spiritual oppression and depression

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tillyanne

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Ok so i'm a little afraid to even ask this question, but how can you tell the difference between chemical depression and spiritual oppression?

If depression is a spiritual thing, can I pray and deal with it myself or does somebody else need to do it?

I'm not asking If I am 'owned' by demons- I am a Christian, I belong to God and Satan has no right in my life. I have confessed my sins before him and am confident in my salvation. I know that demons can't influence me unless they have a right- but I haven't done anything I can think of that would give them a foothold.

There is some ancestral stuff but my family received a lot of prayer a long time ago to deal with it all.
 

lismore

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Hello:wave:

Whether it is oppression or depression its important to have the family of God around you to pray for you, to love you and ressaure you that you are not alone.

Opression flees from the unity of believers in prayer. Depression can be soothed by the oil of prayer.

So I pray for you in Jesus name that the Holy Spirit will pour that oil of joy into your heart right now, in Jesus name.

Never bear your burden alone.

:)
 
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Benoni

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The Christ in you is far greater then any demon.

"And the God of all grace, the giver of every spiritual blessing, who has called us by Christ Jesus to share in His eonian glory after you have suffered awhile; will Himself restore, establish, and strengthen you on a firm foundation. His is the power and the glory and the dominion to the age of the ages. Amen."
Every one of us will "go on to perfection" according to the specific time table that God has prearranged for each individual, Every one of us will ultimately show forth the praises of Him Who will call us "out of darkness, into His marvelous light." The processing’s of God are very individualistic. God makes no duplicates; each one of us in an original. Each one of us in further expression of His originality - an individual, unique piece of His handiwork.
The principles of God's workings are the same in all, but the inworking of those principles are adapted by God through each person's set of circumstances. In the final analysis we will all say as Christ said, "I have trodden the wine-press alone." Each of us must suffer in a way that no one else can quite understand, for each of us is being fitted into God's plan in a special but different way.

Each of us are destined to become our own individual expression of the wonderfulness of Christ. Everyone will become yet a further manifestation of Him. It is "the God of all grace" who will bring us through the sufferings triumphantly. That is why the victory is certain. And His promise enables us to despise the shame of the sufferings, fully confident that His glory will be made manifest in us in due time. Knowing that this is so, we can prevent the question "Why is this happening to me?" from eclipsing the joy of trusting in God's intention to transform it into something better that it happened. In Philippians 3:10 Paul said, "My determined purpose is that I may know what Christ is really like, and know the power which is in His resurrection, and all that it means to share His sufferings, with my nature transformed to die as He died." We will be better prepared to rejoice in the Glory to follow, if first we learn to know Christ in the fellowship of His sufferings. It is through our sufferings that God works into us His nature and glory so that in the ages to come we will be a testimony to the triumph of His grace. It is in the arena of suffering that we are being continuously transformed from within, even though outwardly, others cannot understand or appreciate what is happening.

In Psalm 119:67, David said, "Before I was afflicted I went astray." And the apostle Peter said, "He that hath suffered hath ceased from sin." We are not saved from sin by suffering, but we are conditioned for salvation by suffering. After you suffer awhile you begin to realize that the enjoyment of sinning is not worth the suffering that follows. God has chosen to use suffering to work a perfection into us that will be more glorious than if we had not suffered.

I take courage in this truth that God will always lead me by the best route for me, and He will do it by any means that will attain the utmost results. He will not allow us to suffer even one little bit more than is necessary to prepare and mature us for our special place in His plan. God never lets people suffer for no good reason. He always brings suffering to a bait after it has attained His desired results. However, we should not get the idea that we "buy" future glory by the amount of suffering we endure. Paul said that the sufferings of this life are worth than nothing compared to the glory to Follow. You can't buy something when you only have less than nothing to pay for it. Suffering is not a payment; it is the means that God uses to condition us for our special place in His plan of the ages. The entire work of salvation, from its beginning to its completion is totally by the sovereign grace of God. Suffering is always involved in its process, but suffering should never be regarded as part of the payment for our salvation. There is not even one aspect of our salvation that we can claim any merit for. That is why the successful completion of our salvation is guaranteed .

Evangelicals carry a self-imposed burden for the salvation of souls. God is not worried about the salvation of the world. He has already set forces in motion that will expand His kingdom until the world and even the entire cosmos has been included. And so with Paul we say, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the all-merciful Father, and the God of all comfort, whose consolation never fails us. Who comforts and consoles us in our every trouble and distress, and every sorrow and affliction that we have, so that we in turn may be able to comfort others in any trouble or distress of theirs, and to share with them the comfort and consolation we ourselves receive from God. II Corinthian 1:3-5.
 
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rob64

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Ok so i'm a little afraid to even ask this question, but how can you tell the difference between chemical depression and spiritual oppression?

If depression is a spiritual thing, can I pray and deal with it myself or does somebody else need to do it?

I'm not asking If I am 'owned' by demons- I am a Christian, I belong to God and Satan has no right in my life. I have confessed my sins before him and am confident in my salvation. I know that demons can't influence me unless they have a right- but I haven't done anything I can think of that would give them a foothold.

There is some ancestral stuff but my family received a lot of prayer a long time ago to deal with it all.

Hello, Tillyanne!
Right you are, satan has no right in your life.
However, demons can in fact oppress us. Oppression is different from possession. A demon can in no way possess you.
Paul the apostle had a "messenger of satan, sent to buffet him". It was his 'thorn in the flesh'.
In Luke 10:19&20 Jesus says, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread upon serpents, and scorpions, and over ALL the power of the enemy, and NOTHING, shall by any means hurt you". It's a fact. You have the same power Jesus has. It's not something you have to ask Him for, it's a done deal! You have all the power you are going to have. Oil is not nessassary. Prayer and faith is.
I used to be depressed. I always had negative thoughts always going through my mind. You have to learn how to take control of your thoughts. When you catch yourself thinking depressive things, say to yourself, "God has not given me the spirit of fear, but of love, of power, and a of sound mind". That is actually Bible. Ask God to help you with this. He loves you and wants you to think good things! Think of what you think heaven will be like, try to picture Jesus,etc... YOU have to get control of your thoughts. Rebuke the depressive stuff. I'm serious, I'm living proof that it works. At first, the thought will already get in there, but God will show you these thoughts, and you will be able to rebuke them away. It's something I had to do for a long time. It gets easier and easier. It will become a part of your life, controling your thoughts. "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind" Bible.
If your faith level is there, God can just get rid of it for you. If you believe God will do it. His word says He HAS given you a sound mind, not will, but He already has done it, we just have to believe, in order to recieve!
 
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Benoni

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Hello, Tillyanne!
Right you are, satan has no right in your life.
However, demons can in fact oppress us. Oppression is different from possession. A demon can in no way possess you.
Paul the apostle had a "messenger of satan, sent to buffet him". It was his 'thorn in the flesh'.
In Luke 10:19&20 Jesus says, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread upon serpents, and scorpions, and over ALL the power of the enemy, and NOTHING, shall by any means hurt you". It's a fact. You have the same power Jesus has. It's not something you have to ask Him for, it's a done deal! You have all the power you are going to have. Oil is not nessassary. Prayer and faith is.
I used to be depressed. I always had negative thoughts always going through my mind. You have to learn how to take control of your thoughts. When you catch yourself thinking depressive things, say to yourself, "God has not given me the spirit of fear, but of love, of power, and a of sound mind". That is actually Bible. Ask God to help you with this. He loves you and wants you to think good things! Think of what you think heaven will be like, try to picture Jesus,etc... YOU have to get control of your thoughts. Rebuke the depressive stuff. I'm serious, I'm living proof that it works. At first, the thought will already get in there, but God will show you these thoughts, and you will be able to rebuke them away. It's something I had to do for a long time. It gets easier and easier. It will become a part of your life, controling your thoughts. "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind" Bible.
If your faith level is there, God can just get rid of it for you. If you believe God will do it. His word says He HAS given you a sound mind, not will, but He already has done it, we just have to believe, in order to recieve!


Satan is but a puppet in the hands of a mighty God, Satan has no power unless god ordained it.
 
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tillyanne

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Um...so God is using Satan to give me suicidal thoughts? Why does that seem somehow not right? Don't get me wrong I believe that God is sovereign but...I don't know. I guess God could be leading me into a dark season and it's just my own sin causing the thoughts..hmm...

Anyways, so if I have faith and pray and rebuke it thats enough? I don't need other people?

Thanks for replying guys, I really appreciate it. I'm pretty stable usually, I promise :)
 
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Ariel

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Tilly, hi.

I look at it differently than most people do. We live in a cursed world. Jesus even told us that Satan is the ruler of this world, John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11.

When we come to Christ, we are translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. We belong to Christ, therefore Satan can no longer possess our spirits. But he can and does still try to oppress us. We are spirit, soul and body, 1 Thess. 5:23. Satan no longer has our spirits, but he still tries to oppress our souls, our mind, will and emotions. He also tries to sicken our bodies.

We have to fight. The battle belongs to the Lord--but we are still called to fight. We are told to put on the full armor of God and to take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, Eph. 6:10-18. We are also told to resist the devil and he will flee from us, James 4:7-8. We do this in the name of Jesus and by the power for the Holy Spirit. Also, I don't think that demons can hear us think. They can interject thoughts into our minds, but not hear us think. So when I feel that I am being oppressed by the enemy, I address that thing out loud and tell it to go in Jesus name.

For example, I used to be plagued by thoughts that I was no good and I would never be any good. One day as I was washing dishes that thing felt like it was on my shoulder, interjecting those thoughts into my mind. Finally I got fed up. I said out loud, "You demon spirit that has been telling me that I'm no good and I will never be any good, I resist you now in Jesus' name. Scripture says, 'Resist the enemy and he will flee from you.' Therefore I am resisting you now, and I command you to flee in Jesus' name!" Guess what--that thing was gone, immediately. It came back later--I resisted it again. It came back maybe 17 times that first day, and 8 times the next day, and so on. I just kept resisting it. It still comes back sometimes--maybe about twice a year. As soon as I recognize it I resist it again.

We are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. When I was fighting depression, I learned I needed to use every tool I could, including medication and counseling. This was one more tool--the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.


For anyone interested: Here is the URL of a spiritual warfare thread I wrote. I pray that it helps you.

http://christianforums.com/showthread.php?t=6341028
 
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Ariel

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Ariel, once again, Thankyou!
That's what i'd always thought, I just felt unsure. Mark Driscoll has some biblically based stuff that sounds similar to what you believe.
Now I can get back to reading my bible and less time worrying about exorcisms...:)

For sure. :thumbsup:

We have incredible power in the Spirit. We have to use it--it is still up to us to use that authority. But God never meant for us to be constantly fearful. As another poster said, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind. 2 Tim. 1:7.

Be blessed, dear one! :)
 
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rob64

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Um...so God is using Satan to give me suicidal thoughts? Why does that seem somehow not right? Don't get me wrong I believe that God is sovereign but...I don't know. I guess God could be leading me into a dark season and it's just my own sin causing the thoughts..hmm...

Anyways, so if I have faith and pray and rebuke it thats enough? I don't need other people?

Thanks for replying guys, I really appreciate it. I'm pretty stable usually, I promise :)

God doesn't use satan in that way.
Something else I'd like to inject here, GOD and GOD alone is omnipotent. He's everywhere at all times. satan himself is only in one place at a time. he is not omnipotent.
I seriously doubt satan is the thing oppressing you. he does have messengers-demons-fallen angels-evil spirits (they are the powers of darkness) I'm not into "demonology", so I dont know if they are the same things or not, dont care, Jesus gave us power over ALL THE POWER OF THE ENEMY
The moderator did a superb job in their reply.
Peace
 
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