fellow believers (John 17:20-23). Love is the bond of perfection (Colossians 3:14). "If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us." 1 John 4:12

Also see: Quotes on Christian Growth

Bible verses for when you feel angry

Jonah 4:4 Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

Psalm 37:8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm.

Ephesians 4:26-27 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.

Psalm 4:4-5 Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.

James 1:19-20 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

James 3:18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Hebrews 12:14-15 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled

Psalms 34:13-14 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.

Proverbs 24:29 (GNT) Don't say, "I'll do to them just what they did to me! I'll get even with them!"

Proverbs 20:22 (CEV) Don't try to get even. Trust the LORD, and he will help you.

Romans 12:17-21 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore  “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Leviticus 19:18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord

Ephesians 4:29-32  Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Proverbs 19:11 The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression.

Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins.

Proverbs 17:9
He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends.

1 John 2:10-11 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 John 3:15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

1 John 4:20
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?

Matthew 5:21-24
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Mathew 18:15 Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

James 4:11-12 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?

Colossians 3:8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.

Colossians 3:12-13 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 17:27 He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.

Proverbs 16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

Proverbs 14:29
He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, But he who is impulsive exalts folly.

Ecclesiastes 7:9
Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, For anger rests in the bosom of fools.

Proverbs 29:11 A fool vents all his feelings, But a wise man holds them back.

Proverbs 12:16 (BSB) A fool’s anger is known at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.

Proverbs 15:18
A wrathful man stirs up strife, But he who is slow to anger allays contention.

Proverbs 14:16-17 A wise man fears and departs from evil, But a fool rages and is self-confident. A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, and a man of wicked intentions is hated.

Proverbs 29:22 An angry man stirs up strife, And a furious man abounds in transgression.

Proverbs 10:18
 Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, And whoever spreads slander is a fool.

Proverbs 18:21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

Proverbs 24:17-18 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him.

1 Peter 2:1-2 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby

Isaiah 6:5-7 So I said:  “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said:  “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”

Psalm 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

1 Peter 3:8-9 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.

Isaiah 30:15a  For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:  “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”

Mark 4:39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.

Other helpful verses:

Let the Lord the rebuke Satan (the real enemy) for you

Zechariah 3:2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”
Jude 1:9 

Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

Remember Satan is a defeated foe
Revelation 12:10
Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.

Helpful music playlists on Youtube
Finding Peace In The Storm
For the broken heart
Storms of life (bluegrass)
Life's trials (bluegrass)
Forgiveness, Repentance, and Salvation (bluegrass gospel)
Sharing God's love with others (bluegrass gospel)

Edit: These links are broken at the moment... come back soon
Also see Proverbs on interactions with others

Also see Swift to hear, slow to speak

Also see The sin of condemning others and evil surmising
Also see Mind, Character, and Personality, Vol 2, Chapter 56 "Anger"

The Gift of God's Love

Some of us may have grown up in church, but if we don't know God and His love for ourselves, it's only natural that we will try to do things or avoid things in order to earn approval of others. This comes from falling for the lie that says that our worth is based on what we do or don't do. The truth is, our worth comes from God who says:  "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine". Isaiah 43:1

When we know that God has already loves us, then instead of seeking to be loved by others, our focus will be on sharing His love with others. Notice what God's word says: "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:10-11.

Love is a gift from God and in order to share His love, we must first have it in our hearts. "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:5.

What does God's love look like? "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8. God loved us even when we didn't love Him back. That's the kind of love God wants to pour into our hearts and that's the kind of love we are to have toward others.

Not everyone understands that God loves them, is interested in their salvation, and that He is the only one who can save them. Some people leave church and give up on believing in God because others have been cold and apathetic towards them. They don't know we're all like "cups" that need to be constantly filled with the love that only comes from God. It's only the love of God that can expel sin and selfishness from the human heart.

God is able to draw souls to Himself and fill them with so much love that they realize that those who were cold toward them simply need more of His love. God can make them like the Good Samaritan, sharing God's love with everyone around them, even towards who don't like them.

Relevant song: More Love by Trinity Bluegrass Band

Loving others more than they love you

The following quotes are from the book What do you think of me? Why do I care?

Jesus loved people more than he wanted to be loved by people. Jesus needed to love people more than he needed love from them. For you, this means that true freedom in your relationships comes when the scales are always a little unbalanced: You want the weight to be more on the “love” side than the “be loved” side. (p. 114).

The one who loves more is the one with the power. Does it still hurt to be left out, judged, or ignored? Absolutely. It hurts, but it doesn’t control you. It doesn’t eat away at the core of your being. (pp. 114-115).

Jesus Christ chose a shameful death on the cross so you wouldn’t have to. He came to be the servant who followed the path of sacrificial love. If this is how the King served you, then you can serve others with his power. (pp. 115-116).

There is only one way you could want to love others more than they love you: realizing that you have been loved more than you could ever love in return. (p. 116).

What you really need is to be with something so big that you can think less often about yourself. If you identify yourself as a Christian, you are beginning to understand that. In other words, the problem is that people are too big, you and your desires are even bigger, and God is too small. The problem at its very root is answered in being connected to Jesus. (p. 120).

The best way to live—the way you will be most happy—is to make life more about God and other people than it is about you. (p. 121).

When God says that we should do everything for his glory (1 Corinthians 10:31), he is saying that our lives are intended to make him famous, not ourselves. If you read the first chapter of Ephesians you will read, over and over, that we are intended to live “to the praise of his glory.” This means that you will actually enjoy giving glory to God. You were created to do such things. (p. 122).

Other people are family. If they are human beings they have met the basic qualification, and we are called by God to love them like family. Think of a family time when you had no self-consciousness. Or think about a time with a good friend where you briefly forgot about yourself. What was it like? ...Here is the challenge. It goes back to loving others more than needing them. There is something about love that crowds out our painful self-consciousness. You can’t have one in your heart when the other is there. Consider the needs of others more than you consider your own, and guaranteed, the fear of other people will no longer suffocate you. (p. 131-132).

Make a list of the different people you meet every day. Think about how you can include them as family. What will you actually do? How will you greet them? What will you talk to them about? What kinds of questions will you ask them? And how will you pray? (p. 132)

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (Philippians 2:3-4). ... In other words, live as though it's everyone else's birthday (p. 134).

All eyes on Jesus. That is the way of change. Follow him and you learn that the way up is down... Once we learn to walk humbly before the Lord, we find that the skill actually transfers to our relationships with other people. It is the way humans are intended to live. Who am I? Someone who has been given preferential treatment by the King himself. When you know that, it becomes a small thing to put others before yourself... If your hero—your Lord and your God—made himself lower than other people, then it is your honor and privilege to do the same thing. (p. 135).

Who is Jesus? My Lord. I belong to him. He bought me at a great price. Who am I? I owe people. As I have been shown love that I could never repay, I owe love to others. Who are others? Brothers and sisters. (p. 143)

Then, as Jesus gets bigger in your eyes, the opinions of other people simply become the opinions of other people and not the piercing gaze of giants. Your questions change from, “How can I protect myself, fit in, and look good?” to, “How can I wisely love another person?” (p. 145)

How to overcome the fear of man

The following are quotes from the book, What do you think of me? Why do I care?

When you fear something it controls you. To fear God means to be controlled by him. When we want to grow in the fear of the Lord, it begins with God teaching us that he is holy... Holy means that God is not like you or anyone you know. (p. 64)

It is a basic principle: the more you are controlled by God, the less you are controlled by other people. The more you love God, the less you will love the acceptance or recognition of others. The only way you can love him more is to know him. If you really knew him, you would love him. (p. 69).

When you have been brought into the throne room to spend time with the King and have become known to him by name, the negative opinions of others don’t carry as much weight. It’s not that you are indifferent toward others and what they think. It is that their opinions can’t emotionally derail you, turn you hopelessly inward, and keep you from caring about other people. When you hear that someone you really like also really likes you, the nasty things that a few people think are not going to ruin your day. (p. 77).

One important step in avoiding the worship of other people is to grow in knowing God’s holiness. When you know that God is holy, you can no longer be indifferent or distant from him. He breaks into your everyday life, which is the only way you can be liberated from the craving to fit in and stand out. (p. 82).

When you have been to the court of the King and lived to tell about it, the court of human opinion is less frightening. (p. 82).

We may acknowledge that we do wrong things sometimes, but it is tougher to acknowledge that our wrong was very personal and against God. It doesn't feel like it is personal, but it is. Now add to this picture. The One who invites you back is also the King. What you did was treason. (p. 84)

When you say that Jesus is your King, you are saying that your fate rests in his hands. In this case, you acknowledge to the Father that, indeed, you do deserve the same punishment meted out to all treasonous people, but your allegiances are now with Jesus. You trust in him. That’s how something that happened two thousand years ago is relevant to you right now. When you trust him, you stand with him. The punishment that was intended for you was received by him. (p. 87).

When you worship—when your attention is on the One who is bigger than yourself, and his love connects you to himself—the cares of life are not so controlling. True worship puts everything in perspective. It makes some of your fears about people’s opinions seem trivial. (p. 97).

Worship is about choosing sides and publicly stating our allegiances. God has determined that, when he ushers in his kingdom in all its brilliance, our allegiances will be all that matter. (p. 97).

Next: Loving others more than they love you

Why we worry about what others think

The following is a summary of the first two sections of the book What do you think of me? Why do I care? The sections are called "The Problem" and "The Heart of the Matter".

The fear of the opinions of others is problem we all have to some degree and it comes from wanting to be accepted. While there's nothing inherently wrong with wanting to be accepted, but it turns into a problem when we let that desire control our lives. When wanting the approval of others becomes something you need in order to live, it controls your life. We become like cups, constantly seeking to be refilled by other cups. Sometimes we build walls out of fear of rejection, but that only hurts us more with feelings of emptiness. Whatever we fear will control us and God never intended for us to live in fear of other people's opinions.

Consider these three questions:  Who is God? Who am I? and Who are you (other people)? How we live and react to things in life will reveal how we are really answering them. God's word will show us if we're really answering them right. If we're going to use the bible as our guide, we need to keep in mind that the bible is God's communication to us. When we really believe this, we'll read it more. Then we'll learn all about who God is, who we are, and who others are. We will learn how our creator God intended us to live.

When you're controlled by your desires, doing whatever you want, life becomes about your desires and looking to others to satisfy them. As it says in Jeremiah 17, you're putting your trust in man instead of God. Perhaps you fear others knowing that you're a Christian, that's because you want to feel accepted by those who aren't. Even if, like Peter, you've denied Jesus, He doesn't reject you, He still accepts you. The bible says, "if we are faithless, he remains faithful" 2 Timothy 2:13. As you stick to the bible, you'll see how much need it for direction in life.

Do you trust in God? Sometimes we may trust in God with some things and not with others things. Like ancient Israel, we end up forming mixed allegiances by turning to idols. Whatever trust and depend on in the place of God becomes an idol that we worship. The opinions of others can easily become an idol we turn to, hoping it will give us what we want. To worship anything other than God is false worship. True worship is when you trust in Jesus rather than your reputation, and you follow him in love and obedience, even when it hurts.

In James 4, we learn that underneath our quarrels are our desires. Whenever we live for our desires, we are friends with the world and enemies of God. When you realize that your allegiances are more mixed than you realized, split between the worship of God and the worship of your desires, then seeking God's forgiveness becomes important all the time. When God is relevant all the time, it becomes more natural to be thankful to him.

There is no reason to run away when your divided worship is exposed. Instead, run toward the One who delights in forgiving you. The only way you can change the focus of your worship is to find something even better to focus on. That is your task. For the rest of your life your goal is to be surprised by God to the point that you respond like Moses: you worship (Exodus 34:5-8).

If you ever slip into false worship, God provides a way back to Him, it's like a map. It begins with turning back (repentance), getting to know God (through His word), and becoming like Jesus by loving others as He has loved you. The path you are taking now will guide you to God’s kingdom, a place where you are able to love people more than need love from them. Who is God? He is better than you think.  Who are other people? They are people who you can enjoy, serve, and love.... Who are you? You are somebody who is intended to look like Jesus and live for him rather than yourself.

Next: How to overcome the fear of man

What is God like

Isaiah 40:25
To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.

There's no other being like God
Micah 7:18-19  Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.
1 Chronicles 17:20 O LORD, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
Psalms 77:13
Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God?

God isn't like us
Psalm 50:21 These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes.
Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

God is our creator and redeemer
Isaiah 43:1
But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.

God is love, merciful, forgiving, slow to anger
1 John 4:8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Exodus 34:6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth
Isaiah 43:25 “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.
Psalm 103:8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

God is faithful
Lamentations 3:22-23 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
2 Timothy 2:13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
Psalm 119:90
Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides.
2 Corinthians 1:18, 20 But as God is faithful...  For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen..

God gives strength to the weak
Isaiah 40:28-29
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.

God is righteous
Psalm 145:17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works.

God is Holy
Leviticus 11:45 For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

God doesn't change
Malachi 3:6a For I am the Lord, I do not change...

It's Impossible for God to lie
Hebrews 6:18 "it is impossible for God to lie"
Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

When God's speaks, it gets done
Psalm 33:6, 9
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.... For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.

God can speak of future things as if they already exist
Romans 4:16-17 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did

God is willing to give us good things
Matthew 7:11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
Psalm 84:11b ...No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.

Nothing is too hard for God
Jeremiah 32:27
Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?
Mark 9:23
Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
Luke 1:37 For with God nothing will be impossible.

God is worthy of worship
Revelation 4:11 “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”
Revelation 5:9-10 And they sang a new song, saying:  “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”

God is Spirit
John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth

The true and living God
Jeremiah 10:10-12 But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation. Thus you shall say to them: “The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens." He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.

God is eternal, self-existent
Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God
Exodus 3:14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

God is light
1 John 1:5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

God is immortal, invisible, and wise
1 Timothy 1:17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

God is everywhere
Psalm 139:7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?

God sees everything
Proverbs 15:3
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good.

About knowing God:
"The greatest wisdom, and most essential, is the knowledge of God. Self sinks into insignificance as it contemplates God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent." {FE 451.1}.

John 17:3
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

1 John 4:7-8
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

Verses that say God loves us

 Jeremiah 31:3 The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Romans 5:7-8 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

2 Corinthians 5:19  that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

John 15:9 As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.

Romans 15:7
Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.

1 John 3:1
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

Ephesians 1:5-6 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

How To Heal From Painful Memories

How Jesus helped Peter get over a bad memory
Peter had a sad memory associated with a "fire of coals" because it was while he was warming himself in front of one that he had denied Jesus three times (see John 18:15-18, 25-26). In John 21, Jesus did something to help Peter get over his sad memory.

The 21st chapter of John begins with Peter going back to his old fishing job with his friends and when they had failed at catching any fish, Jesus appeared to them from the shore, and repeated the fishing miracle that He had done in the past. After realizing that this was Jesus, Peter swims back to shore while the other disciples bring over the boat of fish.

When they all arrived back to shore, they saw a "fire of coals" and fish already cooking on it. They bring over their 153 fish at Jesus' request and they're invited them to eat with him. Jesus asks Peter three times, "Do you love me?". Peter replied "yes" each time and Jesus replied back each time, reminding Peter of his mission: "Feed My sheep". After the third time, Jesus predicted how Peter would die and said "Follow Me". Peter asked about the other disciple with him and Jesus basically said to mind his own business and again reminded him "Follow Me".

How to be healed from painful memories: 
Have you ever felt so discouraged by a negative experience that you felt like you just couldn't go on any longer in your walk with God? From this story you can see God can help you relive the good memories you've had with Him. Perhaps you're new in your walk with God and you don't have enough good memories to work with. And perhaps certain things, like Peter's "fire of coals," trigger bad memories. Perhaps your "fire of coals" is your church and someone did something there to hurt you?

Cheer up my friend, Jesus can give you new positive memories around the same or a similar looking "fire of coals" to help heal you from your painful memories of the past. God promises healing to those who live to serve others (Isaiah 58:6-8). Just like Jesus told Peter, "Feed My Sheep", He's calling you to help others in need, point them to Jesus, and encourage them to do the same for others as well. You can put your painful memories to rest by praying to God to show you at least one soul that you can be a blessing to.

How to experience God's forgiveness in your heart for others
Do you struggle letting go of a hurt caused by others, especially by those who've never apologized? Look to the cross, Jesus forgave others even while they were crucifying Him (Luke 23:34). Forgiveness doesn't require liking what others have done, it only requires that you don't hold any hard feelings against them. Also remember that Jesus bore your sins as well as the sins of others (1 Peter 2:24). Also remember that experiencing repentance and forgiveness in your heart is a gift from God (Acts 5:31). If you withhold the gift of forgiveness from others, you also withhold it from yourself (Matthew 6:15). Experience the healing of forgiveness that comes from confessing your own faults and lifting each other up in prayer (James 5:16).

Keep Jesus In View and Follow Him
Don't get caught up in the blame game, it's unhealthy and unnecessary because it takes our eyes off Jesus who died to pay for both your sins and the sins of everyone else (1 Peter 2:24). The solution to the sin problem is found, not by dwelling on the sin, but by beholding Jesus (John 1:29). It is the Holy Spirit's work to transform our characters as we behold Jesus. (2 Corinthians 3:18). God's Spirit will point you to Jesus, the solution to the sin problem (John 16:7-10). God's Spirit glorifies Jesus and if Jesus is lifted up, He will draw all people to Himself (John 16:13-14, John 12:32). As you pray for others, keep self hidden and let Jesus be seen.

Keep your eyes on what Jesus has done for you, is doing, and wants to do in your life. Do you find yourself distracted by comparing yourself to others? Like Jesus said to Peter, He says to you, "What is that to you? Follow Me". Jesus never promised that following Him would be easy, but He promised "Lo, I am with you always". The "seas" of your life may seem to rage around you, but it doesn't have to rage in your heart. As long as you keep your eyes on Jesus, you'll be able to walk above it. Let Jesus speak "Peace, Be Still" to your soul today. Set the Lord always before you and you shall not be moved or swayed by the things the enemy tries to throw at you.

Hope In God, Trust In What He Will Do, and Move Forward
Whatever you've been through, it will shrink into insignificance compared to eternity spent with Him, so begin spending time with Jesus now and start making better memories (see Romans 8:18). The Lord is telling you today, "Behold, I will do a new thing" Isaiah 43:19. "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3

Just like how God told ancient Israel to "go forward" in spite of obstacles, He's telling you to move on. Don't fear the storm, God promised "I will be with you". Though you may feel paralyzed with anxiety, Christ's command "Rise up and walk" is sufficient to enable you. If you wait until the circumstances are more convenient to follow Jesus, you'll never do it. Today is the day of your salvation, trust Jesus a hundred percent with your life today.

"Leave everything in God's hands and you'll see God's hands in everything" - Unknown

Relevant quote:
Do not bring the disagreeable things of the past into your present life. Testify that life with Christ is no failure.... Dismiss Satan, walk with Jesus, and be complete in Him. Never, never give Satan the satisfaction of taunting you or others that our faith is a deception, a delusion. UL 314

Mental and emotional health

God wants us to have sound minds
2 Timothy 1:7 

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Pray for God's Guidance
Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

John 16:13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

Instead of worrying about everything, pray about everything
Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus

Think on God's thoughts revealed in His Word
Isaiah 55:7-8 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.  “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

John 8:31b-32 “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Psalm 107:20 He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Don't condemn yourself or anyone else
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Revelation 12:10-11 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
John 8:10b-11 ...He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”  She said, “No one, Lord.”  And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

Confess your faults and pray for one another
James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much

Accept God's forgiveness for yourself and others
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Matthew 9:2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”
Mark 11:25-26 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

Consider how Jesus was treated
Hebrews 12:2-4 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.

By His Stripes We Are Healed
Isaiah 53:5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

God's word heals
Psalm 107:20
He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

God heals the broken heart
Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Music and Emotional Health
1 Samuel 16:23 And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.

Song is a weapon that we can always use against discouragement. As we thus open the heart to the sunlight of the Saviour’s presence, we shall have health and His blessing. [Ministry of Healing, p. 254]

A Merry Heart and Wholesome Tongue (Healthy Talk)
Proverbs 17 :22
A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.

Proverbs 15:4
A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, But perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

Also see Ministry of Healing, Chapter 18 "Mind Cure"

Other helpful posts
Mental Health Secrets
7 Psychological Habits To Avoid
Cognitive Distortions to Avoid

Helpful music playlists on Youtube
For The broken heart
Jesus Understands
Peace in the Storm
Be not afraid
Hymns for troubled minds
Assurance in uncertainty
Courage, Hope, and Cheer
Faith and Courage
Peace, Joy, and Comfort
Peace and Rest
Songs of faith (bluegrass)
Songs for the trials of life (bluegrass)
Songs for the storms of life (bluegrass)
Courage and Comfort (bluegrass)
Christian counsel in song (bluegrass)

How to be drawn to Jesus

Isaiah 45:22
Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

God draws us to Jesus
John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

People are drawn to Jesus when He's lifted up
John 12:32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself

God draws us with His love
Jeremiah 31:3 The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
Hosea 11:4 I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them.

God's love seen in chastening
Hebrews 12:5-6 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:  “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”

Look to Jesus lest you be discouraged
Hebrews 12:1-4 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.

Beholding Him, we are transformed
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Why we lose sight of Jesus

Intellectual pride
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Looking at your circumstances (or yourself)
Matthew 14:28-32 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

Getting too busy to spend time with Jesus
Luke 10:38-42
Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Looking at other people
John 21:20-22 Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”

Spiritual Thirst

Jeremiah 2:13
For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.

Isaiah 55:1 Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price.

John 6:35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

John 7:37-39 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Psalm 42:1-2 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

Psalms 63:1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.

Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Psalm 81:10 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

Isaiah 44:2-4 Thus says the Lord who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you: ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant; And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring; They will spring up among the grass Like willows by the watercourses.’

Isaiah 12:3 Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

Psalm 36:9 For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.

Revelation 22:17
And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

Proverbs 25:25 As cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a far country.

Proverbs 18:4 The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; The wellspring of wisdom is a flowing brook.

Proverbs 20:5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, But a man of understanding will draw it out.

Proverbs 11:25 The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.

Proverbs 25:21-22
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For so you will heap coals of fire on his head, And the Lord will reward you.

Verses relating to spiritual hunger:
John 4:34
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work."
Deuteronomy 8:3b ...man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

A quote relating to spiritual hunger
In the word of God is spread before you the richest banquet. This is the Lord's table, abundantly provided, whereof you may eat and be satisfied. RH October 18, 1898

Also see Desiring God

Relevant music playlist on Youtube
Living Water

Think On These Things

Evaluate before you ruminate

Use the Philippians 4:8 Mental Filter:

Is it true? Does it align with gospel truth?

Is it honorable or respectable?

Is it just or right?

Is it pure or innocent?

Is it lovely, agreeable or acceptable?

Is it of good report?

Is it of virtue or excellence?

Is it commendable or worthy of praise?

Why evaluate of our thoughts?
Proverbs 23:7a For as he thinks in his heart, so is he....

"If the thoughts are wrong, the feelings will be wrong; and the thoughts and feelings combined make up the moral character." In Heavenly Places, p. 164

"As a man 'thinketh in his heart, so is he' [Proverbs 23:7]. Many thoughts make up the unwritten history of a single day; and these thoughts have much to do with the formation of character. Our thoughts are to be strictly guarded; for one impure thought makes a deep impression on the soul. An evil thought leaves an evil impress on the mind. If the thoughts are pure and holy, the man is better for having cherished them."  Messages to Young People, p. 144

"We need a constant sense of the ennobling power of pure thoughts and the damaging influence of evil thoughts. Let us place our thoughts upon holy things. Let them be pure and true, for the only security for any soul is right thinking." In Heavenly Places, p. 164

Dismiss wrong thoughts and replace them with God's Word:
Martin Luther once said, “You cannot keep birds from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair”. When a thought comes and it doesn't pass through the filter found in Philippians 4:8, dismiss it and replace it with God's word. Every thought is to be brought captive to the obedience of Christ (see 2 Corinthians 10:5).

"Keep your Bible with you. As you have opportunity, read it; fix the texts in your memory. Even while you are walking the streets you may read a passage and meditate upon it, thus fixing it in the mind." Steps to Christ pg 90

To be more like Jesus and bear the Spirit's fruit, we must be constantly thinking on God's word and we shouldn't let our minds wander in the "counsel" of ungodly. (see Psalm 1:1-3) We should avoid watching or listening to ungodly media. We should not set any wicked thing before our eyes (Psalm 101:3).

Has anyone ever said or done something that left you with troublesome thoughts that you couldn't seem to stop worrying about? To be set free from that, you must put those thoughts through the filter of God's Word (John 8:31-32). There is liberty found in beholding Jesus, upon Whom was laid the iniquity of us all (Hebrews 12:1-4, Isaiah 53:6). When you know what God has said, done, and wants to do in your life, then nothing else will matter as much (Romans 8:28, Romans 8:32).

If we don't keep Jesus in mind as our personal Savior and Lord of our lives, we can't even see ourselves or others in the right way. When we loose sight of Jesus, we become worried and fearful because we'll forget that we are His and that He will take care of us (Isaiah 43:1-4). Are you often tempted to worry? In the second part of this study we will look at what the bible says about temptation and how to have victory over sin.

Temptation isn't sin until you consent to it
James 1:12-15 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

While it is true that the devil tries to tempt us from without, this verse tells us we are also tempted from within. Sin itself has the following stages: conception, birth, growth, and death. Temptation isn't sin and cannot "conceive" as sin unless you give it consent.

This verse also tells us that the sin doesn't just "birth" into actions, "conception" must happen first. The great controversy between Christ and Satan in our minds lies in the gap between temptation and the conception of sin.

"By faith and prayer all may meet the requirements of the gospel. No man can be forced to transgress. His own consent must be first gained; the soul must purpose the sinful act, before passion can dominate over reason, or iniquity triumph over conscience." Messages To Young People, 67.

Not consenting to sin isn't enough, we must give God our consent
While temptation isn't sin until you consent, we don't even have the power not to. We will find ourselves doing (or thinking) wrong even if we don't want to (Romans 7:19). Only God can work in you "both to will and to do for His good pleasure" Philippians 2:13.

"You cannot change your heart, you cannot of yourself give to God its affections; but you can choose to serve Him. You can give Him your will; He will then work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Thus your whole nature will be brought under the control of the Spirit of Christ; your affections will be centered upon Him, your thoughts will be in harmony with Him." Steps to Christ, p. 47

You can read and listen to a lot of theory and try to practice it yourself, but that won't help you. Nothing we do can replace the work God will do in us if we consent.

How we give God our consent: Through Prayer and His Word
We give God consent when we pray to Him, saying something like, "Lord, take my heart; for I cannot give it. Make me willing to be willing".

We constantly need to pray for God's Spirit to bring His word to memory, but you won't remember anything you haven't studied (John 14:26).We need to be filling our minds with God's Word so that when temptation comes, we will be ready to combat it with an "it is written" before sin is conceived.

Temptations often appear irresistible because, through neglect of prayer and the study of the Bible, the tempted one cannot readily remember God’s promises and meet Satan with the Scripture weapons. But angels are round about those who are willing to be taught in divine things; and in the time of great necessity, they will bring to their remembrance the very truths which are needed. Thus “when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” [Great Controversy, p. 600]

Relevant song: Think On These Things

Psalm Soliloquies

Psalm 42:11, 43:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.

Psalm 16:2 O my soul, you have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You.”

Psalm 62:5 My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.

Psalm 116:7 Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

Psalm 103:1-4 Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies

Psalm 104:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul!  O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty

Psalm 146:1-2 Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord, O my soul! While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Prayer and Spiritual Warfare

Just like many characters in the bible, I also know what it's like to feel depressed even to the point of giving up on life. The solution to this is found in prayer:

Why should the sons and daughters of God be reluctant to pray, when prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven’s storehouse, where are treasured the boundless resources of Omnipotence? Steps to Christ, p. 94

Prayer is literally a lifeline, or rather, it is The Lifeline!

Prayer is the life of the soul. The prayer of faith is the weapon by which we may successfully resist every assault of the enemy. Signs of the Times August 24, 1904

Prayer and God's word are so essential in spiritual warfare

Beware how you neglect secret prayer and a study of God’s word. These are your weapons against him who is striving to hinder your progress heavenward. [Messages to Young People, page 96]

The Word must be our weapon of warfare. Miracles can be wrought through the Word; for it is profitable for all things. Letter 75, 1896

Keep the mind filled with the precious promises found in the Bible, and when Satan comes in like a flood to overwhelm you, meet him with the weapon which the Word of God has provided, “It is written.” This will break his power and give you the victory (Historical Sketches, 129, 130).

Song  is also another powerful weapon

Song is a weapon that we can always use against discouragement. As we thus open the heart to the sunlight of the Saviour’s presence, we shall have health and His blessing. [Ministry of Healing, p. 254]

Song can be an especially powerful spiritual weapon when the words are addressed to God as a prayer and contain promises from His word!

Also see, God's promises for the suicidal