Melancholy Personality - Utilizing our Strengths for God's Glory

I love to use information about the personalities that make up our human character to help us to better understand our self. I am not an expert, but I have lived with my melancholy personality for over 65 years.

In spite of a melancholy's faults, we have some strengths as well. We may lack confidence and obsess about our weaknesses, but as authentic Christians we easily put our trust in the Lord.

As a hard-working, detailed person, we use our analytical tendencies to foresee possible problems and dangers in our decisions, and we seek God on how to avoid them.

We are strongly opinionated and feel another person's distress very deeply. These characteristics help us to counsel others and to work dedicatedly at causes that peek our interest and in which we feel God leading us to participate.

We are overly sensitive and often misread a person's motives and intentions. We tend to hold grudges and not to consider all of the facts prior to making our snap judgments.

Therefore, we have to trust Christ in us to help us to forgive offenders and to give us wisdom, discernment and level-headed thinking to respond caringly to anyone in need.

Delving deeply into the ramifications of our behavior, we tend to overthink our options; but due to this penchant, we rarely make lasting mistakes. We budget our income and we love to save money and spend frugally.

Prayer:

Father God, as a melancholy person, we battle a tendency toward depression, grouchiness, hurt feelings, pessimism, blowing things out of proportion, and intense grief over loss. As we change our focus from the momentary to the blessings You bestow on us each moment of our day, we tend to win the battle over these negative emotions.

Self-motivated and responsible, we are created by You to be trusted to start and finish a project in record time, especially when we consult with You about the issues we encounter. Learning about our strengths and weaknesses enables us to be even more efficient in our daily lives, and we look to You for Your wisdom and power in all things.

Thought for the Day:
As melancholy people, we tend to lack energy and initiative, we are drained by crowds of people, and we need peace and quiet in our life in order to function to the best of our ability; however, with Christ in us, we can operate to the maximum capacity of His Spirit within us and His anointing on us each moment of the day, regardless of our circumstances.

Living in the Center of God's Will

When we focus on our life with an earthly perception, we experience stress, anxiety, anger and many other negative emotions. The consequences of our choices and actions follow us into eternity.

When we live with an eternal perspective, we are only interested in God’s intentions and instructions, as well as His inclusion of us in His plans.

The greatest aspect of our relationship with God is to come to intimately know Him as the one true Father of compassion and comfort. This revelation inspires us to submit to Him moment by moment throughout the day, as He lives His life for us, through Christ in us (2 Corinthians 1:3; John 17:3).

Once we come to this epiphany of our union with Christ, and we live in the center of the will of God for us, anything is possible (Mark 10:27). Fame, fortune or success in this life are fleeting and transitory, and they can change in an instant.

As followers of Christ, we no longer pursue aspects pertaining to this earthly realm. We focus our mind, affections and goals on the purposes of God for us (Colossians 3:2).

We live to serve our God who graciously forgives our sin debt (1 John 1:9). On top of that, He saves us from the punishment of our sins (Romans 6:23). Then He moves into our spirit to live His life through us.

We are now dead to our old, carnal sin nature, and our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). God provides us with the desire and the will to bring Him pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

He also gives us His Spirit to teach us all things that we need to know for a successful life of Godliness (1 Corinthians 2:12; 2 Peter 1:3). True abundance in this life only comes when we adopt a spiritual purpose (Matthew 6:19-21).

Prayer:

Father God, You supply us with the spiritual resources to perform supernatural feats as we interact in our daily activities with family, church, work and community. When the love we feel for our fellow mankind springs from the love we receive from You and that we feel for You, it is more committed and unconditional.

We want to daily contemplate Your goodness, majesty, power, mercy, love, wisdom, justice and sovereignty, as we walk in a different dimension than unsaved humanity. Remind us that our values and purpose are centered on Your Kingdom alone and not on our self. We and all of creation are eagerly waiting for the manifestation of Your sons and the revelation of Your Kingdom on the earth (Romans 8:19).

Thought for the Day:

Without the understanding of Christ dwelling within us, we cannot walk in true victory over sin, sickness and death; only when God's peace, which transcends all human understanding, fills our heart and mind through Christ Jesus can we walk in fulfillment and with His purposes in mind. 

- Philippians 4:7

The Boundary of Fear

When we submit our life to God, we still often hesitate to completely surrender the total power over our existence to Him. We have a lifetime of experience with people letting us down, disappointing us and breaking their promises and commitments to us.

We withdraw within our self and rely on our own wisdom, strength and riches. However, this accomplishes little more than building our house on the sand (Matthew 7:26).

Once we realize the futility of our efforts, we often swing to the opposite side of the pendulum. We are totally committed to Christ and we do not want to displease Him.

Therefore, we diligently search the Bible in order to completely understand the rules and regulations of the law and what He wants from us. We attempt to religiously adhere to even the most vague letter of the law (Matthew 5:18).

Our heart is in the right place, because we do not want to disappoint God. However, no amount of striving will produce any amount of righteousness in us at all (Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:9). Every bit of our righteousness amounts to nothing more than a pile of old, dirty rags (Isaiah 64:6).

According to the Bible, those who trust in their own efforts are foolish (Galatians 3:1-3). We truly believe, but we often need God to help us in our moments of unbelief (Mark 9:24).

Those who walk in God’s wisdom are kept safe. Since, they understand and know the Lord intimately, He exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on their behalf (Proverbs 28:26; Jeremiah 9:23-24). Even in persecution and trials we are the victors.

God delights in us and we are His people. He is our Good Shepherd and we are the sheep of His pasture (Psalm 95:7; 100:3). He will raise us up to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You that Your plan included our sanctification. Our old way of life is gone forever and now everything is completely new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Thank You for ordering our days and blessing us in every area of our life as we trust in You (Psalm 139:16; 2 Corinthians 9:8).

Your ways are perfect. Your Son is the God of truth and there is no iniquity in Him (Deuteronomy 32:4). Yet, in accordance with Your will, He suffered the persecution and death of a common criminal to set us free from our bondage to sin and death (Romans 6:23).

Thought for the Day:

God knows that we will drive our self crazy, if we continue to attempt to maintain control over our life; therefore, He eventually leads us to the point in our life where we step over our boundary of fear into the freedom of faith and trust in Him.

Joy Comes in the Morning

 

Joy not only comes to us through circumstances, but also through our intimate union with the Trinity. As authentic Believers in Jesus Christ, we have inner joy as well. It is new and waiting for us every single morning (Psalm 30:5).

We can minimize our inner joy by walking outside of God's will for us. As dedicated codependents who want to support our family and friends, we often add too many details to our day.

This invites stress both physically and in our soul - our thoughts, emotions and choices. We run out of spiritual, physical, mental and emotional energy with each event that we embrace that is not in God's will for us.

We not only feel tired, but we also look depleted and drained. The reason for this is that our life is out of balance and teetering on the edge of self-destruction. Yet, we continue to go out of our way to help others in need and to support those about whom we care.

As Believers, we often love others and neglect our self. However, if our own being is suffering, we cannot fully minister to anyone else. Jesus told us to love others as we love our self (Matthew 22:39).

My former boss in Jonesboro, AR - a recovering codependent - wisely instructed me, "You are not a machine. You are a person too; and you can care for yourself like you care for everyone else." What a revelatory day I experienced after hearing her pronouncement.

Now, I seek the Lord and draw the line at the point of balance in my life. When more is requested of me, I say, "I will pray about that." My goal is always to remain in the center of God's will for me, because that is the happiest place on earth.

Prayer:

Father God, when we remain in Your presence, You fill our cup to overflowing to allow us to share Your love with others (Psalm 23:5, 16:5; Deuteronomy 32:9). Our body and soul fail us, especially as we age; but as we call on You, You are our strength and our provision forever (Psalm 73:26, 116:13).

As we walk in Your ways and keep Your words, You are our portion in the land of the living, as well as in eternity (Psalm 119:57, 142:5). We have our hope resting only in You (Lamentations 3:24). Help us to enter into Your rest (Daniel 12:13). The more we access Your presence and Spirit that abide within us, the more love and blessings we have to share with others.

Thought for the Day:

It is only when we put a stop to our hectic lifestyle and wait on the Lord, that we can receive the total infilling of the Spirit's guidance for each moment of our day.

- James 1:8; Matthew 6:24; John 15:5

Turning Hopelessness into Faith

There are people in the religious world with hyper-"faith" who see a demon behind every negative incident in their life, and who believe they deserve perfect health, wealth and success.

Many of them are proud and arrogant and give condescending advice to those of us who live in the "real" world. These misguided individuals are thrown for a loop when their prayers do not bear the desired results.

They spend most of their prayer time quoting scripture at God, and demanding that He fulfill their expectations, because of the promises contained in the Biblical verses.

As human beings, the details of our life shape our life's story. We focus on what we perceive as our treasure (Matthew 6:21). The desire for possessions, financial progress and popularity often drive our goals and ambition. 

The more clutter that we add to our home, our schedule and our mind, the more hindered we are to follow hard after God. Sitting down with a journal and emptying our self of all of this internal and external clutter hampering our life will give us a freedom that is rare in the hectic world in which we live.

God gives us his understanding, wisdom and guidance to help us to surrender every area of our life to Him. He frees us from the encumbrances of clutter, turns our hopelessness into faith, protects us from Satan's snares, and leads us in His everlasting way.

If we build our life on Christ in us and live according to God's precepts, we find a deeper fulfilment, peace and true joy than anything available to us on this planet apart from God (John 14:27).

As we walk in the Spirit, we release our cares, stress and anxiety to our Father who cares for us (1 Peter 5:7-9). His peace guards our heart and mind in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7). We immerse every decision in prayer and make all of our requests known to God (Philippians 4:6).

Prayer:

Father God, teach us to surrender everything in our life to You. Help us to experience Your presence in us and in our circumstances. You never, ever leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). We trust You to open doors that no one can close; and to shut doors that will lead us away from Your will for our life.

Thank You for Your forgiveness of our transgressions. Help us not to succumb to fear and worry, but to maintain our faith in Your faithfulness. We believe in You, trust in You and rely on You even for the very air we breathe. We praise You for turning our sadness into joy and our stress into Your peace.

Thought for the Day:

No matter where we are, what we are doing, or what is required of us, God is always there with us as our Father and Friend, while He turns our hopelessness into faith and shines His light in our pit of despair.

The Perfect Lamb

 

When we repent of our sin, ask for God's forgiveness and surrender our life to Him, He gives us His righteousness, which can only come through Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God.

Jesus then abides within us by His Spirit (John 15:4). He raises our spirit, which is dead in sin, to walk in a whole new life (2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12). This secures our place in Heaven.

That is why God sent His perfect Lamb, who learned obedience through the things, which He suffered in His life in this sin-cursed world (Hebrews 5:8-9).

He never lived a moment in sin, so He was worthy to take on the sin of the whole world and to make us righteous through His sacrifice on Calvary's cross (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Our human penchant is to trust in our self-righteousness, natural talents and basic good heart to earn us a place in heaven; or at least, to ensure that we are reincarnated to a higher life form.

The problem with this thinking is that our heart is deceitful and basically wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Even our best day falls short of God's holiness and glory, which is the standard for entrance into Heaven (Roman 3:23).

Jesus willingly laid down His life for us (Luke 4:29-30). He made the choice in the Garden of Gethsemane, on the night before He was betrayed, to carry out God's will rather than to run from God's calling on His life (Luke 22:42).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for sending Jesus to submit to the excruciating scourging and death on the cross on our behalf. He bore this trauma by the spiritual strength He received while considering the glory that lay waiting for Him in Heaven (Hebrews 12:2). Help us to keep Your glory as our focus in life as well, regardless of our circumstances.

Your grace transforms us into a Temple made without hands, a dwelling place fit for a King (1 Corinthians 3:16). You use what the world considers as foolishness to carry out the work of Your Kingdom (1 Corinthians 1:27). We submit to Your will in our life, so that we will also be counted worthy to dwell with You for eternity in Your glorious Kingdom (Luke 21:36).

Thought for the Day:

God created each one of us for a specific purpose; and He will judge our works, which we perform in this life, in order to reward us in His Heavenly Kingdom.

- Ephesians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 3:13

A Good Marriage - Meeting Each Other's Needs

 

Our response to our mate's words, actions and needs is critical in promoting love and nurture between us. Taking a lesson from the Bible, we exhibit God's unconditional Agape love toward one another.

We affirm each other with all of our faults and peculiarities. We give each other space to be our self, to pursue our own leadings by the Holy Spirit, to rest and relax - even if there is work to do around the house.

Cherishing, valuing, appreciating and accepting each other help our marriage to go the distance, through the good times and the difficult times. We prefer one another without neglecting our own needs.

Supporting our mate each day of our marriage, nurturing one another, listening and showing understanding will increase our love and care toward each other. This keeps those little foxes of self-centeredness out of our relationship.

These attitudes also promote unity, joy and peace between us. Compliments help us to feel safe, accepted and loved. We thrive on the positive affirmation they give to us.

Marital intimacy grows in an environment of kindness and sincerity. When we both feel assured that we are loved and accepted regardless of our behavior or short comings, we feel secure and enjoy spending time together.

Marriage is a great place for grace to develop, especially when we are at odds for any reason. Mess-ups happen to everyone and showing each other God's mercy and grace in times of conflict or disaster help us to support each other through troubled times.

God has a purpose for our union, and seeking Him together is a privilege and a mission. Walking together in the center of God's will for us individually and as a couple will ensure our peace, joy and success in this life and the next.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for uniting us with our mate, so that we can flourish in our love for one another. Walking side by side, we encounter Your divine appointments together. Our mate is one of our special blessings from You to us - even when we feel stressed or unhappy because of our differences. Remind us that You chose our mate for us so that we can strengthen one another's weaknesses.

Help us to discover ways to affirm, appreciate, love and admire each other, especially when we differ in our desires, leadings and goals. Help us to seek You as a couple, so that we can grow together in our knowledge of Your ways. We live to serve at Your pleasure and we look forward to spending eternity together in Your presence.

Thought for the Day:

Take time to remember and nurture the aspects about each other that made you decide to get married in the first place; keep a journal of all of the new character traits in one another that you discover and appreciate along the way.