Relationships and Community on Mental Illness

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Father–nothing escapes your notice, is

Author

Scripture

Philippians 4:19, Revelation 21:4, Romans 8:26, Acts 1:8, Psalm 46:1, Matthew 5:9

Father–nothing escapes your notice, is beyond your care or too hard for you to take on, whether it concerns nations or individuals. You have a heart for all the world–not just our little piece of it. ...

liturgy

Loving God: Abba—our Father; Jesus—our

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6, Hebrews 10:24-25, John 14:27, James 1:5

Loving God: Abba—our Father; Jesus—our Savior; Spirit—our Comforter. As Advent begins ... we take a deep breath, we grit our teeth and steel our nerves anticipating the fast pace of the next few week...

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The Three Lies

Author

Jennie Allen

Keywords

Scripture

Numbers 13:25-33, Romans 8:38-39, Matthew 10:29-31, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Genesis 1:27, Luke 10:6-7, Ephesians 2:10

My friend Christina, a licensed therapist, tells me that Psychiatry 101 teaches therapists that when you and I choose to believe a lie about ourselves, it’s one of these three lies we believe: I’m he...

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Author

Brennan Manning

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Psalm 34:18, Ephesians 5:13, Romans 8:28, Galatians 6:2

In a futile attempt to erase our past, we deprive the community of our healing gift. If we conceal our wounds out of fear and shame, our inner darkness can neither be illuminated nor become a light fo...

liturgy

Heavenly Father: You know all about us

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 21:4, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Jeremiah 17:14, James 5:15-16, Romans 8:28

Heavenly Father: You know all about us – our weakness, our failing, our sin; And you still love us enough to give your Son to redeem us. Hear the cries of our hearts today. There’s someone for who...

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Bad News

Keywords

Scripture

2 Kings 20:1-11, Mark 5:21-43, John 11:1-44, Romans 8:38-39, John 14:6, Psalm 23:1, Isaiah 40:31

A man went in for his annual checkup and received a phone call from his physician a couple of days later. The doctor said, “I’m afraid I have some bad news for you.” “What’s the news?” the man asked...

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Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:1, Isaiah 61:7, Hebrews 12:2, Psalm 34:5, Romans 10:11, 1 John 1:9, 2 Timothy 1:7

I sometimes think that shame, mere awkward, senseless shame, does as much towards preventing good acts and straightforward happiness as any of our vices can do.

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A Lack of Accountability

Author

Václav Havel

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 2:15, Romans 8:18-23

Whenever I have encountered any kind of deep problem with civilization anywhere in the world—be it the logging of rain forests, ethnic or religious intolerance or the brutal destruction of a cultural ...

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The Nebulous "They"

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 1:10, Colossians 3:23, Psalm 139:13-14, Proverbs 29:25, Romans 8:31, 1 Thessalonians 2:4, 1 Samuel 16:7, Romans 12:2, John 1:12

George Herbert Mead, an influential early 20th-century sociologist, coined the term “generalized other” to describe the vague group we consider when shaping our actions. How often do we behave a certa...

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True Healing Occurs When…

Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 11:30, Matthew 11:28-30, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Romans 8:18, Hebrews 12:1-2, James 1:2-4

Paradoxically…healing means moving from your pain to the pain…When you keep focusing on the specific circumstances of your pain, you easily become angry, resentful, and even vindictive. You are inclin...

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A Defining Grace

Author

John Blanchard

Keywords

Meekness

Scripture

Romans 8:28

Meekness is a defining grace, produced by the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian, which characterizes that person’s response towards God and man. Meekness towards God is a spirit of submission t...

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A Biblical Understanding of Sin

Author

Richard Plass

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 5:17, 1 Peter 2:25, Romans 8:7, James 4:4, Ephesians 2:1-2, Isaiah 59:2, 1 John 3:4

In the New Testament sin is not merely an individual, privatized transgression of a moral standard (sins is typically used for specific transgressions). It is far more radical than that. Sin is a mist...

liturgy

Gracious God, I am reminded today of

Author

Mark D. Roberts

Keywords

Scripture

John 16:33, Revelation 21:4, Matthew 5:4, Lamentations 3:22-23, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Isaiah 53:4-5, Romans 8:18

Gracious God, I am reminded today of the horrible pain that sin causes. How many lives are destroyed by sin? How many families rent apart? How many parents overcome with grief? And this is just the be...

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Dear God, we confess that we have

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Titus 3:5-6, Psalm 119:105, Romans 8:26-27, 1 John 1:9, Psalm 51:1-2

Dear God, we confess that we have sinned and need Your forgiveness. We want to do things on our own, without You. We have been distracted from Your Word and behave as if Your instructions were vague. ...

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What Created the Fears in Your Life?

Author

Susie Davis

Keywords

Scripture

Lamentations 3:22-23, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, John 16:33, Habakkuk 3:17-18, Romans 8:28, Isaiah 43:2, Psalm 34:18

In her beautifully written memoir Unafraid, Susie Davis reflects on fear after experiencing a school-shooting as a high-school student. It was after this that Davis began to experience regular bouts o...

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Author

Victor Hugo

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 4:10, 2 Corinthians 4:6, 1 Corinthians 4:6, Romans 8:38-39, Luke 18:42, Isaiah 42:16, Psalm 146:8

We may remark in passing that to be blind and beloved may, in this world where nothing is perfect, be among the most strangely exquisite forms of happiness. The supreme happiness in life is the assura...

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Doubt is in Everyone

Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 29:13, Proverbs 3:5-6, Romans 8:24-25, Hebrews 11:1, John 20:27

Writer Michael Novak says that doubt is not so much a dividing line that separates people into different camps, as it is a razor’s edge that runs through every soul. Many believers tend to think doubt...

liturgy

God of grace and truth, holy and

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Peter 5:7, Romans 8:38-39, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Matthew 11:28-30, Isaiah 41:10

God of grace and truth, holy and compassionate—Father, Son and Holy Spirit: You hold the universe in Your hands and earth’s oceans hardly moisten Your palm; yet—You number the hairs of our heads and k...

liturgy

God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: You

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 139:7-10, Romans 8:38-39, Matthew 11:28-30, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Isaiah 40:31, Luke 10:25-37, John 11:32-35

God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: You are always and forever for us: We can’t run away from Your presence; nor out-sin Your amazing grace and forgiveness. We can’t exhaust Your unconditional love nor ...

liturgy

Dear Lord Jesus, we feel our sins. They

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:21, Psalm 103:12, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 8:1, John 6:40, Romans 10:9-10, 1 John 1:9

Dear Lord Jesus, we feel our sins. They bite and gnaw and terrify us. Where shall we go? We will look to You, Lord Jesus, and believe in You. Although our faith is often weak, we look to You and find ...

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Follow the Bubbles

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:26, John 14:26, Psalm 139:9-10, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Isaiah 42:16, Psalm 119:105

When I graduated from college I was given one of the greatest opportunities of my young life. A group of my friends were told that if we were able to purchase a flight to the Cayman Islands, we would ...

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Rejection and Acceptance

Author

Scott Bowerman

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 3:13, 1 Peter 5:7, Romans 8:38-39, Matthew 11:28, Isaiah 66:13, Psalm 27:10, Isaiah 49:15-16

In his book The Logic of the Spirit, James Loder talks about a woman with whom he had been in a therapeutic relationship for years. This woman’s underlying issue seemed to be a complete sense of rejec...

liturgy

Even in our moments of doubt, our lack of faith

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:38-39, Mark 6:1-13, Romans 5:1, Psalm 139:1-18, Matthew 6:14-15, Mark 11:25-26, Acts 5:31

Even in our moments of doubt, our lack of faith, and the blindness which means we fail to see God amongst us, God is still at work. God is still healing. God is still forgiving. Even when you fail to ...

liturgy

Take refuge in our God who knows we are

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 103:14, Nahum 1:7, Psalm 46:1, Micah 7:18-19, Romans 8:1, 1 John 1:9, Hebrews 8:12

Take refuge in our God who knows we are mere mortals. He forgives us for our sins, even though they were aimed at his loving heart. Rejoice that the Lord, out of his grace, will not remember our sins ...

liturgy

Heavenly Father, forgive us for delving

Keywords

Scripture

John 20:24-29, John 8:1-11, Luke 15:11-32, Romans 8:26-27, Matthew 11:28-30, Isaiah 41:10

Heavenly Father, forgive us for delving so much into our own lives that we forget the love and purpose with which you have created us. When we are faced with doubt and despair, help us to turn to you ...

liturgy

Almighty God, we have failed to trust

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 46:1, Isaiah 41:10, Lamentations 3:22-23, Philippians 4:6-7, Romans 8:28

Almighty God, we have failed to trust you. Overwhelmed by the pains of life, we have taken charge and pushed you aside. O God, be gracious to us. Remind us of your daily mercies and redemptive power t...

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Up for Sale?

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 21:4, Philippians 4:6-7, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Romans 8:38-39, John 1:5, Isaiah 40:31

One of the early hits of the internet had to be eBay. Suddenly getting rid of your old junk, or otherwise unnecessary “stuff,” could be sold, not just to your neighbors in a yard sale, but to anyone w...

Quote

Author

G. Campbell Morgan

Keywords

Scripture

2 Timothy 3:12, John 15:18-19, Matthew 5:10-12, 1 Peter 4:12-14, James 1:2-4, Romans 8:31, Acts 14:22

If you have no opposition in the place you serve, you're serving in the wrong place.

liturgy

Abba – Father: Because of Your love and

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6, Psalm 23:1-4, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Philippians 4:6-7, Jeremiah 29:11

Abba – Father: Because of Your love and strength, we trust You … believing You are faithful, true and gracious. Thank You for coming into our world when we could not and would not come to You. You wal...

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Expect Attacks

Author

Martin Luther

Keywords

Attacks

Scripture

Proverbs 3:5-6, Romans 8:37-39, Psalm 91:1-4, James 4:7, 1 Peter 5:8-9, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Matthew 6:9-13

We Christians must be armed and expect every day to be under continuous attack. . . . At such times our only help and comfort is to run here and seize hold of the Lord’s Prayer and speak to God from o...

relationships and community on Mental Illness

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