When depression or suicidal thoughts weigh heavily, the hardest thing to do is to fight. My battle weapons are the Word of God, meditation, confession, community, and worship. But each evening I take my medication with a prayer of thanksgiving that God has provided this kind of help for those of us who need it.

If guilt tells us that we've done something wrong, then shame tells us that we are something wrong. So many people feel isolated, not good enough, defined by the labels they wear rather than the identity they have in Christ. The love of Christ tells us that we're accepted; that we belong.

Can't you tell when you're with someone who's listening? She hears you, really hears you. He hears the sadness in your tone or catches your joy. Be a listener, to music, to life, to others, to God. Life is noisy, but there is music in every heartbeat. God is waiting to bring joy and peace to the confusion of our days.

But the witness of the substitutionary atonement of Jesus is that God's most difficult promise has been kept.

God talks to His people-to each one of us-through His Word, through the counsel of godly friends, and through the Holy Spirit.

I've never walked to an altar in my life. I gave my life to Christ in my bedroom as a child.

Theres not one good thought in me, apart from God. Thats the good news.